How do you become a better fisherman?

[baitstealer]

I hope you don't think this is a stuped question, guys. I have been fishing about once a week for a few years, mostly clam and bunker, and I have caught some striped bass and bluefish, but nothing really big like that 56lb striper. I also throw plugs, like poppers and bombers, and metal, and read and try to imitate what guys who are catching are doing.

I know you need to learn to read the water, and stuff like that, and pay attention to the bait. I am trying but the skunk follows me home a lot.

Wondering if any of you guys out there who have experience catching fish would be willing to share some of what has made you a better angler.

I have gotten a lot of helpful info here before, and appreciate all the advice, even if I haven't personally thanked all those guys who helped me. So I'm thanking you agan, in advance, for any advice you can give to point me in the right direction.

[wish4fish]

put in yur time dude there are days when none of us can catch fish, u also have to fish when their feeding and that to me means night and before the sun comes up.

[cowherder]

Hi baitstealer I learned a lot from the guys on this site too. What I learned is to pay attention to the guys who you see catching fish. What are they doing differently that you aren't?

Also sometimes it's the little things, like a little difference in technique or retrieve. A teaser can be very important when there is small bait around.

One of the guys here who seems to always use a teaser is Monty, and I believe he catches more fish with them. PM him if you have priveleges, he gave me some great advice that helped. Finchaser knows a lot too, and his advice has helped me to make less mistakes.

There are a lot of guys here, including Darkskies, Surfstix1963, Finchaser, Clamchucker, and others, who will help if you ask them. But you have to be willing to put your time in too like Wish4fish said. You can't learn it all on the internet, you have to get out and do it. Good luck, and keep trying different things.

[SharkHart]

if you REALLY want to catch fish, one of the top things, although it sounds simple is you have to a refuse to lose attitude. This often means you have to cover some ground.

They say a good baseball manager puts players in favorable situations, a right pitcher against a right batter, pinch hit a guy who hits well against certain guys, fishing has some similarity to this, you have to put yourself in favorable match ups.

I and many surf fisherman do a thing ive read that guys fly fishing upstate trout streams do the same thing, it usually involves moving around looking for signs and or fish (bait, birds, hook ups), and often when moving you arent even casting, this puzzles some people. I ve seen bait guys often mock guys who do this thinking they just show up look and leave but on a good day, not always, you eventually find what your looking for and you hit them hard and fast. (if properly prepared!)

The other part of putting yourself in favorable matchup is the conditions, South winds, showing up at 9am arent good strategies. I like hard NW winds as a lure guy. A pre NE storm is also effective but PRE is the key word. I also believe in camping out on bait if you find it because the predators usually will find it soon enough. Sand eel bites can be fast and furious right after sunup then can quickly go quiet, so you have to be out the ready once it gets light.

The other thing is when you do find large concentrations of fish you have to be aggressive, speed kills. Ive seen guys screwing around taking their time you never know how long fish are going to be in front of you. The faster you work the more you can catch. Another thing im always shocked to see is the amount of guys at the street end, you go left or right and the amount of guys thins out FAST. I wont stay staionary if the fish dont but many guys do, stay with the birds when in doubt.

cuts and holes although important arent nearly as important as some make it sound online, if you can find bass chasing bait they can be caught inside the trough, on the bar over the bar wont matter as much. But just make sure you arent fishing on a shallow spot, light color. Last year the Manasquan town beach had like one hole and major long shallow sand spots to the left and right. It was very visable from the walkway or the beach itself. This was a key hole but only at higher tides. I knew this would funnel every fish right there if they were in the area. One night me and another guy out there shared the hole for over 20 fish each.

[storminsteve]

The other part of putting yourself in favorable matchup is the conditions, South winds, showing up at 9am arent good strategies. I like hard NW winds as a lure guy. A pre NE storm is also effective but PRE is the key word. I also believe in camping out on bait if you find it because the predators usually will find it soon enough. Sand eel bites can be fast and furious right after sunup then can quickly go quiet, so you have to be out the ready once it gets light.

Well said, you sound like you have a lot of years experience. A lot of guys will say I fished all day 9-3 and I didn't get any bass. Those are the hours you should be with your family, and then sneak out in the night, sunrise, or afternoon.

You can't whine about nopt being a good baseball player if you don't practice and work on your weaknesses, Same for fishing, I think your advice was spot on.

ALL I would add is try to time it when the fish are less wary. You can't always find a blitz, and you can't fish every night all night wthout getting divorced. Choose your trip timing well, and you will increase your odds.

[Monty]

Great advice above (great thread), I basically fish like you 1x per week. What I try to do is get familiar with a few areas, find areas where there is current/structure, bait. As cowherder said, I use teasers 95% of the time. Another thing for me is to have confidence in what I am fishing . That one time per week is 1:30 am to 7:00 or 8:00 am almost every time (Rip-Plugger got me into fishing those hours). And its a constant learning experience, always listening to others on this site, buddies advice, reading articles or books. I filter it out and use what fits how I enjoy fishing.