Helpful Hint
Tired of losing hand nets? Get one of those "pool noodles" (the swimming pool things) with about a 1/2" hole in the center - cut a strip about a foot or so long and slide it over your handle. Not only will your net float but it makes a great place to wrap leaders or store hooks!
Bass Tip
Largemouth bass will often hit surface lures, even in the middle of the day. A weedless lure like a Johnson's Silver Minnow, a Rapala Minnow spoon or Heddon Moss Boss, worked across the lily pads and floating slop, will trigger strikes from aggressive or resting fish.
Double Duty
Tipping a small jig or spinner with a worm can increase your chances of catching light-biting perch on those off days when the fishing is slow.
Plop Plop Fizz Fizz
Everybody knows bass can be difficult, no matter how perfect the day. On days when fish are fussy, try to get a bite by breaking up an Alka Seltzer and putting it in a tube jig, then stuff it with cotton to hold it in.
Better Buzz Baits
You can bend the shaft of a buzz bait to where the blade clicks against the shaft or the lead head to make the buzz bait louder.
Rapala Rainbox
In deep holes in rivers, I like to use a Rapala in rainbow color. I seem to catch nice fish in the spring with this one.
Stubborn Rods
Keep two pieces of thin sheet rubber in your tackle box, such as old bicycle inner tube sections.
Easy Cleaning
An ordinary office clipboard fastened to your fish-cleaning table makes the job of cleaning panfish much easier. The clip will hold the tail or head firmly while you scale or fillet your catch
Night Crawler Cleaning
Try "scouring" your night crawlers several days before a fishing trip. Place them in a container filled with sphagnum moss until the worms rid themselves of the dirt in their bodies. This makes the worms more attractive to fish.
Add bait to artificial lures
The addition of a small bait fragment can sweeten many artificial lures. Adding the tail section cut from a fresh minnow to a jig is one common example. Freshwater anglers have turned to a common saltwater bait: Small strips cut from squid, then added to a jig, work as well for freshwater perch and crappies as they do for saltwater striped bass
Mackeral Tip
If you are distance casting here is a little tip - The night before place your Mackeral in salt, this removes the moisture from the fish and dries it out.
Freezing fish fillets
When freezing fish fillets, cut fillets into portions that you would use for a meal and place them in a Glad disposable container. Place the proper number of portions you would use for a meal in the container and cover with salt water. Cover the container with the lid and place in the bottom of the freezer. Your fillets will not get freezer burnt and will be of the same quality as they were when they were put in the freezer.
Getting the drag set correctly
The biggest mistake made by anglers is to have their drag set improperly. Most manufacturers recommend that your drag be set at one-third of your line's test weight. This means that a reel holding 15-pound test line should have the drag set to let out line at 5 pounds of pull. To set your drag run the line out through your rod's guides, tie a loop in the end, and then use the hook on a fish scale (the tool, not the fish body part) to pull on the line. When the weight shown on the scale is one-third of your rated line weight, the drag should be letting out line. If not, adjust the drag until it does
Live baiting Stripers
When fishing live bait for stripers, it is sometimes nessicery to use a float, instead of using a bobber or balloon that often times kink your line or can be seen by weary stripers, take two lobster rubber bands and run them through your line and strech them over a wine cork, fastening the cork to the line but also letting you reel it through with no hassel.
Finding the Fish
Fishing Tip - During the summer, the oxygen level of the water can play an important factor in finding fish. Weed beds offer both shade and higher levels of oxygen for fish. Find them and you usually will find fish.
Slow and Steady
Bieng a regular on a few cod fishing party boats I have found that when fighting a cod from then depths it is best to maintain a slow and steady retreval. Many people pump the fish off the bottom which does not maintain steady even pressure when fighting the fish. When jigging for cod, one sometimes uses a very stiff rod, when fighting a fish it is best to maintain the slow and steady cranking, but also point the rod to the water and let the reel fight the fish, many of these rods are meant to work the jig, not the fish.
Best Fishing Times
FISHING LORE HAS IT THAT PROBABLY THE BEST FISHING TIMES are when the ocean tides are restless before their turn and in the first hour of ebbing. All fish in all waters, salt and fresh, feed most heavily at those times
Lures Work Better
Most lures work better if attached to the line or leader with a loop knot. This allows a more natural action for bait as well..
more effective worms
Make you worms more effective by inflating their tail and fishing them on a sliding sinker rig. This also works with sea worms
Better bottom fishing
When fishing the bottom with bait and covering areas hat are loaded with structure, especially rocks, the loss of terminal tackle can be a problem. To beat this problem, Irig with a three-way swivel tying my running line to one eye, my leader with my hook and bait to anoter eye and finally a piece of line that is lighter than my running line to the last eye. Example; if Iuse 20 lb. test running line, then i would use 15 for the sinker dop line. Instead of sinkers at 20 cents an ounce, I tie on a bag of rocks. If I hang up on the bottom, the lighter line of the sinker drop will break first and I stilhave my rig and bait. All I have lost is a bag of rocks.
Flounder Tip
Old-timers used to draw flounder to anchored boats by churning the bottom with a dragging anchor, long poles, or clam rakes. Others had success by chumming
Tying heavy mono leaders
It is very hard to get a heavy mono leader tied to heavy line. Spray the line with windex or other glass cleaning substance. This makes it easier
Dead Minnows and Shiners
If your minnows or shiners are dead, they won't attract fish fast, so slice their guts open to get the smell and looks to them. This will help to attract and catch the fish.
Getting rid of corrosion on hooks, swivels etc
Place the corroded items in a large, lidded plastic bowl with a handful of beach sand. Put the lid on and shake. After a few minutes the green corrosion, rust and dull salt scum will be gone. Rinse with fresh water; sharpen the hooks and spray with your favorite lubricant - works like a charm!
Birds Help Locate Fish
Birds are the most effective tool for finding active areas from a distance. Birds will stay above of feeding game fish, picking off bait that is driven to the surface by these fish. Watch any flying birds in the area. If the birds circle to stay over one area, troll to that area. When game fish move or sound and resurface, birds will move with them, showing you where the fish are. Larger groups of birds pecking at the surface are usually hanging over schools of smaller fish. Small groups of birds hovering and diving are usually hanging over larger fish.
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