I Like Fishing Videos, But…..

 

If you are an avid, or even a casual fisherman, you occasionally like to kill some time and watch fishing videos. I like them because they expose me to water and scenery that I might never experience in person.  And, with technology now available, everyone can be a videographer. Cameras that can be mounted to your body, selfie sticks, and phones all make it easy to capture “the moment”. Then, social media allows you to share these moments almost immediately. Unfortunately, there is no guidebook that someone can use to help them make a quality video. I’ll be the first to admit I’m no expert, but I know what I like and more importantly, what I don’t like. So, I’ve put together a list of areas that could act as a guide to making videos a little more pleasing to watch.

But first, if you want to see a quality video do a search for Todd Moen. He is, in my opinion, the standard for top shelf videos. Sure, he is a professional with high quality equipment but it is his technique that makes his videos easy to watch. He captures the location, the hunt, and the take better than anyone.

So, let’s take a look at ways to improve fishing videos.

Get away from mounting cameras on your body. There is nothing more aggravating then clicking on a video and seeing nothing but a close-up of a rod, reel, hands and arms. Most of the time the viewer is not shown the strike, which for me is the most exciting part of a video. Secondly, if the camera is mounted on your body there is no stability. I suffer from vertigo so watching a video where the camera moves all over isn’t any fun. So, if you are by yourself invest in a small tripod, and set-up the camera on the bank with a view of the water you are going to fish. Turn on the camera, step into the shot, and fish.

Fishing videos are about fishing not about driving or talking. I’ve watched more than a few six minute videos where the first three minutes is devoted to driving. Same with talking. Keep it short. Introduce yourself to your audience, let them know what your fishing for and what lure or fly you’re using. It’s a fishing video. Show the action.

Watch where the sun is. Filming into glare makes viewing difficult. I know this isn’t easy to control but if you can minimize the effect of glare your video will be easier to watch.

Longer fishing videos are not always better…unless there is a lot of action. Ten minute fishing videos with very little action are not as good as a three minute one with a lot of action. Edit, edit, edit.

Keep the quick cuts to a minimum. I am not a fan of quick cuts where the scene is on screen for a second or less. For some videos these cuts go on for a minute or longer. I want to see the scene not guess what I just saw.

Whatever you do when making a video remember you have an audience. Think of your audience as a customer. A customer won’t buy (watch) if they don’t like it.

Go out and fool a fish!

How To Kill An Hour

Do you have an hour of free time? If you do, find a pond near your home and rig up a small panfish fly or a worm and bobber. Then, spend that hour catching some gems.

This hour will be fun not because you caught something huge, but because you were able to steal an hour on the water. That time will recharge your batteries. You may not catch a monster but that won’t matter. In fact, save trying to catch something big for another time. What will happen is you will have a lot of fun. But if you do catch something, more than likely it will be a nicely colored bluegill or sunfish. And, with an ultralight rod you will be surprised how much fight they have.

This is the darkest bluegill I have ever caught. It couldn't resist a black popper.

Another panfish fooled by a popper. Find an hour, find some fun!

So, if you want some quick fun, find that hour, and find that pond.

Go out and fool a fish!

Summer

Summer is here. Low water, temperatures reaching the 90’s and bluebird skies means hitting the rivers early. Forget the waders, it’s time to get wet. And, if you are targeting bass, load up on topwater poppers.

Since the weather turned hot in late June I haven’t had a subsurface bite. It doesn’t matter the size or color of the streamer, the bass don’t want it. But, the topwater action is making up for it. Tossing a popper up against the bank or next to a rock has produced some explosive takes. Not much beats having a smallie hammer a popper. I believe that the smaller sized bass think they’re two pounders, they fight that hard. Even the rock bass are getting into the action.

My last outing was unusual. Every one of the six takes I had was immediately after the popper hit the water. One was so fast it took me by surprise and I whiffed the hookset. Next time I’ll be ready.

Go out and fool a fish!

Even the small ones fight as though they are a 2 pounder.

Rock bass want their meal too.

Every once in awhile you rewarded with a prize. This 3 pounder smashed a popper.

The Perfect Morning

Driving to the river early yesterday morning I witnessed a fantastic sunrise. The combination of high cloud cover and the rising sun turned the sky to various shades of pink and blue that stretched for miles. It was one of those times where a photo could never capture what the eye is seeing. Maybe this perfect sunrise would carry over to a perfect morning on the water. For a couple of hours, it did.

Early mornings in the summer is a favorite time of mine to hit the water. Add warm, humid conditions along with some cloud cover and I can’t wait to throw a popper. I seem to have my best days under these conditions. With all this going for me I walked into the river with confidence. The third cast of the day reinforced that confidence. A smallie hit the popper, and little did I know but this first fish would the smallest of the day.

I only fished about a 150 yard stretch of river. Fishing the main flow I couldn’t buy a bite. But just off the current in slower water the fish were aggressive. Each hookup produced a bigger smallie than the previous catch. I laughingly thought that if I caught 10 the last one would be a state record. But then I hooked one that made we wonder if I was on to something.

There is a section of the river that is about 30 yards wide. I can wade down the middle and hit both banks. One side has a fast flow, the other side is very slow. Starting out, I did pick up a smallie on the bank on the faster side. Moving downstream, I placed the popper right against the bank on the slow side. I could see the bottom of the river and it was maybe 6” deep. A couple of strips moved it away from the bank into slightly deeper water. I saw a flash and then it was like a toilet flushed. A smallie inhaled the popper and about a gallon of water. I set the hook and the fish wasted no time going airborne. To be brutally honest, when it did jump, I had a holy $&#t moment. It was a tank. This fish ended up being the hardest fighting smallie I had ever hooked, and had to be one my top three smallies in terms of size. After landing it, taking a quick photo, and then releasing it I took a minute to smile. Every fisherman that has had a similar experience knows that feeling just doesn’t get any better.

Hardest fighting smallmouth I've caught.

Unfortunately, the sun broke through the clouds, and just that fast, the bite was over. But it was a perfect morning.

Go out and fool a fish!

Sometimes It’s Not About The Fish

I know it sounds like a cliché, but sometimes it’s not about the fish, especially this time of the year. Being an early riser, late spring / early summer is my favorite time of the year. First light is before 5:30AM. Throw in a warm morning, and it’s a perfect time to hit the water. As the pictures show, you can’t beat being alone on water at that time of the day.

A great morning to be on the water.

There’s a local pond that I like to fish at least once a year. I use the pond to kill a couple of hours, practice casting and maybe catch a fish or two. Sunfish, largemouth bass, and catfish populate the water. A light fly rod or ultralight spinning outfit is all that is needed. When fishing the pond I take my 4wt and use a popper. After six months of using an 8wt for steelhead, the 4wt is a welcome change.

This week I hit the pond at the right time. It gets pressure in normal times but because of the lockdown even more fishermen were showing up. Now, Ohio has opened up, and some of the added pressure is coming down. The parking lot was empty when I showed up at 6:00AM. The water was a mirror except for a few active geese. Nothing beats casting a popper on a glass surface.

 Smooth as glass.

I started with a large popper, hoping a bass would key on it. But, anyone who has fished ponds knows that sunfish can be a nuisance. They always seem to be around the popper no matter where it lands. If it’s a larger popper, all the sunfish seem to be able to do is bump it. And, that’s what they were doing.

Meanwhile, the bass were having nothing to do with the large sized popper. So I switched to a smaller size, one that even the sunfish could inhale. Sure enough, a sunnie hit the popper and inhaled it. Several casts later a large wake followed the popper and a nice size bass hit it. It went deep into the weeds and hung me up. I finally managed to free the fly but the fish got off. After that I managed to land a couple of sunnies, but I reminded myself that sometimes it’s not about the fish.

 Could have been a 20" bass or a 5" sunnie. It just didn't matter.

Find yourself a warm summer morning and hit a local pond. You’ll be glad you did.

Go out and fool a fish!

Stinko de Mayo

It certainly didn’t feel like May 5 this morning in northeast Ohio. The temperature at the river read 30°. It felt more like February. But, because of schedules and timing I was going to hit the river today for one last crack at some chrome before saying Adios for the year. In fact, I downsized my rig, putting the 8wt away, and knocking the cobwebs off the 6wt. My thinking was that I may come across a lake-run smallie, and the 6wt would be perfect. And, if I hook a dropback, the 6wt could handle the fight.

I wish I could have tested my thinking but that would have required fighting a fish. I had one strike while watching a juvenile eagle pick something off the bank downstream, and was late with the hookset. If I had a dollar for every strike I had while distracted I’d have more than a few bucks in my pocket.

Overkill? Maybe. Certainly felt cold this morning.

So, let’s hope for warmer temperatures and a margarita or two. If not, it’ll feel more like Stinko de Mayo.

Go out and fool a fish!

Finally

For awhile I thought I forgot how to catch a fish. That’s tough to say, especially during peak steelhead season. Social media fishing groups are filled with reports of 10+ steelhead catches almost the norm. And I make five trips in February and March to Lake Erie tributaries and not even a bump. That’s some bad juju!

Wrong flies…wrong time…wrong stretch of water…wrong day. It was all wrong. The strange thing was I fished good water that had always been productive. And, on the days I was on the water I wasn’t seeing anybody else catch chrome. There would be five or six fishermen sharing water, all coming up empty. Was it me? Was I spreading my bad juju to them? It was getting so bad that I wanted to go up to them and apologize, explaining they won’t be catching anything today. But for my own safety, and not wanting to spoil their day before it began, I just went about my business…of not catching a fish.

Something had to change. I went fishing yesterday and decided to go as far south as I can go on the Chagrin River. Maybe get away from the crowds and find some unpressured water. I had nothing to lose. If I wasn’t hooking up on popular stretches of water I’d find some place without footprints in the mud. I found the spot and began to swing flies in pools and riffles. For a little over two hours I threw every color woolly bugger in my fly box without a bump. Was it going to be another long ride home smelling of skunk?

Absolutely not. Running out of water I had a small riffle left to fish. Only having about 10’ of fly line and the leader on the water I got a tug. I set the hook and it felt great. A quick fight ended with some chrome in the net. How ironic. The shortest cast of the day catches the fish. Not the biggest steelhead I’ve caught but at that time it was a giant.

After a long drought getting this fish in the net felt great.

 

After I released it I said to myself “that wasn’t a fish, that was a smile. I’m back!

Go out and fool a fish!

The Pause That Refreshes

Can't believe January passed me by. I took the month off from chasing chrome. Not by design, it just happened. Actually, I spent a lot of time beginning to teach myself Spanish. This is to correct a mistake I made in high school a long, long time ago. I chose French as a freshman and that ended up a bust.

I also recharged my batteries. Just stepping away from the water for this short period made me appreciate even more the time that I do get to spend on one of the greatest hobbies man has ever created.

I'm ready to catch some chrome.

With that said, the calendar change to February and I’m ready to catch some fish, if there’s any left. From the reports I’ve seen there have been many great catch days out there. As a “pescador” I want some of that.

Go out and catch a fish!
Sal y engana a un pez!