I stopped for a moment to talk to an elderly man that was sitting along a bridge just outside our compound here in Argentina. The man had gotten there just prior to my arrival and was still setting up his gear; he was using an old aluminum pole with a small, open-bail reel, that, although well-kept, was really showing its age. While talking to him, I noticed something that truly amazed me. The man reached into his tackle box and pulled out a handful of small splints of wood. After carefully fingering through them, he selected about six of them and pinched them to his line about 16 inches above his hook. He then took a piece of kite string and wrapped the splints securely to the line.

It was a really interesting method that, although it caught me off guard, taught me something very interesting about the fishing culture down here: that although the people here may not have even the most simplistic gear that we tend to take for granted in the US, they are perfectly content finding other ways to effectively fish.

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I am certain that many of us have faced this problem time and time again: you are fishing for a long while, and when you finally about to give up, a beautiful trophy strikes your line. As any fishermen would, your reaction is to set the hook, however, when you lift your rod and draw your line, the hook seems to be pulled out of the fish’s mouth without ever having even scratched the fish.

Although one can simply write a situation like this off by saying the fishermen has bad timing, or the fish had not taken the fly in yet, there is one cause for this problem that can not be avoided, and is typically the reason for such a disappointment: the hook.

When fishing rivers, it is important to understand the the rocks and small pebbles along the bottum of the stream wear away at the soft tips of the hook, thereby making the striking tip blunt and therefor less effective. It is therefor very important to maintane this piont.

Thanks to technology, this can be accoplished by utilizing a number of different mechanical sharpeners, as well as simply using a hand sharpener. Reguardless of the method, it is very important the you remember to get to the piont.

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Furthermore, the targeted fish is a large bottom-feeder in the carp family, making bottom-fishing very effective. The setup that is used by most fishermen is very simple, it consists of a steel leader attached to a heavy lead weight. Along the steel leader there are two tag leaders that each hold a large hook.

On each of the two hooks there are two typical baits that are used by that Argentine fishermen, white rubber jigs, or live minnows, typically two or three minnows per hook.

To fish such a unit, the fisherman casts the line as far as possible, places the rod in a holder along the waters edge, and just waits. Although it seems like such a simplistic means by which to feed your family, it was very interesting to see the talent that it took to reel a fish in the air from a dike that is twenty feet in the air.

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Behind the compound at which I am staying, there is a large saltwater inlet, in which, there is a large number of big game saltwater fish. While walking back to the compound from a local town, I spoke with an older man who bait-casting small minnows along the coast of the inlet, and seemed to be reaping the benefits of many years of wisdom.

Furthermore, I have learned from a local missionary, that one of the largest international saltwater fishing companies is located in a nearby city. I will be headed into Buenos Aires this coming Saturday, and will be searching for a distributor, hoping to get a bargain on fishing gear. Furthermore, this coming weekend we will most likely be heading farther north to attempt to reel in some big ones!

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This increase has had some drastic, direct affects on shoreline fishing. Due to this rise, the population of feeder fish has had an inverse affect, creating a drop in their numbers, causing the larger trophy fish to remain off-shore, no longer coming into shallow water to feed.

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The “Red Tide” has been, throughout history, associated with many myths of war and gods, however, in reality, such a tide is caused by the blooming of specific algae in the water. The color of the algae can range from brown, to green, and is only visible during a large bloom, when the density of the algae is high enough to make the single-celled organisms visible as a mass.

Although Red Tide may occur often, they are not typically a threat unless they reach a piont where the algea is removing more oxygen from the water than can be sufficiently replenished. This will cause fatalities amoung small bait-fish species, thereby causing larger game fish to remain offshore, sometimes resulting in larger fish-kills, as occured in Florida during the Florida, and California Red Tides.

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As you may have noticed, in the early months of fishing season, such as in April, and early May, the streams will be flowing with a variety of trout. Furthermore, while the trout are running, bass seem to remain unseen, and effectively remain out of site. However, when the water levels drop, and the temperature rises, it seems as though spontaneous generation occurs, and bass rule the water of New England streams. Baffled by this strange occurrence, my uncle begged to ask the question, “Where do the bass for the winter;” a question that spurred a very long discussion, and many assumptions on the topic, resulting in a quest to find the truth behind this marvel of nature.

One of the most common responses to the question, was that the bass find their way to the downstream sides of dams, sitting in the warm runoff water. Although this seemed plausible, it still did not explain where the bass relocated during the winter freeze, when ponds are partially drained, and the water ceases to flow over dams. After a long phone conversation with a local, weathered fisherman, the mystery was solved, or so we believe.

The conclusion that was agreed upon, was that bass, like frogs, store enough energy to survive the winter without needed to eat. Furthermore, these bass lay deep in the mud, allowing their bodies to come to the point of almost a coma-state, laying in wait until the warm water returns to revive their lifeless bodies.

Remember, this is just the thoughts of searching men, and, if anyone should have any further insight into the topic, please write me and fill me in!

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