fishing
If the idea of fishing has ever crossed your mind but you have been sceptical on taking yourself up on the opportunity, you’re in for a treat. This article will impart some basic knowledge in teaching you just how you can be the best fisherman amongst all your friends and make a success of every fishing trips that you’re planning to go to. If you’re a beginner and looking for ways to improve your skills, or perhaps you’re an advanced fisher and know the ropes, you may be surprised to find some tips or tricks that maybe you haven’t tried yet.
Fishing is a sport done for both frivolous and competitive reasons. It can seem quite challenging to those who are trying it out for the first time, but when you get the ideas and knowledge for this, then it will be fun. There is a wealth of information sources provided online and even in books, which you can easily find at any book stores. You can also check government services websites such as this one that can help get you started in the right direction.
Let’s start with the fundamentals, shall we?
Know Your Basics
With just a bit of simple gear, a fishing licence and some materials, you can be on your way to a weekend of fishing with the family, and even teach your kids how to do it. If you don’t have a licence, be sure to get one. These are usually available online via the right fishing authorities, depending on the state you’re in, or you could pop into an angling store that deals with them and they can get you sorted. The licences are not expensive and you can get a day one or a weekly one.
Location.
When it comes to the fishing location, your best bet is to ask the people at the fishing store, otherwise, if you know anyone who partakes in this activity they could recommend a few good spots. Another advisable thing to do is to ask the locals in the area if you’re fishing out of town. Be sure to follow their local regulations at all times. The general rule of thumb, if you are a first timer, is to begin at a lake or river, where the premises usually has a dock or bank to fish from.
To practice, you can catch several different species such as rainbow trout, bass and panfish. While if you go to a river, you will most probably get trout or salmon species such as brown trout or cutthroat among a bunch of other random fishes.
Respect.
This is also a very important thing to keep in mind at all times. When fishing you must respect the other anglers in your vicinity. If someone is already fishing in a particular spot, don’t crowd it. Rather keep your distance of a few metres and do your angling in an open spot. This distance should be no less than 60 feet at least.
Also, do not hold onto more fish than you and your family can eat in a day, fresh fish caught on the day is always the best. Lastly, in terms of respecting the environment you are in – leave no traces of yourself when you leave. In other words, pick up after your self and be ethical about it, without leaving any garbage lying around.
fishing at sea
Gear.
In terms of the gear you will need, perhaps you have already bought everything you need, or maybe you are still deciding what to purchase from the store. As a novice, the two main things you need will be a combination of a rod and a spinning wheel, all in one. Make sure the rod and the reel are sold together as a combined piece of equipment. This makes it easier to set up.
The second thing you will need is bait or lures. This is where it can get confusing but its an exciting endeavour. There are many different types of lures or bait one can use but what you use will depend on what you want to catch and most of these have been mentioned here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_lure. You can get artificial bait that looks like worms or flies, or combined lures that mix several different kinds on one. Then there are “jigs” or the LED kind for night time fishing, those made of plastic and those made of metal, and the list goes on.
The third thing you can get is a net. Most of them are made of rubber and can be bought in any store. The rubber materials are less harmful to the fish than the nylon or string nets. This is to help you scoop the fish up when it gets closer, you can also use a pair of pliers, specifically the needle-nose ones to remove the hook from the mouth of the fish. And of course, you will need you b=cooler box to store the fish once caught.
There are also useful additional skills to have when preparing your ground such as particular types of knots to use such as the clinch knot, surgeons knot, Palomar Knot for example, which you can check out on this Fishing Perfect website. These are used to connect your line to your hook so that it doesn’t slip off very easily, or even to connect 2 pieces of the line so you don’t waste your line if it breaks.
Casting.
This is the next thing to learn on any fishing trip. If you have a spinning wheel attached to your rod, this is the easiest and simplest tactic to adopt. All you need to do is lift the rod and let it spin while you throw the line out as far as it can go. It is almost like throwing a baseball at the pitch, you turn sideways lean back slightly, lift both arms and fling it with all your might.
Once you sense any vibrations or movement at the end of your stick, you pull the rod up swiftly with a flick of the wrist. You may need to do this a couple of times to get the hang of it and to catch anything. So grab yourself a chair, a couple of ice teas and get cracking!
