Fishing is no wonder one of the most enjoyable hobbies which is equally liked around the world. It’s a wonderful way to pass time with family and children and when a fish is successfully caught, the feeling is euphoric!
To get you up and running to catch more fish, here are 7 quick tips.
- Make a solid plan and gather all resources
Fishing isn’t something that should be done impulsively. Before starting off for fishing, a proper plan must be made and then the information and resources required for fulfilling the constituent tasks of that plan needs to be gathered. Information like tide patterns, moon phases, wind conditions, sea conditions, weather forecast and local area condition of the place where you want to go fishing has to be known beforehand as much as possible and as accurately as possible. You don’t want to go to fishing and then think ‘I wish I planned about this before’.
Smartphones have made it easier to gather most of these information and the rest can be found by asking local residents. Another important aspect to keep in mind is the water condition like temperature, salinity, clarity etc. If possible, seek advice from people who already went fishing in the spot you’re planning to go to. This can turn out to be extremely helpful.
- Always have a Plan B
Fishing isn’t something that can be 100% accurately predicted. Most of the part has to be done on the spot with instant decisions and a lot of patience. If you keep on trying and failing before, during and after the whole fishing time, it is only going to make you feel more frustrated. To avoid this scenario, it is highly recommended to always prepare a Plan B or make a contingency plan. Having a Plan B provides preparedness and reduces frustration in case something doesn’t go according to plan, which is likely to happen. It’s always best to be prepared for the worst so that the sudden unexpected situation doesn’t come as a surprise and you can tackle it successfully.
- Learn the fly fishing technique
Fly fishing can be your next saviour method. It is a way to lure fishes with casts that look like a ‘fly’ or more precisely, a bait which imitates the movement and gives the impression of a natural food source of fish. This ‘fly’ doesn’t go underwater, it floats on the surface and works great. Fly fishing requires a different and specialized type of fishing rod called a ‘fly rod’, which is more flexible and springy. The lures or flies are usually made of hair, fur, synthetic materials or feathers to imitate the look of an insect. It’s a great fishing technique that can totally upgrade your fishing skills.
- Reduce reloading time
Eating, re-rigging the lines, dozing off, too much time spent in changing bait, getting off a snag, and continuously changing lures instead of paying attention to the scenario and symptoms that may lead towards catching actual fish are the main reasons that decreases the possibility of catching fish. If there are multiple people teamed up for fishing, each of them members should be given a specific task they’re good at. This will improve time efficiency and overall coordination. Having distributed responsibilities will make the whole effort worthwhile. One of the most common tendencies seen during fishing is that when getting off of a snag, all team members round up around it and start giving effort, which in turn makes the other lines lose focus and also in some cases, lose a potential fish. Therefore, it is important to be prepared enough and maintain focus.
- Timing is everything
The single most important factor in fishing is timing. There are many aspects of timing, knowing when the fishes come near the surface, when they are likely to take a bait, when the sunlight causes the water to become warm and attract fishes to the surface, and many other important ways to measure the timing. The best time to go for fishing is mostly in two times, early morning or late evening. In the hottest part of the day, that is midday, fishes do not move into expected zones. It’s better to use the midday for re-rigging and gearing up purposes.
- Match bait with water colour
‘Match the hatch’ is a term used to describe this method. The trick is to match the colour and appearance of the bait with the water. For more greenish waters, green-brown mixed baits work best and for clearer waters, a neutral shade bait is better. The size, profile and colour are also subject to be adjusted. It’s better to use smaller baits for clearer waters. Different kinds of jigs and small plastic made baits and spinnerbaits work great in smaller water bodies with natural greenish waters. Although these are basic tips, sometimes breaking rules result in better output and with time, that sense will develop.
- Mind the weather and forget the depth
Just like keeping in mind about the timing of the day for fishing, following weather patterns mindfully is important. When in a smaller water body, like a pond or small lake, the sunshine will cause the water temperature to rise fast, but that doesn’t happen with larger water bodies. In this situation, the fish becomes more active and often moves towards the shallow sides to absorb warmth.
On the flipside, colder water makes the fish less active. One common concept of choosing a bait is to select a bigger bait for a bigger sized fish. That makes absolute sense, but sometimes a smaller bait comes in handy for bigger fishes too. Why? Because sometimes in smaller water bodies, the big fishes become used to eating smaller sized food. As a result, a similarly sized presentation for them can work out effectively.
One handy tip is to use natural presentations for baits when fishing from the banks or shallow waters. There are lures that work for many fishes at the same time. Tubes, small swimbaits, grubs, spinnerbaits and other small lures work great for bank fishing for a variety of fishes.
Depth is something that should be considered when fishing, but that should not keep someone from not fishing. The trick is to adjust the baits and utilize the good time. By keeping this simple but effective tricks in mind and utilizing them at the right time, the depth of the water won’t affect the fishing experience. That’s why, forget the depth and concentrate on the intricate matters of time, fish activity, bait selection and enjoy!