Question:
OK here's the deal. I guess I'm
a fishing newbie for the most part;
I have always fished with just worms.
I just head out and find a quiet
shore spot and fish from there....but
I recently bought boat from a whim
I had one day. Now I want to do
a little more serious fishing but
I don’t know what kinds of bait
to use for the various types of
fish. Any help or pointers to a
FAQ would be cool. Also I have questions
on a few of the things in my tackle
box.
The first
is plastic or rubber worms I have
that are about 4" long and have
a twister tail on the end, some
are purple and some are VERY fluorescent
yellow, they both look identical
except for the color. The other
is a lure that is all silver about
1" long it looks like some kind
of bug with wings, the line attaches
to the "wing" also on the both sides
of the "wing" is a yellow reflective
sticker with the word "cicada" written
on it. The hooks are double hooks
one in the front and one in the
back of the lure. When using this
lure I noticed that just reeling
it in at a steady pace seems to
do nothing, but if I retrieve fast
it seems to have a real jerky motion.
What can the worms be used for if
any thing and what kind of lure
is it that I have desired and what
is it used for??? Any help would
be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
Congrats on the boat purchase! Now
that you’re not just fishing from
shore, there are a lot of lures
and bait presentations to chose
from. To try to tell you about anymore
than a couple of my favs would simply
be way to long a post (and for those
of you who know me, you can guess).
I won't get into what to use your
existing tackle for as I noticed
another poster has already done
a good job of that. The lures that
I would add to your collection are
any of the suspending or floating
jerk baits.
Personally,
I'm a fan of those made by Rappala
and Mystic, but a number of companies
do them quite well. Of the two,
the suspending baits like a Husky
Jerk will most likely be more useful
more often. (The ability to get
down in front of a fish - and stay
at the depth you put it - makes
it one of the best 'general usage'
lures available. As for bait presentation,
get yourself some spinner harnesses
from Lindy Little Joe or Northland.
You can troll worms, baitfish, and
leeches very effectively with these
things. You may find - as a friend
of mine has - that these rigs will
catch fish in all conditions, and
will usually catch larger fish.
When purchasing these things make
sure that you buy the ones that
have the 'quick-change' blades.
In that way
you only need a few harness to handle
the different conditions, as you
change the color, shape, and size
of the blade with ease. Having said
all that (just imagine if I had
commented about all the other options
out there), pick your self up a
couple of copies of the In-Fisherman
magazine. Of all the printed material
out there, this one is the most
useful - in my opinion - because
it covers all fish in all situations
with a variety of tackle. Fishing's
like everything else in life...the
more information you have, the more
capable and competent you'll be.
