Making Fish Bite
< Continued from page 1
When I say the fight was on, there were actually two fights. I was fighting the fish and my wife?s uncle was fighting with me to cut the line! These were his fish, and he had them trained! As he yelled at me, I reminded him that he gave me permission!
Needless to say, I released that snapper and was not permitted to fish again. But I learned something by watching those fish. Your bait has to be natural, and it needs to match the surroundings ? particularly with a fish as smart as a snapper.
I watch anglers fishing with me who have half the tackle shop tied to the end of their line. Heavy swivels, wire leaders, snaps, and beads ? you name it. I fish next to them and catch good fish, while they try to figure out why they only catch the junk fish.
Make your bait presentation as natural as you possible can. I fished offshore one day with some live finger mullet I had netted in the inlet. I thought they would be awesome bait ? and they are in the right circumstances. Offshore fishing is not one of those circumstances. Finger mullet are very much out of place on the bottom in 100 feet of water. The cigar minnows I caught out there got bit on every drop. My mullet never got eaten!
I believe you can make fish bite just by the way your bait is presented. A school of vermillion snapper under the boat is generally half way up the water column. Bottom anglers drop their bait right through them and never get hit. I use a jig head that drops slowly toward the bottom, and as it gets to the depth of the snapper, it gets eaten almost every time.
I can literally catch three fish for every one my partner catches with his normal rig. It?s all in how you present it.
So next time you are in a situation where you know the fish are there but they won?t bite, look at changing your presentation. Lighter line, no leader, slower drop ? anything that changes what is currently not working will eventually make that fish bite. Give it a try!
When I say the fight was on, there were actually two fights. I was fighting the fish and my wife?s uncle was fighting with me to cut the line! These were his fish, and he had them trained! As he yelled at me, I reminded him that he gave me permission!
Needless to say, I released that snapper and was not permitted to fish again. But I learned something by watching those fish. Your bait has to be natural, and it needs to match the surroundings ? particularly with a fish as smart as a snapper.
I watch anglers fishing with me who have half the tackle shop tied to the end of their line. Heavy swivels, wire leaders, snaps, and beads ? you name it. I fish next to them and catch good fish, while they try to figure out why they only catch the junk fish.
Make your bait presentation as natural as you possible can. I fished offshore one day with some live finger mullet I had netted in the inlet. I thought they would be awesome bait ? and they are in the right circumstances. Offshore fishing is not one of those circumstances. Finger mullet are very much out of place on the bottom in 100 feet of water. The cigar minnows I caught out there got bit on every drop. My mullet never got eaten!
I believe you can make fish bite just by the way your bait is presented. A school of vermillion snapper under the boat is generally half way up the water column. Bottom anglers drop their bait right through them and never get hit. I use a jig head that drops slowly toward the bottom, and as it gets to the depth of the snapper, it gets eaten almost every time.
I can literally catch three fish for every one my partner catches with his normal rig. It?s all in how you present it.
So next time you are in a situation where you know the fish are there but they won?t bite, look at changing your presentation. Lighter line, no leader, slower drop ? anything that changes what is currently not working will eventually make that fish bite. Give it a try!