A few weeks ago, Jim Braaten of the Sportsmans Blog posted a story about his buddy running across what appeared to be a bird of prey caught in some fishing line. I don’t think any of us would wantonly throw a tangle of fishing line in the water. But what we probably don’t think about is when we get a line caught in a tree, or stuck on a log. Instead of making an effort to get the lure unstuck, it’s much easier to just cut the line and retie. However, leaving a line dangling... (more...)
In all my years of fishing I’ve been lucky to have never had a hook break my skin in any part of my body. Others haven’t been so lucky. If you’ve done any amount of fishing, you know the technique to use if a hook goes into your skin beyond the barb: push it through past the barb, cut it off with a pair of pliers, then pull the hook out. However, Billy Chapman of Angler’s Inn International did a great video to show an alternative method for removing hooks. I’m skeptical... (more...)
I’ve met some really cool, interesting people since I started my fishing blog a year ago. One of them is the WalleyeGuy. He approached me about guest posting a few weeks ago and having seen the quality of his other guest posts, I had no hesitation in agreeing. If you’re a frequent reader of mine, you know that I just started learning about lindy rigs last year and have had very little success with them so far. My first real success of the technique was this weekend. However, I know... (more...)
I stumbled upon an article by Art Holden at the Daily Record via TBrinks’ blog post. It’s good advice that applies not just to fishing, but to most things in life: Keep it simple and Stay with what you know Too often we anglers jump on the latest lure or technology that the pros are using to make millions of dollars on the tournament scene. But if you’re not familiar with the lure or the technology, you might as well be throwing an empty hook into a swamp. I’ve been criticized... (more...)
As kids, all of us are taught that we need to set the hook as soon as you feel a fish bite (or see the bobber go under). This mainly comes from fishing for pan fish because they are able to grab a worm or piece of corn off the hook in a split second. For years now, I’ve been fishing with texas rigged plastics. With this type of rigging, if you set the hook as soon as you feel a bite, all you’ll catch is disappointment. Some people will tell you to wait 2 seconds after you feel a hit.... (more...)
About two months ago, I posed a question to my readers about whether I should use a left-handed or right-handed baitcaster if I am right-handed. I got some good information and settled on using the right-handed baitcaster that my brother gave me for Christmas. I’ve used the reel a few times now and can report on my personal experience. Before I took it out to water, I practiced in my backyard a few times. It took me a few casts to get used to my new rod, let alone the reel, but got the hang... (more...)
On my last outing, I caught a nice 16″ largemouth by bottom bouncing a texas rigged Slurpie worm with loose bullet weight. But it was really a fluke that I caught it. The strike felt like a weed and it just so happened that I pulled hard enough to set the hook. In the hour after I caught my fish, I felt a lot of weed tugs. Some of retrieves came back with cabbage, but many did not. I’ve never fished a jig and pig, but I’ve heard the strike with that technique is a soft tick... (more...)
With the Minnesota Fishing Opener just hours away, we all hope to catch that lunker that will make our season. And when we do, we’ll want to get a picture of it. Making sure you get a good picture is a lot easier these days than in the days of film, but there are some basic tips that can make sure the shot is a good one. I came across a cool article that gives tips on how to take great photos of fish from a kayak. A lot of the tips were great for taking fish photos in general. I’ll... (more...)
No matter how experienced of an angler you are, you can always learn something new. That goes for any skill in life really. I attended a community ed class earlier this week about Fishing in the Twin Cities. As part of that class, the instructor, Sybil Smith, gave tips on how and where to find fish in any body of water. Most of the information were things any seasoned angler should know, but I still picked up a few tips. Here is a summary of some of her tips: Fish will always look for three... (more...)
A few weeks ago I was at my in-laws to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. To my surprise, my parents-in-law presented me with an early birthday present (it’s not til later this month). It was for a community ed fishing class titled “Fishing in the Twin Cities” that my father-in-law and I could attend. It sounded like a great deal because ever since I started fishing the local lakes with Mark, I’ve been wanting to see what else is around the area when Mark was... (more...)
