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
Ever wanted to try-out the super cool Mirage pedaling kayaks from Hobie? Curious about the new Hobie Torqueedo motor and how well it works? Want to check out the Hobie Adventure “sail yak”? Want to discover why the Hobie Pro-Angler was voted the I-Cast best of show product? Just let us know what models or accessories your interested in and we’ll have them all there during the biggest Hobie Kayak demo day ever in Minnesota.
