Evolution
of the Modern Angler
By
Xavier Tiberghien (A former South African Protea angler,
TV show host, International Tournament Angler & Photo
journalist)
Are you ready to evolve? Are you a Blue Ray Machine or a old
style VCR?....have you adjusted according to the times....?
I was going through my tackle the other day and noticed not
only how much (duh?!?!) but when I last used stuff and the
memories of different lures and what fish they caught over
time....( I still own the same old Zara Spook that I caught
my first Personal Best a 5lb / 2.25kg largemouth bass ( thank
goodness that sits at 12 and half pounds now)back in 1989)
and it has still caught me many bass over time. Yet we are
swamped with new baits and techniques let alone tournament
strategies that are constantly changing the way we target bass
in our minds before the tournament starts or the social weekend
with buddies arrives. Even the questions we are now asking
as journalists of the specialists has changed a lot over the
past 15 years.
However this article is more to highlight as a human race how
slow we are as anglers while the rest of society accelerates
far quicker than we care to adopt.
As a journalist and tournament angler I have to keep up with
the times daily and now it has almost become hourly. I have
had to do research like a scientist and keep a log of the websites
to visit each day, follow many tournament trails, keep a log
in our minds of trends and techniques, keep communication with
industry specialists daily just to keep up.
The
modern angler can be successful when he becomes a student
of the sport. However if you remain an angler and you don’t
adopt an attitude of a semi professional athlete you will fall
far behind in many aspects.
Having coached kids and adults it’s amazing to see what
basic fundamental FISHING mistakes are made let alone the dynamics
bass fishing brings with it. I’ll be bringing you more
coaching type articles in the future but for now let’s
focus on getting it right before we start.
Ryan McMurtary with two Powerpoles that helps better boat control |
There
is a massive movement to move tackle to new anglers and experienced
fisherman around the world. So much so that we all feel steam
rolled into choices as anglers by retailers and manufacturers,
yet there is nothing wrong with adding to the mix as long
as you use those colours & styles and
don’t fall back onto those old baits that worked years
ago. You have to build confidence in those new baits too.
My word of advice is keep it simple and choose wisely as opposed
to economically.....don’t go buy ten different colour
packets of plastic baits and 100 styles, try keep it simple
with four colours and maybe 5 styles. Once you get the hang
of the where, when, why and how of each bait then you can start
to broaden your choices and build your collection.
The
angler of today can eliminate so much time wasting by doing
the right research on the internet ( lake reports, advanced
weather searches, lake maps, tournament results for the past
20 years, guide reports, product reviews, customized tackle
development).
It will only be a matter of time when laptops find their way
to the water too for doing data capture, analysis while we
fish.....( all our GPS waypoints, routes are already available
to be downloaded). The recent BASSMASTER CLASSIC in New Orleans
saw many top pro’s use radar for navigation and safety...before
you know it we will have wireless applications to be able to
send our efforts from the boat directly to the computer back
home.
With voice compatible technology we could record our day into
research and store it on a hard drive that should we require
a log of things we might have seen or experienced we could
quickly get a quick catalogue of previous outings and pointers
that could be the difference in success or failure.
While this may all sound complicated and takes the fun aspect
away there are too many young anglers aware of the advantages
of new technology and are prepared to use this to their advantage
that most anglers won’t stand a chance in keeping up
with them. Most kids today do not know a world without the
internet or doing proper research. They allow computers to
think for them and that makes their fishing ability better
because they can process information quicker and deal with
decisions faster and understand the theory quicker.
World
famous angler Mike Iaconelli with radar set up at
the
2011 BASS Classic |
All they have to do is apply the information in a real environment and
if you consider they can eliminate the time wasting into effective fishing
that increases their odds in fishing catching odds. They have cut their work
in half by not fishing blind. They have maps, data and archived research so
that when they make their first cast they know they have secured a better decision.
Today’s modern young minded and street smart angler can
arrive at the lake with three rods , the choice of baits minimized,
the lake map and possible scenario’s, an advanced weather
report to mark the potential mood of the fish and season and
with Google maps and Imaging , plus the latest in Fish Finders
and GPS units, make the first half of the day effective as
opposed to spending countless hours fishing blind in finding
the right area let alone the right technique and going through
20 rods on the boat....let alone choosing the right part of
the lake to fish?!?
So it’s never too late to change and adapt....just like
the internet, Google, Ipods & Ipads and we all rely on
the technology to live our lives...take the time to plan better
,advance your quest to having more fun and make the right choices
quicker and get on the band wagon quick.
This has also opened the door for me as an avid angler to offer
aspiring anglers more options. Stay tuned and join the next
revolution....as usual I’m up to something as my mind
cannot stop working and will be launching something all anglers
will require....golfers have done it for years and they still
swear by it and it works!!! Join me next time and let’s
get this done!!!
BASS WISHES
Xavier Tiberghien
Founder / Producer
NFA Media
aka “Mad Dawg”
nfamedia@gmail.com
