Want to learn how to become a better fisherman? Hobie Kayak Fishing Ambassador Dennis Farrier sent this list of tips on how to become a better fisherman. I read it 3 times and will probably re-visit this list in the future. It’s great stuff!
Thank you Den for your insights and all you do to help us become better at the sport we love!
[1] If you want to become great …
- Focus on a single species.
- Master it.
[2] Hire a guide if you’re headed to unfamiliar water.
- You’ll learn more about fishing a given lake from a guide than you will by fishing on your own for several months.
[3] Make sure you are in an area that has the potential of holding fish.
- Look for places with rocks that transition into deeper water, weeds, or both.
- If it has danger written all over it, then you have located some promising water to investigate.
[4] Use fishing line that’s as light as you can.
- Many bass anglers tend to use fishing line that’s much too heavy.
- I realize that if you fish for bass in heavy cover heavier line is necessary, but in most bass fishing situations it’s not.
- Eight pound test monofilament fishing line can hold 8 pounds of dead weight without breaking at its weakest point.
- This doesn’t take into account the bend of the rod and the drag of the reel, which both take pressure off of the fishing line as well.
[5] Check your hook points and your line for nicks
[6] A lot of anglers catch fewer fish because they’re afraid to get snagged.
- They don’t throw where the fish are.
- Which is near rocks, stumps, and logs.
[7] Don’t move your kayak right on top of the area you want to fish.
- Fish the edges and work in.
[8] Slow down … most everyone fishes too fast.
- Don’t flip out a lure and immediately reel it right back in.
- Toss your line out and let it sit there…
- Reel in your line until there’s no slack left.
- Wait 30 seconds – and more at times. This alone will do wonders to your fish count.
[9] Change up your retrieve.
- Don’t cast and retrieve in the same manner and at the same speed every time.
- Snap and even jerk your wrist towards you to stir up some vibration, and commotion in the water.
[10] Going to another spot isn’t always the answer.
- Instead of moving, sit tight and slow your presentation down
[11] Test a reasonable amount of techniques, baits and presentations for a period no longer than 20 minutes or so before moving on to another location.
[12] Keep switching your lures (every 10 minutes) if you aren’t catching anything! [13] Don’t lose your focus
- We all tend to do best when we first start fishing
- After a few hours we loose our focus.
[14] If you start to see fish following your baits back to your kayak and not committing … this usually means you need to slow down your retrieve.
[15] The first bait I reach for when it’s time to slow down is a drop shot.
- One of the biggest mistake anglers make with this presentation is thinking of it only as a vertical presentation.
- Don`t be afraid to make long casts with a drop shot, and slowly work and shake it all the way back to the boat.
[16] The absolute best time to be fishing is in the early morning, right before the sun rises.
- The bass are hungry.
- If there is a full moon, then the bass are least likely to be biting because with the light from the moon they have been feeding all night.
[17] When you re-spool your spinning real with fresh mono …
- You can solve the line twist problem by taking your spool off the reel and running it under hot water for 2 to 3 minutes.
- This changes the memory from the manufacturer’s spool size to your spool size.
- This allows longer, smoother casts with less twists and knots.
[18] Always sharpen your hooks.
- Even new hooks that are of less quality that are not sharp out of the package.
[19] One of the most over-looked noises an angler makes, is actually their cast.
- When fishing shallow water, use an underhand cast with a low trajectory to the water.
- Don’t use the overhead long bomb, that, scares the heck out of fish.
[20] Fish attractant …
- Put it on your hands – like hand lotion – rather than squirting it on a lure.
- It actually doesn’t “attract” fish.
- It keeps a fish on your bait for a few seconds longer
[21] If your pliers ever become rusty and you need to free them up quickly, put them in some pop. The acids in the pop free the pliers up in a couple of minutes.
[22] So you’ve caught a fish of a lifetime and you don’t have a scale or measuring tape.
- Cut a piece of your fishing line the same length and girth of the fish and put that in your pocket to measure when you get home.
[23] Let the wind dictate your plan of attack on any given structure.
- The majority of fish will face the wind waiting for food to come to them.
- Present your baits in the same natural manner to increase your odds.
Den Farrier
Ambassador – Hobie National Fishing Team
