Fishing methods: what the angler does
The wiki already has two roots about objects: gear is what's in your hands, and lures are what works in the water. This root is about the third thing: what the person does.
How a method differs from a piece of gear
Gear can be bought, a method can't. The same rod works both in an active retrieve and in a motionless presentation, and one method is built out of several different pieces of gear. That's why describing a method starts with what the person does with hands and feet: where they go, what they present, how long they wait, and when they change spot.
What makes up a method
Four things, and they run through every card in this section. Spot is where the angler stands and where they present. Presentation is how the lure or bait reaches the right layer. Rhythm is what's done with it next and with what pauses. Exit is the sign that tells the angler to leave the spot. Take away any one of the four and what's left is a description of gear.
Methods split by presentation, not by fish
"Pike fishing" isn't a method: pike are taken on a spinning rod, on a tip-up, and jigged straight down. A method is defined by how the lure ends up in front of the fish: cast and retrieve, vertical drop, a motionless bait on the bottom, a dry fly on the surface. The fish is a result of this split, not what defines it.
One method, different gear
This is exactly why methods are kept apart from gear. Ice spoon fishing stays ice spoon fishing whether it's done with a short winter rod or with a hand line. And that same winter rod works both in ice jig fishing and in float fishing — with a different rhythm and a different point to it.
Why this is a root and not a section under gear
Because otherwise the same technique would sprawl across item cards and get retold in each one. Setting out a row of tip-ups doesn't belong to the tip-up, the line, or the hook — it belongs to the person who sets them. A description like that needs its own place.
Where the section starts
The root's first branch is ice fishing. It comes first for a reason: there's no cast in it at all, so everything that other methods hide behind distance and retrieve is laid bare — spot, presentation, rhythm and exit. From here the root grows toward whatever else a person does: dragging a lure, holding a motionless bait, presenting a fly, setting a rig and walking away.
What won't be here
How gear and lures are built — that belongs to the neighbouring roots. Advice on "what bites in which month" is an article, not a reference. And rules on how many rigs to set, sizes and dates, are set by regulations that differ by region and country.
