What is it?
Every angler knows the only constant in fishing is change. Adaptation is nature’s way of coping with change and adjusting to new conditions. Changes may be small, like a fish moving up or down in the water column to compensate for changing atmospheric pressure. But change can also entail events like major shifts in environmental productivity, water levels and vegetative communities that have larger impacts on fish. Organisms (plants, animals) are constantly exposed to environmental uncertainty and pressures to adapt to new threats and opportunities. Change can also be progressive, as witnessed in smallmouth bass numbers and size over the past three decades. Smallmouth have flourished across the continent with rising temperatures, longer summer seasons for growth and the arrival of new, highly nutritional food resources like round gobies. A four pound smallmouth in my father’s time was a real trophy. Now anything under six hardly raises an eyebrow.
Adaptive fishing applies adaptation principles (including the secret seven listed here) to fishing. Anglers embracing change learn how to cope with new and different situations. Progressive anglers expect change and learn to manage it with the kind of thinking as well as practical tools provided by “The Adaptive Angler.” Those who fear change and attempt to avoid it may become marginalized in a dead end, isolated from a world that has moved beyond their grasp. In nature, failure to adapt has low survival potential and little reproductive value. Inevitably, these individuals and species are replaced by more adaptable organisms over time.
How can anglers use it?
Understanding adaptation is a gift to anglers. It allows them insight into the dynamic nature of life interacting with a constantly changing environment to create new and improved ways of surviving and leaving their genetic blueprint in future generations. Anglers who embrace change use it to understand what is happening in the aquatic system and how to track changes to stay on top of the fish through each season. Adaptable anglers also know the value of a good observation coupled with an open mind. There is always a better way waiting to be found in nature and in how you fish.
Adaptive fishing brings the power of insight backed by science to see the world as it is. This knowledge, combined with a practical outlook helps anglers develop the tools, strategies and tactics needed to identify the best fishing opportunities in a dynamic world. The book will show you how to intervene more efficiently and effectively in the change process with your fishing rod in hand.
adaptiveangler.com 