Phone a Friend

On Saturday I set out for a local lake, anxious to put my forward-facing sonar to the test after months of plowing through the Potomac’s thick grass in less than 4 feet of water. Just one problem – it wasn’t showing me what I knew to be in front of me. On the contrary, as I aimed the Livescope toward the bank, the picture of what was in front of me deepened. When I aimed it away from the bank, the view seemed to be shallower. I called up Google to help me figure it out, but either I’m a little dense or the explainers are clear as mud. 

So I did what I should’ve done in the first place – I sent Chad Morgenthaler a text showing my transducer and asked if it was aligned correctly. He’d been teaching me some sonar tricks a few weeks earlier at Table Rock and knows the Garmin system inside and out.

Then I went back to fishing. After all, it was a weekend morning and he was either on the lake or watching cartoons. He didn’t need to be bothered. I didn’t notice that he texted “nope” and just resolved to get it figured out later. Later came quickly, as he called, and about 30 seconds later I had everything in order. Making it even better, he talked me through the unit’s various screens until I had a better color palette, clearer picture, and better understanding of what I was looking at.

You can own the best gear in the world, but the most valuable resource any angler can have is someone to instruct you, someone to bounce ideas off of, someone who will give you the unvarnished truth. As a certified loner and part-time misanthrope, it pains me to say that, but it’s true. You can’t learn even a fraction of what you need to know about this sport – let alone the entirety – on your own. It’s just too confusing, ever-changing, and voluminous. You need those human resources.

I’m fortunate to have access to people like Chad who will regularly answer my calls and give me the scoop. Even if you don’t have that person or that group of people, find your mentors. Early in my club tournament fishing career, it was my friend Bill Roberts. I’d call him just about every Monday morning to go over the weekend’s events and pick his brain. I treasured rides with him to distant lakes because there’d be more than an occasional nugget of knowledge dropped that paid off down the road, if not immediately.

If you don’t have someone in your angling life who knows more than you and will share it, you need to search for that person out. Ideally find more than one, partially because they may have different areas of expertise, but also in case person number one gets run over by a bus. I know that at certain levels information-sharing is frowned upon or even banned, but for most of us, it’s the only way to get better without pulling our hair out. Your Rolodex may be outdated, but it’s your best tool.