I've got to have something to do until hunting season......just kidding. I've been fishing since I was a kid, but only CASUALLY. REALLY CASUALLY. In fact last weekend was the first time I've had a line in the water in probably 4 years.
Anyhow I've decided to try and get a little more active in my fishing pursuits. And I'm looking for some resources. Are there any www sites I can visit that will tutor me on some of the basics. Like.....
First off, rods and reels?? What is the difference between a spinning rod, a baitcasting, surf casting, and all the mix and match reels to go on them?? I've got a regular open face shakespear rod and reel from Walmart, cost about $10 6 years ago. I have no idea what test line is on it. Seems to work OK. Except when the damn little hooky thing gets caught on something under the water that ain't a fish. Seems I spend more time tying knots in my line than I do fishing.
Speaking of knots......is there a www site that I can visit that will show me the proper knots which I should be tying ??? like for a hook?
Bait......I need to know how to rig different types of bait. Lures...how do you fish them?? Reel them in fast or slow, one swift motion or stop now and then and jerk them. How much weight?? When I tie on a worm....how much worm? How is it best to rig him up?? Now I just wrap him on the hook several times until you can't see the hook anymore. A picture of one tied on properly would sure be helpful. Are fake worms rigged the same way??
What is the difference between a spoon, spinnerbate, jig, etc..... I look at the fishing rack at Walmart and get a headache.
God I can't wait until turkey season......it's so simple by comparison. Shotgun, Shells, Decoy, Camo, Wait, Call, Wait, Wait, BOOM!!!!!!! Dinner.
Thanks Guys.
Darrin
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I'll take good luck over skill any day!
The best way I can think to help you is to suggest subscribing to a local and a large fishing publications to help you learn about fishing. What species are you looking to fish for???? As far as you knots go, when you purchase most brands of quality line there is a pamphlet included that tells you the best knots to use for that type of line.
I do quite a bit of fishing and I will tell you what some of my fav setups are:
Bass with plastics: 7' Medium Heayvy Baitcasting rig with IM8 rod and around $100 casting reel spooled with 20 -30# superline.
Crankbaits: 6' moderate action IM6 casting rig with $100 baitcaster and 20# fireline.
Spinning all around- 6'6" medium rod with shimano reel and 8# trilene XL
Trout panfish- 7'6" Ultra light with shimano 1000 spooled with 6# stren clear/blue flourescent.
I have other rods that are specific to species such as steelhead, salmon, walleye, etc. and technique specific rods also, hopefully this helps a little!!
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Thats a whole lotta questions Hugh.... it'd be pretty hard to answer em all just because of time, and many many other questions that would arise, but I'll se if I can help out a little bit anyway...
One thing that stuck out at me after reading your post was the line... you didnt know what pound test it was.. can I also asume it is probably the same line that came with the setup then?? if so it needs to be replaced first thing... with a regular mono(plastic) line like you probably have, it should be changed often... I change mine every couple of weeks durring the summer...but I get mine for free, if not I would probably change about every month or so if you are fishing allot, and if it has been sitting there for an extended period of time without use, I would probably replace it then as well...
As far as the differences between types of rods and reels, I dont know where you'll be fishing or what for... so I cant really recomend anything... but if it is inland freshwater fishing, which is what I asume it is... then you really only need to worry about spinning and baitcasting... if you are fishing more for smaller fish or fish that require a light presentation such as any type of panfish, trout, walleye etc.. then you would be looking at spinning equipment... it is usually made for lighter presentations, line weights and lures... if you are fishing for any of the bigger species... bass, pike, muskie, then baitcastin might be the way to go... however, it does take some time and practice to get the hang of using a baitcasting reel...
The general rule of thumb, is that if your situation requires a line heavier than 10 lb test, the use baitcasting... lighter than 10lb test, spinning... bait casting reels handle heavier lines and cast heavier lures far better that a spinning setup... but spinning handles light line and casts light lures much better that baitcasting...
if you were looking to get on rod and reel combination for anything... then go with a spinning setup... something like 6' to 6"6' and medium to medium/heavy power(sometimes called action) with maybe a 6-8lb monofiliment. there are also super lines out there, but I dont know that you need to deal with those right now... thats another whole thing. if you have questions about it feel free to ask me though... anyway knots.... thats hard to explain... there are so many knots for different situations... like carp master said though many of the line packages will tell you the best way to tie their line.
but if you went to a sporting goods store.... such as gander mountain or cabelas.. you could get the line wound on the spool by them, I would definatly recomend doing this.... it puts the line on much better than you could do on your own, no twist for one thing.. anyway though, then you would not have a line package... so just ask the guy who winds your line, he'd porbably show what kinda knots to tie... much better than trying to learn it on your own...
lures... well that one is really a very diffacult question as well... I do not have enough information about your situation to help you. each type of lure is fished differently, and often can be fished in several different ways... allot of lure packages will tell you on the back how to best use the lure, so look for that... and also, if you went to a sporting goods store, ask one of the sales people what lures would be good for your situation, and how to use them... thats what the people are there for... they can be very helpful...
one more thing, if you are looking to buy a new rod and reel setup, and I had a little more information about your situation, I could give you some specific recomendations, just let me know what kinda price range you are looking at as well...
I'm not really looking to buy a set up right now. Mine is still good. It DOES need new line though....I'll see about getting that done. From what I understand there is a trick to doing it so that it lays correctly, and doesn't snarl all up.
From what I've read here...I have a spinning reel....Rod is like 6' give or take a little.
I did some googleing and found a few sites that talk about fishing knots and such.....that helped a LOT. I'm still having trouble tying on worms and such.
They are just so........ICKY!!! [:'(]
Just kidding, I just don't know how a properly rigged one is supposed to look, SO consequently I just keep sticking the hook though 3 or 4 times and throw the poor thing in the water hoping Jaws will bite.
A thought......would one of you guys....next time you are fishing and have your dig camera with you.....snap a pic of a properly rigged nightcrawler and send it on?? Other types of bait would be cool to see too. Like sweet corn....I KNOW it can't be as simple as just hooking a kernal and dragging in a bruiser. Must be a trick.
Thanks again for the time it took to reply....I really do appreciate it.
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I'll take good luck over skill any day!
Nice to see you contributing to the forum. I, too, am dusting off some old setups and even bought a new one last week. You pose alot of great questions and as you can tell many of the folks on these forums are very knowledgable. I am sure you will have all your questions answered and more.
Thanks....I'm just glad the forum is here to contribute to.
I love to stop in here and read the various forums when I have time. Especially as deer season gets closer. I am getting more excited about other seasons though.....Turkey....less than a week away.
This is my first REAL foray into the hobby of fishing.....so far very frustrating, but the advice I've gotten from the guys here is sure to get me heading in the right direction.
Take Care;
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I'll take good luck over skill any day!
There is in fact a trick to puting the line on so that you dont put a whole ton of twist in it... and the trick is to lay the spool on the ground so that the line is coming off the spool the same direction that it is going on the reel... so when looking from behind, holding the reel normally, the bail on the reel will be spinning counter clockwise, looking at the spool of line, wherever it is set, the line should be coming off of that counter clockwise as well... of course like I mentioned eariler, taking your spool to a sporting goods store and having them do it is by far the best option... and really doesnt cost anymore... the cost of the line per yard works out to be approx. the same. but you only put on what you need instead of buying a 330 yard spool and only using half of it, so it ends up cheeper overall.
As for how to rig the night crawler.. I still need more info there... what are you fishing for exactly?? and in what situation?? shore? boat? lake? river? creek?
As for how to rig the night crawler.. I still need more info there... what are you fishing for exactly?? and in what situation?? shore? boat? lake? river? creek?[/color]
Osprey, thanks for the reply. I am generally fishing from shore in streams, rivers and a lake. I like to fish from a boat but can only do so when I can beg a trip of somebody. I don't own a boat myself.
I am really trying to catch what ever I can catch. I don't eat a lot of fish, I may eat a few, but I'm really just into the sport of catching fish. Damn near 100% will be released. I may keep a nice bass or a trout if I can catch one though.....
So....for those situations, how would you rig a crawler? Also, is it the same for powerbait?
Thanks again;
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I'll take good luck over skill any day!
king hugh, sorry I didn't get back to you very quickly, I've had finals the past couple of weeks...
Anyway, as to your question of how to rig a night crawler... there are oh so many ways, that it is really hard to say... but here is what I would do if I were just out to catch something, and nothing in particular... I would take a long shanked hook... probably a tru-turn blood red one, probably in size 4-6 possibly 8 or 2 depending on how big the fish are where you are fishing... and remember something with a long shank, then I would probably just take a part of the night crawler, and thread it onto the hook so that a small part of it was dangling off the back... not too much though... the other way you could do it, that might be a little harder, but much more effective, is to take two or three of the hooks and tie them together about an inch to an inch and a half apart, then use the whole nightcrawler... the first hook should go in somewhere down the body a little way with the point of the hook coming out the very tip of the worm. then the others I am sure you can figure out... just stick them in where ever they happen to fall along the body... the points don't really even have to come out anywhere...
then depending on where you are you you may have to weight it... you may not... you really want a slow presentation with this... your catching feeding fish when you use live bait... not reactionary fish that are simply responding to stimuli... so you want it to sit in the fishes face for as long as possible... weight it as little as possible. if you are in calm water, you do not need to weight it at all... worms don't float... unless you inject them with air... but that's a whole other thing again.... don't worry about that..
Now, as far as power bait goes, it depends completely on which power baits you are using as to weather or not you can use them like live bait. if you are using the new power naturals, or the berkley gulp, then yes you can use it like live bait... that is what it was intended for... sometimes you can use the older stuff like live bait as well, depending on how active the fish are, but typically, you want to give the older standard power bait some sort of action.. it is not meant to sit under a bobber and catch fish... you need to work it somehow.
oh and one more thing about the night crawler, don't use any kind of snap, just tie the hook directly to the line... same with the power baits usually....
hope this helps, ~Ryan~
Newbie Kinda
