Outdoors: Things you don’t need on the water and the field
If you read fishing magazines, especially fly fishing magazines, you’ve seen them: photos of anglers walking around with giant nets, usually with rubber netting.
The nets are stuffed into backpacks or belts or vests.
What are those people hoping to catch, and how do they get around with those things sticking out all over the place? The nets are often big enough to accommodate a large Atlantic salmon or all the 12-inch brown trout you’ve caught in the last couple of months.
Do you really need a net like that? At some point, it’s going to get in your way, and if you fish woodland streams, or even a big rivers adorned with a goodly number of blowdowns, it is going to hang up more times than you can count. Rubber? It is said rubber nets are less likely to damage a fish’s slime coating, scales, and fins, although I think a properly used traditional net doesn’t cause much harm. Either way, does a wading angler really need a net with a 2-foot diameter?
Of course, good nets are a valuable tools. I once scooped up a very large trout for a companion, and it went right through the mesh, which hadn’t been tested by a good fish in quite a while. Somehow, my friend landed it anyway, and, boy, was I relieved. That is not likely to happen with a rubber net, but it doesn’t have to be muskie size. And, while there are many reasonably priced rubber nets out there, the supposedly really good ones run to $150 or more. Ouch.
There are other things you might not need.
In the early 1930s, ground-breaking angler Lee Wulff designed, laid out, and sewed up what is believed to be the first fishing vest. Before that, anglers carried what they needed in their pockets or in creels or haversacks slung over their shoulders. The vests allowed for more freedom of movement, greater storage capacity, and better organization.
For the next 90 years, many thousands of vests were sold. After a while, they were so well made that once you bought one, you could go 30 years or more without buying another. I did. Then, the sling pack was born, and suddenly many thousands of anglers needed sling packs. Are sling packs better than vests? Do they make you a better angler? Maybe, but I think their real purpose is to give outfitters something more to sell you. Honestly, I think they might be more useful to hunters than anglers.
Sometimes you find out you don’t need something after you buy it. I’ve done it many times. I bought a cartridge sleeve for my shotgun, thinking it would help with quick reloads. It didn’t, plus it always was in the way. One day I realized I already had six shots in the gun and had never taken that many at any one deer in many decades of hunting. I got rid of the sleeve.
Another thing I got rid of was magnum deer slugs. I had gotten the idea that if a regular slug would drop a deer, a magnum slug would drop it, I don’t know, harder maybe? After three or four shots at the range, I felt like I had been body punched many times by Muhammad Ali. I never bought another magnum slug.
Here is another thing I don’t need and no one ever did – a boron fishing rod. Graphite was rapidly replacing fiberglass and bamboo as a fishing rod material in the early 1970s, and quickly grabbed a huge share of the market. Every up to date fly angler had a graphite rod, or a few, and so did tournament bass anglers. But manufacturers needed to sell more rods, so here came boron rods. Were they better? If so, not many people believed it, because they never really caught fire. There are still boron rods being made, and I’m sure they perform well, but if you already have a good graphite rod, or a bunch, you don’t need a boron rod.
If you’ve been fishing for many years, you probably don’t need another rod at all, but the companies need to sell them. So, now, you see all kinds of rods for special applications – Euro nymphing, Tenkara, flipping, and so on. Of course, there is a huge difference between tackle used for trolling, casting, fishing in heavy cover, throwing streamers, taking on truly large species, and so on, and you need the appropriate tool for a given task, but it gets ridiculous.
I know people who own 50 or more rods – really – but who rarely use more than two or three. Rod technology is a great thing, and there is a huge difference between a really good rod and a run-of-the-mill product, but, gosh, Orvis’ top-of-the-line Helios 3 sells for $998. When I was in high school you could buy three used cars for that. Is it so much better than the Helios 2 – which cost a weighty $800 or so seven or eight years ago - I already have? Possibly, but not by enough to justify the cash layout.
I could go on with this rant, but you get the idea. I’m not against the newest fishing and hunting gear if it represents a real improvement, helps makes the adventure more enjoyable, or even if it makes you feel stylish or cutting edge. Who wouldn’t want a Beretta or Parker double gun or a finely made split bamboo rod? Remember, though, that the game is as much about you as it is about the equipment.
Here is a story that illustrates that, albeit through a different sport:
Years ago, my brother-in-law visited from Wyoming. One day several of us went to play golf. We were duffers and he was a low handicap guy, but he had to rent an incomplete set of battered old clubs. We shot scores appropriate to our abilities – or lack of - and he shot par.
So, buy what you need and the best you can afford, but remember that natural ability, experience, knowledge, practice, determination, and hard work mean as much as the rod in your hand or gun on your shoulder. Write to John Pitarresi at 60 Pearl Street, New Hartford, N.Y. 13413 or jcpitarresi41@gmail.com or call him at 315-724-5266.
Outdoors Notebook
State photo contest opens
The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation have launched their 2022 Outdoor Photo Contest.
It runs through mid-October, with winning images to be featured in digital and print campaigns. A grand prize winner will be selected along with six individual category winners. The top prize includes a $1,000 REI gift card, a four-person tent, a 2023 Empire Pass, and a $250 NY camping gift card. Individual category winners will receive a $250 REI gift card, a 2023 Empire Pass, and a $100 NY camping gift card.
The six categories are Camping Life, Seasonal Spectacular, Action & Adventure, Hiking, Views & Vistas, and Making Memories. Entries must be photographs taken at New York State-owned parklands in the two-year period between June 15, 2020 and October 15, 2022. Contest entries are accepted from June 15, 2022, 12 a.m. ET to Oct. 15, 2022, 11:59 p.m. ET. Winners will be announced by Dec. 31, 2022. Submissions and all additional information regarding contest rules, eligibility and prizes is available at nyphotochallenge.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: What anglers, hunters really need for their sport.
