" Elements Of Stealth "
- billy bobba
- TKF 1000 Club
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" Elements Of Stealth "
This is a brief piece I posted on Facebook - thought I would share it here as well.
“ ELEMENTS OF STEALTH ”
While stalking and sight casting Redfish on our Texas bay flats over the last 35 years, I have spent a good bit of time practicing, refining, and reflecting upon the skills necessary to find, approach, and catch skittish fish in shallow water. These are basic stalking skills, but such time honed skills are often given second billing to marketable products (e.g.: boats, rods, lures, etc. ) and thus get ignored. You won't find a bag of “stealth” on any shelf at Academy.
These skill sets can be categorized into what I call the four “Elements of Stealth” :
SILENCE :
One's chosen method of accessing shallow water flats has the largest impact upon the noise level you create. Even though some access methods are more inherently quiet than others, such as wading, poling, or kayaking, I've seen anglers using those methods, but not paying attention to the amount of noise they were creating, resulting in a reduction of their fishing opportunities.
CONCEALMENT :
This refers to being visually discrete and seeing the fish before they see you. Though there is a lot of emphasis with sight casters on getting some height to see fish better or farther out, this can also work against you. Even though I can stand in my kayak, I prefer to approach fish while sitting. It's amazing how close you can get, and how much more time you have to position and cast, when keeping a low profile and keeping your movements to a minimum.
PACE :
This refers to the rate of speed one uses to move through an area while searching for fish, and to the speed one uses to approach them once they are seen. One must adapt your speed of movement to the fish behavior on a given day, to how they are feeding and to how they are moving. This can often change several times during the course of a day. Examples of this variable fish behavior are groups of fairly stationary tailing pods versus fast moving fish feeding quickly along shorelines. Or - fish providing easily seen surface clues versus fish that are laying up motionless in deep pot holes.
FOCUS :
This element refers to the level of awareness and type of attitude required to see fish and then to catch them. It's easy to slip off into quasi-religious,”Zen” territory when discussing this element, because mental “focus” is difficult to put into words. One of the best descriptions is something I read about concerning the attitude required for one to be successful at Judo. It was likened to the manner in which a cat sits while hunting near a mouse hole – being both relaxed and attentive at the same time. As an angler you have to relax your senses enough to take in visual and sound clues across the entire flat, while at the same time concentrating your attention enough to pick up these clues at a micro scale.
Of course there are many skills involved in catching fish other than stealth, such as casting accuracy, lure selection, knot tying, etc. - but first and foremost, and before these other skills can even be utilized, you must employ stealth to successfully search for, find and approach the fish.
“ ELEMENTS OF STEALTH ”
While stalking and sight casting Redfish on our Texas bay flats over the last 35 years, I have spent a good bit of time practicing, refining, and reflecting upon the skills necessary to find, approach, and catch skittish fish in shallow water. These are basic stalking skills, but such time honed skills are often given second billing to marketable products (e.g.: boats, rods, lures, etc. ) and thus get ignored. You won't find a bag of “stealth” on any shelf at Academy.
These skill sets can be categorized into what I call the four “Elements of Stealth” :
SILENCE :
One's chosen method of accessing shallow water flats has the largest impact upon the noise level you create. Even though some access methods are more inherently quiet than others, such as wading, poling, or kayaking, I've seen anglers using those methods, but not paying attention to the amount of noise they were creating, resulting in a reduction of their fishing opportunities.
CONCEALMENT :
This refers to being visually discrete and seeing the fish before they see you. Though there is a lot of emphasis with sight casters on getting some height to see fish better or farther out, this can also work against you. Even though I can stand in my kayak, I prefer to approach fish while sitting. It's amazing how close you can get, and how much more time you have to position and cast, when keeping a low profile and keeping your movements to a minimum.
PACE :
This refers to the rate of speed one uses to move through an area while searching for fish, and to the speed one uses to approach them once they are seen. One must adapt your speed of movement to the fish behavior on a given day, to how they are feeding and to how they are moving. This can often change several times during the course of a day. Examples of this variable fish behavior are groups of fairly stationary tailing pods versus fast moving fish feeding quickly along shorelines. Or - fish providing easily seen surface clues versus fish that are laying up motionless in deep pot holes.
FOCUS :
This element refers to the level of awareness and type of attitude required to see fish and then to catch them. It's easy to slip off into quasi-religious,”Zen” territory when discussing this element, because mental “focus” is difficult to put into words. One of the best descriptions is something I read about concerning the attitude required for one to be successful at Judo. It was likened to the manner in which a cat sits while hunting near a mouse hole – being both relaxed and attentive at the same time. As an angler you have to relax your senses enough to take in visual and sound clues across the entire flat, while at the same time concentrating your attention enough to pick up these clues at a micro scale.
Of course there are many skills involved in catching fish other than stealth, such as casting accuracy, lure selection, knot tying, etc. - but first and foremost, and before these other skills can even be utilized, you must employ stealth to successfully search for, find and approach the fish.
- spektakler
- Posts: 463
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- Location: upper gulf coast
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
well said, upmost importance.
- whatwake
- TKF 1000 Club
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- Location: The Woodlands Cobra FnD, OK Speck
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
So true and I try to practice this. I love it when I've made the perfect approach and the I trip on something or I accidentally bang the kayak.
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
Good, good, good, information. My greatest sin might be pace, rocking along and blundering into fish. But I've committed all of the above infractions. When I get it right, that's those moments that you remember. Thanks for sharing
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
I regularly violate 3 of the four listed ingredients ...Awesome post...G
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
It is so much fun to realize that you have everything you need to sneak up on critters foraging in the skinniest of quiet water anytime you choose. You feel you can darn near reach down and pet them some days...but be prepared for a drenching if you try
- 1texasaggie
- Posts: 298
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:27 pm
- Location: College Station, Texas
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
Great post, but I've often found the secret to finding redfish is to be as noisy as possible, and see what jumps out. Then stop and fish when you actually see activity.Of course there are many skills involved in catching fish other than stealth, such as casting accuracy, lure selection, knot tying, etc. - but first and foremost, and before these other skills can even be utilized, you must employ stealth to successfully search for, find and approach the fish.
Don't get me wrong, depending on tide and wind, if an area looks really fishy (nervous bait, bird activity, tailing, etc.), I'll then stealth up and give it a try.
I'm not as obnoxious as they are in LA and don't use my boat motor to see what spooks, but I typically paddle over potentially fishy areas and where there's one red, there's often many more.
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
Talking loudly to your buddy is louder under water than you'd think.
And sudden, sweeping motion of casting if you throw sweeping overhand casts. And just like hunting, brightly colored or really dark clothing makes your movement more pronounced.
And sudden, sweeping motion of casting if you throw sweeping overhand casts. And just like hunting, brightly colored or really dark clothing makes your movement more pronounced.
- M T Stringer
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- Location: Coastal Bend HOW and Team Marsh Lizards
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
When fishing the marsh, I love the pursuit...90% stalking, 10% casting. Flats, or open water doesn't require as much IMO, but the marshes sure do, especially if tide is low and they are spooky.
We had been seeing/catching fish steadily until he arrived...
He was a special kind of stupid.
LOL, what can you do...
Reminds me of a time I was fishing the LSKS with 5moreminutes, when all of a sudden Inbred Jed's DIY Guide Svc. proceeded to roostertail through the mud to get into a back marsh lake we were in. While they were trying to fish, he proclaimed (loud enough for us to hear from 150 yards away) "Actually, it's those kayakers that scare the fish off more than this here boat...see, they are closer to the water than us so their sound is louder and that's why they aren't catching any fish right now."Yaklash wrote:Talking loudly to your buddy is louder under water than you'd think.
We had been seeing/catching fish steadily until he arrived...
He was a special kind of stupid.
LOL, what can you do...
Re: " Elements Of Stealth "
That's a valid point. I've "burned" shorelines in my kayak looking for fish. There isn't any point to spend all morning creeping along a shoreline if there isn't any there to begin with.1texasaggie wrote:Great post, but I've often found the secret to finding redfish is to be as noisy as possible, and see what jumps out. Then stop and fish when you actually see activity.Of course there are many skills involved in catching fish other than stealth, such as casting accuracy, lure selection, knot tying, etc. - but first and foremost, and before these other skills can even be utilized, you must employ stealth to successfully search for, find and approach the fish.
Don't get me wrong, depending on tide and wind, if an area looks really fishy (nervous bait, bird activity, tailing, etc.), I'll then stealth up and give it a try.
I'm not as obnoxious as they are in LA and don't use my boat motor to see what spooks, but I typically paddle over potentially fishy areas and where there's one red, there's often many more.