Helping the new guys: What do you do differently if you aren't catchin?

[finchaser]

Go home,return when conditions are right no sense a dead horse. Wasted too much time through the years waiting for them to turn on, which in most cases they don't, because conditions are not to there liking to feed. Knowing when to fish and when to quit comes with experience. Most newbies stay out sometimes for days end result Nada. Example if they feed beginning of a NE and stop they are not going to feed through it come back after it. If they are feeding on NW and stop they usually stop until next front comes through. Has a lot to do with the barometer, not the newbie mistake of water looks good. Many times they feed a particular stage of tide only period. They are like people they don't eat 24/7. When there is a slow pick IMO it's not a bite just an occasional fish eating no sense wasting 10 hours to catch 1 fish.
Keep a log and refer to it that's how 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish they are fishermen. Learning spots in an area and what spot produces in certain conditions will make you good. Riding up and down the coast chasing reports ,wastes time,learning and gas because by time you get there its over or hence the slow pick. Experienced fisherman just don't fish because the water looks good, I've caught more fish with out a pounding surf than with one. I average, hundreds of released bass a year for the past 7 yrs in a 6 mile area. Spending your time fishing and learning not scouting and chasing reports will make you good. Scout during the winter it passes the time and can be done with far less gas and time than you wasted during the season. Catching bass is not a CELL PHONE/INTERNET sport it just made allot of people so called bass fisherman. Take away the CELL PHONE/INTERNET and most are clueless. Remember even blind squirrels find an egg corn from time to time.


May not be what you want to read but been a fact of my life for over 45 years of bass fishing. Fish for the sport of it not for killing to support an ego, another lesson to learn. Use a camera to verify a catch it will fit in with most peoples cell phone /internet skills.

[DarkSkies]

Knowing when to fish and when to quit comes with experience. Most newbies stay out sometimes for days end result Nada. Example if they feed beginning of a NE and stop they are not going to feed through it come back after it.

If they are feeding on NW and stop they usually stop until next front comes through. Has a lot to do with the barometer, not the newbie mistake of water looks good.

Many times they feed a particular stage of tide only period. They are like people they don't eat 24/7. When there is a slow pick IMO it's not a bite just an occasional fish eating no sense wasting 10 hours to catch 1 fish.

Keep a log and refer to it that's how 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish they are fishermen.

Learning spots in an area and what spot produces in certain conditions will make you good. Riding up and down the coast chasing reports ,wastes time,learning and gas because by time you get there its over or hence the slow pick.

Experienced fisherman just don't fish because the water looks good, I've caught more fish with out a pounding surf than with one. I average, hundreds of released bass a year for the past 7 yrs in a 6 mile area. Spending your time fishing and learning not scouting and chasing reports will make you good.

Scout during the winter it passes the time and can be done with far less gas and time than you wasted during the season. Catching bass is not a CELL PHONE/INTERNET sport it just made allot of people so called bass fisherman. Take away the CELL PHONE/INTERNET and most are clueless. Remember even blind squirrels find an egg corn from time to time.


May not be what you want to read but been a fact of my life for over 45 years of bass fishing. Fish for the sport of it not for killing to support an ego, another lesson to learn. Use a camera to varify a catch it will fit in with most peoples cell phone /internet skills.

Dreamin, there's a lifetime of experience in those paragraphs.

I don't know how to follow that, I would be lucky to claim I have 20% of the experience and skills as Fin does. However, I'm a pretty good "scout".

When he fishes, he makes it look easy.

That's because the knows exactly what's in front of him, and where he wants to cast. When he says he caught fish blind casting, he picks an area where he thinks the fish might be and casts and works the mojo until he has one on. On a beach when everyone else went home and gave up, he's nailed one on his first cast.
Lucky?

Nope, he knows the water, studies it again every time a big storm changes it, and keeps the most detailed log I've ever heard of. People of his generation weren't big on computers, but he surpassed that by using a computer as part of his daily fisherman tool kit.

Ya couldn't get better advice from an experienced angler than if ya read 3 books.

The only thing I would add is that it's tough for new guys to read the water. Early on in your post, I assumed you were referring to jetties as structure. Beaches have structure as well if they are to hold fish. Not all beach areas have good structure.

That's why Fin suggested to go scouting to learn for yourself. I do my best scouting during extreme full or new moon low tide. You really want to learn one beach or area at a time, as he said.

Learn it well, memorize the cuts and the middle and the outer edges of the holes. Or write them down relative to the landmarks (houses, etc) on the beach behind them. That's what I do. Bear in mind they'll change with every major storm.

If you really want to catch fish, it's your challenge to go out and learn them, each time.

Fish move in and out of the surf line looking for food. If there's no food for them you have to take a shot they're passing by and get them on a far cast. Many times they're within 100 feet from shore, especially at night. If not, they frequently they sit on the outside of the hole, just past the bar.

Memorize those cuts by going at low tide one afternoon when you have a few hours to kill. Start at low tide and learn a mile of beach at a time. Watch as the water fills in how the cuts will look different at different tide stages.

Realize that many fish are caught at high tide in the 5-15' wide trough right in front of you. This will seem non-existent at the lowest tide. At the highest it will be up to your neck in some places. You want to look for a place where a trough is wider than the others, and close to an "outsuck", a deeper cut perpendicular to the beach.

Look for an outsuck that has strong current. Bass thrive in current because that's where their best chance of ambushing disoriented bait is. As Fin said, even a calm ocean will have strong current in certain areas.

Ideally, you want to look for a hole that is bigger than the others, has a nice cut, wider trough, or a combination of those.

You should read some books on reading the water. However at some point you have to get out there. As a new guy, you'll never understand it completely unless you see it with your own eyes out there on the beach.

On an incoming tide, if you find a place where the water is still rushing out of the hole, even as the waves come in, you want to fish that first, and hardest. Be careful wading in those areas because the rip could pull you out to sea.

If you just concentrate on getting to know a few holes and fishing them back and forth 2 hours before and after high tide, you might improve your catch rate by 50%. During low tide, and as the tide begins to ebb, you will have to learn the structure past the sand bar by wading out carefully. Fish will usually not remain in one area for the whole tide unless huge amounts of bait are drawing them there.

Hope this helps. There are some other very good fishermen on this board. Maybe they can chime in too.

[blitzhunter]

I saw the thread and was going to come on here and say what I do is change my presentation, mix it up a bit. Plugs don't work, try bucktails. That doesn't work, try rubber.

After seeing what finchaser and dark wrote I realize you guys have that all covered. I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas anyway, and thanks dark for all you do. S&A is a great site to be a part of, God bless.

[porgy75]

I can't add much because I don't have a lot of experience striper fishing. You can call me the bluefish and skate champ, though. Thanks for the help.

[vpass]

Dark, There's not much more you could add to what you and Fincasher explainned. The reading of the water is what it's all about. The Stage of tide which you guys covered, and Keeping log books.

In the logs document date, Location, what stage of tide the fish were hiting, moon phase, water temps, Wind directions, what bait were present, and what lures caght the fish. Also what type of structure fish were caught by.

At each of the fishing spots you fish should have all colum of water covered before moving to the next spot.

I wish all of you Happy Holiday, and a health and productive New year. Enjoy.

[Dreaminofishin]

I appreciate the information from all. I plan to spend some time in the Belmar, Spring Lake, Avon area this winter doing the homework that you guys suggested.

Dark, I'll pick up some new Korkers to try some rockpiles in addition to the beaches up there.

Fin, I'm a couple of hours away, so I have to make the most of my time when I'm there. Hope I can learn a stretch of beach well enough someday to know just when it is likely to produce, but I think that's a good distance down the road if at all. I will do the advance scouting as you suggest, and should improve my chances.

Merry Christmas to everyone. I look forward to fishing with you in the next season.

[finchaser]

I appreciate the information from all. I plan to spend some time in the Belmar, Spring Lake, Avon area this winter doing the homework that you guys suggested.

Dark, I'll pick up some new Korkers to try some rockpiles in addition to the beaches up there.

Fin, I'm a couple of hours away, so I have to make the most of my time when I'm there. Hope I can learn a stretch of beach well enough someday to know just when it is likely to produce, but I think that's a good distance down the road if at all. I will do the advance scouting as you suggest, and should improve my chances.

Merry Christmas to everyone. I look forward to fishing with you in the next season.

It will come any questions I'd be glad to help if i can. I'm only a PM away
Have a Happy

[rip316]

I don't remember where I found it but theres a site somewhere that actually has pictures of what to look for in reading a beach. It had pics of an area at high and low tide and showed what to look for. Wish I could find it. I f I do I will post it up. Helped me a lot.

[ledhead36]

Go home,return when conditions are right no sense a dead horse. Wasted too much time through the years waiting for them to turn on,

Keep a log and refer to it that's how 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish they are fishermen. Learning spots in an area and what spot produces in certain conditions will make you good. Riding up and down the coast chasing reports ,wastes time,learning and gas because by time you get there its over or hence the slow pick. Scout during the winter it passes the time and can be done with far less gas and time than you wasted during the season. Catching bass is not a CELL PHONE/INTERNET sport it just made allot of people so called bass fisherman. Take away the CELL PHONE/INTERNET and most are clueless. Remember even blind squirrels find an egg corn from time to time.

Great advice. I can also say that if you are fishing and think the fish may be there try some other technique or something like that. This goes for both bait and lure fishing.