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Tips fishing tips

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3
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Steelhead fishing is here

Steelhead fishing is new to me so I've been looking at tips and strategies. It seems the most basic and direct approach is best.
Here are 5 tips to get you started.

River-Level Check- Know what flows your going to encounter as to have the right equipment for the job. Flow and clarity of the water, based on recent conditions, will affect what and where you will fish.

Pre-tie your Leaders- The more you have your line in the water, the better your catch rates will be. Try and manage your leaders in a way that don't allow them to get tangled or you've wasted your time.

Don't be afraid to move- If your not finding fish in your hole, move on to another and check back. Don't wait for the fish to come to you. For all you know someone may have just pulled those fish just before you showed up and spooked 'em out. To make this easy on you, Bring what you need with and no more.

Change Bait- If your looking at fish or watching them be pulled out from under you and your not turning heads, don't be too lazy to change colors, bait, hook size, leader length, or presentation.

Follow the crowd- If your looking for a new whole, follow the crowds. Many people only fish a few hours or limit out right away. Some stay all day, but when those people leave and the fishing pressure turns off the bite may turn on! Even when the pressure is on, try fishing something different to turn the fish.

Topics: Steelhead
2
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Fall Trout

One of my favorite fishing tips techniques for fall trout fishing is to use live worms rigged on a gang hook rig. A gang hook rig is simply a set of pre-tied hooks in line one after the other and is attached to your line using a small barrel swivel.

This is how it's done: Start by taking the end of your line and tying on a small barrel swivel. Now, tie a set of pre-tied gang hooks or use 9-18 inches or so of leader and tie on one hook. Next, tie on another hook directly to the bend of your first hook and shorten it up so they are only about 1inch or apart from each other. Or if you have the skill, go ahead and just tie a Snelled knot. At this point add a couple of split shot sinkers above the barrel swivel (the number and size of split shot will vary with current flow) for weight. Now rig a live worm onto your gang hooks (if the worms are really large, simply pinch them in ½).

The idea behind this is that you can drift or bottom bounce a worm and have a larger presentation as the worm is laid out over both hooks.

Topics: Fall, Trout
12
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Avoiding line twist on spinning reels

Two tips here for avoiding line twist on a spinning reel:

1. After a cast, never force the bail closed by reeling in. Always manually close the bail with your hand, otherwise you'll introduce line twist every time.
2. Never reel in with slack line. Pull your rod tip up or put your finger against the line to create some resistance, otherwise you'll be trapping loops and slack line onto the reel, causing line twist and birdsnests waiting to happen.

Topics: line twist, spinning reel
11
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Lighter tackle can get more bites

When the bite gets slow or when fishing in clear water try downsizing your line and leader. You may lose a few fish due to break offs but you can’t catch them if you can’t hook ‘em….

Topics: fish, fishing, leader, line, tips, techniques
12
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Match the hatch

Match the hatch! When on the water, pay attention to all life signs both in and around the water. If you see gulls diving you may want to use smaller lures because the fish are probably keeping small baitfish just like the gulls. When schools of mullet are present try and see what size they are and experiment with different colors based on the color of the water. Don’t be afraid to mix it up with a crazy color!! Sometimes the lure that stands out amongst thousands of natural baits is the one that catches the fish’s eye!!

Topics: tips, technique, fish, fishing, lures
20
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Low Impact Sturgeon Fishing Tips

Use non-offset circle hooks. Non-offset circle hooks offer three big advantages over traditional J-hooks:
• Fish are seldom hooked deeply with non-offset circle hooks because their unique shape rarely lets the hook embed until it catches
on the corner of the fish’s mouth.
• Once solidly hooked, fish rarely become unhooked.
• Circle hooks are less likely to snag on rocky river bottoms.
Because circle hooks are very different than J-hooks, anglers should use some different techniques for them to work properly: First, “hang” the
bait on the hook and leave the point exposed (A circle hook needs to be free to pivot for it to function properly). Second, when a fish
starts to bite, let it mouth the bait a few seconds longer than you would with a J-hook. Lastly, do not set the hook. Instead, simply start reeling
until you come tight on the fish. The hook will catch on the corner of the mouth as you smoothly tighten the line.
When using a regular J-hook, it is important to stay attentive to the rod and hook the fish quickly before it has a chance to swallow
the bait.
Use barbless hooks (it’s the law!). Pinch or file the barb down to ease removal of the hook and minimize the damage to a sturgeon’s fleshy mouth.
Use a sinker slider (a law beginning in 2011) Tie your sinker to a dropper line on a sliding device,
using at least ten pound test lighter line than your main line. This will minimize the chances of leaving a baited
hook snagged to the bottom if you break off.

Topics: Sturgeon, Low Impact
5
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Catching Crab

Things to remember when setting crab traps.
- set your traps near fresh water.
- if using square wire traps, remove the bait cage and hang your bait in the center from the top of the trap ensuring the crab can reach it.
- set your traps 50-150 feet deep.
- check your traps every couple hours, they will only hold so much. Check your regulations for size and sex limits.
- Take a jug along with you for salt water, at least 4 liters. Try cooking your crab in ocean water, you will be surprised just how much better it tastes.
- If you think the area is holding some king or snow crab but you don't have a large ring trap. Take a spreader bar or coat hanger, securely attach it to any fishing line. Attach some squid to the spreader bar using wire or zip ties. Attach enough weight to take it to the bottom. Leave it on the bottom for up to 30 minutes then real it up at an even pace. If there are any king or snow crab in the area they will clamp on to the squid and won't let go... A poor mans crab trap...lol

Topics: seafood, tips, crab
6
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Salt water salmon fishing.

Tried and true salmon trolling tips.
If your not familiar with the area, drop in at a local tackle shop for directions to some of the hot spots and inquire about what's working.
My favorite method is trolling a cut-plug herring. A cut-plug is simply cutting the head of the herring off. This must be done in the following fashion to ensure the proper "action" or "roll" is achieved. Cut the herring at a 45 degree angle from top to bottom and also the width of the herring. This will give you a nice tight or small roll on your bait.
Next attach your flasher to the down rigger cable, 1 foot above the ball with a 3-4 foot leader. Note do not use a long leader or you will get tangled with your line.
Attach your release clip 18-24 inches above your flasher line, make sure your bait is only 4-5 feet behind your flasher.
The reason I like this setup is because the fight you will experience from the fish will be increased 10 fold. With Coho often the flasher will take 90% of the fight out of the fish. Try the above method and you will never attach the flasher to your rod again.
Other tips I can give you:
Try different trolling speeds: The speeds that have worked best for me range from 2.5 to 6 km per hour.
Look for bait balls on your fish finder, they will show up as a big red or black ball. When you find one and if you are fishing in a tide, turn your boat into the tide and adjust your speed so as you are stationary on top of the bail ball. The tide will work your bait/cut-plug for you and you will catch more fish than you could imagine.
Coho like fairly open water where as Chinook like to be close to shore.
Remember in Canada you must use barbless hooks when fishing for salmon!
Good luck and Good Fishing. Brady

Topics: Salmon Tips on bait, presentation, trolling methods and where to find them