Go Long

Football season is upon us, often threatening to cut into precious weekend time on the water. However, these games share enough vocabulary with fishing that the attention of avid anglers may drift.

Even the word “football” can be used in fishing. Fat brown trout sometimes are called “footballs” due to their shape. Further, a “football jig” has a similarly shaped weight for dragging along a hard bottom.

The “quarterback,” is a classic lipped plug made by Norman lures. Many anglers use a “snap” for ease of changing lures. The quality of “tackle” can make or break a fishing trip. Once they have their limit, tournament anglers always speak of needing a “kicker” (large fish). In addition, fly fisherman Pete McDonald even has written an amazing book titled “The Blitz,” (feeding frenzy due to massive concentration of bait fish).

But perhaps the most infamously shared fishing/football term during fall is the “turnover.”

When the air gets cool enough, the surface of a body of water begins to cool as well. In lakes that stratify enough to form a thermocline, the cooler and now heavier water begins to sink, mixing with the warmer deeper water that rises. The result can temporarily turn the fish bite off.

However, Keith Sutton, author of “The Crappie Fishing Handbook,” shared that soon after the fall turnover, crappie may be easier to catch. “Favorable oxygen and temperature levels now exist throughout the water column,” he wrote. “Crappie that were deep can now move to the shallows to feed comfortably.”

As with football, should you experience a “turnover,” just give 110% next week.

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