By Joe Cermele

Yesterday I received an interesting tidbit from the PR firm that represents Ask.com. If you're unfamiliar with this website, it's a search engine that lets you pose questions instead of just search terms, i.e. "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" The site is pretty popular and widely used, so it was cool to get an inside look at the top ten fishing questions asked in the last 30 days. I think the info paints a neat little picture of anglers at large.

Top Fishing Questions Asked on Ask.com
1. How do you tie the best fishing knots?
2. When is the best time to go fishing?
3. What bait do you use for bass fishing?
4. Who invented the fishing pole?
5. How much is a fishing license?
6. How do you put new line on a fishing rod?
7. How does barometric pressure affect fishing?
8. What is the biggest state for fishing?
9. How do you fish for bass?
10. How do I start my own fishing guide service?

Question one doesn't surprise me. If I had to guess, I'd say a strong percentage of fishing books sold every year are knot books, or at least knot-heavy. If you haven't noticed, there are thousands of knot sites online. People love fishing knots, but this also suggests that a whole bunch of anglers don't know how to tie them.

Notice the only species mentioned by name is bass? There you go...the largemouth will always be America's number one most popular gamefish.

"Who invented the fishing pole" was kind of a shocker, especially since it ranked number four. To be honest, I don't think I've ever thought much about it. Guess I have to go look that one up, though I imagine the true answer is "the first guy to break a branch off a tree and tie a string to the end."

Finally, I found number ten most intriguing. I can't help but wonder if this is a popular question because in these hard economic times, anglers are thinking of supplimenting income by guiding in the areas they've been fishing for years.

Anything missing you figured would have been on the list? Do any of these questions surprise you? -- JC

Comments (8)

from fisherman14 wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

Number 7 was sort of suprising since I have to say, I don't know a thing about berometric pressure. But besides that, I'm not really suprised by the others.

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from jamesti wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

some of those questions seem to come from people who have never fished before but are thinking about it. a good sign.

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from stick500 wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

I've always had a hard time getting a straight answer as to how moon phases affect fishing
who are all the goofs that think we would even have any idea who the first person was to fish with a pole?!
while we're at it, who invented fire?

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from abmcp13 wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

Stick500, Joe Bucher has great articles in Musky Hunter that are dedicated to moon phase education, I don't know the issue numbers off the top of my head, but Musky Hunter's web site does have an archive section.

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from Koldkut wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

I'd like to see a breakdown of percentage, say 100% of all ten questions, maybe number one was 60% of the total and number ten was only 2%.

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from stick500 wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

thanks for the tip abmcp13- Joe basically says it's not so much full/new moons but the rising and setting of the moon coinciding with sunset/sundown that gets the big ones biting
I once heard an explanation for a bad day of saltwater action could be due to a full moon the nite before because the baitfish are so much easier to see and the fish are all full the next day!

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from 2Poppa wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

I believe a lot of the questions may come from people who are just entering the sport or deciding to enter Bass tournaments.The forecast for the sport of fishing is lookin' good!

FYI-
The first "bait-casting reel" in the United States, was made in Paris, Kentucky, by a George Snyder, in 1821.

In regards to the moon, some of my biggest bass has come 3-days prior or 3-days after a full moon.

Stick500-
Who invented fire?

Fire is not an invention, it is a force of nature created by extreme friction and heat. Supposedly, humans first started using fire and cooking things when a certain caveman observed its creation during a lightning storm. The Greeks believed that the god Prometheus brought fire down from the heavens to ease the lives of humans.

I'm mostly a hunter ... I aim to please.

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from buckhunter wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

I'm shocked no one asked the number one question asked by anglers worldwide... "Catch'n any?"

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from buckhunter wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

I'm shocked no one asked the number one question asked by anglers worldwide... "Catch'n any?"

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from fisherman14 wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

Number 7 was sort of suprising since I have to say, I don't know a thing about berometric pressure. But besides that, I'm not really suprised by the others.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jamesti wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

some of those questions seem to come from people who have never fished before but are thinking about it. a good sign.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from stick500 wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

I've always had a hard time getting a straight answer as to how moon phases affect fishing
who are all the goofs that think we would even have any idea who the first person was to fish with a pole?!
while we're at it, who invented fire?

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from abmcp13 wrote 2 years 14 weeks ago

Stick500, Joe Bucher has great articles in Musky Hunter that are dedicated to moon phase education, I don't know the issue numbers off the top of my head, but Musky Hunter's web site does have an archive section.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Koldkut wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

I'd like to see a breakdown of percentage, say 100% of all ten questions, maybe number one was 60% of the total and number ten was only 2%.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from stick500 wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

thanks for the tip abmcp13- Joe basically says it's not so much full/new moons but the rising and setting of the moon coinciding with sunset/sundown that gets the big ones biting
I once heard an explanation for a bad day of saltwater action could be due to a full moon the nite before because the baitfish are so much easier to see and the fish are all full the next day!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from 2Poppa wrote 2 years 13 weeks ago

I believe a lot of the questions may come from people who are just entering the sport or deciding to enter Bass tournaments.The forecast for the sport of fishing is lookin' good!

FYI-
The first "bait-casting reel" in the United States, was made in Paris, Kentucky, by a George Snyder, in 1821.

In regards to the moon, some of my biggest bass has come 3-days prior or 3-days after a full moon.

Stick500-
Who invented fire?

Fire is not an invention, it is a force of nature created by extreme friction and heat. Supposedly, humans first started using fire and cooking things when a certain caveman observed its creation during a lightning storm. The Greeks believed that the god Prometheus brought fire down from the heavens to ease the lives of humans.

I'm mostly a hunter ... I aim to please.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.