Ronnie Garrison - The Everything Fishing Book: Grab Your Tackle Box and Get Hooked on Americas Favorite Outdoor Sport

The
EVERYTHING
Fishing Book

Dear Reader:

Some of my earliest memories are following my mother and grandmother to ponds to fish with cane poles for anything that would bite. We would use worms we dug or mealworms we raised. Ive spent untold happy hours since then fishing and its an extremely important part of my life.

One day fishing in the tailwaters of a pond I caught a bass on my cane pole. Ill never forget the excitement as that ten-inch bass jumped. I was hooked better than the fish. In 1974 I joined a bass club and four years later joined a second one, and still fish club tournaments every month with them.

My fishing travels have included catching cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Park, flounder in Maryland, grouper off the coast of Florida, croaker in the Chesapeake Bay, pollock and rainbow trout in Maine and every kind of fish that swims in fresh water in my home state of Georgia. Every fish I have ever caught was a thrill, and I expect all future fish to be the same.

I hope sharing in this book some of the things Ive learned over the years will help you enjoy fishing as much as I do.

THE
EVERYTHING
FISHING
BOOK

Grab your tackle box and get hooked
on Americas favorite outdoor sport

Ronnie Garrison

To the memory of my mother, Vera Dunaway Garrison,and her brothers Mayhu, Adron, J. D., and Rogerwho all inspired my love of fishing

Copyright 2003, F+W Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-58062-865-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-58062-865-5
eISBN 13: 978-1-44052-249-9
Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Garrison, Ronnie.
The everything fishing book / Ronnie Garrison.
p. cm. (An Everything series book)
ISBN 1-58062-865-6
1. Fishing. I. Title. II. Series: Everything series.
SH441 .G37 2003
799.1 dc21

2002153886

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, call 1-800-289-0963.

Welcome to the EVERYTHING Series!

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and essentials.

We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.

We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything!

Answer to
common questions

Important snippets
of information

Urgent
warning

Quick
handy tips

PUBLISHER Karen Cooper

DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND INNOVATION Paula Munier

MANAGING EDITOR,EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing

COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Lisa Laing

DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Elizabeth Kassab

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Hillary Thompson

Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com

Contents

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jim Berry and his staff at Berrys Sporting Goods in Griffin Georgia, and Fritz Nordengren (learning2fish@41) in my chat room and at New Media for Non Profits (www.nmnp.org).

Top Ten Reasons
Why Youd Rather Be Fishing

1. Your job ties you up inside a stuffy office all day and youre feeling a desperate need to get back in touch with nature.

2. You are extremely fussy about eating only the freshest fish possible.

3. You want something to do with your kids that does not involve a television.

4. Youve run out of fish stories and need some more!

5. You are sick of your spouse running off on fishing trips without you, leaving you home alone.

6. You think those hip waders look really spiffy.

7. You want more excuses to get on a boat.

8. The movie Jaws scared the heck out of you when you were ten, and now its time for payback.

9. Youve always wanted to know the difference between a crappie and a crappy fish.

10. You dont want to end up being like one of those stamp collectors!

Introduction

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE GO FISHING EVERY YEAR. They enjoy everything from a quiet afternoon sitting by a pond catching four-ounce bream to trolling miles offshore and battling 400-pound marlin. Some like the relaxing, contemplative aspects of fishing while others want the thrill of competitive fishing.

Fishing is not always about catching fish. Many fishing trips are considered a complete success because of time spent with family, the enjoyment of nature, or the relaxation of escaping from work. Catching fish certainly adds something more than good eating to a fishing trip, but you should never let your enjoyment of fishing depend on it.

Theres something for everyone in the sport of fishing. You can start fishing with a minimal investment and start catching fish immediately, or you can go all out and buy fancy equipment and try for fish that require learning skills to get them to bite. No matter what your age, physical health, or income level, there is fishing that you can enjoy.