COLUMN
NEWELL’S NOTES
ROB
NEWELL
I
18
Bass Fishing Skills Are Universal
once made a bold claim in front of a group of fishermen at
a sport show: “Bass anglers are the best anglers.”
Some immediately took exception to my assertion.
Those who stalk tarpon on a fly chuckled. My friend who
wades streams to drift “nymphs” in the current cringed. And
my walleye buddy rolled his eyes.
They all contend that the talent needed to land their quar-
ry is far more “refined” than “clunking a bass over the head
with a jig.”
OK, I get it. Perhaps catching a 12-inch bass on a 1-ounce
jig might seem a bit of overkill, but my point was more that the
skill set and knowledge required to catch freshwater bass on
a consistent basis is more comprehensive than what is need-
ed to catch other species of fish. I would even add that once
someone becomes a proficient bass angler, he or she then
possesses the basic skills needed to pursue any fish on earth.
I think most hard-core tournament bass anglers would be
stunned to see just how far their bass fishing knowledge goes
when pursuing other species of fish outside the bass realm.
Many years ago, when I set out to learn about bass fishing
– and only bass fishing – I had no idea those experiences
would serve me so well with so many other types of fishing.
Whether it was going to Lanier to jig a spoon or to Eufaula
to crank deep ledges or up into rocky rivers for shoal bass or
over to Lake Murray for a crash course on floating worms or
even all the way up to St. Clair to drag tubes for smallmouths
– every one of those techniques has derivatives that I use to
this very day, whether I’m sneaking up on redfish on a tidal
flat or offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
A friend who accompanied me on many of those bass
learning experiences back in the day has since traveled the
world, pursuing all kinds of fish, including barramundi, peacock
bass, snakeheads and even the mighty Mekong giant catfish.
Every time he returns from overseas, he tells me the tech-
niques he used to catch the exotics were “just like” some bass
fishing techniques we learned years ago.
Given all the different bass species and all the varying
waterways they live in, bass fishing is the ultimate training
ground for fishing in general. Earn good grades in bass fishing
and they count as prerequisites to pursuing many other
species of fish. Here is an abbreviated list of the attributes bass
fishing demands, which are universal when targeting other
species of fish.
Casting accuracy – Casting accuracy is a required disci-
pline to be a good bass angler. Yes, there are times bass can
be caught in open water where you can lob a cast in a general
area, but more often than not getting a bite requires pinpoint
accuracy, especially around cover.
Bass anglers are well-versed in casting, pitching, skipping,
sidearm loop casting or whatever it takes to make perfect
presentations around all sorts of cover. This qualifies as an
automatic advantage when pursuing other game fish in other
environments.
Familiarity with a variety of tackle – A versatile bass
angler knows how to use every grade of tackle between a spin-
ning rod with 6-pound test to a 7-foot, 6-inch, heavy-action flip-
ping stick with 60-pound-test braid. If you’re comfortable with
this range of tackle, it doesn’t matter if someone hands you an
FLWFISHING.COM I APRIL 2018