Fishing A New Location
I have fished for over twenty years. For most of those years I had been fishing lakes in northern Minnesota and Southern Ontario. All of my time was spent on a boat, trolling or casting into shore. Put me in a boat in a lake in that region and I will knock the fish dead. However a few years ago I moved and now I am primarily fishing from shore in big rivers and smaller streams. Waters that I did not have much experience in.
Fishing lakes from a boat in my opinion is much easier, you are able to cover much more water and get to where the fish are in a matter of minutes opposed to fishing from shore where it can be more difficult to find a spot where fish are holding. Learning to adapt to new techniques and styles has been challenging and at some points frustrating. But with each trip I learn something new I can apply to my next trip to the river. I've learned to feel the lure flow downstream and how to bounce it off rocks and sunken logs that are too far away to see. I have lost more lures than I probably ever have learning the contour of the ever changing river bottom and I have spent hours researching the best times areas and lures to fish in my new waters.
Not only is the body of water different, the primary species I fish for now has changed. Before I would fish for monster pike and largemouth bass, walleye and glacial lake lake trout. Now the fish are salmon, steelhead, brown trout and great lakes lake trout, with the occasional river smallmouth bass. These fish have totally different styles and techniques to catch them and learning these new techniques has been different. Shrinking the lure size, transitioning from braided line to monofilament and researching what parts of the river salmon and trout prefer have been pivotal in improving my fishing trips.
Some days I still get skunked. Getting skunked took some getting used too, it was not often I would go a day without catching any fish, but then again I was fishing from a boat where I could easily go from one spot to another very quickly. I am still learning these new waters, I am still working on unlocking their secrets. Each body of water has a trove of secrets to unveil, pulling back the curtain to unlock the perfect technique or the go to lure does not happen overnight. I've learned I need to be patient and take each trip step by step. I still have a plethora of knowledge about fish behavior. By applying what I know I have been able to make progress in uncovering the secrets of these new waters, I am still able to read the water, and know what colors to use to entice the fish and I am consistently improving every trip.
Like everything new it does not come naturally. Learning how to successfully fish from shore has improved my ability to read water and feel the action of my lure. It has opened doors to catch new species that were not available to me before and it allows me to enjoy nature and the outdoors just the same as it would fishing from a boat. Learning to fish in new waters can be scary, it can be intimidating but it is, in my opinion, definitely worth it.