Episode 7: Empower Outdoors Podcast with Nicole Stone
Nicole Stone is an avid angler and hunter from North Dakota. She loves loves targeting Walleye, Pike, Musky, Sturgeon and basically anything big in the Midwest. Nearly every weekend, you'll find her on the water. It's been paying off, too, because she has some pretty amazing catches to show for it!
Check out a few highlights from our interview with Nicole!
What advice would you give to people who have never fished and are hoping to start?
- Don't over complicate it and don't make it expensive.
"I think people think they have to buy the most expensive rod and know all these fancy techniques. In the beginning, its all about becoming not only used to fishing, but addicted to fishing. And you have to catch fish for that to happen."
- Just to get used to fishing in general.
"Fish for pike and panfish, those fish that you’re pretty guarenteed to catch something when you go out. you can fish from banks, you dont need any fancy gear, you just need to go to walmart and pick up a rod and reel, some silver, some spoons, whatever, throw it out there and you’re going to catch something."
- Be willing to drive to lakes known for their fishing.
"I’d much rather drive 4 hours and catch fish than go close to home and not catch fish all weekend."
"It’s really no secret where the greenbacks came from, (referring to the greenback walleye's on her Instagram page). They came from a lake that is loaded with them that’s really easy to fish, you just have to go there."
Any tips in finding great fishing spots?
- Utilize local bait shops to point you in the right direction
- Reach out to locals that fish there often, specifically through social media.
"I just took a chance and wrote, 'We want to come up there, is there any advice that you can give us. I never asked, please take me to your fishing spot, right. I just say, “We’d like to catch fish, it’s a long drive, we respect your spots. But we can’t learn this lake as well as you because we are just too far away, it’s just not practical, I mean we live in a different country."
- Be respectful of those who share their knowledge with you.
“These guys fish there all week long, and they were nice enough to really help kind of lead us out into the right direction, into the right spots and get us on fish, and that made a huge difference."
"...they literally took us out there with their own trucks, took us to the spots and got us on fish, and they were more than happy to do that for us as long as we were kind, respectful, to not share those spots on social media and really just showed them gratitude for taking the time for us. Especially if you give them credit for putting in the work, when you don’t. Don’t take credit for something that you don’t put in the work for."
What’s it like to be an outdoorswomen in the social media spotlight?
"Mostly good. It’s opened more doors for me than I could have ever dreamed. At the same time., there are always those people that try to bring you down. "
"But for every negative comment, there are a hundred good ones. And it all makes up for it when you have that one women or girl be like, 'Oh I really found this inspiring, or I saw you fishing by yourself and now I’m going to go out.' That type of stuff. Where someone sees you can do it and they can do it, and now you’ve created another person that’s also being an ambassador for the outdoors, or getting more into it. That inspirational part of it is the most rewarding.
Tips for moderately advanced anglers?
““When you’re not catching fish, you have to throw out what you know and we willing to just find the fish.” ”
- Trust your electronics
- Don't be afraid to change up your presentation
"I always recommend trusting your electronics because even though there is textbook knowledge, and we all have textbook knowledge, especially if we want to take fishing to the next level. But having that knowledge and using it as a guide versus relying on it are two different things. And when you’re not catching fish, you have to throw out what you know and we willing to just find the fish."