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More of What You Need to Know About Lake Fishing

More of What You Need to Know About Lake Fishing

Spring is here. You head out early in the morning, your fishing gear packed into the back of your SUV. You’re looking forward to a day on the lakeshore and are hoping to catch a pickerel or perch.

When you arrive, you pack your gear to the rocky shore and decide, for the fun of it, to use a nightcrawler for bait. You slide it onto your hook and cast. The bait sinks below the surface. Bang! A fish strikes. It is a good sized catch and a fighter. You can see it flipping and thrashing in the cool water, trying to free itself of the hook. You play the fish until it tires, bring it into shore and scoop it into your net. Much to your surprise, you’ve landed a northern pike.

Lake fishing is any type of fishing that is done on a lake. It can be shore fishing from a pier or marina or from a rocky shoreline. It can also be boat fishing, trolling or fly fishing. There are a wide variety of fish species found in lakes around the world. Lake species include bass, trout, catfish, perch, pickerel, northern pike, muskellunge, sturgeon, walleye and salmon.

If you plan to fish from a boat, you will need to own one, rent one, or go lake fishing with someone who has one. To fish from a boat, you will need a rod, reel, tackle, trolling equipment and a lake or fish map. If you are a beginner, use a basic lake fishing kit. This includes a six to eight foot graphite or fiberglass rod with a basic closed or open faced reel. Fishing line should be 8 to 15 pound-test, depending on the fish species you are targeting and the depth. Fishing near the surface requires 8 pound-test, while fishing the middle or bottom requires 15 pound test. The larger the fish species, the higher pound-test line you will need.

You will also need a variety of different sized hooks, ranging from medium to large. Split shot sinkers are best. If you are planning on fishing the bottom, larger weights will be necessary. Remember, when buying sinkers, be sure they are lead free in order to protect the environment. Floats can vary from cork to plastic to foam. Torpedo floats work great as well. Floats of various sizes can be used, but remember, smaller is always better. You don’t want the fish to see your float.

A variety of bait, both live and artificial is used for different species of lake fish.

Trout

Live bait for trout includes worms, insects, insect larvae and crayfish. Artificial bait includes streamers, spoons, spinners and dry and wet flies.

Bass

Live bait includes worms, shad, insects, insect larvae, frogs, crayfish and minnows. Artificial bait includes spinners, streamers, Mepps, spoons, jigs, crankbaits and clousers.

Walleye

Live bait includes nightcrawlers, crayfish, minnows, chubs and leaches. Artificial trolling bait that is best is jointed minnows and spinner rigs.

Salmon

Live bait includes worms, prawns, crustaceans, insects and insect larvae. Artificial bait includes lures, flies, plugs, streamers and spinners. Prepared bait such as egg sacs and scents also work well.

Catfish

Catfish in a lake are usually channel cat. They are attracted to cut bait, worms, crayfish or peeled crayfish tails, mollusks, minnows, cheeseballs, breadballs, shrimp, chicken entrails and liver.

Pickerel

Pickerel feed on aquatic insects and invertebrates. Use nightcrawlers, minnows, crayfish, insects and frogs. Artificial bait includes worms, spinners, spoons, streamers and Mepps.

Perch

Perch feed on minnows, insects, insect larvae, crayfish, snails, nightcrawlers, grubs and maggots. Artificial bait includes worms, lures, spinners, streamers and jigs. Use small lures when fishing for perch, as they have small mouths.

Northern Pike

Pike are predators. They will take nightcrawlers, minnows and smelt. Pike, especially females heavy with eggs, prefer dead bait because it provides an easy meal. Artificial bait includes wobbling spoons, spinners, split minnows and red and white spoons. If you are removing a hook from a northern pike, use needle nose pliers to avoid injury.

Muskellunge

Live bait for Musky includes live fish bait that is 10 to 12 inches. Suckers work well, as do leeches, frogs, insects and sunfish. Artificial bait includes spoons, bucktails and large plugs. Muskies are fighters and will strip reels, break rods, mutilate bait and bend hooks.

Sturgeon

Sturgeon like fresh bait and are bottom feeders. They are attracted to clams, eel, crayfish, smelt, salmon eggs, shad, nightcrawlers and fish heads.

Lake Trolling

Trolling is the use of either large or artificial bait pulled through the water behind a moving boat. It is used on lakes, especially for trout and walleye. The boat can be powered by a motor or oars. The bait can be trolled at any depth and is intended to resemble live fish. Trolled plugs, spoons and flies can be fished deep by adding weights or using leadcore line. Live bait is fished below a sliding float when trolling.

If you wish to take up lake fishing and have concerns over equipment or bait that you should use, ask an experienced lake angler to give you some tips, or invite them to come along on a lake fishing trip. Any experienced lake angler will be able to help you with equipment, bait, casting and trolling issues. This could be a family member, friend, neighbor or a staff member at a bait and tackle shop that specializes in lake fishing.

www.5min.com The basics of float fishing.
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Some Facts About Largemouth Bass Fishing

Some Facts About Largemouth Bass Fishing

To be a successful largemouth bass fisherman, you need to know a little about the type of fish that you are fishing for. You can tell a largemouth bass by the distinctive jagged edged stripes on either side of the fish created by a series of dark spots. The largemouth bass can also be all black in color. Another distinctive characteristic of the largemouth bass is that the upper jaw reaches past the back of the eye.

The diet of the largemouth bass changes throughout its lifespan. Filling up on plankton and insects as young juvenile fish, as it gets older it moves to smaller fish and then eventually birds and small mammals such as rats and mice in adulthood. Using sight, smell and hearing senses, they seize their prey under the cover of brush, grass or drop offs. The main sense that the largemouth bass uses is his sight.

Some of the best largemouth bass fishing can probably done in spawning beds. In shallow waters with average temperatures between 64 and 74 degrees such as small lakes and ponds are where the largemouth bass spawn. Inside the shallow depressions made by the male bass, up to one million eggs can be laid by the female during a single spawning season. Once the female lays the eggs, it is the male who turns unwanted predators away while guarding the eggs.

One of the most exciting things about fishing for the largemouth bass is the fight that is put up when it is hooked. The tug and pull of a largemouth will make anyone’s heart beat faster with the excitement. Some techniques used for largemouth bass fishing are doodling, flipping and pitching. When casting your line it is crucial that you are accurate. The different types of casting are overhand, underhand and sidearm. Some of the casting tips that you can use are as follows:

- Before casting, lower the lure just below the tip of the rod. This allows for momentum.
- If possible try to land your lure on the water with as little noise as possible.
- Cast just beyond your target.
- When casting remember to use your wrist.

There are actually two types of artificial baits used for largemouth bass fishing, soft plastic baits and hard baits. The types of soft plastic baits include tube baits, plastic worms, grubs and soft jerk baits. The types of hard baits that are used are crank baits, swimming spoons, spinner baits, jigging spoons, jigs and vibrating lures.

It is common practice among anglers to release largemouth bass alive. Largemouth bass respond well to catch and release because of their hardiness, and the ability of their large mouth to withstand repeated hook injuries without compromising their ability to feed or causing damage to their gills. There are many methods and options in largemouth bass fishing. This is just a small insight into a much larger world. Thousands of people enjoy fishing for largemouth bass. It is a fun hobby that is perfect for the single fisherman or the whole family.

Saltwater Fishing Lure “Daisey Chain” Trolling Rig, 4 Lures Spaced About a Foot Apart and a Medium Size Quality Lure Rigged with a Hook At the End! FREE SHIPPING AND 20% CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DISCOUNT!

Saltwater Fishing Lure “Daisey Chain” Trolling Rig, 4 Lures Spaced About a Foot Apart and a Medium Size Quality Lure Rigged with a Hook At the End! FREE SHIPPING AND 20% CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DISCOUNT!

• Trolling rig with 4 squid lure with high quality blue and white vinyl skirt with silver flakes impregnated for extra flash!
• The end if the lure has a quality matching blue and white lure with a concave face to really make a bubble trail!
• The end lure has a quality hook sized for the lure and hidden in the skirt material!
• Anti chaff protectice tube for the front of the rig and the hook end as well

This trolling lure has 4 squid shaped lures followed by a larger matching lure that has a concave face and really attracts the fish! These lures are skirted with a high quality blue and white vinyl and impregnated with silver flakes for extra flash. The end lure has a quality hook. These lures sold out at The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, and are one of the most popular lures we carry. The amount of Dolphin we catch on this rig is amazing. Also deadly on Tuna, Wahoo, and Sailfish!

Price: $ 18.00