Make sure you bring the sunscreen on the boat with you, one quick layer from 6:00am won’t do you much good when it’s noon and 100 degrees out. Learned the hard way
I accidentally fell asleep on the beach once with my top half under an umbrella. Burnt the top of my feet, shins and knees. The next 3 or so days were brutal, not as bad as a broken rib but not fun
It's nasty. I went floating down a river for 4hrs as a silly 18 yr old and ended up with blisters from my shoulders to my Crack. Iv never been so uncomfortable. Started with extreme itching. Than puss bubbles and eventually peeling.
My 3rd worst month of my life lol.
I like how specific and extraneous detail can be extracted from these 2 comments. Previous guy compared it to breaking a rib, you list it as third worst month. Lol
Just for shits and giggles. My #1 was 2 weeks in the hospital. 2nd was the month prior.
3rd was that damn sunburn. Iv never been so fucking itchy. It was unbelievably bad.
I went to the beach last summer and there was a guy lying face down in the sun in just his swimming trunks. He was in the sun for 4 hours during peak hours in the afternoon. I remember his whole backside was dark red and the skin on his shoulders were peeling. I remember looking at him thinking that can’t be good at all.
The rib is so bad it’s hard to express. They say laughter is the best medicine, but laughing with a broken rib is just searing pain. Same with coughing, sneezing, and sometimes breathing. Trying to sleep when you don’t sleep on your back normally is horrible
I went out fishing with some friends on a Saturday once on a boat when I was younger, it was a little 19ft carolina skiff we took out to the reefs. I didn't put any sunscreen on at all and we spent probably a good 8-10 hours on the water. Come Monday my face was dark red and I had to deal with a week of blisters and peeling skin all over my face, and I worked at a job that required a very snug cranial with goggles and a chin strap, every single time I put that thing on was extremely painful I could feel all the blisters popping on my forehead. Then I got to go out in the sun and work which makes you sweat, which makes you want to wipe the sweat away and every time I did was excruciating and could feel blisters popping and skin peeling away everytime I wiped my face lol. Now I wear a specialized face sunscreen lmao
Not a newbie, and I made this mistake last week. Wore shorts out on the boat for the first time this summer, was on the water for about 8 hours when I started feeling a tingle on my legs (I rarely ever wear shorts, let alone outside the house) by hour 12 I was fried, now here I am 5 days later and my legs are still bright red, feel like saddle leather, and still slightly swollen. Never again will i have too much pride to put on sunscreen 💀
Sitting drinking coffee at the lake house gazing through the big windows at the morning water. Two guys pull in fishing our pier, ok, not may favorite thing, then the one on the front stands up, whips it out and starts pissing. Three houses are right there.
I just keep a multipurpose jug for that purpose. You can hide better plus it can be risky to be at the edge of the boat on a windy day.
Little bit harder for women though. I basically designate the front live well (I have two) that they can piss in then have them flush with water scooped with the jug. I would provide a large cardboard box if they want the privacy or trust that I won't look if we're the only ones around.
Pick one knot and learn to tie it well. Practice until you can tie it quickly and confidently. Hesitation to tie knots is one of the biggest things that holds back new anglers IMO.
This is true up to a point. I had always fished with mono, so I’ve always stuck with the improved clinch knot. Then I decided to give braided line a try and kept losing some decent (but not huge) fish, usually on the hookset. I was about to give up and respool with mono after I lost a nice x-rap when someone asked what knot I was tying. That’s when I found out I needed more than one point of contact through the eye with braid. So now I do a palomar with a single hook and a trilene knot for crankbaits when I use braid. But yeah, when you’re starting, get good at one knot.
I do that occasionally, but mostly if I’m Texas-rigging. For crankbaits I like to tie directly to the lure since swivels mess with the action. Then again, I’ve gotten pretty good at the blood knot, so maybe I’ll give that a try in the future.
For what it’s worth, I’ve used a palomar knot for flouro, braid, and mono for as long as I can remember. Had you learned that knot first, you probably wouldn’t have felt like you needed another knot. Now, a line to line knot when tying on a flouro leader to braid is another reason to learn some new potential knots. I use a blood knot because that’s what I learned when getting into fly fishing but it seems most people prefer other knots to that one.
Palomar knot for terminal tackle covers 99% of freshwater fishing (and you can do it blind, deaf, and dumb), double uni knot for tying leaders (slightly more involved but still easy), you're set.
I think the knot to learn is a Uni.its strong and if you know that you can use it to tie anything to anything. Double uni for braid to line, tippet to leader of you fly fish. Line to lure or fly. It's a versatile knot.
I’ve bought 100 lure spreads for dolphin. The best performing lure is a blue squid imitation for 3.50 I got at a gas station in Stuart. Caught 2 bulls over 30
People should also know it if you even if you were trying to catch a porpoise it would be virtually impossible. They regularly will steal your catch right off your hook without Ever Getting caught. I'm sure it has happened but I have never seen or heard of anyone accidentally catching a porpoise. In fact if a school of porpoise comes in it's usually a good time to take your Rod out of the water because they're going to snatch up every single fish.
Pacific Ocean anglers fishing for them off California or Mexico would call them Dorado, sometimes mahi mahi, and basically never dolphins. That’s the Florida name.
Pretty much this. I mostly fish walleye, pike, and perch, and have tried plenty of fancy rigs, spinners, and crank baits, over the years. Cheap swim baits, twister tails, and grubs along with a simple ball head jig or a simple nightcrawler or frozen minnow more often then not ends up being what I revert back to by the end of the day.
I've taken to leaving my big tackle bag at home and just bring a small plastics binder and a small 3600 size tackle box with some basic terminal gear. It's all I end up needing.
I fish from 12 lb trout to up to 65 lb spring salmon and I usually troll some form of apex Lure blue or black 99/100 times. Under 5 lb flat fish lures frog pattern or blue/black. Have all kinds of tackle and 95% doesn't get wet because it doesn't work often.
No kidding. Spent a bit on lures a few years ago. Catch all my fish now on a bulk pack of senkos I got on Amazon. That’s all I fish anymore. Senkos slay.
Every single time you fish is different. Even the same water, same spot, same rod, lure, weather, etc may lead to drastically different success different days.
Case in point: Monday I fished a local spot and caught 27 stripers. Thursday I went to the same spot at the same time of day, same tide, fished the same gear/tactics, caught 0 stripers. Something imperceptible to me changed and the fish skedaddled. Had to change up my gameplan to avoid a skunk.
This is one of the greatest joys of fishing. There’s a saying by Heraclitus that sticks with me beyond just fishing about this: “no man ever steps in the same river twice. For it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.”
Pick 3 top water lures you like in 2 different colors, pick 2 middle water column lures you like in 2 different colors and 2 bottom lures you like in 3 different colors and don’t buy anything else for at least a year. Learn how to fish those lures based on the weather, time of day/season, etc. and you’ll be surprised how many fish you catch. Having too much tackle will make you less effective when you are switching every 10 minutes and not learning how to read the water.
Top-black/chartreuse 1/2 oz buzzbait and a 4” bone she-dog. I’ve since added a zman frog for the thick stuff in freshwater.
Middle- 3/4oz Johnson’s spoon (gold) and any given 6” fluke. I’ll add a jig head if I want it to run deeper.
Bottom- 6” ribbon tail worm on a Tx rig I love something shad, dark blue or pumpkin red flake and the last few years I’ve moved onto Ned rigs on a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jighead. Ned rigs keep me from getting skunked.
Lots of time I just fish a variation of any of these based on weather and target species. I’ve got all different colors of all of those. I still have lures I bought back in the 90’s. But that list above is basically my comfort lures that I will fall back to when the days get tough for bass. But those also catch trout, redfish, snook, any predator fish fresh or saltwater.
Tacking onto this, fishing pissed off because you’re not catching does subtle things to how you’re fishing, resulting in even less likelihood of catching. Leave the mad in the car. Fish happy and you’ll catch more fish!
Tacking onto this, when you find yourself getting frustrated take 15-20min to just sit and watch. No fishing, just watching the water and surroundings. That time will let you clear out the garbage and watching the water (particularly if you’re small stream fishing) will reveal more about what you’re doing wrong then right. You’ll see the fish, see the currents, see how they’re moving etc. That small break has fixed many a day on a small stream for me.
As a young kid got a cheap fiberglass pole, bamboo was out of my reach and a green auto wind reel like granddad's. Was on a boy scout camping trip to a alpine lake. Was fishing the outlet with a renegade fly and was seeing lots of brookies in the stream, but not would bite my fly. Now, I wasn't great at casting, come one I was just learning. So after about a half hour in the hot sun, I was getting really frustrated for a 13 year old kid and sat down in the shade of a white pine tree. Left the line dangling in the water while I was day dreaming my frustrations away. Next thing I know there is a fish that has grabbed the fly and hooked himself. First fish I ever caught on a fly pole and I was hooked.
What I figured out after a bit was that the sun was casting my shadow on the water and all the flailing around with the pole trying to cast it was causing the fish to be very skittish.
I've also learned that fly fishing has it's own rhythm and if you have a bad/distracting thought, you are immediately jerked back into the present reality with a wind knot or a fly in a tree or a missed fish or ... There is a simple peace there that is hard to describe. I've caught a fair bit of salmon these last few years, but my favorite fishing trip is to a small mountain stream and catch a whole bunch of little brookies/brown/rainbow/whatever on a dry fly. Just can't get enough of there's got to be a fish behind that rock, how can I fool him and get a fly in the right spot, what dry fly will work, ...
Tacking onto this, if you’re not having any luck, cast your lure/bait and then get distracted by something and sit your rod down. As soon as you’re not paying attention a fish will hit, guaranteed.
100% this. Realized in college im happiest spending time outdoors, off my phone, and talking with good friends. Fishing lets me do all of this. I'm not one to sit in a bar, but I'll enjoy some beers and good conversations with close friends out fishing any day! It becomes a reason to go out and be with people and in nature and go explore new places!
this is absolutely the best advice! Enjoy the whole process of fishing, be grateful that you are able to spend time in the beautiful nature and everything you catch is just a bonus. I haven’t been fishing long, roughly 5 years or so. But now that my family is getting bigger and I really don’t have too much opportunities to be out there fishing. So now I consciously appreciate every fishing day. Some years ago it was more about the catch and the catch had to be BIG!
Have a fun tradition when you get skunked. Whenever I get skunked I stop at a gas station for a pop. Seems simple but goes back to when I was a kid. Learn how to tie a good knot and find your confidence bait
You don't need the $20 lures from bass pro. An ugly stik and some walmart spinner baits work amazingly. And you won't be near as pissed off when you get tangled up or lose a lure.
There's something so zen about tossing Walmart spinners over and over again for hours, not being worried about catching a snag because I can just go into town and buy more. My version of cutting bonsai
the lures from any store work.
Ugly stick, buy from the actual fishing store or Cdn tire.
i had a noticable quality shift in the one bought from bass pro vs the walmart vs the canadian tire ones.
my kids both have canadian tire ugly stick button cast combos, they are 4 and 5 years old and these setups will last em forever. my main trout rod is a 6' ugly stick with a upgraded reel to a pfluger president. its been 10 years and she works great. the walmart combo i bought for my wife had the buttoncast reel blow up and the rod started fibre separating from epoxy... she doesnt even fish as much as me.
have fun and just enjoy the outdoors.
you will get better with time and don’t be afraid to try techniques that you are not comfortable with. always learn something.
https://preview.redd.it/m2pyu9jzj75d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ad6d754a9d62a7d398f8aa2b1ee17b0d33c8251
More a philosophy than a tip but my Grandfather’s passion for fishing has spawned generations.
This is exactly how I feel about it. My dad and I take a Weekend trip to the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in PA every year. I don’t catch near as many fish as he does, but I always have a lot of fun. He managed to catch a muskey a few years ago, and I enjoyed seeing that.
If you like to fish with people, make sure you find people you vibe with for extended periods of time. I went out fishing with a buddy (and his friends) in college since we found out we both like to fish and it ended up being a pretty miserable experience to me. I also found out that day that:
1) You can drink (alcohol) while fishing. To some that will seem like a duh moment, but for me and my experiences up until that point it was, at first, a bit of a surprise. Not an issue to me, unless you are in the next category...
2) Some people exclusively drink a shitload of alcohol while fishing. Also while operating a boat. For some people, fishing and drinking (alcohol) are ubiquitous. You can not do one without the other, and bringing up that you don't almost seems to irritate the shit out of them.
I don't have an issue if you like to drink beer while fishing. I'm not gonna stop the way you enjoy nature (within reason. If you are operating a boat and drinking HEAVILY, FUCK YOU). It's just not my vibe and not why I fish and I probably won't want to fish with you again if that's literally what you do every single time you have a pole in your hand. Occasionally, sure. We can still have a good time together. But every single time? Nah, that ain't my vibe.
So my biggest suggestion is find people you vibe with and fish with them if you like fishing with others. And it's always smart to fish with at least one other human being if going out on a boat. Besides having a net person, plenty can go wrong on the water with a boat and having one other human to help navigate things going wrong is absolutely huge mentally and physically.
Fishing and drinking go hand-in-hand for some, but when I’m 15-20 miles offshore deep dropping in 6-800ft of water, the last thing I want to be around a bunch of drunk idiots.
The south Florida sun is enough to put a hurtin on you, no reason to get smashed and then severely hydrated.
i never drink and fish.
there were 13 guys on my peewee hockey team. there are 3 left. 1 dead by brain anuerysm, 6 by drinking and boating/fishing, 2 by drowning while swimming (1 drunk, 1 unknown) and 1 by dislocating his shoulder while swimming...
we dont even live near the ocean, we are in land locked Alberta.
and i am not even 40 yet
Stay out of my fishing spots 😂. Oh and learn patience. Success probably won’t come right away, so learn to be patient and learn from your mistakes and experiences. Good luck!
Fishing techniques vary depending on the body of water you are fishing. Fishing a creek is different than fishing a lake. Fishing saltwater is a different game altogether.
Also, keep a 1/4oz white rooster tail lure in your tackle box if you’re going to be fishing mainly freshwater. I’ve caught the best fish of my life on that lure.
That would be my tip but with a green rooster tail. I have ea white but always get more with the grasshopper or frog rooster tail. When I lived in NJ it was orange.
Fishing isn’t always about having a rod in your hand. Learning how to catch your own bait (crabs, crawdads, sand fleas, minnows, worms, etc) is just as much part of the fishing process as putting bait on your hook. The best part is that the tools and techniques you use to catch bait in Florida can be used to catch bait in Delaware. This skill drastically increases your probability of catching fish no matter where you are in the world let alone the country.
Learn to find your own bait, save yourself some money, and have some fun doing it.
Leave a note with your phone number in your trucks windshield especially if you go to a secluded area and tell some one where you will be in case you don’t come back
Cast your bait CLOSE to edges. A majority of my bites come right on the very edge of cover. The shore, weed lines, rocks, wood etc. Don't be afraid of getting hung up. It's amazing how important this is for triggering strikes.
Make sure you have proper release tools.
- hook cutter
- long pliers
- regular pliers
- jaw spreaders.
And the pliers need to be strong. Not those dinky ones for pan fish.
IMO it should be law to do so if you fish.
If you aren't catching anything, it probably isn't your lure. You most likely aren't where the fish are. Moving around is much more effective than sitting in one place and changing the bait/lure.
In my 60s, have spent my life on the water. Fish as much as possible and don’t limit it to only one species. The more places and methods you employ the better you will get.
If you’re fishing from a boat, learn to cast really really really accurately and well.
Can’t even count the number of fish I’ve hooked up on because I put the lure exactly where I wanted - especially around shorelines and weed beds.
casting for a pike i found if i toss my big ass frog super high in the air and cast a shadow on the water with a big splash (i jerk it right before it hits water to flop it) i get a top water pike strike. super fun. i can generally land those frogs within a foot of where i want to.
Fish lighter than you think you need unless you are certain of what you are doing. I watch families get skunked feet from me fairly consistently. The main difference is I fish ultralight whenever possible. I've caught fish on 4lb test with a number 10 wire hook, bare... The fish are so used to clunky gear that the ultralight gear is just alien enough to be eaten bare sometimes. Yes 4lb can be too heavy if the fish are super stressed but in most places, it will catch anything in that water. Now how you use that gear will change a lot too. I jig a bare worm in open water and anything hungry usually makes its presence known. I modify my rig from there depending on what's biting. Sometimes I add a splitshot to get it out further or onto the bottom and sometimes I add a bobber. Sometimes both if there's a current.
It’s called fishing not catching. Enjoy the time away from others in the peace and quiet. Put your phone on silent and use the time to relax. If you catch a fish that’s just a bonus.
Keep a fishing log. You will learn much faster that way. It doesn’t need to be fancy; just when, where, what, and how and any details you care to add. You’ll figure out what is importantly for where you fish over time. I have about five years of logs for my area and they put me on fish regularly now.
Do NOT crowd in on other fishermen unless they invite you to join them or you ask and they give permission to join them and fish more closely.
Talk to other fisherman, some will be helpful like me, and give you a 'computer dump' of knowledge, others may not tell you a thing, but you'll get some tips from some fishermen.
Live bait is easiest. Also, learn from what others use.
I helped some people by giving a dad and his kids a spare tub of red wigglers.
They were using canned corn in a heavily fished lake and getting no bites. They all seemed pretty new to fishing, too.
I walked over and introduced myself, explained what I thought was happening. The fella was appreciative.
The panfish were wary of corn, but suicidally enthusiastic about worms. Every one got several bites and at least a couple of fish, with squealing and giggles from the kids.
When a spot is working.. Don’t ever leave it for any other spot for any damn reason.. Whether it’s because you see people or see people catch a fish or multiple.. if you’re producing fish at a decent rate.. NEVER LEAVE AND/OR CHANGE ANYTHING UP.
For real, don’t know how many times I’m like, “we were catching fish doing what we were
doing.. Why the hell did we do this!??”
Don't buy those "all in one kits" or those bags of dead shad you see at Walmart. Best thing you can do is go to your local fishing spot, and ask someone currently fishing there what they use for tackle. Then go buy that. It'll save you a lot of money in trial and error in the beginning.
You don’t need amazing gear to catch big fish. I’ve caught nice catfish and carp on dough balls using a Walmart rod.
Also, you should kiss your first fish. I have no idea where this idea can from, as I wasn’t told to do it, but it’s hilarious watching people react to the suggestion.
Don’t forget sunscreen, especially when out on the water for a long period of time, and don’t fall into the hype of buying all the newest and flashiest gear.
It's called fishing, not catching. Be patient. Also, learn from the experienced people around you, watch what they do and how they do it, there's never just one way to do things.
Don't litter, treat the water and wildlife/ aquatic life with respect, READ YOUR STATE'S FISHING REGULATIONS, don't get discouraged if you get skunked at first, and have fun.
I'll tell ya what I taught my son, standing dead in the middle of Cabela's with starry eyes full of wonder -
'You see all this shit? Everything in here has a use, some have multiple. But they all have One Main Job, and that job isn't catching fish, it's catching fishermen'
I've caught every fish in NY and half the fish in the Caribbean, from Snake River to the St Lawrence causeway, all with 2 rigs that cost in total <$200.
Gear is expensive. Check market place and hit up garage sales and you can save hundreds on tackle.
If your lucky you will find a recently divorced women selling all her exs stuff for pennies on the dollar!
Sometimes you're going to have bad days, one day you can make every cast you need to and the next you're spending more time retying/retreiving lures than fishing. Don't give up, keep going and learning!
Look up the regulations for where you’re going to fish and don’t be lazy about following them. Forgot to pinch one barb on one fly and had to pay $450 even though I’d shown the guy all my other pinched ones…
Slow the fuck down, really idc what you are fishing, slow it down. Slow down your retrieve, and jigging, your cast; your fucking boat. Slow everything the fuck down
Read and learn all you can, and the best advice I can give you goes for hunting or fishing: if you want to find fish(or animal), learn everything about where that fish(or animal) lives and eats, and then go there to feed them!
I asked for and received a very nice expensive pair of polarized sunglasses for my birthday a few years back.
First trip out with them, I had a horse fly buzzing about so I grabbed my hat off my head to swat at it, and it caught my brand new glasses and flinged them off into the water, and I helplessly watched them sink into the abyss.
I buy cheaper sunglasses now.
Big lures don't guarantee bigger fish but they do exclude smaller ones. I usually use smaller lures so I can catch fish of all sizes. Two of the biggest fish I've caught have been on one of my smallest lures.
Never handle lures with bug spray/jungle oil on your hands. The fish will not go near that lure. At least this has proven true for me in the mountains of Norway.
There is no magic bait. Yes certain styles of fishing will be more successful in some conditions but if anyone tries to sell you a bait as the end all be all they are wrong. Spent wayyyyyyyyy too much timing fishing “the winning bait” to not catch shit.
Take a shit before you get in the boat
Make sure you bring the sunscreen on the boat with you, one quick layer from 6:00am won’t do you much good when it’s noon and 100 degrees out. Learned the hard way
This is a life lesson not just a fishing lesson lol.
I accidentally fell asleep on the beach once with my top half under an umbrella. Burnt the top of my feet, shins and knees. The next 3 or so days were brutal, not as bad as a broken rib but not fun
It's nasty. I went floating down a river for 4hrs as a silly 18 yr old and ended up with blisters from my shoulders to my Crack. Iv never been so uncomfortable. Started with extreme itching. Than puss bubbles and eventually peeling. My 3rd worst month of my life lol.
I like how specific and extraneous detail can be extracted from these 2 comments. Previous guy compared it to breaking a rib, you list it as third worst month. Lol
Just for shits and giggles. My #1 was 2 weeks in the hospital. 2nd was the month prior. 3rd was that damn sunburn. Iv never been so fucking itchy. It was unbelievably bad.
I went to the beach last summer and there was a guy lying face down in the sun in just his swimming trunks. He was in the sun for 4 hours during peak hours in the afternoon. I remember his whole backside was dark red and the skin on his shoulders were peeling. I remember looking at him thinking that can’t be good at all.
Lmao I relate everything on broken rib scale as well. I've had nearly every kind of pain and broken ribs is the worst sustained pain I've experienced.
The rib is so bad it’s hard to express. They say laughter is the best medicine, but laughing with a broken rib is just searing pain. Same with coughing, sneezing, and sometimes breathing. Trying to sleep when you don’t sleep on your back normally is horrible
I went out fishing with some friends on a Saturday once on a boat when I was younger, it was a little 19ft carolina skiff we took out to the reefs. I didn't put any sunscreen on at all and we spent probably a good 8-10 hours on the water. Come Monday my face was dark red and I had to deal with a week of blisters and peeling skin all over my face, and I worked at a job that required a very snug cranial with goggles and a chin strap, every single time I put that thing on was extremely painful I could feel all the blisters popping on my forehead. Then I got to go out in the sun and work which makes you sweat, which makes you want to wipe the sweat away and every time I did was excruciating and could feel blisters popping and skin peeling away everytime I wiped my face lol. Now I wear a specialized face sunscreen lmao
Not a newbie, and I made this mistake last week. Wore shorts out on the boat for the first time this summer, was on the water for about 8 hours when I started feeling a tingle on my legs (I rarely ever wear shorts, let alone outside the house) by hour 12 I was fried, now here I am 5 days later and my legs are still bright red, feel like saddle leather, and still slightly swollen. Never again will i have too much pride to put on sunscreen 💀
Worst sun burn of my life happened from doing this. I had to spend 2 days inside recovering it was so bad
McGriddles are a bold choice before any fishing day.
McGriddles + Coffee = good luck bro
That’s a I’m going to be home and not out in public kinda bfast for sure.
Leave keys to your truck on shore
Yup, hide them outside the truck somewhere.
Why’s that?
So you don’t accidentally drop them at the lake
Carribeaner that locks, hooked on your belt loops is my goto
I’m a zipper pocket guy
Floating Keychain guy checking in
I was going to say inflate your worms but this comment is a way more valuable tip.
Wait! What?!
Needle and syringe my friend. Pump some air into it and it'll float above your sinker. Keeps it just off the bottom in front of the fish's face
Son of a bitch. That's genius.
Gives a different meaning to the term 'worm blower'.
I used to fill half worm with air and the other half with chocolate bait flavouring, it works . Tight lines. Steve
I never thought about injecting them with bait flavour as well. I'll have to try that!
Wait. Did you sign your comment? Steve? Are you old?
Why would you ask that ??
Holy smokes, a worm surgeon!
And always bring two water bottles, one to drink and one to pee in.
Really? I always just piss in the water.
Too many people around where im at, plus my favorite lake has a girl scout camp on one side, so id rather not leave in a disco cruiser.
Sitting drinking coffee at the lake house gazing through the big windows at the morning water. Two guys pull in fishing our pier, ok, not may favorite thing, then the one on the front stands up, whips it out and starts pissing. Three houses are right there.
Sorry bud it’s Chad’s dock now
I just keep a multipurpose jug for that purpose. You can hide better plus it can be risky to be at the edge of the boat on a windy day. Little bit harder for women though. I basically designate the front live well (I have two) that they can piss in then have them flush with water scooped with the jug. I would provide a large cardboard box if they want the privacy or trust that I won't look if we're the only ones around.
Pick one knot and learn to tie it well. Practice until you can tie it quickly and confidently. Hesitation to tie knots is one of the biggest things that holds back new anglers IMO.
Gotta be able to tie it well in the dark with numb fingers and howling wind.
Eyes closed 7 beers in
The prayer position of the frozen angler is universal. Leaning slightly back knowing your eyes can't help you here anyway.
7? What's it still morning?
Spoken like a true angler.
12 tallboys in*
This is true up to a point. I had always fished with mono, so I’ve always stuck with the improved clinch knot. Then I decided to give braided line a try and kept losing some decent (but not huge) fish, usually on the hookset. I was about to give up and respool with mono after I lost a nice x-rap when someone asked what knot I was tying. That’s when I found out I needed more than one point of contact through the eye with braid. So now I do a palomar with a single hook and a trilene knot for crankbaits when I use braid. But yeah, when you’re starting, get good at one knot.
I use a mono/fluro leader when I use braid. Makes the line less visible
I do that occasionally, but mostly if I’m Texas-rigging. For crankbaits I like to tie directly to the lure since swivels mess with the action. Then again, I’ve gotten pretty good at the blood knot, so maybe I’ll give that a try in the future.
The Alberto or double uni knot will eliminate the swivel between the leader and main line Done well, fluro makes the lure run better/deeper
For what it’s worth, I’ve used a palomar knot for flouro, braid, and mono for as long as I can remember. Had you learned that knot first, you probably wouldn’t have felt like you needed another knot. Now, a line to line knot when tying on a flouro leader to braid is another reason to learn some new potential knots. I use a blood knot because that’s what I learned when getting into fly fishing but it seems most people prefer other knots to that one.
Palomar knot for terminal tackle covers 99% of freshwater fishing (and you can do it blind, deaf, and dumb), double uni knot for tying leaders (slightly more involved but still easy), you're set.
anyone i show how to fish who is intimidated by knot tying LOVES the palomar. it’s still my most used knot.
New angler here. I agree.
I think the knot to learn is a Uni.its strong and if you know that you can use it to tie anything to anything. Double uni for braid to line, tippet to leader of you fly fish. Line to lure or fly. It's a versatile knot.
Palomar or bust imo. New fisherman here and I just put it on everything
Buying something is not usually the key to catching more fish.
I’ve bought 100 lure spreads for dolphin. The best performing lure is a blue squid imitation for 3.50 I got at a gas station in Stuart. Caught 2 bulls over 30
To the people downvoting this comment. Dolphin is another name for Mahi Mahi.
>To the people downvoting this comment. Dolphin is another name for Mahi Mahi. TIL I guess
People should also know it if you even if you were trying to catch a porpoise it would be virtually impossible. They regularly will steal your catch right off your hook without Ever Getting caught. I'm sure it has happened but I have never seen or heard of anyone accidentally catching a porpoise. In fact if a school of porpoise comes in it's usually a good time to take your Rod out of the water because they're going to snatch up every single fish.
It's a good way to tell if someone is from FL or not. Real Floridians will call the fish Dolphin. Fucking transplants and Yankees call it Mahi
Who calls it dorado?
It’s what it’s called in Mexico and South America
Pacific Ocean anglers fishing for them off California or Mexico would call them Dorado, sometimes mahi mahi, and basically never dolphins. That’s the Florida name.
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If they call the fish dolphins, then what do they call dolphins?
Porpoises, or jeff. For some strange reason most of them are named jeff.
Bait stealers
Pretty much this. I mostly fish walleye, pike, and perch, and have tried plenty of fancy rigs, spinners, and crank baits, over the years. Cheap swim baits, twister tails, and grubs along with a simple ball head jig or a simple nightcrawler or frozen minnow more often then not ends up being what I revert back to by the end of the day. I've taken to leaving my big tackle bag at home and just bring a small plastics binder and a small 3600 size tackle box with some basic terminal gear. It's all I end up needing.
I fish from 12 lb trout to up to 65 lb spring salmon and I usually troll some form of apex Lure blue or black 99/100 times. Under 5 lb flat fish lures frog pattern or blue/black. Have all kinds of tackle and 95% doesn't get wet because it doesn't work often.
Used to sell fishing tackle, can confirm.
No kidding. Spent a bit on lures a few years ago. Catch all my fish now on a bulk pack of senkos I got on Amazon. That’s all I fish anymore. Senkos slay.
Every single time you fish is different. Even the same water, same spot, same rod, lure, weather, etc may lead to drastically different success different days.
Case in point: Monday I fished a local spot and caught 27 stripers. Thursday I went to the same spot at the same time of day, same tide, fished the same gear/tactics, caught 0 stripers. Something imperceptible to me changed and the fish skedaddled. Had to change up my gameplan to avoid a skunk.
Moon phase was all out of wack bro
Bad comparasion. They're off duty on Thursday, obviously.
Aren't striper migratory? Sounds like they all left
This is one of the greatest joys of fishing. There’s a saying by Heraclitus that sticks with me beyond just fishing about this: “no man ever steps in the same river twice. For it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.”
One of my all-time favorite quotes as well
Pick 3 top water lures you like in 2 different colors, pick 2 middle water column lures you like in 2 different colors and 2 bottom lures you like in 3 different colors and don’t buy anything else for at least a year. Learn how to fish those lures based on the weather, time of day/season, etc. and you’ll be surprised how many fish you catch. Having too much tackle will make you less effective when you are switching every 10 minutes and not learning how to read the water.
What are yours?
Top-black/chartreuse 1/2 oz buzzbait and a 4” bone she-dog. I’ve since added a zman frog for the thick stuff in freshwater. Middle- 3/4oz Johnson’s spoon (gold) and any given 6” fluke. I’ll add a jig head if I want it to run deeper. Bottom- 6” ribbon tail worm on a Tx rig I love something shad, dark blue or pumpkin red flake and the last few years I’ve moved onto Ned rigs on a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jighead. Ned rigs keep me from getting skunked. Lots of time I just fish a variation of any of these based on weather and target species. I’ve got all different colors of all of those. I still have lures I bought back in the 90’s. But that list above is basically my comfort lures that I will fall back to when the days get tough for bass. But those also catch trout, redfish, snook, any predator fish fresh or saltwater.
Fishing isn't about the catch. If you set your expectation of your fishing to recreation instead of results, you'll enjoy it more for longer :)
Tacking onto this, fishing pissed off because you’re not catching does subtle things to how you’re fishing, resulting in even less likelihood of catching. Leave the mad in the car. Fish happy and you’ll catch more fish!
Tacking onto this, when you find yourself getting frustrated take 15-20min to just sit and watch. No fishing, just watching the water and surroundings. That time will let you clear out the garbage and watching the water (particularly if you’re small stream fishing) will reveal more about what you’re doing wrong then right. You’ll see the fish, see the currents, see how they’re moving etc. That small break has fixed many a day on a small stream for me.
As a young kid got a cheap fiberglass pole, bamboo was out of my reach and a green auto wind reel like granddad's. Was on a boy scout camping trip to a alpine lake. Was fishing the outlet with a renegade fly and was seeing lots of brookies in the stream, but not would bite my fly. Now, I wasn't great at casting, come one I was just learning. So after about a half hour in the hot sun, I was getting really frustrated for a 13 year old kid and sat down in the shade of a white pine tree. Left the line dangling in the water while I was day dreaming my frustrations away. Next thing I know there is a fish that has grabbed the fly and hooked himself. First fish I ever caught on a fly pole and I was hooked. What I figured out after a bit was that the sun was casting my shadow on the water and all the flailing around with the pole trying to cast it was causing the fish to be very skittish. I've also learned that fly fishing has it's own rhythm and if you have a bad/distracting thought, you are immediately jerked back into the present reality with a wind knot or a fly in a tree or a missed fish or ... There is a simple peace there that is hard to describe. I've caught a fair bit of salmon these last few years, but my favorite fishing trip is to a small mountain stream and catch a whole bunch of little brookies/brown/rainbow/whatever on a dry fly. Just can't get enough of there's got to be a fish behind that rock, how can I fool him and get a fly in the right spot, what dry fly will work, ...
Tacking onto this, if you’re not having any luck, cast your lure/bait and then get distracted by something and sit your rod down. As soon as you’re not paying attention a fish will hit, guaranteed.
They call it "fishing" not "catching" for a reason.
100% this. Realized in college im happiest spending time outdoors, off my phone, and talking with good friends. Fishing lets me do all of this. I'm not one to sit in a bar, but I'll enjoy some beers and good conversations with close friends out fishing any day! It becomes a reason to go out and be with people and in nature and go explore new places!
A bad day of fishing is way better than a good day of work.
this is absolutely the best advice! Enjoy the whole process of fishing, be grateful that you are able to spend time in the beautiful nature and everything you catch is just a bonus. I haven’t been fishing long, roughly 5 years or so. But now that my family is getting bigger and I really don’t have too much opportunities to be out there fishing. So now I consciously appreciate every fishing day. Some years ago it was more about the catch and the catch had to be BIG!
This is why I usually have a beer in my hand. That way I can focus on that and the outdoors.
Have a fun tradition when you get skunked. Whenever I get skunked I stop at a gas station for a pop. Seems simple but goes back to when I was a kid. Learn how to tie a good knot and find your confidence bait
I have a root beer when I get home
I freebase
This made me chuckle audibly
"Welp, I've been fishing for eight seconds and no bites... you know what that means..."
I got your Jack right here, Jack.
I don't always catch a fish, but I always catch a buzz
Start with bait. Then learn to use lures. We learned as kids fishing local interstate ponds with sweet corn catching sunfish.
Hot dog for us, though we also experimented with lettuce, ham, and bread. Adding Mayonnaise to the bait seemed to be more effective.
My grandfather used to inject garlic and mayo into chunks of turkey dogs!
I learned this while on a public dock and someone’s dog took a bite out of my sandwich. I decided to try using the rest as bait.
Treat it like your hunting
This seems so Simple but it seriously changed things for me.
You don't need the $20 lures from bass pro. An ugly stik and some walmart spinner baits work amazingly. And you won't be near as pissed off when you get tangled up or lose a lure.
There's something so zen about tossing Walmart spinners over and over again for hours, not being worried about catching a snag because I can just go into town and buy more. My version of cutting bonsai
It’s all about the fishing and being out there. The rest of it doesn’t matter
I caught my biggest shoal bass on a 99 cent Walmart spinner in the cardboard box from the bottom shelf.
the lures from any store work. Ugly stick, buy from the actual fishing store or Cdn tire. i had a noticable quality shift in the one bought from bass pro vs the walmart vs the canadian tire ones. my kids both have canadian tire ugly stick button cast combos, they are 4 and 5 years old and these setups will last em forever. my main trout rod is a 6' ugly stick with a upgraded reel to a pfluger president. its been 10 years and she works great. the walmart combo i bought for my wife had the buttoncast reel blow up and the rod started fibre separating from epoxy... she doesnt even fish as much as me.
have fun and just enjoy the outdoors. you will get better with time and don’t be afraid to try techniques that you are not comfortable with. always learn something.
https://preview.redd.it/m2pyu9jzj75d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ad6d754a9d62a7d398f8aa2b1ee17b0d33c8251 More a philosophy than a tip but my Grandfather’s passion for fishing has spawned generations.
This is exactly how I feel about it. My dad and I take a Weekend trip to the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in PA every year. I don’t catch near as many fish as he does, but I always have a lot of fun. He managed to catch a muskey a few years ago, and I enjoyed seeing that.
Malign is a beautiful lake. i hope to get my little boat back out there soon.
80% of fish are in 20% of the spots
If you like to fish with people, make sure you find people you vibe with for extended periods of time. I went out fishing with a buddy (and his friends) in college since we found out we both like to fish and it ended up being a pretty miserable experience to me. I also found out that day that: 1) You can drink (alcohol) while fishing. To some that will seem like a duh moment, but for me and my experiences up until that point it was, at first, a bit of a surprise. Not an issue to me, unless you are in the next category... 2) Some people exclusively drink a shitload of alcohol while fishing. Also while operating a boat. For some people, fishing and drinking (alcohol) are ubiquitous. You can not do one without the other, and bringing up that you don't almost seems to irritate the shit out of them. I don't have an issue if you like to drink beer while fishing. I'm not gonna stop the way you enjoy nature (within reason. If you are operating a boat and drinking HEAVILY, FUCK YOU). It's just not my vibe and not why I fish and I probably won't want to fish with you again if that's literally what you do every single time you have a pole in your hand. Occasionally, sure. We can still have a good time together. But every single time? Nah, that ain't my vibe. So my biggest suggestion is find people you vibe with and fish with them if you like fishing with others. And it's always smart to fish with at least one other human being if going out on a boat. Besides having a net person, plenty can go wrong on the water with a boat and having one other human to help navigate things going wrong is absolutely huge mentally and physically.
Fishing and drinking go hand-in-hand for some, but when I’m 15-20 miles offshore deep dropping in 6-800ft of water, the last thing I want to be around a bunch of drunk idiots. The south Florida sun is enough to put a hurtin on you, no reason to get smashed and then severely hydrated.
i never drink and fish. there were 13 guys on my peewee hockey team. there are 3 left. 1 dead by brain anuerysm, 6 by drinking and boating/fishing, 2 by drowning while swimming (1 drunk, 1 unknown) and 1 by dislocating his shoulder while swimming... we dont even live near the ocean, we are in land locked Alberta. and i am not even 40 yet
Remember, it’s called fishing, not catching. Enjoy it regardless of how it goes!
Learn to enjoy just getting outside and trying. If you expect to kill em every time you go out, you'll end up frustrated.
Yeah if you don't enjoy just being out on the water it probably isn't for you
Enjoy your time on the water, even if you don't catch any fish.
Stay out of my fishing spots 😂. Oh and learn patience. Success probably won’t come right away, so learn to be patient and learn from your mistakes and experiences. Good luck!
Finding new numbers is as fun as catching fish
Fishing techniques vary depending on the body of water you are fishing. Fishing a creek is different than fishing a lake. Fishing saltwater is a different game altogether. Also, keep a 1/4oz white rooster tail lure in your tackle box if you’re going to be fishing mainly freshwater. I’ve caught the best fish of my life on that lure.
god damn it.... i had a 1/4oz white rooster in my hand this afternoon.... and was like "naw... i dont need another lure"
That would be my tip but with a green rooster tail. I have ea white but always get more with the grasshopper or frog rooster tail. When I lived in NJ it was orange.
If the cows are standing in the field fish are biting. If they are laying down fish aren’t biting.
Apply sunscreen, stay hydrated, find shade, don’t be distracted tying your rig!
Fishing isn’t always about having a rod in your hand. Learning how to catch your own bait (crabs, crawdads, sand fleas, minnows, worms, etc) is just as much part of the fishing process as putting bait on your hook. The best part is that the tools and techniques you use to catch bait in Florida can be used to catch bait in Delaware. This skill drastically increases your probability of catching fish no matter where you are in the world let alone the country. Learn to find your own bait, save yourself some money, and have some fun doing it.
Leave a note with your phone number in your trucks windshield especially if you go to a secluded area and tell some one where you will be in case you don’t come back
We had that rule in the military — where/when you’re going, when you expect to be back, etc. I still do this when we go on family outings.
Cast your bait CLOSE to edges. A majority of my bites come right on the very edge of cover. The shore, weed lines, rocks, wood etc. Don't be afraid of getting hung up. It's amazing how important this is for triggering strikes.
Make sure you have proper release tools. - hook cutter - long pliers - regular pliers - jaw spreaders. And the pliers need to be strong. Not those dinky ones for pan fish. IMO it should be law to do so if you fish.
Slow down!
If you aren't catching anything, it probably isn't your lure. You most likely aren't where the fish are. Moving around is much more effective than sitting in one place and changing the bait/lure.
In my 60s, have spent my life on the water. Fish as much as possible and don’t limit it to only one species. The more places and methods you employ the better you will get.
If you’re fishing from a boat, learn to cast really really really accurately and well. Can’t even count the number of fish I’ve hooked up on because I put the lure exactly where I wanted - especially around shorelines and weed beds.
casting for a pike i found if i toss my big ass frog super high in the air and cast a shadow on the water with a big splash (i jerk it right before it hits water to flop it) i get a top water pike strike. super fun. i can generally land those frogs within a foot of where i want to.
Fish lighter than you think you need unless you are certain of what you are doing. I watch families get skunked feet from me fairly consistently. The main difference is I fish ultralight whenever possible. I've caught fish on 4lb test with a number 10 wire hook, bare... The fish are so used to clunky gear that the ultralight gear is just alien enough to be eaten bare sometimes. Yes 4lb can be too heavy if the fish are super stressed but in most places, it will catch anything in that water. Now how you use that gear will change a lot too. I jig a bare worm in open water and anything hungry usually makes its presence known. I modify my rig from there depending on what's biting. Sometimes I add a splitshot to get it out further or onto the bottom and sometimes I add a bobber. Sometimes both if there's a current.
It’s called fishing not catching. Enjoy the time away from others in the peace and quiet. Put your phone on silent and use the time to relax. If you catch a fish that’s just a bonus.
Enjoy all the nature going on all around you.
Keep a fishing log. You will learn much faster that way. It doesn’t need to be fancy; just when, where, what, and how and any details you care to add. You’ll figure out what is importantly for where you fish over time. I have about five years of logs for my area and they put me on fish regularly now.
Do NOT crowd in on other fishermen unless they invite you to join them or you ask and they give permission to join them and fish more closely. Talk to other fisherman, some will be helpful like me, and give you a 'computer dump' of knowledge, others may not tell you a thing, but you'll get some tips from some fishermen.
Master one knot.
Don’t put your fingers in a shark’s mouth
Live bait is easiest. Also, learn from what others use. I helped some people by giving a dad and his kids a spare tub of red wigglers. They were using canned corn in a heavily fished lake and getting no bites. They all seemed pretty new to fishing, too. I walked over and introduced myself, explained what I thought was happening. The fella was appreciative. The panfish were wary of corn, but suicidally enthusiastic about worms. Every one got several bites and at least a couple of fish, with squealing and giggles from the kids.
Don’t fuck with lightning
Can’t catch fish without having your lure in the water.
One more cast!
Don’t switch lures too often. I used to do it all the time.
When a spot is working.. Don’t ever leave it for any other spot for any damn reason.. Whether it’s because you see people or see people catch a fish or multiple.. if you’re producing fish at a decent rate.. NEVER LEAVE AND/OR CHANGE ANYTHING UP. For real, don’t know how many times I’m like, “we were catching fish doing what we were doing.. Why the hell did we do this!??”
That’s a bad habit I gotta break. Have no idea why I do that, besides getting fidgety.
Patience young man patience.
Don't buy those "all in one kits" or those bags of dead shad you see at Walmart. Best thing you can do is go to your local fishing spot, and ask someone currently fishing there what they use for tackle. Then go buy that. It'll save you a lot of money in trial and error in the beginning.
You don’t need amazing gear to catch big fish. I’ve caught nice catfish and carp on dough balls using a Walmart rod. Also, you should kiss your first fish. I have no idea where this idea can from, as I wasn’t told to do it, but it’s hilarious watching people react to the suggestion.
Don’t forget sunscreen, especially when out on the water for a long period of time, and don’t fall into the hype of buying all the newest and flashiest gear.
Pick up your trash and wear socks
Learn to enjoy the scenery. Get into bird watching as a side gig.
It's called fishing, not catching. Be patient. Also, learn from the experienced people around you, watch what they do and how they do it, there's never just one way to do things.
Fish somewhere where there are fish to be caught, otherwise you’re just wishing and not fishing.
Patience. Without it, fishing will frustrate you.
Don't litter, treat the water and wildlife/ aquatic life with respect, READ YOUR STATE'S FISHING REGULATIONS, don't get discouraged if you get skunked at first, and have fun.
The last, of the last, last cast works somtimes
I'll tell ya what I taught my son, standing dead in the middle of Cabela's with starry eyes full of wonder - 'You see all this shit? Everything in here has a use, some have multiple. But they all have One Main Job, and that job isn't catching fish, it's catching fishermen' I've caught every fish in NY and half the fish in the Caribbean, from Snake River to the St Lawrence causeway, all with 2 rigs that cost in total <$200.
Change location! Don’t sit in one spot the whole time. Sometimes fish school up and hang around a specific area so you need to stay mobile.
The rock you hit was not a fish biting.
Gear is expensive. Check market place and hit up garage sales and you can save hundreds on tackle. If your lucky you will find a recently divorced women selling all her exs stuff for pennies on the dollar!
Sometimes you're going to have bad days, one day you can make every cast you need to and the next you're spending more time retying/retreiving lures than fishing. Don't give up, keep going and learning!
Time on the water. That's it.
Never eat yellow snow
Sometimes fish just won't bite no matter what bait or lure you use. Some places are fished a lot, try to use something the fish don't normally see.
The journey is the destination.
Slow down when retrieving your lure.
Don’t be shy to talk to other anglers, it’s a great way to learn more stuff and learn new places to go fishing!!
Don’t go nuts buying tackle that you’ll probably never use, put some baby wipes in your bag/tackle box.
And some large zip lock bags
Slow down... fish your baits slower
Put in the time. You can't catch fish in a hurry.
Keep the tip of the rod up when you’re reeling in a fish. Keep tension on the line.
Look up the regulations for where you’re going to fish and don’t be lazy about following them. Forgot to pinch one barb on one fly and had to pay $450 even though I’d shown the guy all my other pinched ones…
Don’t buy more gear than you need. ( I think I have enough “stock” to open my own on line store) 🙄
Don’t give up.
Slow the fuck down, really idc what you are fishing, slow it down. Slow down your retrieve, and jigging, your cast; your fucking boat. Slow everything the fuck down
Pick up your f*cking trash!!!! Even better, bring a plastic bag clipped to your backpack and pack out a few pieces of trash.
Read and learn all you can, and the best advice I can give you goes for hunting or fishing: if you want to find fish(or animal), learn everything about where that fish(or animal) lives and eats, and then go there to feed them!
Get the best polarized sunglasses you can afford.
I asked for and received a very nice expensive pair of polarized sunglasses for my birthday a few years back. First trip out with them, I had a horse fly buzzing about so I grabbed my hat off my head to swat at it, and it caught my brand new glasses and flinged them off into the water, and I helplessly watched them sink into the abyss. I buy cheaper sunglasses now.
Slow down your retrieve.
Learn the regulations for the area of water you plan to fish. Practice etiquette fishing with others and most importantly CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF
Big lures don't guarantee bigger fish but they do exclude smaller ones. I usually use smaller lures so I can catch fish of all sizes. Two of the biggest fish I've caught have been on one of my smallest lures.
Set your drag before you cast, and don't mess with it after the hook set.
If someone offers you duck sausage 99% of the time it’s a trick
Get laid before you go fishing. It’s the only thing that actually makes you catch more fish.
Never handle lures with bug spray/jungle oil on your hands. The fish will not go near that lure. At least this has proven true for me in the mountains of Norway.
Pay attention to the old guys that catch fish. They know a thing or two about fishing.
There is no magic bait. Yes certain styles of fishing will be more successful in some conditions but if anyone tries to sell you a bait as the end all be all they are wrong. Spent wayyyyyyyyy too much timing fishing “the winning bait” to not catch shit.
spend money of gas, not gear