In a college philosophy class, a professor listened to me and then said with practiced disdain: “Exceptions, my boy, don’t make a rule.”

Some classmates laughed, too vigorously in my opinion. The discussion topic escapes me all these years later, but one point made a lasting impression. Exceptions may create a curiosity — but little else.

In 21st century America, though, many folks dwell on incidents that refute a general principal backed by research, and nowhere do I notice this faulty logic more than in angling.

Of course, my observation shouldn’t surprise hard-core anglers. What the general public considers a simple pastoral pursuit produces such passion within the fishing ranks that it leads to fuzzy thinking.

The following is a perfect example: Research through the decades has shown that many freshwater fish species lie lethargically on bottom when low-pressure systems prevail, causing rain and easterly winds. Salmonids in particular stop feeding, a general rule with — of course — exceptions.

When people hear me say that trout and salmon often get lockjaw in storms, they’ll recall a fish-feeding binge during a ferocious downpour with high wind. We all have fast fishing at one time or another during dirty weather, but as a general rule, freshwater fish become sluggish in storms until a high-pressure system arrives.

In fact, ancient people who fished for their very survival often quoted ditties to explain the influence of wind direction on angling.

• “When wind blows from the west, fishing is best.”

• “When wind blows from the south, it washes food into the fish’s mouth.”

• “When wind blows from the east, fish bite least.”

When wind blows from the west, a high-pressure system has usually arrived, kicking off a feeding binge because fish didn’t forage in the low pressure before the storm ended.

A south wind comes before a storm as the wind shifts toward the east, so fish may stuff themselves in preparation to bottom-hug.

An exception about the south-wind rule soon swinging east occurs in local areas of Maine, where long, narrow lakes lying south to north funnel a west wind to blow from the south. When wind blows from the east, we are usually sitting below a low-pressure system and rain is falling.

In Maine, we have slight variations in wind direction that angling ditties don’t cover. For instance, a southwest wind can create the absolute best fishing in the Pine Tree State.

Nor’easters create the worst fishing, in my opinion. But one memorable exception occurred 20 years ago on the Medway River in Nova Scotia. I landed and released four Atlantic salmon in a nor’easter, and one weighed an even 28 pounds on a fisheries biologist’s scale.

In Nova Scotia, anglers can only kill grilse — salmon that go to sea one year instead of the more common two. Grilse generally measure 22- to 24-inches.

The biologist took a scale sample from the largest salmon, which later showed two crucial points that made me ecstatic about releasing it:

• The salmon was returning from the North Atlantic a third time, so in previous years, it had braved the ocean two times and survived.

• The first time this salmon came back from sea, it was a grilse, showing that grilse aren’t exactly a “stink” fish.

Many folks view grilse as a genetic screw up, but salmon that have gone to sea one year are an integral part of nature’s survival scheme should a drought kill off all the two-year fish returning the next year.

Just as a quick digression, though, grilse runs are abnormally large in the Maritime provinces because decades ago, commercial fishermen caught bigger fish in large mesh nets that let grilse pass through. The government attempted to rectify the problem by allowing the killing of grilse.

After that fishing day on the Medway, I surely know about angling exceptions in low-pressure systems, but that’s all they are — exceptions.

People love proving experts wrong, but dwelling on exceptions impedes learning. For sure, such sloppy logic hurts mastering fishing skills because to be the master of our fate, learning general rules helps improve our angling prowess. 

Ken Allen of Belgrade Lakes is a writer, editor and photographer. He can be contacted at KAllyn800@yahoo.com

 

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