Successful Fishing: The mysterious “e” Factor.

There has always been a strange, and to this day, unsolved mysterious theory in the fishing world.

My wife knows of this theory and she thinks I am crazy, paranoid, and maybe even a little hard up.

The theory is based on secrets that have been held by a small but priveleged group of men, who have sworn secrecy and taken blood oaths, in order to keep the modern societies from crumbling.

I reveal this secret at great peril and with no apparent regard to the ramifications that may take place, out of an act of final frustration.

I am tired of getting outfished by my wife!!

I see you there, looking puzzled and confused–but let me explain.

I first started noticing, what I will call the “e” factor– back in 1976.

Fishing for Brown trout in the Eastern Sierras of California, I always did relatively well, catching numerous 19 and 20 inch fish. My, then girlfriend and soon to be wife, would join me on fishing/camping trips and always seemed content to let her man “bring home the bacon”.
I would arrive back at fish camp and proudly display to her my ability to be a “provider”, while she in turn would humor me with her admiration. Occasionally, she would tire of the camping scene and would ask to join me in the hunt for Browns. Confidence in tack and bolstered by her admiration, I would always say sure–figuring she wanted to witness “her man” in action.

I would catch a few fish and she would let me bait the hook and give her pointers.
“Just throw it upstream a little bit, let it drift right in there—yeah there ya go- give it a little slack–let him take it innnn…. NOW SET THE HOOK!!”

Oh, she would act excited and further bolster my confidence. Now I was also a great guide and instructor!!

Then I would go back to fishing, kind of tap her on the head and say: “There, just keep doing that.” She would fawn over me and I would strut cocksure back to my fishing hole.
Pretty soon she would be squealing –”OOH I have another one!”

I would walk over and remove the fish, and before I could wipe my hands off she would be back in the water,and catching more fish. I am sure you can understand that this would get old after awhile….so I would then instruct her on the removal of the fish, so I could go back to “providing”.

The “e” factor would now mysteriously appear.

Nada, nothing, kotonashi!! Not even a bite–for me that is.
Meanwhile, the “squealfest” continued over on the little misses pole.

I would put special twists in the bait, concentrate like David Copperfield trying to bend a spoon, and toss in to the very spot I instructed her to fish in, and the results would be the same.

She would squeal and I would give her an insincere “atta girl”. Of course pretty soon she would tire of catching fish, give me a bouyant- practically flipant- “Oh, I’m getting tired,” and bound off back to camp leaving me to clean HER fish and haul them back to camp. I would seethe and “bear down”, determined to at least catch a bigger fish–but after awhile- I would be so wound up from failure, that I would steam back to camp completely demoralized.

My” girl”, would then go into damage control, and work to bring my confidence level back up, with the usual ” I was soooo lucky, I’ve never caught fish like that before…”

Right.

Since that time, the same cause and effect has occured too many times to be a coincidence. I fish, she comes along and outfishes me.

AND–It was not just with her. If I happened to be fishing in the same boat or locale with the female species present, I would always get outfished. It got to the point where if I saw a woman or if my wife was fishing, I just resigned myself to playing cribbage or “guiding”–so to speak.

After twenty years or so of this trend,and after talking to most other fishermen, I realized this was not just happening to me. So, like unlocking the DaVinci code and after examination of years of evidence I am here to reveal the secret.

Estrogen.

Yes, the “e” factor, is the female hormone–estrogen.

What else could it be??

For centuries, wise men have known this and kept it a well guarded secret. Women will always outfish men….because of the”e” factor.You can change sides in a boat, throw your fly or bait into the same water, or sabotage her equipment–the results will always be the same, women will outfish men. Unless she fakes it. Of course a woman would never do that!!

Right.

Why do fish react to the “e” factor?

I have no idea. But some tiny little estrogen tricle charge, carries through a fishing rod,down the line and past the hook, sending some sort of message to the underwater world that makes it impossible for a fish to resist. Estrogen should be outlawed as an unfair fish attractant!!

Paranoid—my eye!!

So there you have it. What happens next is up to society.

Women may take to the sea in boats named after their men– left tearfully at the dock.

While we men folk prepare the evening fare and tidy camp–women could be out until dark wrestling large salmonids, and complaining of the loss of good daylight.

While we complain about our spouses at “Bunco night”, our ladies will be tying and trying new combinations of chenille and fur!!

…And we’re not talking fashionable clothing here!!

We can’t even count on menopause to level the fishing playing field anymore.Women are having estrogen replacement therapy–under the guise of better health– to keep their fish catching superiority from diminishing!!

I know I have been irresponsible here, and like “Deep Throat” from the watergate era, may not realize the way history has been altered, but the frustration was just to great.

Why speak now??

Well… the increase in the number of women that are taking up fly fishing, and fishing in general, is getting astronomical and growing at an alarming rate. So, the only hope is to make an appeal to the more sensitive side of the female species, and ask that they back down. They need to understand that they have an unfair advantage, in the “e” factor, and we men have sooo little left….please let us have the fish!!!!

That’s it…that’s my appeal, and I can only hope that women everywhere will respond positively to this cry for help, and we men can brim confidently once more.

Until then, I have begun estrogen replacement therapy myself…. I’ll be damned if I will continue to be outfished by my wife!!

A guys got to do, what a guys got to do….

A.J. Klott
Author, writer of fishing humor,and “fly tack” peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern day events that surround the fishing world. His first book is due out in December of 2005.
If you need a laugh or a fun gift, visit his website at:
http://www.twoguyswithflys.com

My first experience surf fishing was with my father on Wrightsville Beach, NC in the 60’s. He parked our shiny black Ford Fairlane in a gravel parking lot off the beach and we hiked over the dunes to the surf, carrying rods, buckets, tackle box and various other fishing paraphernalia. I remember him catching bluefish, croakers, puppy drum and flounder as I played in the tidal pools nearby. Later, my grandmother would fry the filleted fish to a golden brown and we would eat them with hushpuppies and coleslaw.

Years later, in the mid-eighties, I remember an early winter fishing expedition near Oregon Inlet, south of Nags Head, this time with my husband, 8-month old daughter and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppy. My husband had come in from duck hunting and had heard the big blues were hitting the beach! We parked our 4-wheel drive truck nearby on the hard sand and with the baby playing contentedly in her car seat and the puppy chewing on anything he could find, we lined up along the surf with a few dozen other fishermen, casting the heavy silver spoon lures into the churning waters of the big blue blitz. Cast after cast we were rewarded with huge bluefish, twelve to sixteen pounds, filling up a wheelbarrow in a pyramid of large fish. Later we filleted, boiled and ate the fish in casseroles made with mashed potatoes. Needless to say, we were eating bluefish casseroles all winter long.

Surf fishing is exciting, rewarding and accessible to all. Most locations can be reached either by car or ferry. With a basic understanding of seasons, conditions, equipment and regulations, an angler can get lucky just about any time of the year, but typically the very best times to surf fish are spring and fall.

Popular and prolific sport fish species you may catch surf fishing along the North Carolina coast include:

Channel bass (red drum, puppy drum) —
The spring season generally begins in April. This run will peak by mid May and taper off in early June. Average size in spring is 35 to 50 pounds. In September the smaller drum will enter the surf. These fish will range between 2 and 15 pounds. They are more plentiful than the larger variety and can be found in most sloughs. In late October the bigger drum (40-70 pounds) return and remain until late November. Bait of choice is fresh mullet; rods are 9 to 11 feet with medium to heavy action tips. Size allowed is between 18″ and 27″ with a daily bag limit of 1 per person.

Bluefish —
Blues are available in a variety of sizes from April to December to surf fishermen and boaters as well. Large size blues (8-12 pounds) arrive in May and remain until November. Their departure is generally hastened by the arrival of the fall run of 15-20 pound giant blues. These later fall visitors are plentiful and powerful. They’ll take bait (mullet, spot, or menhaden) or almost any type of lure. Fishing rods 9 to 11 feet are preferred. Bag limit of 15 per day per person. Only 5 allowed over 24″ total length (from tip of snout to tip of compressed tail).

Spanish mackerel —
This fish is somewhat of a tourist, arriving in June and staying until later September. The Spanish is delicious, averages 1 to 3 pounds and presents a real challenge to any angler. Spanish mackerel are usually taken on fast moving metal lures. Fishing rod of choice is a 9 foot light action. Minimum size allowed is 12″ fork length (from tip of snout to middle of fork in tail). Bag limit of 15 per day per person

Striped bass —
Recently during the winter months striped bass have returned to NC waters in great numbers. October, November and December are the best times for fishing, with fish still showing up as late as February. In Atlantic waters, size limit is over 27″ total length with bag limit of 2 per day. For sounds and other areas, consult the NC Marine Fisheries website.

Flounder (summer, southern)–
Flounder begin biting in May as the water warms. By June, the fishing is going strong, with both summer and southern flounder being caught. Southern flounder dominate the catch in inshore and southern NC waters, while summer flounder dominate the catch in offshore waters north of Cape Hatteras. Many flounder are caught using cut baits and some are caught using jigs. When jigs are used, they work best when tipped with fish, shrimp or a mullet minnow.

Other species available to North Carolina surf fishermen are pompano, croaker, trout, spot, hogfish and whiting (sea mullet).

Be advised that there is a proposed recreational saltwater fishing license which is scheduled to take effect January 2006. The license is still being debated by the North Carolina General Assembly and you should check the NC Marine Fisheries website (http://www.ncfisheries.net) to determine if a license is required before fishing the NC coast after that date.

Also, the size regulations and limits given above are accurate at the time of this writing (summer 2005) but are subject to change, so check the NC Marine Fisheries website to confirm these regulations before your fishing expedition.

Whether beginning angler or old salt, surf fishing is a popular and fun activity with minimal expense, no boat required, easy access to great fishing conditions and plenty of action. With a minimum of effort and expense, you can catch a variety of excellent eating fish, have a great time and start making your own memories.

E. A. Edwards is a free-lance writer with a variety of professional and personal interests. You will find more information about fishing and fishing gear on http://www.fishing-rod-guide.info.

More and more women are learning to enjoy fishing each and every day. And, why not? Fishing is a sport that doesn’t require exceptional strength, stamina or height - quite the contrary, fishing is a sport of agility, finesse and patience, skills many women already possess. So why don’t more women fish?

Successful fishing requires knowledge of various types of fishing gear, tackle, and an understanding of the quarry. Fish have a variety of feeding habits, behavioral patterns, etc. and these characteristics influence how to go about fishing for them.

Traditionally, men learned how to fish when they were boys from fathers and grandfathers. Even if this training was lacking, it’s no big deal for a guy to hang out with other guys who enjoy fishing and learn the ropes from them.

For a woman, though, the process is apt to be somewhat more difficult. In my family of all girls, we learned the thrill of fishing as children from our father. Fortunately for us, our dad was an “equal-opportunity” fisherman…and he was a very patient man.

We learned to bait our own hooks, remove fish from the line, and clean the fish as well. We were rewarded with many an enjoyable Sunday on the lake competing for top family fishing honors of who caught the most and the biggest fish.

For women who weren’t brought up fishing as I was, all is certainly not lost. Although learning from a boyfriend or spouse is not out of the question, a significant other may not be the best place to get your first fishing pointers.

Your honey may not have the patience that you will need to learn proper fishing technique and he may be a bit condescending as well…not exactly conducive to an enjoyable learning experience.

Try instead local women’s fishing clubs. Check online for groups in your area that are specifically organized by and for women. Many groups are primarily centered on fly-fishing but not all are.

Also see if your community college or local university offers any fishing courses. Often fishing classes are offered in the adult education, physical education or recreation departments.

Of course, you can also start at your local library, checking out books on fishing and learning a few basic techniques that way.

Your local fishing outfitter or marina may have more information as well and would also be a good place for information and to network with other fishing women.

Another option is to go online and search for websites catering to women and the outdoors or, more specifically, women and fishing. One such website is www.ladiesletsgofishing.com.

Founded by Betty Bauman of Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1997, LLGF “promotes networking among women anglers and emphasizes mentorship between novice and experienced members.”

Other groups, both national and state, promote fishing for women. There are seminars, fishing adventures and special fishing events scheduled year-round in many areas of the country which are organized especially for women anglers.

Yet another reason fishing is a great hobby for women is because beginning your fishing experiences need not be prohibitively expensive. Especially when compared to other hobbies, start-up costs for spin or bait-casting fishing equipment are not tremendously high. Generally speaking, $200 or less can buy more than enough basic quality fishing gear for a beginner to get started. To start up a fly-fishing hobby will cost a bit more as the gear tends to be more expensive.

This, of course, doesn’t include a boat! But, many fishing locations can be reached without a boat. Again, do your research to find areas accessible by car.

More women should consider fishing for an enjoyable and challenging hobby. Learning the basics of fishing is easy but perfecting those angling skills can take many hours of sometimes peaceful and sometimes extremely exciting time at the other end of a line.

E. A. Edwards is a free-lance writer with a variety of professional and personal interests. You will find more information about fishing and fishing gear on http://www.fishing-rod-guide.info.