Fishing Techniques

Specifications

Style – Sit-on-top, flatwater use only

Seating – Three

Color – Olive Green

Material of Construction – High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Plastic

Dimensions – 10 ft (3 m) x 36 in. (91.4 cm) x 18 in. H (45.72 cm)

Product Weight – 66 lbs. (29.9 kg)

Weight Capacity – 500 lbs. (226.8 kg)

Includes –Two padded backrests

Built-In Features – 3 contoured seats, paddle clips and cradles to secure paddles when not in use, foot wells for leverage, three fishing rod holders 1.5 in. (3.8 cm) diameter x 9 in. (22.8 cm) depth, interior storage hatch, ditty trays for holding odds and ends, front cargo area with shock cord straps to secure loose items, cup holder, and scupper plugs to drain cockpit area

Warranty – 1 yr. Limited Factory Warranty

Fishing Alaska would be Incredible Fishing

Alaska is truly the last frontier on American soil.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to schedule a fishing trip to Alaska and fish the great frontier along its oceans, rivers and lakes.  Fishing Alaska has been a dream of mine and some day I will embark on a great fishing trip to Alaska.

Fishing Alaska means taking on the King Salmon, recording breaking Rainbow Trout, Artic Char, Halibut and the Pacific Salmon just to name a few.

Fishing Alaska means fishing cold waters and the area around the Gulf of Alaska has some of the best fishing opportunities.  The most popular method for fishing is drifting with flies, anchoring a sink line and floating a bait within the water column or trolling in deep water.  

Need Some Ideas for Chumming

It’s amazing how even YouTube can create a social environment.  I came across this video when exploring the World Wide Fishing Club site after they visited my youtube channel.

These people were pouring beer into the lake and the catfish were going crazy.  Crazy like a volcano is about to erupt crazy.  The thought did cross my mind to dip some chicken liver strips into some beer and see if and how fast a catfish will strike.

I wonder what would happen if a drunk person, reeking of beer would fall into that swarm of catfish.  That would probably trigger a visit from River Monsters about the swarm of people eating catfish thirsty for beer.

If the video is showing, click here to go directly to the youtube site.

Who says catfish aren’t smart – they have an extra, freaken hard skull to protect something.

A new group has been created called ‘Freshwater Anglers’ and it is intended to help spread the passion of fishing across the world.  I hope all the anglers and outdoors people join in and share their fishing tips, fishing reports, fishing pictures or anything else fishing or outdoor related.

I encourage all readers to join this group and explore around.  If you have a website and want to add your link to help in the site ranking game, please do!  I also encourage all members to help each other out and yourself by swapping links to help increase your site’s visibility in the search rankings.  I also ask that you include a link to this group and even write a post on a topic from it or about it so that we can reach the world and hopefully get others into the fun world of fishing.

By the way, I don’t think it needs to be said but just in case: IT’S FREE so no worries of hidden costs or risks.

Fishing tackle and gear can be costly as you increase your fishing arsenal of different baits, terminal and fishing rods.  Angler’s Marketplace is a means to market your extra terminal and fishing gear to those who want to add on at a price lower than retail.

Submit your free classified ad and get visibility to your products and/or website.  Angler’s Marketplace is an affiliate of Highland Classifieds and therefore your ads will be seen across the entire Highland Classified audience.

Free Classified ads are great mechanism to drive traffic to your site and products by not only getting a link to your site but through the classified ad system of bringing attention to your products, information or site.

Submit your Free Classifieds through Angler’s Marketplace and connect with other anglers and outdoor enthusiast with what you have to offer.

Ever leave a sandwich unattended around the family dog or a teenager, it will disappear. Fish too have a craving for some people food and using them at the right time can lead to some huge fish.

Velveeta Cheese

Velveeta Cheese is a popular trout bait and is responsible for catching some huge trout. This particular type of cheese makes for great trout bait for several reasons:

• The scent from Velveeta cheese alone acts as an enticing, potent attractant for trout.
• Velveeta cheese has great staying power on the hook.
• Velveeta cheese will last and is inexpensive to purchase.

Marshmallow

Marshmallows is another popular trout bait or food bait. Several techniques to successfully catch trout with marshmallows is to use mini-marshmallows and thread them along the hook shank to the tip. Another method is to use the colored mini-marshmallows and thread it along with a piece of night crawler worm to really entice difficult trout by offering two preferred meals on the same plate.

Cereal

Sweetened Cereal is another means to entice a hungry trout to strike.  Cereal works best for trout that have been farm-raised.  Trout seem to be attracted to starchy and sugar rich foods and the multi-colored cereals on the market provide alternatives for the overly picky trout.

There are two principles that I follow when fishing.

• Fish where you know that fish are
• When all other baits fail, go to the ole reliable trout worm

The evening turned dark fast and it was DARK!  The canyon had minimal light and the moon hadn’t climbed it’s way over the mountain top until an hour and half into the fishing trip.  I started off using a pearl white twist tail on a yellow jig head with no signs of life in the water.  After 30 minutes of using this color configuration at varying speeds and methods which included swimming it at different layers allowing a drop here and there to bouncing it off the bottom very slowly.  I changed to a lime green twist tail and got the same results of complete failure in triggering any type of action.  The moon was illuminating at 93% and it was starting to over power the magnificent twinkles of the stars above as it climbed over the top of the mountain in front of me.  I changed my fishing rig once again to what had usually worked at this particular fishing lake.  

Settlement Canyon reservoir has a lot of rainbow trout and they were looking for a challenge.  It was dark, cooling off and wind blowing at a steady rate.  I had rigged my fishing rod up using a weighted small cigar float with a medium size split shot weight immediately below the float and above the swivel.  Three feet later was my size 6 hook and artificial PowerBait brown trout worm.  The worm was threaded straight so that it appeared to be swimming.  Second cast, BAM!  Brought in a smallish rainbow trout.  Next cast, double BAM!  Brought in a larger rainbow trout.  Four cast later, fishing pole bent over and the line was running.  I knew I had a good size trout and it fought nicely all the way in.  I still had 10 minutes on my clock before I was to pack up and head home and I wanted the catch the limit for that fishing lake.  I had cast out another time and then I noticed from the corner of my eye a black animal coming down the hill towards me.  A skunk had decided to get a drink or noticed my fish on the stringer or something, but it was getting close to me.   I don’t think it had noticed me at first but once I looked at it and then seemed to notice my presence and luckily it headed back up the hill.  

At that point I was becoming skittish about the local wildlife heading out there since it was so quiet and dark.  I decided to cast out one more time when I heard a much larger splash in the water further down the fishing lake and that was it for me.  I packed up and left with my prize of three nice size rainbow trout.  

The key to lake fishing is being mobile but tonight I didn’t do that since I was hesitant to get too far from my car.  Lake fishing is also about knowing the conditions before you get there.  

I knew that fishing lake and was familiar with the shoreline and where fish usually were active at.  I knew the moon phase and how that influences fish behavior.  I monitored the barometric pressure and it was stable and within the average range.  The next thing was to figure out which bait and fishing rigg configuration was going to work to trigger a strike during a time of average bite activity.  

The key lesson here is not to be afraid to try different fishing riggs, fishing bait or techniques out.  Develop your skill and gain experience with how to use different fishing configurations.  I’m a fan of jig fishing with different jig head colors and fishing trailers.  It takes practice to get the feel of a jig hitting the fishing lake floor and bouncing it.  I had allocated the first hour of my fishing trip to develop skill by practicing different luring techniques and jig movements.  I did manage to catch two pieces of trash that were apparently at the bottom of the fishing lake.  The last few minutes of my fishing trip went to actively wanting to catch fish as the top priority so that I had something to bring home for lunch the next day.  I went to the fishing rigg and bait that has always worked for me there.  And it delivered very quickly.  

I have to admit that I am amazed out how effective and productive the artificial PowerBait  trout worm bait is.  The key to fishing that worm is to thread it so that it is straight when in the water. Don’t let it take the curvature of the hook or have it weaved as if it is holding onto your hook.  I’m sure some places that configuration works great but in the fishing lakes that I have fished at, those haven’t triggered strikes as well as a straight tailed worm moving through the water.  

I use this style but in the light brown color and have great success so far at every fishing lake I go to.  When jigs aren’t bringing in the big trout, I use these to bring in any size trout.  Food is food.  

Deciding which fishing jig trailer to use difficult as predatory fish such as bass will alter their preference with changing conditions such as water temperature.

Jig trailers and skirts come in different sizes, shapes and colors and entice a hard strike by the way it thumps, swims or vibrates through the water.  Skirts and trailers can be fished separately on a jig or combined to create an even more enticing target for a predator fish.  A fishing jig trailer is either rigged with a pork or soft-bodied plastic on the back end.   By adding a trailer to the jig, an angler is enhancing its size, color and action of the jig.  When combining a skirt with a trailer, be mindful to match the color of the trailer to the skirt.  For colder waters below 60 degrees, pork trailers are more effective while soft-bodied plastic trailers are ideal in warm, clearer waters.  Jig skirts are added to a jig and trailer to help it look alive by having strands that flare in and out during the swim and drop.  Jig skirts are made of hair, rubber or silicon with silicone skirts being the most popular for the variety of colors and they glide through cover easier than rubber skirts.

When thinking about fishing jig trailers it is best to break them down into three main categories.  The first category being trailers that are bulky and therefore pushes water with minimal or no vibration while still providing a swim action.  Some types of these are the #11 Uncle Josh Pork Frog or the Berkley Gulp! Shrimp.

The second category of fishing jig trailers are those that add bulk and vibration with no swim action. It utilizes subtle movement to trigger the strike.  This category is hot with bass usually during the transitional water temperature periods of Fall.  Utilizing a soft-bodied plastic with legs and a thin tail such as the PowerBait Power Hawg works well for this category.

The last category are those fishing jig trailers that create the swim action.  The boot tail soft-bodied plastics create a dangerously enticing vibration that triggers very aggressive strikes.  In addition, this jig swims beautifully and thumps on a constant lure and can be dropped at any time to trigger the all enticing strike during the drop swim.

Any of these jigs and trailers work well with jig skirts.  As mentioned above, make sure to match the trailer color to the jig skirt color.  These types of fishing lures are very popular with bass and walleye and utilizing micro or mini jigs are great for enticing trout.  I personally use a pearl white chub soft-bodied twist tail on a round headed jig and get brown trouts striking down deep where they are in their preferred water temperature during the heat of the day.

Top 20 States for Retail Sales for Fishing Product

Freshwater recreational fishing is a $31 Billion Industry here in the United States.  This figures are a few years old, 2006, but I guess statistics on such things take awhile to gather and publish.

• Minnesota with over $2.5 billion
• Texas with over $2.2 billion
• Michigan at slightly below $1.5 billion
• Wisconsin slightly under $1.5 billion
• Florida trailing Wisconsin by a few million

So what does this mean?

It means that these states have a huge angler populations who are willing to spend money on fishing products. So the next obvious question is why are these anglers spending so much money on fishing products.  Let’s see what these states have to offer to Anglers:

Minnesota Fishing
Minnesota has 158 fish species including walleye, trout, bass, pike and muskies.  There are well over 5 thousand fishable lakes in Minnesota with a combined coverage of 3.8 million acres.  Minnesota offers anglers 15,000 miles of fishing streams and of that 1,900 miles of that is ideal trout streams.  Another tidbit is that Minnesota fishing is searched roughly 33,000 times per month.

Texas Fishing
Texas has over 80,000 miles of rivers and streams, 400 miles of coast line and over 100 fishable lakes.  Bass and catfish are the big sought after fish species.  Interesting to note, Texas fishing is searched roughly 99,000 times a month.

Michigan Fishing
Michigan offers an angler 146 species of fish to fish for across over 4,000 fishable lakes, ponds and reservoirs. Anglers have great success at fishing for walleye, salmon and trout across Michigan.  Michigan fishing is searched roughly 60,000 times per month with it becoming more popular as temperatures drop and remain cold.

Wisconsin Fishing
Wisconsin definitely takes pride in its fishing passion. According to the DNR site for Wisconsin, they are ranked number two in the Nation for being the most popular destination for fishing.  Wisconsin fish species include bass, walleye, crappie, perch and catfish. Wisconsin fishing is searched around 33,000 times a month and search volume continues to stay high throughout the year.

Florida Fishing
Florida freshwater fishing environments include over 3 million acres of lakes, ponds and reservoirs and over 10,500 miles of rivers and streams.  Species heavily fished for are bass, panfish and catfish species. Fishing is great year around and plays a huge role in Florida’s economic growth.  Florida fishing takes the win for having the highest web searches compared to the other four states mentioned.  Florida is searched around 165,000 times a month and has the highest search volumes during the cold weather months that the rest of the Nation is dealing with.

Check out the latest auction on fishing tackle and gear on ebay.
This auction is at $3.34 and closes soon and includes free shipping.  You can’t find these prices at most retail stores.  Check this auction out by clicking here.  Definitely explore other auctions as there are some great deals on fishing tackle and equipment.  Especially as we move into the colder months.

I’ll be heading to Louisiana in November for some cold weather fishing.  Granted, it’s Louisiana so that is a relative term.  I have plans to hook up with some natives (my nephew) and fish the local hot spots.

Louisiana is known as the Sportsman’s Paradise as the Northern regions offer everything from hunting, hiking to fishing.  What makes Louisiana specifically a sportsman’s paradise is the abundance of opportunities to hunt, hike and fish.  For the avid outdoors man, a fishing trip to Louisiana would be well worth it.  For the salt water fisherman, there is plenty of gulf to fish and for the freshwater anglers, there is plenty of rivers, lakes canals, and tributaries to choose from across the state.

JerryLabella.com, a sportsman’s paradise local angler recommends his favorite off road fishing spots. The top of his list is the Buras Navigational Canal.  The best access points from Highway 23 are at the pumping stations located in Fort Jackson, Bothville, and Buras.  The Fall and Winter months, anglers can catch their limit of redfish and speckled trout.

A top fishing spot is the Toledo Bend Lake Country area where there are 35 major bass fishing tournaments hosted every year.

Other Louisiana fishing spots are:

Check out these great deals on fishing guides, fishing reports and outdoor recreation.  I’m a huge fan of EBAY and the great deals and prices you can get from there.  So be sure to check out ebay and the larger variety of fishing accessories and tackle before heading out on a fishing trip to Louisiana.