Hot To Get Ready To Go Fish

Before you start fishing, you will need to do a number of things. I will go through what to look at while getting your rod and reel, bait and lures, and any other things you may need before you go fishing.

How to find and assemble your rod and reel.

1.       1. To find the reel that best suits you, you will have to identify what fish you will be going after. If it is smaller fish like crappie, walleye, and bass, then a pole 6’6” – 7’ will work just fine. A smaller pole will also work for these fish.

2.       2. Once you have your decided height for your rod, you need to find the right resistance. Rods with less resistant are for smaller fish, while heavier rods are for fish like catfish or muskie. This is important because it can affect the drag your line has when reeling in a fish.

3.       3. Next, you will want to find a reel. On most rods, they come with a reel attached but here are the steps to go through buying a separate one.

4.     4. The first thing you will want to do is find the size of reel you would like. The larger the reel, then the deeper the waters and fish you will go for. For bass sized fish, you can use any regular reel however.

5.     5. Once you have found the reel of your size, you will want to attach this to the rod.

6.     6.  Attach it by either screwing it onto the pole or sliding it on. Most rods and reels are ones that slide on. This is done by sliding it through the bottom of the rod to the point where the reel goes. There will be a visible slot on where this will be.

7.       7. Next, tighter the reel around the rod by twisting it until it is firmly in place.

8.       8. After that, grab your fishing line that will be wrapped around a spool.

9.       9.Feed it through the eyes of the rod, down to your reel.

10      10. Next, tie the end of the line to the hold in the middle of the reel and snip off the excess line that is not going back to your spool of line.

11      11. Poke a hole through your spool with a pencil if there is something blocking the middle.

1       12. Prop this up or have someone hold the ends of the pencil so the spool can spin freely.

1       13. Slowly reel in the line to load your reel up.

14      14.  Do not overload your reel but put enough in it that if it snaps a few times, you will not have to do this over.

15      15.  After you have enough line in your reel, snip the line off.

16      16. You can now begin setting up your hook.

The fastest way to set up your hook is to use a clinch knot

17      17. First, bring 2-3 inches through the hole of the hook.

18      18. Bring the line back around itself.

19      19. Wrap the line around itself three times, while leaving a loop around the hook.

20      20. Feed the end of the line through that loop by the hook.

21      21. Pull tightly, so it will not come undone.

22      22. Trim the excess line remaining around the hook.

This method can also be used to tie a clip on the end of your line. Clips are used for plasticlures.

Picking out lures and bait is a very important decision and depends on all kinds of factors. It is also important to know how to use these lures.

Bottom Dragging:

1.       First you will want to grab your lure. I would recommend a chatter bait or jig,. Crank baits will dive to the bottom. Jigs will sink to the bottom of the water because of the weight it has, but this means you will have to attach a plastic worm around the hook.

2.       If using a jig, simply stick the hook through the front of the worms and slide it down the middle of the worm.

3.       Next, pop the hook out of the side of the worm, thus hiding most of the hook.

4.       Attach this to your clip on your line.

5.       Then cast your line out far so it can get down to the bottom.

6.       Look below for both techniques.

Crank Bait

1.       Reel your lure in quickly to make the chatter bait dive towards the bottom.

2.       Start and stop a few times. This will keep the crank bait from diving into the mud.

3.       Keep reeling until you get a bite.

Jigging

1.       Once casted, just wait a few seconds for the jig to sink to the bottom.

2.       After getting to the bottom of the water, reel in mildly and pulling the line every few reels. Do not allow the jig to drag along the bottom. However, you will feel resistance if you are along the bottom.

3.       Continue doing this until you get a bite.

       Open Water

First you want to grab your lure of choice. You can use top water, chatter bait, or spinner baits. Top waters are used in shallow bodies of water where lures may get stuck in things. Chatter baits are open water lures that often look like minnows or other smaller animals that fish eat. Spinner baits can be used on sunny days to resemblance the sun bouncing off of a smaller fish, thus getting your desired fish.

Top Water

1.       Grab your desired lure. This will be a fake frog, mouse, or other animal. Can also be other things besides animals.

2.       Clip this to your line and then cast a little past the area you want it to go through. This is to not startle the fish away.

3.       Continually reel your line in towards you so it acts like it is alive.

4.       While reeling, the fish will rocket to your bait and likely jump out of the water. This makes it the easiest technique to know when you have a fish on.

Chatter Bait

1.       Find the lure you most like or the one the you find to work the most. Usually brighter colors work because it demands attention.

2.       While reeling you can do whatever feels good for you, but do not reel too fast.

3.       Also, stop and tug the line a couple time throughout. This changes up the movement of your lure.

4.       Once there are bites, slow down a bit so the fish can grab hold of your lure.

5.       After the fish is close to one, pull back aggressively to set the hook and then reel the fish in.

After you have reeled your fish to the boat or along the bank, it is time to land the fish (take the fish off the hook).

1.       Get the fish onto land or in your boat.

2.       Grab the fish by the mouth, as long as it has no teeth.

3.       Hold on tight because the fish will flop and squirm. This will prevent the hook from poking your finger or hurting the fish.

4.       Grab the hook with your hands or plyers.

5.       Push the hook back the way it came in so you do not rip the hook out and damage the fish.

6.       Once the hook it, drop the hook or set it away so you do not get hooked.

7.       Place the fish back into the water or into your transportation if you are keeping them.

After reading this, you will be ready to set up your equipment and go land a fish!