Fishing: How can I land it everytime?

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
4,453
I am sure some of us have heard of stories about anglers who can cast any line into the water (anywhere) and still get a catch.

I really don't believe they are that lucky. I am sure they have some secrets they are not willing to share. So here I am hankering for those closely guarded secrets.

A friend of mine said he has a piece of land out there in the boondocks which boasts of a small river that is good for fishing. I don't want to embarrass myself by coming up empty because I have to dust off those rods which are sitting in the corner of my house somewhere.

So are there any secrets to landing that fish everytime?
 
The 3 things to remember, just like Real Estate...
Location
Location
Location
Really. The old saying is "90% of the fish are in 10% of the water"

All of God's critters like edges.
The mouse will work his way around the walls of the room the same as the deer walks around the edges of the fields.
The trick is to find the edge (that they are using now) and then find the bump on the edge that makes that spot better than the rest.

In a river a good edge is where fast water flows past still water. An eddy. Bass will sit in the slow water and dash into the quick water when prey is washed by.
Another good spot would be a big boulder in the river. That would create a slack water area where a predator could wait for a meal and not fight the current. Try infront and behind the boulder.
River curves and bends have a shallow side and a deep side. Undercut banks on the river are worth a look. Especially with a downed tree or rock to break the current.

Lakes have more edges. Weed edges are a favorite of mine. Where the lillypads end and the deeper coontail begins is a good place to look. A big rock or 2 on the bottom of that transition is golden.

In the ocean there are temperature edges, also a factor on the Great Lakes.

Shade/sunlight is an edge.
Abrupt depth changes are edges.

OK...now I'm rambling...my favorite topic
:o
 
If you're using lures, technique is also important. Every lure has it's own movement. I used to fish alot during the week with a guy who fished the pro bass circuit on weekends while he practiced and he would outfish me 3 or 4 to 1 everytime. He could make a zara spook walk the dog, knew exactly what his rubber worm was doing at all times, could float and pop a rapala like an artist, in other words he knew what each could do and when to use each. Temperature is important too, each species feeds within certain temp ranges.
For the most part, read a few books and go out and have some fun. A day fishing without catching many fish is still better than a day at home.
 
If fishing for meat, meaning you don't mind if the fish is gut hooked, use bait and keep the barbs on the hook. use the least amount of sinkers so that you cast into the faster current and let it drift into the slower current where the fish hang out: this can be the head or tail of a pool, bend in the river, undercut bank, drop off from a gravel bar, tree in water. Cast slightly downstream of where you are and hold the rod about 1000 o'clock high to help your bait ride downstream. Don't be afraid to lose your terminal tackle to snags. If using bait, you can let the fish "take" the bait a little longer before setting the hook. Good river baits include nightcrawlers or other worms, crawdads.

A poem dedicated to the lowly worm is
Lure of the pumkinseed, taker of pout,
deceiver of smallmouth, the best bet on trout.
 
The unfortunate part about fishing is that it takes time to learn... As lifter4him said, you got to do some reading. You need to take the time and figure out the habits of the species you're looking for, to find out what they eat, where they're found etc. The technique for bass fishing is quite different than for walleye, for example.

Then, you got to learn in the field. I've been fishing for 7 years with the same gang. We go out for a whole week of serious fishing every year, in addition to fishing on our own. The first few years, the oldest of the team, who had been fishing for about 30 years, was able to consistently catch fish, no matter where we were. I remember an evening where 8 of us were jigging for walleye within a 30 foot circle. He caught dozens while the rest of us caught about 2 in total... It took us a while to realize that we just weren't feeling the bites.

However, over the years, we improved, we learned and got the appropriate gear. We're at the point where we can rely on eating fish on our trips. It took us a long time to get there though...

Piece of advice for beginners: target easier fish. In Canada, Bass and Pike are great targets. Pike will attack anything that moves, and Bass, while being smaller than in the US, are pretty aggressive too. I'm guessing that those species are also good targets in the US. Another thing is to try and fish when the weather is cooler. In mid-summer, you may have to go pretty deep to find any fish, and that's not as easy for beginners. Most lures tend to sink less than 10 feet unless you really weight them down.

The last thing is to enjoy it! Fishing is great whether you catch anything or not!

Have fun!

Guy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top