Want to Learn Fishing Best Practices

I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie and have fish all my life, from boat and shore and I got pretty into it for a while and I lost site of the best rule of fishing , relax, enjoy and have fun.

" I always do some research on the new area I am fishing. It will put a slope to your learning curve. I also will talk to the dock bait counter help or boat rental person and simply ask, "What are they hittin on?" "

Cj hit it on the head right there,


I use to help the charters out once and while baiting hooks, I earned the rank of a master baiter :) :jerkit:(couldn't help it)

cya
jimi
 
Ebbtide said:
I almost forgot fishing rule #1
"Sometimes the fish bite, sometimes they don't."
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This reminds me of an article I wrote a few years back on steelhead fishing. My two rules:
1 -- the fish are either there, or they aren't.
2 -- the fish will either bite, or they won't.

These maxims explain all fishing dilemmas. ;)

Only one thing to add to all the good advice above: your local tackle shop is your best source of info, if you don't have an experienced friend to learn from. Not the big chain, or the sporting goods department of some store, but a little mom and pop shop.

The guy who runs that place loves to fish, knows the area, knows what works, and wants you to be successful so you keep buying stuff at his shop. Go in and talk to him.

99% of all fishing knowledge is local knowledge, and he's got it.
 
Pick up some 1/16 or 1/8 ounce jig heads {Black with white eyes} and some two inch Mister Twister Sassy Shads {shad color}. Take your time and learn to thread them on straight. Make lots of cast close to cover. Youll catch fish, maybe not the first time , but this combo is effective for a wide range of game fish in a wide range of waters.Easy to fish and inexpensive.
 
OK. Freshwater.
Pick one small body of water that you know has good fishing and only fish that one for the summer.
Learn every inch of it.
Look for the edges.
Fish during low light hours... dawn and dusk when the sun is low and shadows are long.
Fish when the barometer is moving. I like down better than up, but better moving than pegged high.


For LMB, a 4" (or larger) Texas rigged (look it up) purple rubber worm with a split shot 12" above it is hard to beat... well for sheer #'s :)
Hop it s-l-o-w-l-y across the bottom. Watch you line. When it moves, yank back ;)
Sometimes no movement is better.

Panfish. Hook, bobber, split shot and good ol chunk of nightcrawler.
Small hooks to start, something about the size of your pinky nail. #8,10 or 12.

Now go wet a line.
:thumbup:
 
ok bass fishing... got it.
the hooks I use are
gamakatsu 4 ought wide gap hooks.
I use Gary Yamamoto Senko bait. they look like worms.
Watermelon/Black Flake, Green Pumpkin/Black Flake work the best for me.
a texas rig works the best for weeds and toolies
texas-articlepic.jpg

www.probassfishing.ca/articles/texas-rig.html
good luck, tight lines
 
Those Gamakatsu hooks are something aren't they?
My "go to" baits.
If you can't get some bass with these, you might as well stay home :D
gotobaits.jpg
 
if you are going crappie fishing please get you some live minnows run a small hook threw the minnows lips from top to bottom so it is still alive and moving, by far the best crappie bait there is. I like fishing my minnow between 4 and 8 ft deep on a small bobber. I like fishing heavy cover in deep water for crappie like tree tops in the middle of a lake. Also rember crappie are schooling fish so where you catch one there is another and another and another. I have cought 40 crappie off the same stick b4 so dont keep moving when you find them. they wont hang around long as they will move around a little but they seem to hang out on a few drops and you always find them in the same spots year after year. once they stop biting in that spot the school has moved on and you will have to find them again.

Good luck also know crappie have paper thin mouths so it dont take alot to set the hook.
 
liljon140 said:
if you are going crappie fishing please get you some live minnows run a small hook threw the minnows lips from top to bottom so it is still alive and moving, by far the best crappie bait there is. .
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Good call. I agree 100%.:thumbup:
 
wulfshrunting said:
Oops, forgot to mention my location: Ocala, FL.

I want catch crappie, pan, and bass in fresh water, and trout and redfish in salt.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still working on reading everything.
Click to expand...

I live a bit south of you in Orlando. For fresh water, I've been using 4 lb. monofilament with a 1/16th to 1/4 oz. spinning lure. I can walk a half a mile to a pitiful looking small pond and fish with those. I haven't caught anything large there, but last year during the nice weather I did take 4 bass there that were nearly 2 feet long each, and too many small channel catfish to count. Also several crappies that were larger than my size 12 shoe.
I had best luck down here with "Mepps Roostertail" spinning lures and small rubber "swim action" rubber minnows cast out and retrieved at fairly quick speeds, and small chunks of frozen shrimp stuck on a small hook with a float.
I toss everything I catch back in. Get a decent hook disgorger, it seems to be harder to get the hook out than it is too catch a fish.
 
Fishing trip is all planned for Saturday. I'm taking my kayak to Rainbow River in Dunnellon. The river is spring fed and crystal clear the entire length of it (5 miles). I always see pans and small mouth bass galore. I think it will be cool to watch what's going on under the water and learn how the fish react to different things. I'll be doing some snorkeling also, towing my kayak around.

I have a very small ultralight rod/reel w/ 6lb braided on it. I picked up 1/32oz and 1/16oz black jig heads, #8 hooks and #8 baitholder hooks, #10 barrel swivels, #7 duo locks, and a few pencil bobbers.

I'm going to make up some leaders of different lengths tonight.

I'm going to use minnows and leaches or nightcrawlers.

Since the kayak has limited space, I'm going to use a stringer to hold whatever I want to keep and just tie it to the side of the kayak. Hopefully an otter or gaiter won't come up and take my fish. I also bought a Law Stick to show me what's legal and not.

I'm excited. Is it tomorrow yet?
 
If the water is crystal clear use a flourocarbon leader. If there is alot of current concentrate around breaks in it. Down tree, rocks, etc. Hell even if there is no current concentrate on those areas!

Watch your braided line around the rocks. Braided line is super strong, but freys easily. Check your line frequently. Mono and flourocarbon are more abrasion resistant than braid.

Might be fun to bring a few small inline spinners. Just cast them out and reel in as slow as possible. Just enough to keep the blades turing.

Again, a quick trip to the local tackle shop to ask what they are hitting on, is well worth it.
 
A good place to start for you would to watch some tv fishing shows. Find out what type fishing interests you. Figure out why that type fishing interests you. Go join a club and go out with more experienced folks. If anyone ever offered to pay for gas when I was launching my boat at the lakes I fished; I always welcomed them aboard and off we went fishing. Even made some long term friendships with folks who I met that way. I found out they could not afford a boat, but loved fishing as much as I did/do (remember Tony, I have WAY more fishing gear than I do knives!).

If you are personable enough and seen hanging around the docks of your local lakes with your fishing gear...eventually someone will have you aboard their boat. Lots of guys like to go out alone to fish, that's ok. But launching and retrieveing a boat alone is a PITA IME; and there were plenty of times I wished someone else was around to help me, even a stranger! If the wind picks up at the boat launch it then can become very interesting to get your boat back on the trailer alone!

Read, visit fishing stores, post on the free boards you want someone to go fishing with, and in time you'll get to meet folks. Lots of older folks like someone along because they may not have the good health of youth.
 
I grew up fishing for trout and other freshwater species that were common in the creeks in PA. I have a hard time really answering your question other than to just choose a rod & Reel that fits the kind of fishing you hope to do. Buy some lures, buy basic items such as hooks in various sizes and sinkers. Read what is available in the fishing forums as well as what you can pick up at other places online. A good general freshwater fishing reference would be a good investment. Pay attention to line selection and weights. You generally don't want real heavy line for most fresh water fishing. I use 12 lb test line for bass fishing, but I might switch to something a bit stronger at times. I more frequently fish with 10 lb test or less with 4 lb test being my most commonly used line weight for trout with a spinning rod.

I have little knowledge of salt water fishing tackle or technique other than what I see on the Outdoor Channel. The fishing shows are good to watch to learn about the kinds of things that are important. Things like casting happen too quickly to really learn much as it is a basic skill that for the pro's is second nature now.

Fly fishing is a different matter as you will see lots of casting technque material.

Hope you had a fun outing today.
 
still waiting on the fishing report. i went out to the pond by the house and cought a few bream and 2 bass on the fly rod nothing huge but it was still fun.
 
The fishing trip was postponed until next weekend. A family member (Mom) needed help moving over the weekend, so...

As much as I wanted to go to the river, I can't say no to my Mom.

I have the uniknot and palomar knot down, though. I made up several leaders with the braided line, but I think I'm going to re-do them with flourocarbon. I did buy a book yesterday that has color illustrations about fish, tackle, rigs, knots, etc. It's pretty small, so I can take it with me if I need to reference something.
 
Here's a link to a question I asked a while back on fishing:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5705202#post5705202

I would love to see stickies put on master posts on major subjects such as fishing, traps and trapping, sharpening, etc. This would prevent the same questions being asked over and over again and would give you a good place to start before asking more specific questions. It would make this amazing resource even more useful.

Just my thoughts.
 
That sounds good, compiling the fishing threads into a sticky. Fishing is an important survival tool that can provide food throughout much of the world.

Update:

I re-made my leaders with flourocarbon. I don't know if I'll be able to borrow my coworkers trailer this weekend to haul my kayak to the river. If not, I'm thinking about renting a canoe from the park (the spring area). I've read the book that I bought, and read the lets go fishing website. I have a pretty good basic understanding of gear, bait, knots, when/where fish might be, and what crappie and bluegill like to bite.

I feel more comfortable about the whole thing. Now, I need to put what I've learned to practice.
 
I'll tell you what, I've been fishing in creeks, mud holes, rivers, lakes, steams and oceans with sticks, spin rods, fly rods, spear guns and a bow and arrow for a long, long time.

I still learned a bunch, some because I simply forgot, reading just two pages of this thread. Man it's never ending. How great is that!
 
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