Music That Conjures Up the Best Fishing Memories
Hanna recently had the great idea to blog about her favorite fishing music – the songs that remind her of amazing times on the water and simultaneously inspire her to run through a brick wall. Personally, I generally prefer to fish in silence – the introverted part of me values the time away from noise, getting lost in the experience – but I nevertheless associate certain tunes with angling greatness. They immediately put me back into the moment.
I’ve already made clear on this website that my Classic walk-up music would be the Stones’ “Tumbling Dice” or Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky,” but here are six more options that put me back in the moment:
Panama – Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge
Beastie Boys – Sabotage
This song best exemplifies the chaos in my brain when we see the birds diving above frothing tuna on the radar -- the adrenaline overdose and the sheer physicality of the event – rising as the boat coasts to a stop, casting to a Volkswagen-sized fish, getting my shoulders pulled out of their sockets and ultimately collapsing to the deck as he’s gaffed and slammed to the deck. Even the inshore species pull harder pound-for-pound than anything else you’ve caught, so use every trick you’ve got to come out victorious.
Mexico – Anglers Inn
Muddy Waters – Got My Mojo Working
No type of fishing that I’ve experienced is as rhythmic as bass fishing. Whether you’re flipping an endless line of reeds or casting to a sweet spot on a hump, when you’re in the zone, and have your mojo working, it’s transcendental. We live for those moments when you know you’re going to get bit on a particular cast because the elements line up you’ve dialed in every piece of the puzzle
Louisiana — Grosse Savanne Lodge
Rolling Stones – Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Gotta have at least one piece by Mick and Keith and I struggled over which one to choose, but the combination of “born in a crossfire hurricane” and unfiltered glee is about as Louisiana as you can get – even if they’re from across the pond. Honorable mentions: Little T&A, All Down the Line, Loving Cup.
Alaska – Bear Trail Lodge
A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It?
A don’t know if Q-Tip ever visited the 49th State, but this mellow song – with a Lou Reed sample that pulls the whole room together – is exactly the mood I feel when I’m up there. Time moves a little bit slower, the air is a bit crisper and skies are certainly bigger. Until you’ve been there you really don’t know what being alive is all about.
Brazil – Anglers Inn
Notorious BIG – Juicy
The cliched choice here would be GnR’s “Welcome to the Jungle,” but I like the sounds of Brooklyn better in this case. The first time we got up in a float plane over a jungle, Hanna looked at me incredulously and asked, “Who does this? Who does this?” I never want to lose that feeling of novelty and exoticness: “Birthdays was the worst days/Now we sip Champagne when we thirsty.”
Guatemala – Casa Vieja Lodge
Brittney Spears – Baby One More Time
In the midst of a great day pushing 20 sailfish, during which he’d played a standard soundtrack of classic rock with a little bit or rap and country, the late Captain David Salazar switched it up – and had us bopping to Mrs. Federline. He was a tough guy, a veteran of thousands of billfish and countless poundings through massive waves, but as a girl dad of four also had a soft side and that apparent contradiction made him more human and a better captain and host.
Send us a list of the tunes that chill you out to fish – or inspire you to break 80-pound braid with your bare hands. A fishing playlist is like this generation’s version of the 80s mixtape.
