The Book — being written at a leisurely, appropriate pace
The Passive Fishing Story
A joke between a dad and two brothers that got badly out of hand. These are the chapters so far.
Chapter OneBorn on Lake of the Woods
I grew up on Bowstring Lake in northern Minnesota. My family ran Geiger's Trails End Resort — a beautiful place, I might add, on a great fishery. You'd think running a resort meant I fished every day. Wrong. Most of my fishing was done vicariously, through the guests, from a map on the wall in the lodge. My family did most of our actual fishing in the winter.
Fast forward a few years. My father, my brother, and I made a trip to Lake of the Woods. We stayed at a resort — a pleasant change of pace — and the guides did their best to put us on fish. We started catching immediately. And that's when I realized what I was doing.
I was paying the least amount of attention of anyone in the boat. Drinking a few beers. Playing on my phone. BS'ing with my dad and brother. And I was slaying them — entirely for lack of effort.
"What are you using?" "How far off the bottom are you?" "What color?" — To be honest, I had no idea. So I told them the truth: it's about the mentality. Passive Fishing. And so it was born.
"You're trying too hard," I said. "Have a beer, take a nap, take in the scenery, and you too will catch fish." And catch fish they did. My brother would feign a nap and stop jigging — and lo and behold, walleye. My dad stopped digging through his tackle and tying lines — wham, walleye. "I'm telling you guys, this is the ticket!" We had a blast, and we never stopped talking about our new technique.
Chapter TwoKids are passive anglers by default
Nothing makes me feel better than introducing people to fishing — except taking kids fishing. There's something special about seeing their faces light up when the fish show up on the Vexilar, or better yet, on their lines.
Kids are passive fishermen by default. Their patience and determination is that of a gnat — and that's the secret. It's our job to help them understand it's called fishing, not catching. The fish were going to come anyway.
Chapter ThreeFrom passive angler to tournament boat captain
Then my son and his tournament partner started competing in Junior BASS Nation, and asked me to be their boat captain. Suddenly the most passive angler on the lake was back in the most try-hard world there is.
Here's what I learned watching them: the good ones do their homework — maps, weather, lure selection — and then they stop trying so hard on the water. When they find something that works, they grind it out instead of panic-switching techniques every ten minutes. Preparation, then patience. Which, if you squint, is just Passive Fishing with a livewell check.
That idea — try hard before you launch so you don't have to on the water — is exactly what our Lake Briefs are about.
Fish drives, icehouse economics, and the ethics of the feigned nap — all to be covered in future chapters. The book is being written the way all passive projects are: when conditions are right.