BLOG: Back to grass roots

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and we both came to the same conclusion - grass roots fishing is on the decline!

My mate has a few kids and currently is in the process of instilling in them a passion for fishing and the outdoors. Years ago when this present generation of fishos were being showed the ropes we were armed with a basic handline wrapped around a piece of cork, light mono, a split shot and a long shank hook. Our catches were comprised mainly of yellowtail, leather jackets and the occasional slimy mackerel. If we were lucky we might have hooked a flatty or a bream.

As I grew older the training ground shifted. I worked my way up to estuary fishing and beach fishing for whiting and bream. Flathead became more regular catches as well. Add to that a smattering of fishing for blackfish with floats.

A few years later I was fishing out of boats for monster Hawkesbury bream and the occasional jewie. This morphed into a single-minded obsession with catching mulloway on live bait and has now eventually ended into a single-minded obsession with catching mulloway, but on lures.

What I want to highlight here is the modern era of fishing has now completely reversed. A new kid starting out learns the trade by trying plastics and finely tuned hard-body lures from the outset and completely misses the grass roots fishing and bait gathering that used to take place. I’m not entirely sure how this will affect their long-term progress? Effectively young kids are starting out where I have taken 30 years to end up!

There is no doubt grass roots fishing teaches us the basics. What will be interesting to ascertain is whether lure fishing can teach the same skill set or even be more effective at teaching the foundational aspects of our sport. I tend to think it might. For clues to the effectiveness of this current trend, look no further than the young anglers that are at the top echelon of tournament fishing in the AFC, the made-for-television circuit on national TV. Names like Carl Jocumson, Russell Babekuhl and Ben Godfrey have become household names in fishing circles and are gun anglers who have learnt the trade on artificials.

One thing is for sure, lure fishing is active and exciting. It might hold the interest of the partial advocates better than staring at a rod tip for hours waiting for a bite. It’s easy and it’s clean. Above all else, lure fishing might one day be considered a cool thing to do!

Do you think grass roots fishing is a thing of the past?