If we want to make a list of all the number of fishing tips and techniques, we would need to take all the different lures on the market, multiply by the game fish species and again by the various bodies of water. Cross that with each season and you’ve got about the sum total of fishing techniques out there. The result should be in the thousands, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.
This is probably the angler’s favorite topic. Boats, fishing rod and reel, and of course lures, fishermen love their toys. And there’s no reason to be ashamed of it. It is exciting. I love to open someone else’s tackle box and dive in to explore and find out about lures I’ve never heard about or learn about the history and the stories related to each bait. This is the best time to share fishing tips and techniques with a fellow fisherman.
So this is what we’ll be doing here, maybe some fishing tips for beginners, some more advanced tips collected along the way of our fishing experience. We’ll talk about selecting the right rod for the job, discuss fishing line, detail terminal tackle questions, and much more. A successful angler is someone who pays attention to details, who will understand the effect each piece of equipment has. He should be able to project himself at the end of the line, lure or bait and understand what’s happening in the water.
A lot of the tackle related questions are simple laws of physics and common sense. For example, if I fish with a crankbait, switching to a lighter thinner line will get the lure to dive deeper. A thinner line creates less drag and therefore will cut the water and allow the bait more freedom to go deeper. It doesn’t require a Ph.D. in quantum physics to understand that, but the beginner might need to read or hear it somewhere. Let’s that somewhere be here!
There’s more to fishing than just the tackle. You need to learn to use it, and again the diversity is huge. From fly fishing to ice fishing and everything in between. Learning to tie the right knot, making an accurate cast, finding the right speed or cadence of retrieve, setting the hook just right. All these skills take knowledge and practice. Not all that much to be honest, there’s no shortage of below average fishermen quite able to catch more fish, so surely if you made it to this blog you too can enjoy success on the water.
As mentioned before, a lot of technique is simple physics. Reeling in a sinking bait faster will bring it up higher in the water column. Use too heavy a sinker on a soft plastic in shallow water and you’ll snag your bait on the bottom. Simple things like that. A lot of that is intuitive to most people, but it’s easier if it’s been worded and explained.
A lot of techniques are directly derived from the fish themselves and the water’s ecosystem. The angler needs to spend the time and effort to understand how the fish live and what drives them to do what they do. Many lures have been designed in America or Japan to bass fish, and yet they have proven themselves to be efficient at catching pike, zander, and perch in Europe. Also, many lures designed for some types of fishing in freshwater turn out to be great at saltwater fishing. This is only possible because fishermen understand game fish behavior and can adjust a technique to the condition and specificities of other species.
For example, perch only exist in Europe, this is an abundant, widespread and fun to catch fish. And even though a handful of European manufacturers have marketed to specific lures, by and large, most tackle used comes from Japan and the United States where perch don’t even exist.
But being focused on the fish goes beyond tackle. Different species have different behavior. Many fishermen have a great understanding of tackle, have mastered their technique but are relatively ignorant about fish. How does the season, the current, the weather affect the fish? What are they feeding on? Where’s the forage? These are hard questions, the fish don’t talk. They won’t tell us why they bit, or better yet, why they didn’t! Fishermen are left to guess. That’s the birthplace of many myths and legends. Because when we guess, we guess wrong probably more often than not.
One of my favorite types of articles is dispelling myths and figuring out probable reality. We’ll use logic, common sense, and a pinch of science. For example, most anglers will tell you that regardless of the fish species you’re after, topwater lures don’t work in winter. Really? Why? Because fish move deeper in the winter, looking for warmer and more stable temperatures! That’s good, but some fish will move shallow on a warmer day. Some ponds or rivers don’t have deep water. What then? That’s the kind of question we’ll be looking at and if we need to guess, let’s make it smart guesses.
So we have figured out the right tackle to use, we’ve mastered the mechanical skills, accurate casts, proper retrieves. We’ve then understood best we can what’s going on in the pea-sized brain of a fish. There’s another level of understanding above all that. Fishing is a mental game. The angler needs to step up to a different level to gain repeatable success. It’s almost a spiritual quest.
Our ancestors lived outside their whole life, natural hunters, they were at the top of the food chain. They (most likely) used their sense in a way we can’t fathom. And yet humans do have the sight of an eagle, the smell of a wolf. They relied on something else entirely. For lack of a better word let’s call it their intuition. A capacity to grasp and perceive their environment more comprehensively than the sum total of their somewhat weak senses.
We live shielded from nature, in our heated houses driving around in air conditioned cars. When’s the last time we even walked bare foot and felt the earth on our skin? When did we stop to reflect and try to muster our hunter instinct? Some people are gifted to a special talent and are able to naturally excel in our sport. That’s where it is, this is the intuition that drives them to be at the right time and the right place.
If you don’t think you have that talent, it doesn’t mean it can’t be worked on, being aware of your surrounding and hone and sharpen this capacity. We’ll try to provide you with clues to get started on this personal journey.
Whether you’re a beginner angler or experienced or you are familiar with live bait fishing and want to transition to using lures, we’ll be providing here a lot of fishing tips and techniques. You can apply them to catch more fish wherever you are.
