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Choosing a
Fishing Knife
for Your Summer
Fishing
Adventures
An avid fisherman is typically able to tell you the contents of his tackle box: fishing hooks, line in various weights, shiny and dull fishing lures, colorful bobbers, an extra reel, needle nose pliers, a flashlight, maybe some fishing scissors and a fishing knife. Each of these tackle box items is an important element in both successful and not so successful fishing trips to the river. Having the right kind of gear, the kind that will withstand a variety of elements, is key. The following are some tips on what to look for when purchasing a durable fishing or fillet knife to all those would-be and experienced anglers out there. When choosing a fishing knife, the size of the fish being lured needs to be considered. A ten inch blade would be excessive if you typically fish stocked rainbow trout or crappie in your local river. The larger blade could damage the meat of smaller fish during cleaning if you are not careful. On the other hand, a small fillet knife on a medium-to-large catfish or grouper would be time consuming and potentially impossible. If you fish a variety of species, consider owning multiple knives in various lengths and widths. There are a number of fishing knife sets with multiple blade styles available on the market. If you have one knife that you really like, maybe it has a handle style that suits you, see if the manufacturer makes other size knives in the same style. The next item to consider when choosing a fillet or fishing knife, is the quality of the blade. You want to look for stainless steel blades that can maintain their sharpness. You also want to try to buy one that can be sharpened easily throughout a fishing season. Stainless steel is recommended because of its stronger resistance to rust; fishing knives encounter a lot of water. You will want the same durability and strength in your fishing knife as you would a hunting knife. However, with a fillet knife, a tempered blade that can cut smoothly and thinly is ideal. When purchasing a fillet knife, look for one that is serrated in a portion of the knife, toward the handle is best. Having the serration in addition to the smooth sharp blade will be helpful to cut through tougher sections and bones and will keep you from needing a second serrated knife. The final items to consider are all about your personal style. There are a number of knives available depending on the type of fisherman you or the recipient of the knife is. Consider how frequently you use a fishing knife during your fishing trips. If you tend to constantly be reaching for yours, purchase a folded knife that can be put in your pocket or hang from a fishing vest so it will be easy to get to. If you have a messier tackle box with little organization, consider purchasing a fishing knife that comes with a sturdy knife sleeve or one that folds to avoid accidentally cutting yourself or damaging the blade while it is moving around in the box. If you have arthritis or carpel tunnel syndrome, try out various knife handle shapes to find one that is comfortable for you. There are a number of knife options available; don’t settle for anything other than what will best help you as you fish this summer. Consider these tips as you put together your tackle box and gear this summer. Whether you are heading to the river, lake or ocean, a quality fishing or fillet knife is an important addition and just may help bring in the record breaking fish. Ben Anton, 2007
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How many
anglers take risks by trying to
think or do things differently in
their fishing. If you are one who
does then you are always a step
ahead of the majority and your catch
results will demonstrate this!
By Tim
Richardson.
It takes courage and self-belief to be innovative and risk failure. But those who try know it is always worthwhile in the end! Fishing is always about learning, constant improvement and change. Nothing ever stays the same. Even on easy waters, the bait or method that caught you fifty fish last year may be susceptible to an more innovative approach or different bait. The impact of other anglers and their innovations can have serious implications on your own catch results if you are ‘left behind.’
It’s not that fishing is a race, but on waters where fishing pressure is very intense, then the carp tend to alter their preferences and behavior very quickly and your catch results can change as a results of activities, baits and thinking that is new to the water. Better to be an innovator than a ‘sheep!’ Yes it takes self-belief to be the first in any endeavor but I’m sure that the first to try the hair rig, ‘shock or bolt rig’ and many different versions of boilies with it, were not sheep! These were the guys whose results were in a different league to the rest.
But anyone could have come up with this new combination of innovations and indeed many people were using versions of the hair rig exactly when Lennie Middleton and Kevin Maddocks were claiming to be the first! There is a phenomenon in which the same idea strangely seems to infect the consciousness of various people at the same time, and this is demonstrated in the origins of numerous famous inventions throughout history. (The telephone being one prime example.)
Its all about having the courage to fail knowing that each ‘failure’ in reality is just feedback adjusting your actions and thinking back onto the right path towards your goal. Thomas Edison is famous for this, inventing over a thousand ways of how not to invent a light bulb. However, you can bet that many of these ways had other very important applications and uses of various kinds.
Failure only seems to be failure out of any context of application. Carp baits are the same. In trying to make one type of boilie mix for one water or species, you fail, and then it may be the perfect solution for a different water, fishing situation or even different species. How many anglers have made a new boilie bait and found it would not roll? This ‘failed mix’ might make an excellent ‘PVA’ bag mix, or method mix or pack bait for example. I made one that had too much sugar type ingredients that would not roll into balls for boilie making. So instead I used this mix version as paste baits and as free baits instead. They have been extremely effective! Making baits that end up being buoyant, especially with the use of certain crustacean meals like krill and prawn and milk protein powders like sodium caseinate. However, these baits may be tremendous ‘pop-up’ baits for fishing just off the bottom or mid water. (How many anglers fish buoyant pastes for summer carp...?)
Sometimes you might look ‘stupid’ trying something different. But will you look stupid with a photograph album full of carp weighing 40 pound plus? When you think about it, the modern carp ‘set-up’ with 3 or 4 rods on sticks angled towards the water, does look rather odd. Sea anglers often fish with their rods at right angles to the water and this looks odd too. But how many carp anglers have fish with their rods at right angles to the water for a very specific reason, perhaps deliberately to create different line angles and tensions!?
I fished on a water in the 1980’s where bite indicators were used that became the forerunners of those original indicators from “Fox Tackle” called carp fishing ‘swingers.’ These were placed on the line at the buzzer and allowed the indicator to move up or downwards as line moved and a fish took the bait or fish moved the line. But it most importantly reduced the resistance on the line produced by more conventional bite indicators like bottle tops and ‘monkey climbers’ which involve friction on the line at a right angle.
These indicators looked odd when first observed. But I can tell you that the angler who invented these ‘swingers’ had been refining his approach over many years. When the majority were using tubular indicators on rods like the ‘monkey climber’ types, he made his own very light, streamlined and resistance reduced versions.
In my case, I noticed this and did the opposite, in fact doing things that would increase the resistance on the line at different stages of a ‘take’ to try to hook the fish deeper initially, or even to shock the fish into running where it may usually have hovered over the lead and twisted the hook off. Now carp fishing has become so commercialized, there are solutions for the majority of fishing situations an average angler will come across. So making or adopting your own tackle or baits has been greatly neglected by the majority. In fact so much, that the term ‘tackle tart’ is used in the UK to describe an angler who always has the latest shop bought equipment and baits!
I remember making new rear rod rests using angular steel, heavy bolts and thick black ribbed garden hose. The hose was cut in halve and cut into 3 inch lengths and bolted to a steel bar. These produced amazingly effective and durable ‘gripper’ rear rod rests. Significantly, they could fit any diameter rod butt instantly because of the ‘memory’ of the thick hose rubber always gripped firmly enclosing any rod securely until pulled upwards from the rod rest. In fishing situations against snags, or where takes are particularly violent these rests where invaluable as nothing like them were available at the time on the market. I enjoyed the benefits of using them greatly until they went missing at the one day. A little later, a commercial version using rubber foam and sprung steel became available and “Fox Tackle” still offer them today as they are very popular.
Being different is about creating your own advantages in your fishing. It takes the bottle to do it and fail but like anything in life, refinement and perseverance usually pay off handsomely in the end. When it comes to baits, being different is possibly the greatest edge. If were not, then bait companies would not thrive the way they have done. But if you want the greatest fishing satisfaction when it comes to bait, none beats catching new personal bests on baits you made yourself. It’s not difficult to make baits that catch carp even against all the commercial baits used on most waters today.
Learning about baits by making them yourself really helps in so many ways. For a start, you get to learn far more about commercial baits and why and how they work. So if you fancy taking the ‘easy route’ and buying shop bought baits, you can spot baits better suited to your fishing situation and fish, and even discover how to ‘top’ the current dominant baits on your water. A great edge indeed . . .
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Tim
Richardson is a carp and
catfish bait-making
expert, and a highly
successful big fish
angler. His bait making
and bait enhancing books
/ ebooks: “BIG CARP BAIT
SECRETS!” SEE:
http://www.baitbigfish.com
* Are even used
by members of the ‘world
elite’ “British Carp
Study Group” for expert
reference. Gain from
more understanding,
expert bait making
experience, powerful
insights and cutting
edge information; view
this ‘dedicated’ bait
making secrets website.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_F._Richardson
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