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Fishing tips by swese44

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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
6
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Crab Bait

You can use just about any kind of meat as crab bait. Chicken is the most popular since it is easy to find at any grocery store. Squid is excellent but is harder to come by, grocery stores usually won't have squid. Some people even use canned catfood by punching a hole in the can.

The best bait I've found are big turkey legs. The turkey meat is much greasier than the chicken and I think the crab can smell it from further away. Keep some turkey legs frozen for your next crabbing trip, then take them out a day or two before you go out. This will let the turkey meat rot a little so its juices, greases and smells will release faster when you drop it in the water.

Topics: crab, crabbing, bait, dungeness crab, turkey legs, squid, chicken
17
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Northern Pike will play with your lures

Pike will often hit your lure several times before finally taking it. Be patient and keep working the area, and if they've hit your lure once they will come back to hit it again. Northern pike have a huge appetite and will continue to hit your lure. Some fishermen have even reported catching the same pike over and over.

Topics: pike, northern pike, lures
9
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Catch the big Northern Pike

Younger and smaller northern pike spend time in shallower water near reeds and lily pads and other cover. They eat bugs, frogs, minnows and other small food. Medium sized northern pike will usually be near the outskirts of these areas feeding on other small fish.

The really big pike eat walleye, chub, whitefish, and even trout, and they will hang out where they can ambush these fish. Places like rocky shoals, islands, and mouths of streams and rivers are great places to catch big northern pike.

Topics: northern pike, pike, big fish
6
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Ice fishing for crappie

Crappie have their eyes on top of their heads, and will see your bait and lures above them. If you have a sonar and can see crappie at a certain depth, try to keep your bait or lure just a little higher because crappie won't see anything below them. Crappie will often continue to follow your lure higher and higher until they strike, and when they hit your rod tip will actually go up instead of down because the fish is taking your lure higher. Make sure to set the hook when this happens.

Topics: crappie, technique, depth, lures, bait, sonar, ice fishing
5
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Always come back to good fishing spots

If you catch a fish near cover, it was probably sitting there because it was a good ambush point. Even if that fish leaves or you take it home, another fish will probably move in to take the spot. It may take several hours or days, but a good fishing spot will usually continue to be good.

Topics: bass, cover, ambush
5
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Fish slow down in colder weather

Most fish slow down as the weather cools down. Even 1 or 2 degrees can make a big difference in their activity level and their metabolism. If it's been cloudy or there has been a cold front, don't expect as much action. But if the sun comes out and it starts to warm up, expect things to start picking up within a few hours.

Topics: heat, temperature, weather, metabolism, cold
6
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Bass stay under cover on sunny days

Bass stay deep under cover on sunny days, and will swim around freely under rain or overcast skies. So on sunny days, flip worms and grubs deeper into cover. On rainy or overcast days, use more horizontal baits and lures to cover more water and catch the bass that are out swimming around.

Topics: bass, cover, weather, sun, clouds, overcast, rain
7
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Cover a lot of water in weed beds and flats

When fishing weed beds and flats use a lure like a spinnerbait. You can cast out and reel it in quickly to cover a lot of water, and it is bright and flashy. Fish will swim up from the weeds to take the lure, so keep it brightly colored and cover a lot of water.

Topics: bass, pike, lures, spinnerbait, flats, weed beds
7
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Squid hit on different colors different nights

Keep a variety of squid jigs on hand when fishing for squid (red, blue, green, white, etc). Different colors are hot on different nights, so see which colors other people are catching them on and use that color.

Topics: squid, squid jigs, colors, night
5
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Use multiple squid jigs on one line

You can use more than one squid jig on your line, often the best setup is 2 jigs. Use a large weighted jig a couple feet below a smaller non-weighted jig. Try to use jigs with an eye hole on the bottom under the hooks to quickly swap out your different jigs. Make sure only the bottom-most jig is weighted and all other jigs are lighter, this will keep your line from tangling up when it first hits the water.

Topics: squid, squid jigs, jigging, tackle
5
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Corkies make great line markers

While jigging for squid, put a bright neon colored corkie on your line above your swivel. Leave it loose so that it can float on top of the water. It will light up under the dock lights makes it really easy to tell where your line is. The docks get real crowded during squid season so this will help keep you from tangling your line with the other guys. A lot of the experienced guys already do this, so it'll also make you look like you know what you're doing.

Topics: corkie, squid, light