Best Times for Saltwater & Freshwater Fishing

Best Times for Saltwater

& Freshwater Fishing

When to Fish

VARIABLE WEATHER PATTERNS

Wind

Fronts

Cloud Cover

Rain

SALT WATER AND TIDES

Saltwater Tides

Brachish Water Tides

Planning Ahead

Tales From The Riverbank

Among the most popular kinds of fishing, the sedate afternoon on the riverbank has to be one of the most enduring. For many people it is fishing the way it should be. Quiet, usually fairly isolated and relaxing, with only a few people there. There are many reasons why this is a good way to enjoy fishing. For one thing, the optimum conditions for fishing necessitate a certain amount of quiet. If things are too noisy, then fish are likely to avoid the area. If there are too many people there, then any fish who do stick around will be spoiled for choice over which bait to take.

But apart from the fact that it provides a better chance of catching something, the isolation of a quiet riverbank has other benefits for an afternoon’s fishing. We’ve all been Christmas shopping during a December weekend. It takes a very strong and determined person to do that and not come home feeling like they want to roll up into a ball and start sucking on their thumb. This is not something that you want from a fishing expedition, which should after all be sedate and pleasant.

Sitting on a riverbank is also pretty much as close as you can get to nature. There is nature flowing right in front of you, hopefully with a lot of nature swimming around in it. There is nature beneath your feet, and there should be some more behind you – riverbanks tend to be close to trees, in most cases. It really is one of the most relaxing pursuits that you can indulge in.

You Should Have Seen The One That Got Away

There is a popular running joke which is used to gently mock fishermen. It essentially runs that a fisherman who shows off his catch looks apologetic at its relatively small size, and says to their audience “you should have seen the one that got away. It was huge.” Commonly, this joke is expanded upon by the unfortunate angler spreading their arms wide, to demonstrate the length of the fish which, by the fourth telling of the story, has begun to rival Moby Dick in terms of size.

There is a grain of truth in the stereotype, but no more so than that which exists for any hobby. You will always find at least one golfer in any club that you walk into who shows you, by means of putting their thumb and forefinger very close together, how close they were to getting a hole in one. The keen amateur soccer player will talk of a goal they scored which, when they originally hit it, was about ten yards out. By the time they have finished talking about it, they’ll be saying how they were somewhere around the halfway line.

This kind of bravado exists anywhere where there is competition. It is mostly self-mocking in any case, where people jokingly plead with you to believe that they are so good at what they do that they can achieve feats that are beyond the reach of a mere mortal. And frankly, it is what makes most hobbies so much fun. We’d be nowhere without our boasts.

Knowing When To Replace Equipment

One thing that you can absolutely guarantee about any hobby is that the longer you practice it, the more, and better, equipment you will accumulate. Even if the word “better” is the wrong word to use here, “more sophisticated” would be appropriate. It is unquestionable that the more often you go fishing, the more you will be aware of how additional and more developed equipment will benefit you in terms of catching more and bigger fish. As a consequence, you will become more conscious of the fact that, after a while, equipment needs to be renewed and replaced.

Fishing equipment can be divided roughly into the more permanent items such as rods and reels – which you can use for years, if they are properly maintained – and other items such as line and hooks. The latter equipment needs to be replaced more often, as it is more perishable. Fishing line will become frayed and weakened as time goes on, and hooks will become blunt. These will need to be replaced quite regularly. As a rule, you should have spares in any case. Rods and reels are a different matter, however.

Knowing when the rod you are using has had its day will rely on you being aware that it is giving you less performance. It may be that the rod has been weakened over time by the amount it has to bend in order for you to reel in a fish. A reel may begin to stick somewhat, and you will have to work harder to lad those fish that you hook. Once this has begun to happen, you will need to look at replacing the equipment that is causing the problems. If you don’t want to throw out a faithful old rod, then keep it and use it less regularly.

Catching Fish To Eat

Although many people eat fish, and many go fishing, there is a surprisingly small subgroup of people who do not put the two together – by eating what they catch. In some communities it is the major reason people go fishing, but in most of the West fishing is viewed more as a leisure pursuit. However, if you happen to be a good angler, and have a plentiful stock of edible fish in your nearby rivers and streams, then it is more than possible to save money on groceries by catching, cleaning, filleting and cooking fish.

The first thing you need to make sure of is that the fish you catch are of a species that is genuinely palatable. Although, in a pinch, you could eat most species of fish there is no doubt that some are far from pleasant to eat. While cod, haddock and plaice among others are universally popular, there are very few people who could really bear to eat – for example – dogfish. Finding edible breeds in your nearby lakes is as simple a matter as checking what species are native to your area and checking out recipes online.

Of course, not everyone is a good cook, and a lot of the important parts of food preparation are in the early stages before the food is even placed in the oven or frying pan. Unlike most meat, fish are full of small bones, and it is important to remove these before attempting to cook the fish. If this is not done, not only will the texture be unpleasant, but swallowed bones can cause problems.

It Takes Two … Or More

When you go fishing on your own, you are likely to find that the process is just not as much fun as you would like it to be. It’s not just because an experience shared is an experience enhanced, either. Of course, sitting down on a riverbank with a few cold drinks and snacks makes for a fine experience, but there is a bigger reason to have a fishing partner – the fact that fishing can be difficult, and there is always a better chance of having a good day’s fishing if you have a experienced colleague.

When you are starting out, it is always beneficial to have a more experienced fishing partner. Because you are just beginning, you are likely to make mistakes, and there are things you simply will not know. Fishing with an experienced partner means that you will have someone to ask when you don’t know something, and someone who can fix things that go wrong. For the same reason, it is advisable that you choose to fish with someone who is easy-going and doesn’t mind sharing the benefit of their experience with a novice.

There are so many reasons why fishing with a partner is better than fishing alone. The benefits of companionship and shared knowledge far outweigh any disadvantage. The only disadvantage one can imagine is that there is likely to be more noise from more people. This may disturb fish, but a experienced fisherman will know to be more relaxed and how to make less noise.

The Fishing Box The Professionals Use

When you go fishing semi-regularly, you will often find that you keep thinking the same thing every time you go. One problem or pattern will keep cropping up to the point where you cannot ignore it, and eventually you will make a note to be aware of it next time. There are certain things that any fisherman needs to be aware of, and these things should give you some clue as to what you should put in your fishing box – something you should have if you are going to make a habit, or a hobby, of fishing.

One thing you should certainly have is a knife. The main reason for this is that, every time you hook a fish, the line you use will become somewhat weakened, and in some places will even break. When this happens, in order to stop the integrity of the line from being damaged you will need to cut the line and create a new “end”. Additionally, you may need to cut bait – and if you are planning to dine on fresh fish you can even clean and fillet your catch.

Other things that will come in more than useful include a pair of pliers – essential for pulling hooks out of fish and also out of human skin should it be necessary. A file and a cigarette lighter will be useful too, as the file will enable you to sharpen hooks and the lighter will enable you to repair damage to plastic lures. Finally, you should make sure that you also bring sunscreen if the weather is sunny, and painkillers as well as any other medication you require day-to-day.

Make Sure You Have The Right Stuff

When people go fishing for the first time and come home empty-handed, they are prone to complain that it just isn’t for them. they may argue that some people just have the knack for it, or that they didn’t get the luck, or any one of a number of reasons. In reality, the truth is rarely that simple. When you come home empty-handed from a fishing trip, there is usually a more specific reason for that. Often, it will be something to do with the equipment you were using. That equipment may be made up of a number of different things, and any one of them could be wrong.

Depending on what kind of fishing you are doing, you will need different kinds of bait. Some types of fishing will work best if you use maggots, others will go better if you use a fatter, longer worm. In other cases, you will get better results by not using live bait. There are fishers who will swear by using bait that they have made themselves, with many arguing that bread is an excellent standby. The simple truth is that choosing your bait is not that simple.

Then you have to consider the type of fishing rod and rig that you use. If you keep finding that your line snaps when you are trying to land a fish that you have hooked, you are using the wrong type of line and will need to look into a stronger type. This is just one example, and there are many others. Ask around with more experienced fishermen to see if they have any useful tips.

A Life On The Ocean Wave…

There are few things in life more symbolic of leisure than taking a boat that you have bought or rented out onto a body of water to go fishing. Although it is no easy thing to operate a boat, nor to land a fish that you have hooked, the overall feel of going out fishing on a boat is something that appeals to a great number of people. It’s not hard to understand why, either. There is no question that there’s just something therapeutic and relaxing about it.

Many people plan to work towards retirement in such a way that they can save enough money to buy a boat, for the specific purpose of fishing at sea. The major advantage of having a boat from which to fish is that it vastly extends your reach in terms of where you can cast your line. Different fish will swim closer to or further away from the coastline, and there will be differing densities of fishing shoals. If you have a boat, you have variety – something which any keen fisher will be delighted to have.

No matter whether you have rented or bought your boat, you will want to make sure that you are safe when taking it out to sea. For this reason it should be fitted with a contact radio which allows you to send distress signals if freak conditions cause you a problem, as well as a lifejacket per person and a weight limit which prevents the boat from becoming difficult to control.

You Won’t Get It Right, Right Away

If you are relatively new to fishing, then you may find that it is considerably more difficult than it looks. After all, there is no shortage of people who look at the basic concept and think that it looks pretty simple. Cast line, wait, reel in the fish. Simple. What could be easier? On the first attempt, one will usually find that this is so far from being the truth that it is simply embarrassing. In actual fact, there is so much more to fishing that it can take years to get good at it.

As with anything, technique in fishing will only come with practice. You can watch instructional videos and read any number of books and online guides, but the truth of the matter is that actually doing something can take a lot more mental effort than running through it in your mind, and will definitely be a lot more physically draining. It is well worth informing yourself on details beforehand, but once you have done that you are simply ready to start learning properly as opposed to being a master of the craft.

The only way that you really master fishing as a pursuit is by having the experience to know what to do in any situation. Angling can present you with any number of seemingly intractable situations, and if you have not experienced them before – or anything like them – then it is obvious that you will have great difficulty getting through them. Therefore you must hone your technique, and this is something that will only come with repeated practice.

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