Combat-Fishing

Shoulder-to-shoulder fishing is common when the bite is on and this fishing technique ensures lines don't get tangled around each other.

Timothy Kusherets

It is possible to fish shoulder-to-shoulder and get fish on the bite without tangling up other lines; you just have to know what to do. The river current in the photograph is flowing from the left to the right. To fish like this “all” these anglers must cooperate. In situations like this it’s the first angler downstream who makes the first cast. As soon as his terminal gear hits the water the next angler to the left makes the next cast, and so it goes until all casts have finished.

It’s entirely possible to fish the exact same area of water that is being pressured by many anglers and get fish on the hook. In many cases it’s not about the scent or bait, rather, how it’s being presented to fish that keeps them off the bite. I’ve seen fish bite into offerings that were merely “cast” in a different direction, which can create a different drifting profile. It may sound too simple to be true, but it does work and many anglers have seen it. If all the predominant casts are between the ten and eleven o’clock positions at twenty-yards out then cast at the twelve o’clock position at the same distance. Casting in this way shortens the amount of optimal drift upriver, but lengthens it downriver where pressured fish could easily be holding. If, at the end of the drift, your offering is the only one fish see then they’ll strike at it. It’s that simple. Changing up the direction, distance, and depth of a cast can make all the difference in the world.

 

© Timothy Kusherets 2008/09