Fishing Tips – Finding Fish

One way to pinpoint the most productive fishing depth is to use a water thermometer. One of the electronic thermometers now available makes it possible to take a series of deep readings more quickly and efficiently. With these you simply use a chart showing the preferred temperature range of any fish; say, 60 to 70 degrees for smallmouth bass or 40 to 50 degrees for lake trout. You locate the proper depth and select a lure to reach it. Whatever depth you determine; always fish near the bottom.

That’s where most species like to rest. If the best temperature is 30 feet deep, for instance, find a place where the bottom is 30 feet down. If you also have an electronic fish-depth finder and can locate a drop-off or underwater obstruction, so much the better.

The Importance of Retrieve Speed

To reach the bottom with different lures you must adjust your retrieve speed. With a bait that floats at rest but dives when reeled, for example, you must reel rapidly. The faster you crank, the deeper it dives. Most of these deep-diving baits have diving lips which help bounce the hooks over the snags.

To reach extreme depths you must use sinking lures and reel them slowly. With a fast retrieve they just climb through the water. Spoons and weighted spinners fall into this category, and should be allowed to sink after the cast.

It’s important to let the bait sink on a slack line. To accomplish this you set the reel on free spool or leave the bail open so the line can peel off. On a tight line a sinking lure will drop back toward you, and your effective fishing distance is greatly reduced.

Deep Water and Night Fishing

Another reason for fishing in deep water – or at night or in the shadows – is that fish tend to avoid bright sunlight. Fish can’t adjust their eyes to changing light levels, so the brightness is probably uncomfortable. The iris (pupil) of the eye will not contract to shut out light like that of mammals. And of course fish have no eyelids.

On a sunny day I always fish the shady cover first. I’m after big fish, and they rest in the shadow of a stump, boulder or boat dock. If I cast to the sunny side first I may hook a smaller fish that will spook the lunker.

Winter Fishing Tips

During winter, the most suitable water is usually deep. In spring the fish move into the shallows as the sun warms them. In summer the surface becomes too hot for nearly all game species, and the angler fishes deep. Of course he may find feeding fish shallow in early morning, late evening and at night when the water cools somewhat. Then in autumn when the shallows cool again most fish return briefly to the surface. Wherever the fish are, deep or shallow, they’ll be near some type of cover; brush piles, boulders or weeds.

Most anglers know fish move through various depths but few know exactly which level to fish at what time. Usually fish distribution and activity depend on water temperature, although oxygen content, food supply and other factors also contribute.

The best the angler can do is figure where the water is most comfortable for the species of fish. He knows that bass like warm water, trout like cold water, and so on, and he looks for those conditions.