03-22-2011, 05:43 PM
Before you buy a single item, you need to determine what species of fish are prominent in the body of water you are fishing, and you need to study them. That is such a important key to actually catching fish, and is often over looked or not relayed to new anglers.
All the information you've been provided is great in it's own right, but it's mostly universal. If you really want to be sucessful, you need to fine tune that information into a specific species. It's kind of like shooting. If you just aim for the paper, you'll probably hit the paper most of the time. If you aim for the little black dot in the center, you'll hit the paper every time.
Becoming a great angler isn't determined by how well you can catch fish when they are biting, it's how well you can catch fish when they aren't. The key to that is understanding your target species, and what makes them tick. When you figure out something that works, right it down. Keep a log, so when you run into those conditions again, you'll know what to do and where to do it, in order to catch fish.
For example, you want to target blue catfish. Well, they like a quick current, live or fresh bait, holes and/or the shallows, and mild structure. they hunt primarily by scent, but have good vision. What types of natural baits are in your area? Shad? Crawfish? Eel? What water temps do they prefer? When is the spawn for your area? All these things play a HUGE role in where you'll fish at what time of day, and what tactics to use. Now, that's not even part of it, just an idea of what i'm talking about. Moon phase, air and surface water temps, pressure, etc.. can effect the feeding phases of fish, and how they feed.
Someone mentioned electronics. Well, a boat with out a good Sonar/GPS unit is blind. Unless you've got super fish physcic powers, you may want to invest in some good electronics and learn how to use them. A quality Sonar will give you surface water temps, show you where the thermocline is in the water column(key when fishing deeper water), identify hidden structure under the water, tell you what type of bottom your over(hard bottom , mud, sand), and of course mark fish. You'll also be able to mark the area with the GPS/Plotter, so you'll be able to find the spot again another day.
Anyone can bait up a bobber rig, toss it in a bush in the summer, and catch a pan fish. Successfully targeting multiple species takes skill and patients, and you'll always learn something new every trip, no matter how good you become.
You need to hook up with a seasoned local angler and have them take you out on your boat. Pay for the fuel and bait, and buy them beer and lunch. Give them the helm and you do nothing but sit back and learn. You could also take a charter on a local lake, and note what they are doing. When I first got stationed in Guam years ago, that's what I did. I went out on two seperate charters around the island, and that's all it took. Have a gander at my photo album if you need clarification. I killed the fish from there on out, on my own, after only two trips worth of local knowledge. [
] Local tackle shops are normally a good place to get up to date info on the fishing conditions, and find out what's biting also. One thing about fisherman, we can't keep our mouths shut when we have a good day on the water. Somebody knows something, and it's usually the tackle shops. [cool]
So, get some Asprin and a few books, and start doing research. Buy a good sonar, like a high def Lowrance or Garmin. Once you've got that figured out, post up something on here of a more specific nature, and watch your cooler fill up with fish.
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All the information you've been provided is great in it's own right, but it's mostly universal. If you really want to be sucessful, you need to fine tune that information into a specific species. It's kind of like shooting. If you just aim for the paper, you'll probably hit the paper most of the time. If you aim for the little black dot in the center, you'll hit the paper every time.
Becoming a great angler isn't determined by how well you can catch fish when they are biting, it's how well you can catch fish when they aren't. The key to that is understanding your target species, and what makes them tick. When you figure out something that works, right it down. Keep a log, so when you run into those conditions again, you'll know what to do and where to do it, in order to catch fish.
For example, you want to target blue catfish. Well, they like a quick current, live or fresh bait, holes and/or the shallows, and mild structure. they hunt primarily by scent, but have good vision. What types of natural baits are in your area? Shad? Crawfish? Eel? What water temps do they prefer? When is the spawn for your area? All these things play a HUGE role in where you'll fish at what time of day, and what tactics to use. Now, that's not even part of it, just an idea of what i'm talking about. Moon phase, air and surface water temps, pressure, etc.. can effect the feeding phases of fish, and how they feed.
Someone mentioned electronics. Well, a boat with out a good Sonar/GPS unit is blind. Unless you've got super fish physcic powers, you may want to invest in some good electronics and learn how to use them. A quality Sonar will give you surface water temps, show you where the thermocline is in the water column(key when fishing deeper water), identify hidden structure under the water, tell you what type of bottom your over(hard bottom , mud, sand), and of course mark fish. You'll also be able to mark the area with the GPS/Plotter, so you'll be able to find the spot again another day.
Anyone can bait up a bobber rig, toss it in a bush in the summer, and catch a pan fish. Successfully targeting multiple species takes skill and patients, and you'll always learn something new every trip, no matter how good you become.
You need to hook up with a seasoned local angler and have them take you out on your boat. Pay for the fuel and bait, and buy them beer and lunch. Give them the helm and you do nothing but sit back and learn. You could also take a charter on a local lake, and note what they are doing. When I first got stationed in Guam years ago, that's what I did. I went out on two seperate charters around the island, and that's all it took. Have a gander at my photo album if you need clarification. I killed the fish from there on out, on my own, after only two trips worth of local knowledge. [
] Local tackle shops are normally a good place to get up to date info on the fishing conditions, and find out what's biting also. One thing about fisherman, we can't keep our mouths shut when we have a good day on the water. Somebody knows something, and it's usually the tackle shops. [cool]So, get some Asprin and a few books, and start doing research. Buy a good sonar, like a high def Lowrance or Garmin. Once you've got that figured out, post up something on here of a more specific nature, and watch your cooler fill up with fish.
[signature]