The Basics of Fishing Equipment – Know Your Tackle
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Basic fishing tackle consists of a rod, line, hook, bait, lure, and sinker, all of which are specially designed to be as easy to use and accurate as possible. For example, the line is made up of a cord specially manufactured to be very hard to detect underwater while being very strong. Factors to take into account when buying a new line include issues such as resistance, the stretch, its strength and suchlike. The line should be chosen after considering the size and species of the fish that is to be caught.
The sinker, otherwise known as a plummet, is a weight that aids in getting the bait and hook as far out into the water as possible from wither the shore or a boat. Hooks are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and materials to suit each person’s individual fishing style.
Baits and lures are the other essential elements of any fishing tackle arsenal. The lure is an object that looks and moves like the prey of whatever fish you’re aiming to catch. Once the lure has done its thing, the fish will turn its attention to the bait, which is the prey element the fish will go for. The lure and bait work in tandem to ensure you get a good catch. The bait can be natural, such as maggots or insects, or man-made materials. As with everything else in fishing, a successful catch is down to having the best fishing tackle at your disposal.
The Two Best Fall Bass Baits
Because people fish in so many different ways and most have a favorite way to fish, picking just two baits from the hundreds is difficult.
This is not an article for “experts” or people set in their ways. It’s for the guys and gals who just like to fish and sure would like to go out sometime and catch a whole bunch of fish.
The best time to do that is during the fall, especially here on Barkley and Kentucky lakes, as well as on most other lakes on this general latitude.
Spring is when most people who don’t fish every weekend think about wetting a line. Being cooped up for most of the winter has a lot to do with that. And spring is a great time to fish because bass and other game species are moving shallow where they become more vulnerable to the average fisherman.
During the fall, however, game fish again move shallow, but for a very different and important reason: During the spring, their primary motive is to spawn. During the fall, all they’re thinking about is putting on their winter fat.
All those little fish they spent so much time making and guarding during the spring are nothing more than delicious, bite-sized morsels during the fall, and the truth is, they don’t care who made them.
These bait fish of various species, but mostly shad around here, travel around in tightly-packed pods that can number in the thousands. There is some safety in numbers, but this natural instinct also makes it much easier for bigger fish to find and attack them.
Because the food these little fellers eat is found on or near the surface, these massive groups of synchronized swimmers are silhouetted against a clear sky like a flashing neon sign that says “eat here.”
There is no more predictable pattern at any time of year. I’d be hard pressed to pick just two baits that I would call best for the spring, but during the fall I can do so with great confidence. These baits not only are the best, they are designed to be fished in a way that anyone can master in a few minutes, regardless their experience.
One is a Rat-L-Trap. You can fish just about any size and color of this lipless bait, and the other similar baits by other manufacturers, and catch some fish, but by far, the best size is a one-quarter-ounce with chrome sides and a blue back.
And you can fish it a few different ways, but by far, the best way is to bring it back about as fast as you can. They are wind resistant and very easy to cast long distances on either baitcasting or spinning equipment, using 10- or 12-pound test line.
The other is a Mepps or Rooster Tail in-line spinner, again in one-quarter ounce. Choose the whiter or lighter colors. Sometimes, when it is overcast, those with a gold blade work better, but bass and other game fish bust minnow pods most frequently when it is clear, so in-line spinners with a chrome blade are best.
In contrast, in-line spinners are best fished slowly, just fast enough to make the blade rotate, and the best equipment to cast them is a spinning outfit with 10-pound-test line. It, too, is very easy to cast long distances and all you have to do is bring them back slowly and steadily. If you bring them back slowly, they won’t twist the line, either, so you don’t need a swivel and all those extra knots that could break. Just tie them directly to the line.
You may have noticed that you can fish both baits quite well on a spinning outfit with 10-pound-test line, and that’s really what I’d recommend, but I’d like to stress that the reel you choose should have a fast retrieve rate of 6-1 or better for the Rat-L-Traps. For this bait, speed kills, and you can always slow down for the in-line spinners, if that is what the fish prefer.
These two baits are so great, because they closely resemble the action, color, flash and size of the young-of-the-year minnows, especially during October and November, when this kind of fishing is at its peak.
With just one rod and two simple baits, you can go out and catch fish all day long by simply moving from pod to pod. These pods not only are highly visible and attractive to gluttonous game fish; it is simple for a fisherman to see which ones are being ravaged because of the splashy surface shows these game fish perform as they tear into them with predatory exuberance.
It may be not only the easiest, but the best fishing of the year.
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Sand Eels As A Fishing Bait
Sand Eels
An eel-like fish which swim in large shoals, that’s the sand eel. They are abundant and an important part of the fish food chain. The sand eel is a bait fish that every one bait fishing knows about but I believe few realise the potential of. Sand eels often catch more fish than any other bait, just ask the guys down south or in Wales.
Exactly why the sand eel is such a popular ‘bait fish’ amongst the predators in the sea is hard to know. It seems to account for most species when used as bait especially the likes of Bass, Mackerel, Pollack Garfish, Trout and even Salmon.
The sand eel can be fished in several different ways and are normally best fished as a ‘live bait’. It can be hooked through the mouth – up through the head, through the back, through the tail or through the skin on the kneck. I don’t think personally it matters too much how the hook it set as long as the sand eel stays alive and looks natural. Different species of fish will attack and take a bait in various ways.
Finding sand eels can sometimes prove hard but by asking about in your own local area you might find a boat, or tackle shop that can supply you. Otherwise it means gathering your own. The effort in gathering your own is well worth it because of the effectiveness of this great bait!
The best methods to present sand eels are by using them under a float or on a long snood on a bottom rig. The hooks most folk use are often circle hooks for bottom fishing and normal single or triple hooks when fished under a float. Sand eel will catch most of what we call our ‘sporting’ fish in this country, especially the infamous Bass.
A ‘best buy’ for keeping your sand eels alive is a bait bucket, there are one or two very good ones available from good tackle shops. The Salt Bucket by Shakespeare at around £18.00 is ideal for your live sand eels utilising an aeration pump. It has it’s own pouch for an aerator pump, has a lid which helps to keep the sun from cooking your eels and also stops them from jumping out! It can also be used for storage of baits such as crab, ragworm and lug worm. It’s easy enough to wash it out and it is also collapsible. You can pick up a battery operated pump for around the £9 mark. Sand eel will quickly die if not kept in oxygen aerated water but do watch the temperature as you don’t want your hard efforts ending up as cooked fish!
You can keep sand eels in tanks at home but it does get rather involved and I aren’t able to go into the method here. Any eels that do die on you, then freeze them down and be sure NOT to let any stay in your bait bucket if they are dead as they WILL kill off the others.
Bass is thee sporting fish in British Waters now and has certainly captured the imagination of a lot of anglers over the last few years. Most of the anglers I know love spinning for them using poppers, plugs, feathers or spinners and some are even starting to fly fish for them. Another very successful method used for Bass fishing in particular, is dead bait spinning and this is a method I would highly recommend.
There are a lot of benefits to using this method. You need to present the sand eel like you would a popper or plug, as an injured fish, nothing too hard in that and you get scent, colour, look and feel as an added bonus. Presenting them like this gives you the same options as using poppers etc, you can move about searching for your Bass whether it be along a surf beach, among rock gullies or between sand banks.
Just mount the dead eel on your hook by passing the hook through it’s mouth and making sure the hook comes out through it’s stomach and use a bit of elasticated cotton to secure it…simplicity itself.
There is another method and that is to wrap the sand eel in a slice of squid and secure the squid with a bit of elasticated cotton, leaving the head and tail of the sand eel protruding. This method helps to protect the eel and it should keep a lot longer on the hook before having to change it. Use a small weight on the end of your line, you can get small spinning weights which prevent the dreaded line twist. A hook snood as long as possible to comfortably use to a decent sized hook, add your bait, most species have larger mouths than we tend to give them credit for and away you go.
Remember that Bass are a ‘sporting’ fish and as such are used to chasing their prey. They will often be found round rocks, on the downside of a sand bank waiting for their next meal to show itself. Don’t be afraid to vary your retrieval rate, you would be surprised at the speed bass, mackerel etc can move at. You will often see a ‘swirl’ next to your bait as you retrieve, don’t stop, keep the retrieve the same, if the fish doesn’t hit your bait straight away, stop the retrieve for about 10 seconds then start again, this is when a bass will often take.
Sand eel is an excellent sea fishing bait.
Happy fishing.
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