EDITOR’S NOTE
publisher
Irwin L. Jacobs
editor-in-Chief
Curtis Niedermier
production Manager/
Graphic Designer
Michelle Dowling
WHAT STAGE ARE YOU?
I
editor emeritus
Colin Moore
Field editors
Rob Newell & Matt Williams
recently listened to an interesting podcast with legendary angler, TV show
host and lure designer Larry Dahlberg. Even if you don’t know who Dahlberg
is, you’ve probably used a bait that he designed: the River2Sea Whopper
Plopper. If you haven’t used one, what the heck? Stop reading and go spend
some money.
In any case, on the podcast, Dahlberg talked about the various stages of fish-
ing that anglers go through as they learn and develop their skills. I don’t know if
he was the first to identify the stages; I’ve heard them described before. I just
know that his description got me thinking about my own progression.
Here they are: Stage 1 – The angler tries to catch a fish … any fish. Stage 2 –
The angler tries to catch a lot of fish. Stage 3 – The angler tries to catch big fish.
Stage 4 – The angler pursues a particular discipline or technique and tries to
catch fish the way he wants to catch them (on topwater, with a fly rod, in remote
locations, with big swimbaits, etc.) in order to fulfill a specific desire or meet a
challenge.
Dahlberg’s outline applies to general anglers who fish for multiple species, but
it also applies to bass fishing specialists, with the idea being that the skills learned
in each stage set up the subsequent stage.
Think about your progression as an angler. Did it follow a similar course? For
a lot of you, I’m sure it