Article by Mike McFeely
FARGO — Jason Mitchell is a well-known television outdoors personality and fishing guide out of Devils Lake, N.D. He took over Tony Dean’s franchise — “Tony Dean Outdoors” — when the South Dakota legend with the smooth, deep voice died in 2008.
Jason, like Tony, is a businessman. He produces his television show and courts sponsors to make money. There’s a reason why outdoors personalities fish in a certain brand of boat or use a specific kind of crankbait to catch a walleye — because they are being paid to do so.
But Mitchell, also like Dean, sees the big picture. Jason is not quite as outspoken on certain topics as his mentor, but he still understands success in the outdoors depends on the resources. You can buy all the fancy rods and reels you want, but if there isn’t suitable water or fish in the lakes you’re fishing … you’re not going to catch any fish.
So it was refreshing to hear Jason on my radio show on 970 WDAY on Friday morning talk about the critical nature of returning most fish to the lakes and rivers from which they are caught.
It is particularly important in this day and age because of advanced technology. Lake-map chips give detailed pictures of the bottom of almost every fishable lake. GPS can return you to the exact — and I mean exact — spot where you caught fish yesterday. Information on hot lakes is shared instantly and oftentimes openly via text messages, message boards or Facebook. Underwater cameras show a high-definition picture of the fish — and what exact movement or bait it takes to catch them.
It is a different world than the one that existed even 20 years ago, and fish are under more pressure than ever because of it. You don’t have to put the time in like the good old days. Great anglers are now made in a matter of years.
“There’s always been people who have caught a lot of fish. I think the difference in today’s world is the learning curve to get from amateur, where I don’t really know what I’m doing out here, to being competent, that learning curve is a lot more dramatic because of the equipment,” Mitchell said. “I remember when I first started guided, having these spots … then to GPS … then map chips. For $120, everybody knows the same thing I know that I spent my whole life trying to learn.
“Forty years ago there was an old timer who knew about a secret rock pile and he’d row his boat out there and catch fish. Nobody else knew about it. Whereas now, for $120 for a map chip … you can buy that. You can get really good. What used to take a lifetime, I see people now who’ve been fishing for 4 or 5 years and you’d never know it
because the information and the technology and the equipment … they are as far ahead as what used to take an entire lifetime 20 years ago. That’s the big difference today.”
That’s why Mitchell is strongly advocated catch-and-release. It’s not a new concept. Other outdoors personalities like the Lindners — after going through the 1970s and ’80s where keeping stringers filled with hefty walleyes was the norm because it make for a great photo shoot — have called for “CPR” (catch-photograph-release) for many years.
Mitchell believes it’s even more critical now because fish are being caught by more people than ever. That’s why he supports lowering limits, as is being proposed in Minnesota by the Department of Natural Resources.
“The big thing we are going to see in the next 20 years is that we’re our own worst enemy,” Mitchell said. “So I agree with lowering limits. The reason I say that is, you look at all the stuff we’ve got. You go to the sportsmen’s show and there are going to be these beautiful $30,000 to $70,000 boats, a $40,000 pickup to haul it, you have a camper, a lake lot, $350 fishing rod.
“You look at all the stuff. Let’s face it. If we’re there to fill our freezers and eat, you better not tell your accountant because he’s going to think you’re an idiot. It’s got to be more. Why do we fish?
“It’s figuring out the fish. It’s figuring out the patterns. Having some success. There’s highs and lows. And when you’re going through this pursuit, you forget about work, you forget about the squabbles, the grind of life. And you feel recharged. That’s why we fish.”
Amen, brother Jason.
FARGO — Jason Mitchell is a well-known television outdoors personality and fishing guide out of Devils Lake, N.D. He took over Tony Dean’s franchise — “Tony Dean Outdoors” — when the South Dakota legend with the smooth, deep voice died in 2008.
Jason, like Tony, is a businessman. He produces his television show and courts sponsors to make money. There’s a reason why outdoors personalities fish in a certain brand of boat or use a specific kind of crankbait to catch a walleye — because they are being paid to do so.
But Mitchell, also like Dean, sees the big picture. Jason is not quite as outspoken on certain topics as his mentor, but he still understands success in the outdoors depends on the resources. You can buy all the fancy rods and reels you want, but if there isn’t suitable water or fish in the lakes you’re fishing … you’re not going to catch any fish.
So it was refreshing to hear Jason on my radio show on 970 WDAY on Friday morning talk about the critical nature of returning most fish to the lakes and rivers from which they are caught.
It is particularly important in this day and age because of advanced technology. Lake-map chips give detailed pictures of the bottom of almost every fishable lake. GPS can return you to the exact — and I mean exact — spot where you caught fish yesterday. Information on hot lakes is shared instantly and oftentimes openly via text messages, message boards or Facebook. Underwater cameras show a high-definition picture of the fish — and what exact movement or bait it takes to catch them.
It is a different world than the one that existed even 20 years ago, and fish are under more pressure than ever because of it. You don’t have to put the time in like the good old days. Great anglers are now made in a matter of years.
“There’s always been people who have caught a lot of fish. I think the difference in today’s world is the learning curve to get from amateur, where I don’t really know what I’m doing out here, to being competent, that learning curve is a lot more dramatic because of the equipment,” Mitchell said. “I remember when I first started guided, having these spots … then to GPS … then map chips. For $120, everybody knows the same thing I know that I spent my whole life trying to learn.
“Forty years ago there was an old timer who knew about a secret rock pile and he’d row his boat out there and catch fish. Nobody else knew about it. Whereas now, for $120 for a map chip … you can buy that. You can get really good. What used to take a lifetime, I see people now who’ve been fishing for 4 or 5 years and you’d never know it
because the information and the technology and the equipment … they are as far ahead as what used to take an entire lifetime 20 years ago. That’s the big difference today.”
That’s why Mitchell is strongly advocated catch-and-release. It’s not a new concept. Other outdoors personalities like the Lindners — after going through the 1970s and ’80s where keeping stringers filled with hefty walleyes was the norm because it make for a great photo shoot — have called for “CPR” (catch-photograph-release) for many years.
Mitchell believes it’s even more critical now because fish are being caught by more people than ever. That’s why he supports lowering limits, as is being proposed in Minnesota by the Department of Natural Resources.
“The big thing we are going to see in the next 20 years is that we’re our own worst enemy,” Mitchell said. “So I agree with lowering limits. The reason I say that is, you look at all the stuff we’ve got. You go to the sportsmen’s show and there are going to be these beautiful $30,000 to $70,000 boats, a $40,000 pickup to haul it, you have a camper, a lake lot, $350 fishing rod.
“You look at all the stuff. Let’s face it. If we’re there to fill our freezers and eat, you better not tell your accountant because he’s going to think you’re an idiot. It’s got to be more. Why do we fish?
“It’s figuring out the fish. It’s figuring out the patterns. Having some success. There’s highs and lows. And when you’re going through this pursuit, you forget about work, you forget about the squabbles, the grind of life. And you feel recharged. That’s why we fish.”
Amen, brother Jason.
.
