Efforts at Simpler Fishing

Nothing complicates a relaxing activity like fishing as does an ever-expanding array of equipment to go along with it. My fishing arsenal started with a pretty basic rod and reel combo, as I suspect most anglers do, and a small tackle box that was maybe a third full of spoons, jigs, and soft baits. That same rod, reel, and tackle served my infrequent fishing needs for about fifteen years - until a couple of years ago when I started fishing with a little more of a serious face on. I started venturing from the comfort of the camping/hiking/hunting section of the local sporting goods store into the dusty chaos of the fishing section. I discovered a lot of stuff that I hadn't known existed - a confusing assortment of fishing line varieties, some really creative and disgusting catfish doughs, enormously expensive rods and reels, and thousands upon thousands of lures. Seriously, I think there are more types of lures available for sale than there are types of fish.

Fortunately, my finances prohibit me from jumping into new hobbies with both feet, but nevertheless, my gear collection expanded slowly. It went from a small tackle box to a medium sized one. The it overflowed into a bunch of clear Plano organizers. Then a designated ultralight gear set, followed by some new organizers for light trout tackle and such. Somewhere during this collection, I realized that I was spending much less time fishing than I was gathering, organizing, and readying gear. I really dislike the hints at materialism that I often find in myself, so I began to part with the gear and look for the simplest alternatives I could find.

My first discovery was the hobo handline. I was introduced to it by a trip report from skilled woodcarver and kuksa extraordinaire Alex Yerks. If the intent is simplicity, the handline in hard to beat. It's been in use across the world for millennia, and it still used today, particularly in SE Asia, S America, and the TV show Survivor. I switched to this method exclusively for about a year, and caught more fish during that year with the handline than I had during all my previous rod & reel years combined. Mostly bream, but my wife managed to catch the largest fish of her life - a really nice redeye bass - with one on the Chestatee River. But the handline is not without it's limitations. It is prone to tangle, requires practice to cast well, and slow to retrieve without creating a rat's nest of line at your feet. For rivers where you can stand in the water, I still love the handline, but for lakes where casting a good ways is desired, it falls a little short.

Then a few months back, I discovered the Cuban Yoyo. Nearly as simple as the handline, the yoyo is really just a large line spool with one edge angled to allow an easy cast. They are very cheap to pick up on Amazon, but I can't give a whole lot of impression info on these, since I have only used one once and not caught anything with it yet. If you want to see one in action, take a look at the video below of the guy pulling in a tarpon with one from his kayak.





So my last bit of exploration into simpler fishing has been the fishing pole. I was educated by a member of an online fishing forum that there are distinct differences between a fishing rod and a fishing pole. I thought the terms interchangeable, but it is not so! Come to find out, a fishing rod is more advanced. It includes eyes for the line to run through and a reel seat for a mounted reel. A pole however, is a simpler affair. It's simply a long piece materiel, maybe wood or bamboo, with a fixed length of line attached to the end. So a fly fishing rig would fall into the rod category, I supposed, rather than the pole family. I am not sure what class a setup like Tenkara would land in. It seems like it would be a pole by definition, but the cost makes it seem blasphemous to refer to it as a simple "pole." Oh well. The pole in the picture is a collapsing Shakespeare Wonderpole that I tried out last night on the pond behind my office. It's 4' long and extends out to 12'. With 12' of line tied to the loop at the end, it gives some 20' of casting reach and can be used to fish live bait, some softs, and even flies. I was able to get a pretty good fly-fishing motion with the heavier line and but we'll test that out another day. I pulled in a couple bream with it last night, and with the thin, flexible pole, they felt like monsters coming in. It also caught a turtle because that pond if chock full of them. I know there are carp in the 24" range in that pond too. One day...

But the question is - do simpler forms of fishing necessarily mean less gear? No, not really. In fact, my quest for simple gear means I have now added a couple new pieces of fishing gear to my collection, like the yoyo. But my intent is to move to a simpler form of fishing that allows fewer tempting variations than a spinning rod and reel offers. I have managed to use and not replace a lot of the gear I had accumulated, and all of my accessories now fit back in a medium tackle box again. If I can make do with a simple pole, a few feet of line, a pack of hooks, and foraged bait, I'll call that progress in the right direction.