How to become a better fisherman

[Strider]

New to fishing? Can't decide how to break into the sport? Here are a few helpful tips:

1) Fish with someone who knows what they're doing.

Find someone who's catching fish. Ask them if you can accompany them. Offer to buy or bring lunch in exchange for the exposure. If you can't get together with someone, then ask them questions. Most fishermen will share basic info, even though they may hold back a few trade secrets. Listen to what they say.

2) Do what they do.

Beginning fishing is not the time to experiment. You need confidence. You need to catch some fish to show yourself that you can do it. Put the advice of experts to work. Use the equipment they use, or close to it (you'd be surprised how many really good fishermen don't use a lot of expensive gear). Go when and where they tell you to go, and do what they tell you to do. Admit that you don't know Jack, swallow your pride, and become a mimic until you can be successful doing what they do. Later, when you've gotten more proficient you can start "doing your own thing".

3) Find yourself a "home" body of water.

Different fisheries require different skills. It's hard to master more than one waterbody at a time. Pick a lake, river, bay, slough, creek, bayou, and stick with it for a while. Fish it at different times of the day, and under different conditions. Don't say, well it's sprinkling today, I'm not going. You may find the fishing to be better when it's sprinkling. Familiarize yourself with the structure, the shoreline, the depths of areas, and what fish seem to be doing at particular times of the day (or night!). Don't go galavanting all over the country. Stick with your home body of water until you become proficient enough to branch out.

4) Go fishing. Often.

A lot of fishermen that want to get better don't go fishing near often enough. You can't become a successful fisherman fishing one day a month. Carry your yak to work and go fishing after workday. Blow off watching the afternoon game and go fishing instead. Try to fish at least once a week. Twice a week is better, and three times is even better (if you can). This way you get exposure to different conditions, and you get more practice. And practice makes perfect!

5) Get away from the crowd.

Kayakfishing allows us to do that. Don't go out mixing it up with powerboats if you don't have to. Fish more difficult areas to access where the traffic is low, or even non-existent. Don't be afraid to fish docks, piers, bulkheads and boat ramp areas after the morning launch rush is over. You might be the only person there. Paddle up creeks and rivers, portage across shallow areas if there is good water above. Go fishing at night, if possible. Most of the time you will have your waterbody to yourself. If you work an "off" shift, you have a unique opportunity to get away from the crowd. Go home, get some sleep, then get up and go fishing. Come home and take a nap before going to work again. If you're "the only game in town" you will have one less thing to worry about.

6) Keep it simple

Pros (and many mere recreational fishermen) have an arsenal of hundreds of lures. They have become specialists. They have to produce in any given situation and so they have learned what the right lure is under the right conditions. You are under no such pressure. You're fishing for the fun of it! Keep your tackle box lean. Under most conditions, fewer than a dozen lures of different types can produce satisfactory results. One or two topwaters, a buzz bait, couple of spinners, couple of crankbaits, some jig heads and half dozen of 1 or 2 each soft plastics should do you if you're a bass fisherman. Saltwater anglers will want a couple of topwaters, a couple of spoons, a few other hard baits and a judiciously chosen selection of jigheads and soft baits. If you fish with bait, the choices are even simpler. Keeping a lean tackle box helps you avoid the trap of switching from lure to lure to lure just because you go a while without a bite. It also helps you learn the right conditions for each type of lure.

7) "Light" is right

Simply put, you will get more bites on light tackle using smaller baits. You will also catch more fish on light tacke. While you are starting out, try to stay as light as possible. The new fused braids allow the use of much smaller rods, reels and lures due to their smaller diameter. A 4 lb rig now becomes a 10 lb rig using these lines. You will lose some big fish, but you will gather valuable information on where they are, what conditions they will bite under, and what they will hit. When you go back with the "big gun" you will be ready.

8. Keep a journal

Write down details of your fishing trips, atmospheric conditions, time of day, tide or current movement, phase of the moon, what you caught or didn't catch, lures, baits, areas fished, etc. After a year or so you will have a valuable reference tool for future fishing trips.



To be continued...
Kim

[pitontheprowl]

Very well said.

[Mrs.Five-0]

Very very well said, thank you for taking the time to post up the great info

[greyloon]

Spoken well by a fisherman who practices what he preaches.

[JimD]

When I started I owned one of everything. Hey I am an Eagle Scout and believe in the motto of "Be Prepared". My 160 used to look like I was on a week long trip.

I still carry an emergency bag in my front hatch with enough gear to spend the night or work on the kayak but simplier for fishing gear is still best.

Trouble was when it is hot and heavy you never realize what all you have to try.
Maybe we will get a list going on basics again. Say top 5 or 10 lures.

[Fin-Addict]

DO NOT POTLICK!

Respect other peoples spaces/hotspots.

[Backlasher]

Good post! I try to think about having something for the whole water column. Top waters, slow sinkers or something for the middle of the water column and something that goes deep. With care, you can fit lures that will cover the water in one small box.

[greyloon]

One way to become a better fisherman is to stay humble. And, one of the best ways to do that is to take someone along who has never fished the body of water you fish, maybe not even the style of fishing you do, and have him or her outfish you. That's especially painful if you fish all the time and the other person rarely fishes.

[isubarui]

I would agree with most everything said besides light is right as you list it right after keep it simple. For a beginning angler this is a greater hurdle to deal with than is needed. Light tackle offers most of its benefits when fishing for spooky fish in shallow clear water. Besides this it makes it harder to land larger fish and does not really take away from catching smaller fish. If you are worried about spooking fish tie on a flurocarbon leader and be done with it. The most important thing to learn is that to catch fish you need to find the fish first and to catch a lot you need to find where they are feeding. When you find fish in large groups feeding you can usually almost catch them on anything. I have caught trout on small rope with a hook tied to the end. The rest of the article is great information and i agree 100% with it.

[tarpy kayak]

9)Slow waaaaay down. Newbis rush thier presentation
10) small boats=small water. Fish every nook and crany of an area before moving on