Thanks, Bud

SOMETIMES THE SMALLEST FISHING TIP FROM A GOOD FRIEND MAKES THE BIGGEST IMPACT. PASS IT ON

- JOE CERMELE

IT WAS THE VERY FIRST cast I ever made with a muskie fly. The 14-inch mass of bucktail, feathers, and flash smacked down a few feet from the bank of one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes like a teal that had tangled with Remington steel. Before I could bring the dead duck back to life, my friend Robert Hawkins, who was rowing, casually said, “Bury the tip of your rod in the water before you start stripping.”

Hawkins wasn’t the guy who figured out submerging your rod tip when you’re streamer fishing helps you keep better contact with your fly, which lets you feel a hit much faster, which increases the odds that you’ll nail a smooth, strong strip set. At some point, that knowledge was bestowed upon him. To date, I still haven’t caught a muskie on the fly, but that tidbit has helped me put tons more trout, smallies, pike, and stripers in the net.

I’ve probably passed it on to 20 more people in the last six years, many of whom I had the pleasure of watching use it to catch a fish the same day. None of them had asked for my advice, but as it goes, we rarely ask for tips—they just seem to find us. This time, I decided to ask. I put a few of my best fishing buddies on the spot to find out which nugget of wisdom handed down from another pal has stuck with them the longest or helped them the most. Feel free to share them with a friend or two of your own.

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