Six Alternative Fishing Methods for the Less Skilled Fisherman

Last Updated on August 31, 2018 by Terry

I really enjoy fishing. There’s a reason it’s called fishing and not catching. It’s not easy sometimes. You have to work and learn in order to be pretty good at catching.

I believe people as a rule are motivated by competition. It could be looked at as motivation by challenge. I played baseball growing up. I played both fast pitch and slow pitch softball as an adult. I loved competition. I still do.

I’m now too cripplated to compete in normal sports but I can still fish. And, by the way, I’m pretty good at catching! All you need to do is follow my YouTube account that is linked to my web site and Facebook account. You will see some catching!

I fished throughout my life, from a child and ongoing. The anticipation of simply going is an excitement that is difficult to put into words. It’s the kid at Christmas mentality. I believe it may be called passion. If I am going tomorrow, I will have trouble sleeping tonight, too much excitement and anticipation.

There are many ways a person may attempt to catch fish. I enjoy most using a rod and reel. My favorite lures are a spinner bait, buzz bait, and of course the Red Headed Lucky 13!

But, there are many other alternative fishing methods available. I have tried a few, but still prefer the normal method. Let’s see if you have tried any of these.

Seine net

This is a small weave net about three feet tall. It is held together by two sticks, one on each end. The net is about ten to twelve feet long. One guy holds each stick and quickly walks up a stream or the shallow of a lake and it will net up any fish in between. Mostly it is used to catch bait fish for crappie fishing or running a trot line. Some even use the minnows to bait yo yos! It could cause someone to say bad words thinking of yo yos.

Trot line

Speaking of the trot line: my grandfather taught me the art of running a trot line. Can’t just anyone accomplish this correctly. It takes a certain amount of skill to run a proper line. You have to stretch the line just right. Your drops must be just off the bottom. It takes some practice to become proficient at fishing in this manner. Yes, I used to be very good at this method. I simply would rather fish with my rod and reel. Besides, to run trot lines you have to stay up too late as this method is usually done at night. I don’t do late night much anymore. Too old and cripple. (And Jeff, Jerry, and I get up about 4:30 every morning.)

Yo yos

On the other hand, this method takes no skill or practice. It should be outlawed. It’s not really fishing. The people that choose this method are notorious for setting their toys and leaving them. The law is plain; these devices must be in sight or sound of the perpetrator at all times. 

All through my life I have been fishing and run across yo yos set out with a fish or two on them, pulled up just out of the water, with dead dried out fish. Where are you losers at? Did you get drunk and forget where you set them? If you believe you are fishing by setting out a bunch of yo yos, you know nothing about fishing! And yes, if you don’t like it, I will meet you anywhere anytime to enlighten you.

Dynamite

No we didn’t. Here is another method that requires a little skill. Not the catching part but the throwing part. This method is against the law and should be. My friends and I never even tried this. Lesson to learn: If we wouldn’t do it, you shouldn’t do it. It’s that simple.

Phones

Yes, we did it. If you’ve ever seen an episode of the three stooges, this was one. Moron #1 came up with an antique phone. It was like on Green Acres at Mr. Drucker’s store. You had to turn the crank on the side to generate a little electricity for it to work. Moron #2 and #3 couldn’t wait to go try. We went to a small pond near our homes. (Up that little lane just west of Lake Nixon Road.)

The idea was that the phones would generate their charge and shock the fish into rising to the surface and we could then gather up our harvest. We had attached two electrical wires to the connections on the phones and attached the other ends to a weight that weighed about four pounds.

Since I was the best baseball player in the group, it fell on me to pitch the weight with the wires far out into the water. We then began to crank the phone. We obviously did not know what we were doing and all we accomplished was shocking ourselves instead of the fish. Moron #1 assured us that his brother had told him how to use it. I decided later in life that his brother merely didn’t like him and set him up for failure.

Anyways, after continually shocking ourselves for about 30 minutes, (He said 30 minutes!) we pitched the entire gizmo into the pond and went our separate ways. I told Moron #2 later that we needed to start avoiding the other idiot, so we would not become as stupid as he was/is. So, #s 2 and 3 stuck to the normal method of catching fish, the trusty rod and reel. And we did start avoiding the village idiot.

Truck

No, I’m not talking about running over fish. It was another method of shocking fish. My great grandpa taught this to my grandpa. It was during depression days and you had to find ways to acquire enough food for your family anyway you could. My grandpa felt it was his duty to pass on family traditions so he taught me.

We were headed to one of our favorite lakes to set out a trot line and do some normal fishing. We went down to the creek near my grandparents’ house and seined us up some bait fish. After arriving at the lake, we decided catch some fish with our fishing poles first as we didn’t need to set out the trot line until late afternoon.

We caught a few and old grand dad told me to head the boat toward the camp spot. “I have a surprise for you” he informed me. When we arrived at the truck, he pulled it down right to the water’s edge. He pulled some strange fishing tools out of the back of his truck. Let’s see, there a horseshoe stake, an old window weight about five pounds, and a roll of Romex wire. It is double wiring, the kind they wire up your house with. It has two separate wires inside the plastic insulation.

He had me pull the boat up near the truck. He handed me the weight that had the wire with both bare copper leads attached to the weight. I paddled the boat out to the end of the wire which was about sixty feet and let it sink. I then paddled back to the shore line near the truck.

He had raised the hood and attached one of the wires to the number one plug on his V8 motor. The other wire was attached to the horseshoe stake he had driven into the ground at the water’s edge. He told me to get out of the boat on dry land. He cranked up his truck and revved it up for about thirty seconds. He then shut off the key and told me to quickly push the boat off and begin netting up the fish that would surface. It was amazing! Fish were coming up all around me. Most were small so I just dip netted up the keepers. We had enough for a fish fry on the first attempt.

After several rounds of this, my grandpa pulled out his bottle, took a big sip, and announced, “As long as you have a boat and a truck, you will never go hungry”.

I think he was feeling good about passing on a huge family secret like that. He did warn me about not getting caught. “The regulators won’t take kindly to this method of fishing” he said, as he took another big swig. I believe he was speaking of the game wardens.

Within an hour I realized that I would have to go set the trot line by myself as old grand dad had had a few too many swigs from the now empty bottle.

I did set out the line and caught 14 channel catfish before the sun came up. After returning to the camp spot with the fish, we loaded up and headed for home. Grandpa taught me one more family secret just before arriving at his home, “Don’t tell your grandma about my drinking. She doesn’t understand all that goes along with a proper fishing trip. When you get married you’ll understand, the less your wife finds out about, the better off you are.”

But of course, I have no secrets from Carla. (Hey, I said that with a straight face. I’m getting better.)

Thanks for your time. Don’t forget to hit the like button and share this story with your friends. Check out the link in the navigation menu that will take you to my You Tube channel so you can watch all my fishing videos.