Readers share the worst fishing advice they've ever received. (Ross MacDonald/Field & Stream)
No matter how skilled a fisherman you might be, there was once a time when you weren't the best or brightest angler in the bunch. And it certainly didn't help when your peers gave you terrible, terrible advice.
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Even Field & Stream readers have been a victim of that terrible advice from time to time, and now they're sharing the worst fishing tips they've ever received. So listen up, amateur anglers — this is the advice you don't want to heed:
1. I asked a friend why he was catching fish and I wasn’t. He told me I’d have better luck if I put the worm in my mouth to warm it up so it would wiggle more in the cold water. – Anthony Long
2. “Just grab it by the tail; it can’t bite you back there.” Spinner sharks don’t count in that category, apparently. – Douglas Fisher
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3. After four cold hours of hunting muskies, I caught my first big one. A dude I was with said, “Just lip it like a largemouth.” The center tooth went straight through my thumb. I only made that mistake once. – Lloyd Ayers
4. “When fishing streamers, prick your fingers with the hook so the trout smells blood and thinks it’s a real minnow.” – Tyler Straight
5. “Hold on to your fish. The bears are more afraid of you than you are of them.” – Chris Tracy
6. I was given directions to a sewage pond and was told it was a regular pond stocked with trout. – Justin Holten