Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Night Fishing For The Big Fish

It seems like a completely different world when the night falls on a body of water. It gets quieter and there is a subtle symphony of nature sounds.

Night fishing brings a mix of sounds from bugs, frogs, and small animals. As it cools down the big fish will start coming to the shallow water. This is the time to catch that big one that always seems to get away.

Night time is the perfect time for catching some big catfish. When you put your lantern on the shoreline, bugs will be attracted to the light as well as the fish. The small baitfish will come toward the light and the large fish will be there to feed on them. That is why you should use live bait such as minnows, etc.

Choose the mouth of inlets or further up in the inlet for night fishing. Also shallow areas that are next to the deeper water would do well also. While there is still light you can set up your cooler, chairs, light, fish basket and anything else you think you might need. It is best to keep to one area in the darkness because running around the shore at night could be dangerous. Then settle back and start a night of fishing.

When it starts getting dark the catfish will come to the shallow water. You could start with some night crawlers on a sliding sinker rig. A good bait fishing setup is a sliding sinker with o-ring tied under it with a #8 hook and 16" leader. Cast out and every 10 or 15 minutes move it around. Next, a second rod with a minnow or other baitfish and use the sliding rig. These are the rigs that will produce the most fish for night fishing. It is a slower but more relaxing type of fishing and it can pay off big.

Other fish might take the bait as well such as gar, carp, walleye, bass, etc. Be prepared for anything as you never know just what you'll catch with your night fishing.

There's nothing like night fishing to relax, dream, count the stars and, of course, catch that big one. So do yourself a little night fishing, a little communing with nature, and feel your anxiety and worries slip away.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Salmon Fly Fishing

Fly fishing for salmon requires a lot of concentration and patience but will always pay off in the end.

Salmon will not be feeding when they are in a river but they will still strike as this is their nature. But watch out when salmon are in a lake as they will be very aggressive and predatory. This behavior can be challenging to fisherman but exciting also.

Choose carefully the time of day you are fly fishing for salmon. Bright, sunny days will cause the salmon to hide in deep holes and make them more difficult to catch. On low light or cloudy days they will be much easier to catch as this is their preferred weather.

A smart fisherman will make a water temperature chart to follow patterns of the salmon. This can take several years to perfect but once you have it you will be ahead of the game. Get a thermometer to check the temperatures at different times of the day. Always put the thermometer in the same depth and place each time. Start keeping a notebook with you so you can record the temperatures and update it as often as possible. Eventually you will know the best times to salmon fish in your best spots.

Salmon like the cooler water best and as the water heats up they will go deeper. Salmon need oxygen and cooler water will have more. Being in their ideal cooler water will make them a lot harder to catch as they will fight harder. So choose your water temperature wisely to hit just the right note between too hot and too cool.

Knowing when and where to fly fish for salmon can be tricky because the salmon will be swimming up and down following the pattern of day brightness and water temperature. So being patient is a big requirement of a successful salmon fisherman. Sometimes the weather will be windy and you will have to cast far out because you will be casting into the wind. When the weather conditions change you have to change with them if you want to catch your salmon.

When you are fishing the deep holes your line can easily get snagged on debris, rocks, and foliage. You will probably end up losing a lot of flies so make sure you have plenty, but it will all be worth it when you take that big catch home.

For adventure, exitement, and sometimes the fight of your life, try salmon fly fishing for the satisfaction of testing your skills against fish and nature.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Bass Fishing Patterns

When anglers set patterns, they refer to fishing destination and what presentations work best. Many anglers use pegging, draggin', loop, curly-tail, and other patterns to catch bass. Pegging is a unique design rigged by anglers. Anglers will use plastic worms coupled with "peg bullet sinkers" and sharp objects, such as toothpicks to keep the sinker and worm in one location.

In weedless areas, anglers use Texas Rigs with worms. The Mono Loop is a common strategy that helps anglers avoid entangling their hook, line, etc. with weeds. Anglers will render the hook, exposing it on a basic jig head. The strategy works okay, yet anglers often snatch weeds as well as bass. To solve the problem, anglers attach a rigid mono loop weighing around '30 pounds' to the rear eye of a vertical shank worm hook. The line scampers between the eyes. The worm is then glided onto the hook, and the mono is jabbed into the hook curve.

Curly-tail involves hooking your plastic worm to the curly-tail so that it slides down on the hook. The methods are sufficient in preventing twisting lines.

Bass worms, such as the towering plastic buoyancy that bubbles will attract bass when all else fails.

The 1/8 and/or the 1/4 ounce hair jigs are ideal for catching smallmouth bass, especially if you add a chunk of pork. Uncle Josh Number 101 and other series are available. If you want to change rates of sinking, try slicing off the fat on the pork. The method was discovered by Tony Bean who has caught over 200 bass.

Bass fishing patterns such as the double trailer is a great buzzbait crank. The tactic works for many anglers, however, advanced strategies will lead to good fruits. For instance, Conrad Peterson attached a "Trailer hook" to the up and down riding points and caught some fancy bass.

Patterns that vibrate include the large spinnerbait with single blades. Add a Colorado blade and a large frog and you will catch sluggish bass. The patterns are great when the waters are cold. Bass will also attack tube jibs that are rigged up with lightweight monos. The strategy works well in cold water.

In shallow weedy waters bass take cover depending on the season. During this time, you want to use plastic worms or jig-pig bait to attract the fish without worrying about hooking your line to weeds. During cold fronts you can use patterns, such as the Texas Rig plastic worms. Use the slow Draggin' strategy to attract the bass. One of the best tactics is to twitch the bait so that the worm sweeps the bottom of the water.

TIP: How to find bass

Bass often hide beneath a rocky reef, weed beds, lines, timber, boulders, etc., when the sun is hot. Bass prefer moderate water temperature in the 70s. Bass will swim toward hiding spots when the temperature rises.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Striped Bass Tips

The striped bass is sought out at various lakes, rivers, etc. and all through Lake Ouachita. The striped bass is also known as lineside and rockfish. Stripers have silver sides, which are darker than the stripes on white bass. Stripers are long with patches around the tongue and teeth. The hybrids are joining with white perch in various lakes. Female bass will often crossbreed, which is where the sunshine bass, whiterock, and wiper come from.

Striped bass have an excellent sporting quality. They are fast and powerful. Striped bass are freshwater fish which are often caught with jigs, large plugs, and live baitfish, cut bait, deep trolls, gizzard shads, and so on. Striped bass will give chase when they spot artificial baitfish.

Stripers will enter fresh water during spawning season. The Anadromous fish will also migrate at southern reservoirs, particularly in the larger waters. Stripers enjoy clear water. Fishing in the clear waters, anglers often use gizzard shads, open water baitfish, threadfin and so on. The preferred water temperature of these bass is 75 degrees.

Striped bass are predatory. They will often eat other fish. The bass will also feast on insects, crustaceans, and foods at the bottom of the lakes. The temperate bass swim in groups, which make it easy for anglers to catch a surplus of bass if using the correct strategies. The best time to fish for striped bass is during the early mornings, or in the early evening.

Striped bass will spawn during spring as the water temperature starts to rise to 60 degrees. You will find the striped bass spawning at dams and moving upstream in reservoirs. Anglers want to search shallow water, since striped bass will group.

The fast moving striped bass lives for a long time and the largest weighs around 125 pounds. Check the Atlantic Coast to find striped bass.

Freshwater catch includes the world record 59-pound and 12-ounce bass. The striper was caught in Arizona along the Colorado River. The largest world record saltwater striped bass weighed 78 pounds and 8 ounces. This big fish was caught at New Jersey's Atlantic City river.

Striped bass also group at Lake Ouachita. Anglers in this area use gizzard shad, rubber balloons, etc., to catch striped bass. In fact, magazines recorded anglers experience on this lake, which included a 40-pound bass. One of the trophy bass weighed 47-pounds and 11-ounces. The world's largest bass caught in this lake weighed around 52-pounds.

According to pro anglers, striped bass will hide in deep waters along the valleys, rocks, and deep areas of Lake Ouachita. Anglers tell us that searching for striped bass in valleys and ridges is the best fishing spots. Striped bass will swim shallow waters when boats and the sun are at bay. Like many other bass, the striped bass prefer to stay in cool waters.

Anglers often use a variety of fishing tactics when hunting striped bass. Some of the popular fishing equipment includes cable wire, spreader rig, mono, minnow plugs, bucktail jigs, twister tail, curly tail trailers, baitfish and so on. The best times to fish at Lake Ouachita is during dark hours, evening and morning. The bass tend to swim up to 12 feet deep near the valleys.