An international hall-of-fame recreational angler has finally confirmed the painful truth: most of Maine’s 376,449 licensed anglers won’t catch enough fish for even minimal bragging rights.
But Rip Cunningham says don’t despair – you can learn how to catch fish if you take a minute to understand how this all works.
In his latest column in Wired2Fish, the veteran sportsman explains that 10 percent of you will catch 90 percent of the fish.
Ouch for the 9 out of 10 of us who will go home after a day on the water with nothing but a tackle box and an empty pail.
But – and here’s the key – taking fishing advice from Cunningham, who splits his time between the Maine and Massachusetts coasts, is a path well-advised.
He is an International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame inductee and was owner of Salt Water Sportsman, arguably the largest-ever such publication, for more than three decades.
So here’s the deal on catching fish: Understanding the concept will save you a lot of tearing-your-hair-out moments at the end of a rod and reel.
Cunningham boils it down to the 90/10 rule, also known as a variation of the Covey Principle or Pareto Law.
“The concept is that, in business and in life, 10 percent of one’s efforts will produce 90 percent of the benefits,” he explains.
“While the actual numbers may vary, it is the general principle that matters: Of all the things we do, only a small number produces the greatest benefits. We just need to know how to concentrate on the most productive efforts.”
So, for the fishing world, this means that 10 percent of a given body of water will generally produce 90 percent of the catch.
Put another way, 10 percent of the anglers will catch 90 percent of the fish.
“We all want to be in that 10 percent,” Cunningham says. “By understanding this rule, you can transition from ‘fishing’ to deliberate ‘catching’ by focusing only on high-percentage areas.”
The moral to the story is study where the fish are hiding and you’ll be much happier.
“Fish are not randomly scattered,” Cunningham explains. “They are biological organisms driven by three primary needs: survival, energy conservation, and food.
“For survival, fish seek cover (like weed beds or reefs) to hide from predators or larger fish,” he says. “Where there is flowing water, they prefer current breaks like eddies, bridge pilings, or rock piles, where they can conserve energy and wait for food without fighting heavy currents.”
The larger fish that anglers like to target are looking for food, so they tend to congregate where bait fish are naturally funneled by tides, wind, and/or underwater topography or structure, he says.
Cunningham recommends getting a map of the area you plan to fish.
“Then look for the bottom structure, because you want to eliminate unproductive water,” he advises.
Another area to focus on is any channel edge or drop-off area.
Bigger fish tend to cruise along an edge to intercept bait fish, whether they’re heading from one protective area to another or moving with the current.
In saltwater, look for structures such as oyster beds, as these will attract a host of crabs, shrimp, and baitfish.
Reefs and rock ledges also attract bigger fish. And don’t skip areas around bridges and dams, which can also be fish magnets.
As for the best fishing holes in Maine, well, no successful fisherman wants to let out the secret, lest he or she lose all respect.
“Anglers have a number of secret ‘seasonal’ spots,” Mark Latti, director of communications for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, tells The Maine Wire. “They know that at a certain time of the year, this particular spot will produce the best, and that is where you will find them.”
In the final analysis, fishing is all about the sport, not the catch, or so they say, right?
“We are pretty lucky here in Maine,” Latti notes. “No one comes close to our trout and bass fisheries. Most people don’t even realize how fortunate we are to have world class fisheries for both, that people will travel hours to experience.”
Happy angling! Fear not!
