by Scott T. Starbuck , December 27, 2015

Fishing, like writing, means going “through the clouds, with the magnifying glass, against the dirt until you see ankles of insects.” Doing so will put you in the proverbial 10% who catch 90% of the fish.

A one-eyed Korean War vet, Ross, taught me this while spring chinook fishing when I was 9, and I never forgot. A dedicated angler of uncommon precision and persistence, he explained store-bought flies used for brook trout came with red tails that had to be completely removed or brookies would ignore them. “Completely,” he repeated. “Do you understand?”

Over years that followed, I noticed the best drift fisherman I knew (Clayton), spoon angler (Ken), and spin angler (Gary) all followed this rule of paying attention to details.



The author in his childhood days.

While it’s true in some conditions almost anyone can catch fish – humpies come to mind – Clayton, a welder on the North Slope, had perfect timing. He fished certain rivers long enough to know exactly where and when to be, based on part of season, water clarity, river level, and
up-to- date contacts with friends on the river each day. Steelhead and salmon are migratory fish often moving. The great thing about fishing with Clayton was I knew on the drive to the river that fish would be intercepted, and caught by or near him most days.

Ken caught steelhead on different spoons – bright on bright days, dull on dull days – and his method worked better than the standard toss and retrieve technique used by those around him. He worked all potential holding areas, and used a “slow swing and flutter,” pausing at the end of a swing, and retrieving very slow. A fish explosion would happen at the end or during the slow retieve.

Gary was, and is, the best spin fisherman I have known. For many years he has consistently hooked more steelhead than I while fishing the same water with the same gear. He does this by keeping his spinner in the strike zone longer and more often. Many trips on the same water taught him exactly where the strike zone is so he doesn’t waste time and energy fishing dead water. While salmon and steelhead follow predictable patterns of river depth, current speed, structure (log and boulder) positions, there is no substitute for time on the water.

In addition, even good fishermen I have traveled with for over thirty years make these common detail errors: 1) not checking a hook’s sharpness resulting in a missed strike; 2) not checking for a frayed spot in a leader or line which means a fish breaks off under little pressure; 3) not burning a match in a salmon egg container to remove all air and keep the bait fresh; 4) missing a strike by not paying attention; 5) failing to notice dog scent, gas scent, etc. on one’s hands grabbing baits or gear; 6) fishing ropey leaders or too large hooks in low water; 7) not getting a long enough drift or enough hours on fishable water; and 8) not matching drift, spoon, spinner, bobber, jig, plug, or fly presentations because one is too ignorant, cold, tired, or lazy to adapt to increase probability of a fish on.

Paying attention to the details - it's what will put you into that elite "10%" Class of Anglers!

Scott T. Starbuck’s blog Trees, Fish, and Dreams is at riverseek.blogspot.com His fishing articles and poems have appeared in Yale Anglers´ Journal, Salmon Trout Steelheader, The Sunday Oregonian, Talking River at Lewis-Clark State College, Cascadia Review, and The Raven Chronicles in Seattle. His book of fishing poems, River Walker, in local libraries, sold out in less than a year. His next book of fishing poems, Lost Salmon, is forthcoming from MoonPath Press in Kingston, WA, in 2016.