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The
Internet has Changed the Way We Fish Forever!
By John Blair
It's a
3+ hour drive and I was uncertain about the “fishability”
of the river after recent rains. I got up at 3:00AM and checked
the online weather data. Radar showed that the front from
the evening before had passed through and no more was forecast.
Then I checked water levels, flow rates, and temperature.
Unfortunately they don’t monitor the river I was targeting
so I had to interpolate between data from a river a little
north and another a little south of where I wanted to go.
Both had risen marginally, 10-15%. I made the value judgment
to go anyway and the river was in good shape. My how the Internet
has changed the way we fish! In fact, if you are not actively
using the Internet, you are seriously missing an opportunity
to improve your fishing knowledge and success.
Information
- In the past we relied on a network of friends who usually
could only provide spotty reports, or newspapers and periodicals
whose information was often a week old, or phone calls to
local sporting goods stores that sometimes had objectives
other than just providing timely information. Most of us even
had to “interpret” information provided by our
friends – after all, fishermen are notorious at “stretching”
the truth!
In just
a few short years, the phenomenal growth in the amount and
quality of information available to us almost on a real-time
basis via the Internet has forever changed the way we will
fish. How many times in the past did we arrive at a favorite
fishing spot only to find the water running chocolate brown
and completely blown out? – Not anymore! Now we can
get accurate and up to date information from an increasing
variety of sources. Having access to great information, the
ability to purchase products and services from around the
world, and with the click of a mouse, obtain basic fishing
related research and reference information has certainly increased
my fishing enjoyment and knowledge. Here is a small list of
some of the information that I now routinely rely upon for
my fishing.
Basic
Weather, Travel, and River Conditions –
Today there are hundreds of places to get up to date weather
information; Weather.com
, http://www.weather.com, is one example.
Following
are just two of the national sites that provide water levels,
flow rates, and temperature on thousands of rivers across
the country:
Here is
an example of a 2 week river-level plot for a specific river.
You can see here that there have been three fairly significant
rains during this period. Over time you will learn at what
levels each river is fishable and when it is blown out.
There
are many more websites available that offer additional data
on rivers and ocean conditions in your area. This site,
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/sites_uswest.html is a listing
of tide predictions at various points along the whole west
coast. A search engine query will give you lots of additional
data..
Most states
provide information on road conditions. Check for your state’s
Department of Transportation, (DOT), website. Here is an example
for California,
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi. I have found this
particularly useful as some of the roads I travel are subject
to mudslides, black ice, and other hazards.
Fishing
Reports, Regulations, and Education –
Numerous websites and bulletin boards have been launched in
the past few years. Today you can find fishing reports that
are only hours old and some guys are even posting while they
are still on the water using their mobile phones connected
to email and the Internet. Some people point their webcams
at rivers to show real time conditions. You can learn a life-time’s
worth of fishing tips and education with a click of your mouse.
Here are examples of just a few sites that are focused on
steelhead and salmon fishing in the PNW:
-
Piscatorial
Pursuits, - a site hosted by a full time fishing
guide that focuses primarily on Washington fishing
-
Steelheader.net,
- another site focusing on salmon and steelhead fishing
in the PNW
- Ifish.net,
- a site that focuses primarily on Oregon fishing
- Anglernet.net,
- focuses primarily on California fishing
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Fishing is traditionally a solitary sport and these boards
provide a wonderful sense of community for their members and
ways to contribute to our sport, in addition to reports and
technical information. Further they help fulfill the argument
that we all need to do whatever we can to sustain our sport.
The sad fact is that fishing as a sport is declining in numbers.
Between 1998 and 2002 the number of people fishing in the
US has declined by 10 percent. Information contributed on
sites like these can help fishermen be more successful and
hopefully add to our ranks.
I believe
that the accuracy of information in general has increased
because of these boards. If one person follows another post
with a conflicting report, there is often additional information
proffered by other members to support the more accurate report.
The only downside is that most of these sites are “open”
and thus there is a fair bit of chatter/banter in addition
to the excellent information.
I think
a word of caution is in order about the availability of so
much information. Some think that merely reporting that they
had a successful day of fishing on a specific river will result
in a tremendous number of fishermen at the same location on
the following day. The term “zipperlip” has come
into vogue to indicate that many are not willing to share
their information. While I can sympathize to some degree when
referring to very small fisheries, the truth is there really
aren’t very many secrets when it comes to fishing for
steelhead and salmon. Im certain that every special “spot”
that you consider to be your own secret fishing location is
known by more people than you can imagine. I think the risk
of having too many people come to your favorite fishing location
is far outweighed by the benefit of having more people be
successful and becoming lifelong participants in our sport.
Regulations
- Every state publishes its fishing rules and regulations
at its DFW website. Some states even let you purchase your
fishing license online. Here are a few examples:
- California
- http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/fishregs.html
- Oregon
- http://www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/InfoCntrFish/InfoCntrFish.html
- Washington
- http://wdfw.wa.gov/
- Idaho
- http://www2.state.id.us/fishgame/fishgame.html
- British
Columbia - http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/recreational.html
In many areas, fishing regulations are subject to change on
short notice due to escapement numbers, low flow conditions,
and other factors. It is always good to check your DFW site
for recent regulation changes before you go fishing.
Education - There is a wealth of
information about our fisheries, conservation, and pure research
that is readily available. Numerous sites provide fish passage
statistics, maps, and catch data. Key in the word “steelhead”
to a popular search engine and you will get more than a half
a million references. Included in those links are research
reports from universities, data from conservation groups,
commercial references, and more. Learning how to fish is a
lifelong experience and in addition to spending time on the
water, you can learn much by spending time in front of your
computer. Finally, the Internet has provided an economical
way to distribute information provided by many worthy conservation
and recovery & restoration groups that heretofore was
prohibitive.
Product
Information, Reviews, and Online Stores –
Not long ago we relied completely on our local tackle shops
or the mail-order catalogues provided by Cabela’s, Orvis,
and a few others to provide us with all of our fishing gear
and information about it. No longer – I can tell you
from personal experience as a fishing tackle manufacturer,
that you can obtain tackle from anywhere in the world. Our
company has sold its products online to fishermen throughout
the US, Canada, and even places as far away as Chile, Norway,
and Spain. Fishermen now have access to products from all
around the world. There are thousands of specialty tackle
makers who now routinely sell their products over the Internet.
Of course Salmon,
Trout, & Steelheader Magazine, lets you subscribe
and purchase most of its publications online at http://wwwamatobooks.com,
and finally, through Ebay,
http://www.ebay.com, we even have an online version of the
garage sale where you can buy and sell both new and used equipment.
A special
word about your local tackle store - I firmly believe that
these small businessmen are as endangered as our anadromous
fishery. I always check with my local store to see if they
have the equipment I am searching for, before buying it online.
These people are a key component in the fabric of our sport,
and we, as consumers and sports enthusiasts, should support
them.
About
a year ago I was browsing through my local tackle store and
came upon a “new” fluorocarbon fishing line promising
to be invisible under water, so I purchased it. Well sure
enough on my very next fishing trip I caught more fish than
usual however I also had an extraordinary number of break-offs.
I went home that night and after about ten minutes’
Internet research found that many other fishermen had experienced
the same thing with this line resulting from its inconsistent
quality. Within two or three months the product was taken
off the market. The Internet’s instant communication
has improved the whole market system.
Selecting Guides and Accommodations
– Many fishing guides have created websites to support
their businesses. They are an excellent source of information
when you are deciding where, when, and with whom to fish.
In many cases you can book your guide and motel online. For
the guides, the Internet gives them a way to economically
promote their services and reach a wider audience than their
word-of-mouth networks of the past. And fishermen now have
many more choices and more information when choosing a guide.
The Future? - I wouldn’t be
surprised if the next step will be for us all to get wireless
devices and give real-time reports from the river. We will
create a continuous electronic network with other fishermen,
support, and emergency services. GPS and other electronic
gear will be directly connected to vast online databases to
give us real time access to information. We will get cameras
and upload for our “brag shots” as the fish are
caught and released. We could even get mini cameras and attach
them to our rod tips and stream video to the Internet. Pretty
soon we'll be so wired we would get a shock if we got wet!!
It’s
just a few days before the close of steelhead season on my
favorite river and Im planning one last trip. Long range forecasts
predicted a cold weather front to be coming through and sure
enough it’s started. The short term forecast calls for
rain on Wednesday through late Thursday nite with clearing
on Friday. Im leaving three days from now at midnight to drive
6-7 hours so that I can be on the river just after sunrise.
And I’m already checking the Internet radar. So the
Internet now serves another purpose; it provides a diversion
for those sleepless nights created by the anticipation of
the upcoming fishing trip!
*John
Blair is and avid fisherman, a Silicon Valley technology consultant,
and founder of Fish Sponge,
http://www.fishsponge.com, a specialty tackle manufacturer
that specifically targets salmon and steelhead. He can be
reached via email at jb@fishsponge.com. |
