All About Line: What To Use When

Many years ago there was only one type of fishing line, monofilament. Today there are many different types of fishing line. In fact, there are so many types and combinations it can be very confusing. Here is some information that will help clear up some of the confusion so you will know what type of line to use and when to use it.

The old standard fishing line, monofilament, is good to use for crappie, sunfish, bluegill and brook trout. These small fish are not extremely hard on line and won’t stretch it out when you set the hook. These fish also live in areas where you don’t have to worry about line abrasion.

If you fish for bigger, harder fighting fish you may want to consider fluorocarbon line. Fluorocarbon line is a very strong line and won’t stretch. It also resists abrasion so if you’re bass fishing or musky fishing their teeth won’t hurt the line. Fluorocarbon line is also almost invisible in water. If the fish are line shy this is the perfect type of line to use.

Another very strong fishing line is the blended copolymer line. This line is very strong and thin and is extremely sensitive. If you are fishing for a big heavy catfish or carp this may be the line to use. Copolymer is actually a code name for nylon line. The down side of this line is that it stretches and will need to be replaced more often.

A blend of fluorocarbon and copolymer combined makes the better of these two types of line. It is an ultra thick line with a center of copolymer and then coated with fluorocarbon so it is strong and will resist abrasion and also is invisible. This line is great for bass fishing and striper fishing.

Fishing for trophy requires super strong line. They make a braided line that uses copolymer and fluorocarbons all braided together to increase the strength and durability of the line. This is the type of line you want to take to Florida fishing. Some of these lines are so think that a 200lb test braided line has the same diameter as a 50lb monofilament line.

Ice Fishing For White Fish

One of the favorite winter pastimes in the northern regions is fishing for white fish. During the winter these great tasting fish are exceptionally fun and fairly easy to catch from the northern frozen lakes. Here are some suggestions on how to catch a mess of these fish for supper.

This time of year the northern lakes are frozen solid with several feet of ice. It is highly recommended to use a power ice auger to drill through the ice. If you have four feet of ice to go through using a hand crank ice auger it will take you at least an hour or more to bore through. By the time you strike water you’ll be ready for a nap, not a fishing adventure. Using a power arguer lets you drill through four feet of ice almost effortlessly. You’re fishing in just a matter of minutes. If the local fishing regulations permit, you can drill several holes in an area and double or triple your chances to catch fish.

One you have your hole bored and the slush scooped out, you’re ready to fish. White fish like to feed on worms and fish eggs among other things. Worms are an easy bait to use for ice fishing. They won’t die in the cold, although they may not wiggle much either. Rigging the line with the hook on the bottom and the sinker about 10 inches above the hook works well. This keeps the worm on the bottom or very close to the bottom where the fish expect to find worms.

Using fish eggs for bait is also very effective. Since fish eggs are normally found on the bottom of the lake the same rig used for worms can be used. Normally fish eggs are found in singles or in groups of two or three eggs. Use a hook small enough that a cluster of three eggs will completely hide the hook. This means using a #10 hook or smaller.

If you are fishing from just one hole you can sit in front of the hole and watch it. Some prefer to hold the pole but in cold weather this doesn’t always work well. Some anglers like to use a bobber. They drop the line to the bottom of the lake and then clip the bobber to the line so it floats on the surface of the water. This works well, but requires constant monitoring so the bobber doesn’t freeze into the ice.

Another method is using a bell. They make a small bell that clips onto the tip of the rod. When a fish bites and moves the rod, the bell rings. This is effective when fishing two or more rods.

If you use these suggestions you should be able to catch your daily bag limit of fish without any problem. However, there still may some down time and playing fishing games is a perfect pastime.

Six Biggest Fish Ever Caught

One of the most interesting parts of fishing is telling stories of catching the biggest fish. However, the biggest fish depends on many different variables, which is what makes the fish story interesting. Here are six of the biggest fish ever caught.

Most of the really big fish found in the ocean are sharks. These great monsters of the sea are greatly feared because they will eat a person. One of the biggest sharks ever caught was a great white shark, caught in 1964 off the coast of Long Island, New York. This monster was 17 ½ feet long and weighted 4500 lbs.

Another huge shark, a tiger shark was caught off Australian coast. This monster was caught in 1958 and weighed 1422 lbs. It broke the previous record caught in 1939 also off the Australian coast that was 1382 lbs.

There are other sharks that grow to be absolutely gigantic but because they eat plankton they will only be caught when they get tangled in fishing nets. The biggest of these is the whale shark which is the size of a very large bus. Following closely behind it is the basking shark which is the sixe of a large Recreational Vehicle.

After the sharks there are several large fish. The blue marlin may be the largest of these. In 1967, off the Kona Hawaii, a large blue marlin was caught. It weight 1100 lbs, which tied the previous record set the year before.

For those who enjoy bass fishing, there was a huge black sea bass caught in 1956 off of San Clemente California. It weighed a whopping 514 lbs.

The pacific big eye tuna is another big fish. There was one caught in 1957 off the coast of Peru that weighed 435 lbs. It broke the previous record of 400 lbs set the year before.

Catching large fish and bragging about them is one of the most enjoyable fishing games, in fact, of all fishing games, except shark fishing games it may be the most fun.

Winter Walleye Fishing

Fishing for walleye in the winter weather in open water or through the ice is a wonderful way to spend a day. Walleye remain active through the cold winter months, but their metabolism slows down. However, even with a slower metabolism they will fight and run.

If you are going to fish through the ice, make sure you use a strong ice fishing rod. A light weight rod may be broken by an aggressive walleye. The reel should also be sturdy and loaded with fresh monofilament line. Fishing through the ice requires the line to be clear so it’s invisible to the fish. Walleye, especially the bigger more experienced, can get line shy if they can see the line.

Walleye enjoy feeding on yellow perch. In the winter most the yellow perch they are looking for are small adult sizes. Be sure to use bait that imitates the correct size and color. If possible, use live yellow perch for bait. That insures having the right size and color. Using live bait also gives movement to the bait.

One of the hardest things for fishing for walleye is getting the bait to move in a natural way. Jigging works ok, but having live bait that swims around, moving naturally, is the best way to catch a walleye.

If it’s not possible to use live bait then using swim bait will work with some modifications. Take the swim bait and drill a small hole in the dorsal fin. Feed the line through the hole about six inches above the line. Tie the line securely through the hole. Take the end of the line and tie it through the normal attachment point and trim away the excess line. Now when you jig the swim bait it pivots up and down, more like a natural fish.

If the walleye don’t cooperate you can also play some fishing games. Walleye fishing games, out of all fishing games, are some of the most favorite of all the online fishing games.

Bass Fishing Advice to Catch a Monster

Entering fishing contests are great fun and very challenging. Bass fishing contest are an exciting way to spend a day. However, if you want to have any chance of winning a contest you need to know how to catch a monster fish or two. Here is some advice that will help you find and catch a monster bass.

The world record large mouth bass was caught from Montgomery Lake, Georgia in 1932. It weighed 22 lbs. 4 oz. So this is the standard for a monster. There have only been a few fish over 20lbs caught.

Finding where a monster lives is the first order of business. You’ll find monsters living where the temperature of the water is in the lower 70’s most of the year. The low 70’s is the optimum for bass to grow.

The body of water will need to provide good cover and lots of food. Bass love to eat small bait fish and crawfish so a lake or pond that has lots of small fish and plenty of weedy bottoms of fallen logs will be an ideal place. It is also important that the lake or pod is not overfished. It will take several years for a bass to reach a monster size. If there is a lot of fishing pressure a bass won’t live long enough.

Once you find the perfect environment you must locate the fish. A good fishfinder will help make this an easy job. A fishfinder like the Hummingbird 1198c S1 Combo is great. It has a big screen with a full 180° view of the bottom so in shallow water you can see the terrain as well as the fish. It is a sensitive piece of equipment that will let you discern between large fish and small fish. It looks like you are playing online fishing games, which I guess you are, just in real-life.

Late Fall Fly Fishing Trout Tips

In the late fall when the nights are cold and the leaves have fallen off the trees the fun begins for trout fly fishing. This time of year, the bugs are getting few and far between. But here are a few tips that will help you catch fish and have fun.

In the late fall the best trout fly fishing will be on streams and rivers. The water levels are generally low and the flow is slow. It is easy to see the holes, eddies and seams. This makes finding the fish easy. It is also helpful to make mental notes of the location of these items. It will come in handy in the spring when the water is high and fast and it’s hard to read the river. You might consider make your own fishing maps.

Trout this time of year are staying in the slow water to conserve energy. They find their food floating along in the faster water. The key is to find where the slow water meets the fast water. The fish will set in the slow water and grab food out of the faster water.

Most of their food this time of year is fish eggs and aquatic bugs. The brown trout and brook trout are still spawning this time of year so there are plenty of fish eggs floating down stream from the redds. A bright orangish-red cotton pompom about ¼ inches in diameter glued onto a #12 barbless hook will catch lots of fish this time of year.

Beadhead nymphs will also catch good trout. The beadhead will provide weight to keep the fly on the bottom as it bounces down with the current. Make sure your casts are in the faster water very, very close to where it meets the slow water.

If the fishing slows down you can always play some fishing games. Striper fishing games are good to pass the time.

Dry Fly Fishing

One of the most pleasant experiences in life is dry fly fishing on a gently flowing stream in the late afternoon when the sun is low and the shadows are long. Of all the fishing games and experiences a person can have, dry fly fishing is the most heavenly. For those who have never experienced dry fly fishing here is what it is all about.

There are certain times of the year and certain times of the day when bugs lay on the water. The bugs eat and drink smaller life forms and so they are on the surface of the water.

There are other times when aquatic bugs shed their aquatic bodies and now having wings, fly out of the water. Some of the bugs during these hatches sit on the water before flying away.

When either of these two events occur, it is possible to take a dry fly which imitates these bugs and cast it onto the water allowing it to float along the surface. These fish seeing a bug floating on the water will swim up and eat it. Some fish come up under the fly and leap out of the water as they grab the fly. Other fish slowly, with an open mouth sip the fly and swallow it. Either way it is a beautiful site.

When these bug events occur there is usually no wind. It is calm and peaceful, the lack of wind allows you to cast a fly line and place it exactly where you want it.

To keep a dry fly on the surface requires the use of floating fly line and floating leader. The flies are sprayed with an oil or silicone to make sure they float. A lot of dry fly anglers use barbless hooks as well. This makes the ensuring fight fair, doing the least amount of damage.

Some say after you have had a dry fly experience you never go back to bass fishing or striper fishing again.

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Late Fall Musky

In the late fall, after the leaves have fallen, the musky begin to stalk their prey in the shallows in a slower manner. Musky, being large carnivorous fish, need to conserve energy. Here are a few tips and techniques for catching some good musky this time of year.

In many ways musky fishing is similar to bass fishing. Many bass fishing techniques will work well for catching musky. In the cold late fall water, musky are looking for the biggest meal they can find. A musky will spend as much energy chasing a small meal, as it will a big meal. Knowing this help you chose your swim bait. This time of year large swim bait that bears the colors of an adult pan fish will be very productive. If you have a swim bait that imitates a wounded pan fish that is even better. Catching a wounded fish is the easiest way to get a good meal.

In some regions the fishing regulations change in the late fall and winter. It is best to check the local rules before you go out fishing.

It is important to remember that musky is a solitary hunter. They stake out an area and stay there if at all possible. The biggest musky will chase off the smaller musky who invade their hunting area. This means that if you catch a large musky, you need to move to a new area. If you catch a small musky it may be in a region where there is a bigger musky, so continue fishing for a little while before moving on to a new location.

If the fishing gets slow you can always use your smart phone to find some free fishing games to play until the fish decide they are hungry.

Tastiest Fish to Eat

There are many freshwater and saltwater fish that people catch to eat. Some fish taste better than others, but even those that don’t taste the best can be prepared so they taste good. If you can go fishing here are some of the tastiest fish you can catch in fresh and saltwater.

Among the best tasting fish would have to be salmon. The King Salmon and the Silver Salmon are the best tasting salmon but even the poor quality humpback salmon is not that bad. Preparing the salmon is the key. Salmon should never be overcooked. It is better to error on the raw side than to error on the over done side. This is because salmon is an oily fish and the flavor is in the oil. Over cooking it destroys the oil and the flavor.

Steelhead trout is another great tasting pink meat fish. The taste is very similar to salmon and it should be prepared the same way salmon is prepared.

If you get a chance to go to Florida fishing you can catch some great tasting fish. Florida saltwater fishing will get you some great tasting tuna and dolphin. These have a very sweet meat for a fish. One of the best ways to fix either the tuna or the dolphin is to cut the raw fish into one inch cubes and put them in a bowl. Cover the fish completely with freshly squeezed Florida key limes. Cover the bowl and let it sit for two hours. The acid in the key limes will cook and flavor the fish. Drain off the lime juice and serve or rice or wrap it up in rice paper.

If you go to Florida freshwater fishing you can catch some tilapia. Tilapia is a great tasting white meat. The best way to serve it is to cook it on the grill and baste it with lemon juice and pepper. It is also great as a smoked fish.