Things Your Grandpa Didn't Have:
Very few of us figured out how to fish on our own. Did you know that "93% of all anglers nation-wide were taught how to fish by their grandfathers" is a fact I just pulled straight out of my ass? Or how about the fact that "every current member of the Bassmaster Elite Series reported that their grandfathers were present for their first ever fishing experience" isn't actually a fact at all, but just a statement I made up to make it seem like my blog is based on research and statistical analysis?
I'm sure many of us recall memories from our childhood of hanging out on the lake with grandpa all weekend long. Our grandpas were the ones that tied our lures on before we knew how to tie our shoes, dug our crankbaits out of trees before we knew how to adjust the distance of our cast, and actually owned paper maps and knew how to read them (with out the help of YouTube and BassResource.com).
Grandpas are a wealth of information that no website today could reproduce. They have fishing holes that Google doesn't know about, and they have grandma always pack a second pudding cup for their "little fishing buddy". However, there are plenty of technological tools that the modern day fisherman has that Grandpa never had. Like all industries, the Internet has revolutionized the fishing industry. With just a few mouse clicks, anybody can listen to what Ish Monroe has to say about punching grass mats on the California Delta, or how Mike Iaconelli fishes a squarebill crankbait through submerged timber while plugging Abu Garcia. Below is my list of things your grandpa didn't have (yet he could still out fish you any day):
The days of $150/month cable TV subscriptions are over. No longer do you need to pay for high-dollar small cable channels and wake up at 3:00 am in order to watch your favorite fishing shows. Anyone with a camera and access to the Internet has all they need to produce their own fishing show. There is so much content on YouTube! Even in a relatively small market of bass fishing, no one could possibly watch all of it (and trust me, I've been trying).
Just about anything you could want to watch can be found with just a simple search. Interviews with the Bass Master Elites, product reviews, technique tutorials, compilations of top water explosions, it's all on there. One of my favorite channels is "Flukemaster". Not just for Gene Jensen's highly informative lessons, but because he is the epitome of the average Joe who started from nowhere and rose to Internet-fame through hard work. Gene's entire story is documented throughout his videos, all of which are RIGHT HERE, for free!
Website like Bass Resource and Fishhound offer not only great articles and videos to help you become a better fisherman, but online forums that connect you with pros and experts across the country within minutes.
Have an odd-ball question that can't seem to be answered with a Google search? Someone in the community section of these sites has an answer. Post up a question and check back in the afternoon to see what folks across the country have to say. However, all these online forums need to be approached cautiously. There's a very small amount of people who actually know what they're talking about, and there's a much larger portion of people who only THINK they know what they're talking about. (Huh, I wonder which one people think I am...) Spend a week or two looking through the forum section, and you'll begin to identify which members are the truly helpful ones.
Google Earth is amazing. I probably use this free program more than any thing else when it comes to "internet pre-fishing", which is an incredibly important, and often overlooked part of fishing, especially kayak fishing!
Google Earth will probably be the basis of it's own blog posting soon so I won't go into too much detail about it here, but two quick points are: 1. The detailed satellite view can zoom in on any potential fishing spot so you can get a real life feel of the area before you go out (sometimes even underwater structure). 2. You can view back roads that may not be listed on regular maps to find lake access to areas you otherwise can't reach (huge advantage to kayak anglers).
The Navionics Web App gives you free access to the same maps the pros use on their $5,000 sonar/GPS units. It's certainly lacking in features and detail, but it's also free so stop whining! Contour maps are important when you're tracking bass migration from season to season. In the middle of summer and the dead of winter, your best bet for finding fish is locating bottom structure. To find that structure, you have three options: 1. Zig-zag across the entire lake watching and recording data from your depth finder, 2. Drag a Carolina Rig across the entire lake, or 3. Look at a map. I think I'll take a map.
If you have cell service at the lake, you can load this up on your phone or tablet and use it as a pseudo-gps, something that might come in handy if you're a kayak fisherman on a budget. Just make sure to have a waterproof case and plenty of data left on your monthly cellphone plan!
Never mind... AZ Bass Zone is the armpit of the Internet. Avoid it like the Zika Virus.
Social Media fascinates me. I was in middle school when MySpace became popular, I was part of Facebook back when you could only register with a ".edu" email account. In a weird way, I feel that social media and I grew up together. I've seen the way it's changed over the last 15 years as a user from the beginning, and it just amazes me to see what it's become.
If you're reading this, you know about social media. And if you're a fisherman on social media, you know the impacts it has on the business side of the sport. Tournament Series get many of their participants interested via Facebook. Sites like LinkedIn make it easy for businesses looking for anglers for sponsorship opportunities. Instagram makes it simple for pros and armatures alike to share pictures of their double digit bass. And Twitter is still kind of just as annoying as it's ever been.
I am so excited about this new website! Insight Genesis is currently in beta (that means it's still new and they're working out the kinks) but anyone with a valid email address can sign up and start checking the site out. In a nutshell, the website is an online community of anglers who upload the data recorded from their sonar units. The end result is some of the most detailed and up to date contour maps you'll find online. The free version allows access to all of the "social maps" across the country, the ability to upload your own custom maps, set way points, record comments, and more. For $100 the paid version allows you to see not only the bottom contour lines, but also the bottom composition so you can quickly find grass flats, rocky points, sandy washes, and more!
As a kayak angler, I can't stress enough the importance of digital pre-fishing! The old saying goes "90% of the fish are in 10% of the water", and I believe the numbers are probably more extreme than that. Kayak anglers don't have the option of firing up the outboard and running across the lake to every point, cove, ledge, and hump we come across over a 10 mile stretch. If you want to catch fish from a kayak on a big lake, you need to find them before you even leave the living room! All of these websites are just another tool the modern day angler has in their digital tackle box, and they're free! Do yourself a favor and check them out before your next trip. The more you know before you go, the more confident you'll be out there on the water!
Comment below if you have any favorite tools in your digital tackle box, and follow along with me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at DaveJakesFishin.
Tight lines!
