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Can Dead Fishermen Still Speak?

Unequivocally, yes. I know this because they speak to me on a regular basis from the books that line my shelves. Books by men who have taken their place in history and are considered legends of the sport, and men who have simply had the good fortune to learn to catch a few fish and get their stories published by a friendly editor or a lazy publisher who ran short of content in his publication. Either way, they got on paper and I’ve had the pleasure to read about their experiences.

One of my favorite books is The Golden Age Of Fly Fishing. This book is a compilation of stories from The Sportsman, a magazine published between the two World Wars, that carried stories of hunters and fishermen alike. The writers were men that waded streams that teemed with trout in the 20’s and 30’s, and were among the first in our sport to use dry flies in this country, but were extremely accomplished at fishing wets. They fished with lines and leaders that today are seen only in private collections and museum displays dedicated to fly-fishing, and with flies that were brand new creations to them, but are classics and ‘go to flies’ for us today. Many of them tied flies streamside using only their fingers for a vise, just so they could ‘match the hatch’ as closely as possible, and with the least amount of baggage in their vests. They were classified as artists by some , thinkers by others, and damned fools by those who never sought an elusive five pound browns trout with a 5 weight on a hot August afternoon. Whatever moniker they carried, we know them best as fly-fishermen with the same passion for adventure that stirs our spirits today.

While paging through this volume tonight, I re-read a story by the late John Alden Knight Jr. titled Ocean Tides and Freshwater Fish. In this article Knight describes his awakening to the effects of the sun and moon on freshwater fisheries, and his lengthy research of he subject. He ultimately published the Solunar Tables based on this research.

We’ve known about this theory for some time, and many fisherman apply these tables to the timing of their fishing trips. The Solunar Tables have been available for purchase since 1936, and many fishing publications actually print them today on a monthly basis. The most notable to me is in the pages of In Fisherman magazine published by Al Linder. The tables are straightforward and easily adjusted for your given time zone. I can say with confidence that they work most of the time, but I could never remember where I laid them when I needed to refer to them. That is, until I met Old Bill.

I met Old Bill while spending a weekend fishing and camping at Pymatuning Reservoir in 1975. I was at my campsite when Bill sauntered by just to ‘jaw about the walleye fishing. I explained that I was not catching many fish, that the motor on my rental boat gave me fits all day, and I left my Solunar Tables at home and couldn’t tell when the best time to fish was. It was not a good trip for me to that point. Bill explained that he hated to cook, and that if I would cook his food along with mine, he would take me on his boat and teach me to catch walleye without the Solunar Tables. I quickly agreed and took the rental boat back to the livery and made us some dinner which he ate like a starved man.

The next morning he told me to just make coffee, and that we would eat breakfast later. I was hungry, but didn’t argue. We fished from 5:30 a.m. until 8:00 when the fish just turned off. He said it was time to eat, so in we went and had breakfast of scrambled eggs and fresh caught walleye. Bill said we’d be going out for the big ones around 2:00, and asked if I noticed what was going on when the fish stopped biting that morning. I said I had no clue what he was talking about, and he said he would explain in the afternoon.

At around 1:00 we walked around the heavily wooded campgrounds and he made me aware of what was happening in nature at that moment, and for the next half hour I was shown nature coming alive. Slowly the squirrels started moving in the trees and the birds began singing. You could hear the ducks and geese on the lake and see the seagulls diving for surface fish. It was time to get in the boat and go fishing, and for the next hour we caught some of the biggest walleye I had ever caught. For the second time that day we ate walleye cooked over an open fire.

Over dinner, Bill explained that I didn’t need to look at any fancy tables from a book for good fishing times because nature’s book was open for me all day long. If I would notice when the birds and land animals were quiet, I could be sure that the fishing was going to be slow, and when they became active again, the fishing would pick up. It worked then, and still works today. It was so simple I just couldn’t see it.

Bill is long gone along with John Knight, but they continue to speak to me when I notice the fishing slowing down. I look to nature for the reason, and she always provides the answers. I have shared this observation with dozens of fishermen over the years, and they too can hear the voices of fishermen who have gone before us. (I still peek at the Tables)

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