Fishing Techniques

Fish’n Life has a new look going into the fall season.  Fish’n Life is growing rapidly month to month and ease of access to specific articles and webpage load performance is top priority.

In addition to a new layout and streamlined sitemap, Fish’n Life has some new things to tell you about.

The initial goal of the Fish’n Life experiment was to share the passion of freshwater, shoreline fishing to beginners and those looking for new tips and tricks to catching fish.  I am firm believer that someone wanting to fish does not need to purchase hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of equipment and tackle to catch fish.   Fishing is fun and trying to figure out how to trigger a strike (the science behind fishing) is addictive and let’s face it, there are many worse things to be addicted to in this world.  Fishing is a great family event and kids love catching fish. Fathers and mothers, go bond with your kids by a lake and keep everyone out of trouble.  Fishing is also a solitude hobby.  I spend many an evenings at a lake in conversation with God while watching some of the most beautiful sunsets.  Fish’n Life will always be focused on spreading the word of how to catch fish.

The second goal of fishing is to be your go to site for most things fishing.  The site will continue to grow with topics providing fishing reports, how to tie fishing knots, different fishing tackle and tips on how to catch a variety of fish species including catfish, bass, and trout.

The third purpose of Fish’n Life is to provide product reviews that are either sponsored (paid) or non-sponsored on a variety of fishing and outdoor items or resources.  These product reviews are part of my last goal of bringing in additional income utilizing the World Wide Web.  There are plenty of people who make thousands of dollars a month from blogging or other means from their website.  As I discover these tips and methods I will continue to share those as well.  Many of these tips have resulted in dramatic shifts in web traffic for me.

Online Income is a means of which I use to support my fishing passion.  I rely on Google Adsense and other affiliate and ad sites to display quality content ads related to my topics. I also write paid product reviews as mentioned above.  If you have a fishing related site or products and wish to take advantage of my traffic achievements, please contact me with details. I am also open to providing ad spot locations for those who wish to advertise directly on my site.

Sometimes fish just prefer a wax worm instead of the ole faithful night crawler.

Last winter I caught more trout with a wax worm than with any other worm.  I was using artificial wax worms and having a variety of fishing bait worms in your tackle box will pay off when the fish are being picky.  The great thing about artificial fishing worms are that they can be stored without risk of dying or going bad and come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors.

I personally had a lot of success with the yellow wax worms.  Other angles I fish with keep a variety of colors on hand as the color makes a difference depending on water color and fish preference at that time.  Worms are great fishing bait when fishing for the average size of a certain species but if you want bigger fish, you will need to fish with prey fish type bait.  Larger predatory fish will primarily focus on prey fish as their meal source than on insects and worms.  Using a larger worm size can bring in good size fish as the temptation is too difficult for larger fish to pass up on.

Night crawlers, red worms, and wax worms are the popular types of fishing baits and each have their unique characteristics that attract different species and sizes of fish.  Wax worms are great at enticing a strike from crappies, sunfish, trout, perch, walleye, pike and other gamefish species.

Wax worms are technically not worms but caterpillar larvae and are often referred to as waxies. Anglers can buy wax worms (meal worms) in the same location as they would buy night crawlers or red worms.  I usually get my live worms from Wal Mart but most outdoor sportsman stores would sale them as well.

Fishing is fishing and if you can’t get the big one you’re after, a fish is a fish.  Keep a supply of wax worms in the ready and have fun.

Signs of Fall at Settlement Canyon Reservoir, Tooele, UT
Signs of Fall are know starting to appear.  This picture was taken a week ago on September 17th of Settlement Canyon Reservoir in Tooele, Utah.

Fall months mean the water temperature at the surface will be cooler, vegetation along the shoreline will be dying off and driving cover seeking fish such as bass to lower layers of vegetation.  Colder surface waters will contribute to great surface hits as cold water fish are moving out of the cold deep.

Fall months mean that fish activity will increase as fish begin stocking up energy to survive the upcoming winter months.  During the winter months, food source is very limited and oxygen decreases and fluctuates within the lake as vegetation dies off.  This results in harsher conditions for the fish as the water becomes murky.  Fish populations focus on conserving energy and seek cover or structure for protection.  During these conditions, bait presentation and slow lure retrieve is key to triggering a strike.  The fish will only expel energy on prey fish that will not only replenish the expelled energy used to strike the bait but to gain energy.

The increased fish activity during the Fall months means fish are at all levels of the water column and using a quick lure retrieve will trigger strikes.  The key to Fall fishing is using a swim bait that mimics targeted fish favorite food source.  When fishing for Pike, utilizing a Trout type swim bait will result in numerous strikes since Pike love to feed on Trout.  For larger Trout, lures that mimic minnows and other small prey fish work well.  Worms and insects type baits will work great for panfish.

Fall months also mean the summer homes are changing and fish are heading away from shore.  As vegetation withers away, bass and other cover seeking fish species are heading deeper and deeper to remain with the surviving vegetation as Winter moves in.  As Fall weather moves in, fishing around locations where shallow water drops off to deeper water are a good idea.  Fish will head deep during Fall weather patterns but will remain active while they focus on building energy.

Another benefit of the cooler Fall weather is that less people are out fishing and fish are staying hungry.  Take of advantage of the colder nights and take advantage of the increased activity.

Fishing with a micro-jig is great for triggering strikes in most conditions.  The benefit for using a micro-jig is the versatility that it provides in finding and triggering trout strikes from small streams to deep lakes. 

For fishing streams, cast the micro-jig quartering upstream and keep a straight line as the micro-jig goes into moving water.  Keeping a straight line will allow the angler to feel slight pressure as a trout takes the lure.  These micro-jigs are also known for triggering aggressive hits from trout so a short, quick hookset is all that is needed to begin the fight. 

Fishing a lake with a micro-jig is first about finding the trout and then fishing the micro-jig properly.  When fishing a lake during the heat of the day look for the dark color patches on the surface that indicate pockets of deeper water that are common to hold school-up trout. For early morning and evening casts, fish the shallower coves as trout are feeding off the surface.  If the lake has recently been stocked with large trout, these trout will naturally move to shallow waters which are similar surroundings to what they are used to in the hatchery.  As they adapt to their environment, these trout will move to deeper waters. 

Another general tip to catching trophy size trout with micro-jigs is to make a long cast in front of the dimple created by trout near the surface and slowly bring in the micro-jig across the ripples.  This will often entice a feeding trout to strike.

The key to the technique of fishing a micro-jig is to cast long utilizing a weighted bobber to help gain distance with a light test line and let the micro-jig sink.  Most strikes occur as the jig is dropping.  Slowly reel in and allow the jig to drop. Continue this sequence slowly and allow the jig to entice a strike with the dropping motion.  The slow activity will also allow trout to get a look at the jig and take it.

One of the latest fishing trends as identified by PRWEB, “Vertical Jigging: The Newest Fishing Trends” had revealed that the oldest form of fishing lures, the jig is making a huge comeback. Some Japaneses fishing lure manufacturers are coming up with new jig designs for vertical jigging called: the knife, the inchiku and the tai-kabura.

The Knife jig is long and skinny resembling a knife blade and is designed with the center of gravity in the tail or centered part of the jig.  The jig that has the weight centered will allow it to flutter and the tail weighted jig design will sink without any type of action.  This type of jig will glide through the water on the drop rather than sinking straight down.  Knife jigs are intended to attract and catch any species of predatory fish.

Inchiku jig is a two part jig that consist of the weight and a lure that resembles a small octopus with hooks.  It is designed to fish the floor of a body of water for the bottom dwellers such as flounders, halibuts and snappers.

Tai-Kabura jig is also designed to fish the bottom layer of a body of water and looks like an octopus or squid.  These lures come in smaller sizes than the inchiku jig.

Both the Inchiku fishing jig and the Tai-Kabura fishing jig are intended to be fished less aggressively than the knife jigs. These jigs are vertical jigs and an angler simply drops the jigs straight down and retrieve. Utilizing jig technique called ‘mechanical jigging’ which is dropping and raising the rod tip quickly as the line is retrieved, will cause the knife jig to swim very erratically enticing predatory fish of all types. The inchiku and tai-kabura jigs are intended to be fished very slowly, hopping it along the lake floor after a cast.

These vertical jigs will entice a fast and violent strike from predatory fish.

A great way to trigger a strike from any type of predatory fish is to use a jig and trailer.

There are a variety of jigs on the market and are very popular for multi-fish anglers.  Jigs have evolved over the years from simply being a vehicle for baits to being used independently to trigger strikes.  With the different style and shapes of lead heads that alone trigger strikes in addition to a variety of trailers that create vibration and visual appeal the jig is a dangerous fish magnet.

The graphic above shows the most significant characteristics when selecting a fishing lure.  There are several jighead shapes that create different effects and movement when being retrieved and dropped.  The primary technique for using a jig is to reel in and then let the jig drop.  Fish usually strikes during the drop and by adding a trailer to the jig hook, different vibrations or sounds are created that attract fish to the jig.  Utilizing an alternating speeds and stops allows an angler to attract fish with the swim and drop.  Another jig technique is to slowly walk a bottom bait along the lake floor.

Keep an eye out for the next posts on the different types of jig heads or lead heads and the different types of trailers.

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Utah offers a wide variety of options if you looking to go fishing.  Spend the day hiking to a mountain lake or hit the blue ribbon rivers or stick close to home with your local community ponds.  If you are looking for a great place to fish that out of the way but not too far out of the way, go to Strawberry Reservoir. 

Cutthroat trout caught in Strawberry Reservoir Strawberry Reservoir

Strawberry Reservoir is one of the top trout fisheries in Utah and offers great fishing for rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and kokanee salmon.  Fish grow quickly here in Strawberry Reservoir and the fish tend to stick to the cooler waters so fishing from a boat or float in the summer provides the best results while shoreline anglers do well in fall and winter.

Strawberry Reservoir is located near Heber City, Utah and is at an elevation of 7,602 feet. Strawberry Valley is part of the Colorado River drainage.

Likely catches in Strawberry Reservoir are Rainbow Trout, Bear Lake cutthroat trout and kokanee salmon. Rainbows and cutthroats around 24 inches in length are caught regularly.