Between OFFGRID and Country Hookers, I wrote a ton of articles that contained advice from the best anglers in the world. Although these fishermen often use their skills to win competitions, learning their techniques can help you become a better fisherman and give you an edge on days when it seems like no one is catching anything.
Seek shelter and seek change
Team Toyota Angler, Mike Iaconelli says that no matter what kind of fish you are catching, you need to pay attention to two things: cover and change.
“The biggest piece of advice I can give is that perch and just about every other spice fish love to relate to shelter and change. On every cast, I try to place the bait next to some cover or small change. Shelter can be anything: trees, bushes, piers, rocks, logs, and even debris in the water (shopping carts). A change is anything that is different, such as a drop in depth, a rise in the bottom, or even a change in watercolor.”
Mike says that when fishing in city ponds or other high-pressure waters, the same rules for cover and substitution apply, but cover and substitution are likely to be slightly different.
“I attack heavily loaded city ponds and lakes as well as unloaded rural fisheries. I am always looking for cover and change and try to present a lure that looks natural and will make the perch react. In urban fishing, coverage and shifts are often different. Things like dams, drainpipes, bridge piles, and debris in the water make the perfect artificial forms of shelter! And always try to place your lure where other anglers don’t!”
Soft plastic worms will help you become a better angler
Whether you’re just starting out fishing or want to really improve your overall fishing technique, Straight Talk Pro Angler Scott Canterbury says you need to start fishing with soft plastic worms.
“Everyone who fishes should really try to catch a worm. Top water fishing and bait fishing will become natural. The peculiarity of worm fishing is that you have to feel when your bait is on the bottom, when your bait is in a pile of bushes, rocks, and especially when a perch attacks.
Learning how to fish with these soft plastic lures will help you learn what to look for and how your rod and bait should feel when hitting different parts of the structure. It’s hard to explain in an article, but the difference between a good angler and a guy who just happens to fish is the ability to really understand how you feel when you reel in your line.
Start exploring the local waterways and learn different fishing methods.
Even in large cities, there are many different places where you can fish. From local rivers and streams to small parks and golf course ponds, start exploring your environment and look out for any places where fish, crayfish and frogs may live.
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro fisherman Dave Lefebre tells us it’s all about finding patterns and using the resources you already have.
“The best advice I can give is to just use your resources. Every answer to every question you have, every technique you want to learn, is available online. Watch the videos, read the articles, and also follow the tournaments.”… “The patterns are most often the key because the fish often move from even ideal locations, but once you find what they like, you can keep covering the water and catching fish in fresh places.
“Guerrilla approach” to fishing
In our backcountry guerilla fishing article, expert Ryan Weaver shared his guerilla fishing techniques:
In combat, the guerrilla is stealthy, stealthy, and extremely mobile. I use the same “guerilla tactics” when fly fishing when I’m in a stream or river with clear water. Armed with state-of-the-art polarized glasses, I walk along the riverbank, keeping my eyes on the water until I find a fish.
In clear waters, fish know that predators of all kinds are constantly chasing them, so staying undetected is essential to being an effective angler. Whether you’re catching 24″ cutthroats deep in the Teton Wilderness or ferocious smallmouthers in the backcountry of the Devils River, stealth is key. Often I climb to the top of the ledge, keeping my eyes on the water, studying the current and looking for whirlpools and bays where fish can ambush prey.
As soon as I see a fish worth targeting, I drop to the ground to make sure no one sees me while still keeping an eye on the fish. Then I plan my next maneuver. If I’m fly fishing and I’m surrounded by bushes and thickets, often the most strategic approach is to just wait and see if the fish move to a better casting position. On the other hand, if the fish are hunting in shallow water, it is best to catch the fly in the water as soon as possible while the fish is within reach.
This guerilla fishing tactic is effective on almost any clean water vapor for almost any kind of game fish. Remember that your eyes are your greatest weapon, so be sure to buy a good pair of polarized glasses before heading out into the wild. You are a cripple without them.
Understand how seasonal changes can affect fish behavior
I fish all year round so I know that seasonal weather conditions can have a huge impact on how I fish. For example, in cold weather, perch often become lethargic, forcing you to adjust how you feed the fish – often just slowing down your technique can be enough to get perch on your bait in the winter.
Robert Richardson, owner of Offgridsurvival.com and CountryHookers.com shares his cold weather fishing tips:
The first thing you need to know about ice fishing is what happens to perch in cold weather. As the water begins to cool, the perch’s metabolism begins to slow down and it appears almost sluggish. For the fisherman, this is bad news; if you don’t know how to call a beat.
Even though perch eat much less in winter, they will attack when given the right bait and in the right direction. In cold conditions, this usually means slowing down the retrieve, reducing the size of your bait and a little dexterity, not to mention a lot of patience.
We approach the hatch
Another important thing to understand is what fish eat – this can happen from day to day. For example, when fly fishing, you will often hear people talking about picking up a hatch. The saying arose from the fly angler’s attempt to match which flies should be used to fool the fish into thinking it’s a natural insect – even things like the insect’s place in its life cycle are taken into account.
When entering new waters, this can be ascertained by taking a water sample so you know exactly what the trout (or target fish) are eating; then you can mimic aquatic insects at the larval, pupal, or nymph stage.
