Happyshort

If you’ve been involved in sport fishing for any amount of time, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the legendary fishing experiences of Alaska. Stories abound of fisherman latching into monstrous salmon, halibut, and a whole slew of other species in this northern wilderness wonderland. With a seemingly infinite number of outstanding fishing spots, Alaska is without doubt the sport fisherman’s dream come true.

After hearing the stories, any true fishermen will want to experience the wonders of Alaska fishing first hand. Having said that, though, there are several things you will want to consider before you start planning your Alaska fishing trip. The first thing you will want to think through is the species of fish for which you plan to target.

The reason for this is that different fish species are abundant in different areas of Alaska, and so the target fish will dictate which part of Alaska you will want to visit. Remember, Alaska is almost 10 times the size of Texas which means that just saying you want to go fishing in Alaska is like saying you want to grow corn in the Midwest. Not very helpful for planning purposes, is it?

Southeast Alaska is the primary destination for fishing trips, as it provides the most bang for your buck at almost any time of the year (excepting Winter, of course). In this region you will find the legendary Kenai River, where some of the worlds largest King Salmon have been caught. It’s also known as a great place for Rainbow and Steelhead trout in the summer season. Other places of interest include south-central Alaska, including Anchorage, Seward, and Homer. If fly-fishing is your thing, Lake Hood near Anchorage is world famous for it.

Another aspect of your Alaska fishing trip that should be considered is lodging. While a regular hotel is, of course, perfectly acceptable, if you want to fully experience fishing in Alaska you should really consider one of the world class lodges. Many lodges offer complete vacation packages that include guides, boats, supplies, and everything that a fisherman could want to make it the perfect fishing vacation.

Finally, you should seriously consider hiring some sort of guide unless you are a grizzled veteran of the Alaska fishing scene. A guide will know exactly where to take you to ensure you latch into one of those dream-fulfilling monster fish. Without the help of a guide you could spend your entire vacation “floundering” around trying to find those beautiful salmon! As mentioned above, many of the lodges offer guides as part of the package, but there are also many, many guides that can be hired outside of the fishing lodges.

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Bite Me has a group of four anglers from Australia on board and is trolling a variety of lures and baits looking for a pack of wahoo.

A big Yo-Zuri Bonita on the short corner, a Lurestreet Classic Redhead on the long corner, A Pakula Cockroach on the short rigger and rigged garfish skipbait on 3 feet of 7×7 SS wire on the long rigger. This is a good spread to find wahoo as well as pick up the odd Spanish mackerel or yellowfin tuna.

Skipper spots some birds hovering about 500 yards off the reef and decides to head out to check out what’s going on. Looks like tuna. The anglers put out a 5th rod down the middle flat-lining a small tuna bullet.

As soon as Bite Me reaches the spot, four rods load up and everybody gets real busy real quick. Couple of minutes later we have a skipjack, a small yellowfin, a large rainbow runner and a small wahoo on the deck. Lures are going out again fast. Interesting though…not normal to get such a mix in exactly the same spot….

All goes quiet for a few minutes and then suddenly the skipbait on the long rigger disappears and the Penn International 30lb outfit loads up and starts to howl. Hmmm, almost forgot we had that skipait out there in all the mayhem, nice big yellowfin maybe ?

A few seconds later with the angler at the transom, rod in hand and taking the strain, a blue marlin of about 250lbs roars out of the water and charges towards the boat. Skipper guns the boat as the blue blasts across the surface on a typical blue marlin furious charge.

All eyes are on the blue as the line which is almost tight to the fish suddenly parts and whiplashes up and back at the transom. The blue is gone.

The double comes back but no snap swivel at the end. Just a slight kinks in the line where the snap was tied on.

What Went Wrong

We left a wahoo skipbait out, rigged on a short piece of wire clipped directly to the double and headed out to a bait ball in 400m of water. Skipper was thinking yellowfin or stray wahoo but there was a chance that we might get hit by a marlin and the small wire wahoo rig had little hope of surviving. The blue’s bill was longer than the wire rig so inevitably, with no heavy mono leader, the snap swivel / Double knot came into contact with the marlin’s rough bill and bye-bye marlin.

In My Humble Opinion

Its a catch 22 situation. Wind-on mono leaders are suicide in wahoo pack country. They absolutely always get bitten off. That short length of dacron flying through the water is as good as any lure and is always hit by wahoo. The colour coded ones are the worst of the lot. The dacron splice is just about the right distance away from a hooked up wahoo to tempt another strike from the pack. You can tie or crimp a mono leader to the wire wahoo rig but inevitably, it is another connection through a solid ring or swivel that is just asking to be hit by a wahoo. Using blackened fittings helps but it is mostly the bubble trail created by fittings rather than the fitting itself that draws the strike.

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In view of the wide research done in fly fishing the number of fly fishing rod types in the market are quite large and you have a great choice and brand names. The first aspect you have to consider is the weight and duty for which you are purchasing the fishing rod. They are generally available in gradations from 1 to 9 depending on their weight. Lower the numbers lower the weight and so on. The cast line is directly proportional to the fly rod weight and this is an important parameter.

Significant features of a Fly Fishing Rod

The topic of choosing the most appropriate fishing rod that you can use in fly fishing can be quite complicated and you need to logically understand the various features that are to be considered in the course of your choice. It is imperative to have the basic date on what the fishing rod is being used for in terms of the fish species and the waters where you will sport for those kinds of fish. Finally one needs to stipulate the amount worth spending for all this gear in order to satisfy one’s craving for this sport.

The Fishing Rod

The most important feature of the fishing rod is its flexural characteristics. It is designated as slow to fast and you should try to understand this concept before purchasing a rod. The amateurs who have just started fly fishing need to begin with medium or medium-fast action rods and graduate on to more sophisticated construction as you gain more experience. It invariably depends on the aptitude of the angler and only a general guide line can be given since the feel and strength control of casting vary from person to person.

What is your Fish?

The type of fish is all important to determine the quality of your fishing rod. Remember that the general maxim is to equate the weight of the fish to the weight of the fishing rod. Mostly it is useful to use light to medium heavy fishing gear for many common fish. Always consult an expert or information on the Internet on the data pertaining to fish and fishing rod relationship.

Fishing Location and your Fishing Rod

The fishing rods depend also on the waters that you encounter for the particular species of fish. The dynamics of the ponds, lakes or rivers ascertain the weight of the casting rod and so does the climatic conditions at different times of the year. Mild conditions and medium fish require light to medium heavy fishing rods whilst severe climatic variations or high water current needs heavier varieties.

Cost is always important!

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Bluegill really aren’t that fussy when it comes to flies, however, there are some flies that they just can’t refuse. One of these is the inch worm, especially in early spring. If you see these green devils dropping out of the trees on your home water, get out what some call the green weenie and whip it in the water. When fishing with inch worm imitations, you can even plop them on and off the surface, right on top of bluegill to get them really worked up, because real inch worms hop on and off the water when they are blowing around in the wind on their silk. Oh yeah, when it is extremely windy, and there are moths, inch worms, and ants, getting blown all over god’s green earth, get on the water and get ready for top water heaven with flies.

Bluegill, especially, will throw caution to the wind when there is windy chop on the water and insects blowing in like mad. Any ant imitation will do well, but don’t go too small, because bluegill really have a strong suck off the surface, and they will take a size 26 ant right into the back of their throat. Keep the sizes around 18 for the ants, depending on how big the gills are that you’re catching.

Micro streamers, small muddlers minnows, and micky finns work very well for bluegill in sizes 10,12,14, and 16. Woolly buggers in the same sizes always get bluegill worked up. In deeper waters use some sinking line to get down to the bigger fish laying just off a shallow flat.

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Many people associate Orlando with Disney World, however to Orlando bass fishing guides it is the fishing capital of the state. It is huge business in Florida. Once you have fished this area for bass once, you are literally hooked for life. There are plenty of lakes offering up the chance to hook a trophy fish to show off to all your friends when you get back from this fishing trip of a lifetime.

They say practice makes perfect. As the premier Orlando bass fishing guides area and Lake Toho professional fishing guide Service, Captain AJ “Jamie” Jackson has had his share of practice when it comes to Orlando bass fishing guides in Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida. Capt. Jackson and his Orlando bass fishing guides share some of his 30 years experience with you and show you how to get the most out of your Orlando bass fishing guides equipment along with tips for finding largemouth bass. Capt. Jackson’s expertise is why he regularly featured in magazines, ESPN, and hired by the PRO’s.

If you are planning a family holiday to the Orlando area, then do not forget to bring your fishing rods & Orlando bass fishing guides. It is a cheap car insurance quotes area to introduce the whole family to fishing. The Orlando bass fishing guides are experts in locating the great fishing spots. For a father, nothing beats taking your son or daughter on their first angling trip. They will remember it for their entire lives.

Captain A. James Jackson is a full-time professional Orlando bass fishing guides with more than 25 years experience on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Top fishing magazines, Bassmaster and In-Fisherman, have featured Captain Jackson in articles about trophy bass fishing in the Central Florida / Kissimmeeý/ St. Cloud grassy waters. Captain Jackson also appears on the In-Fisherman television shows and on ESPN TV.

Ed Chancey is known as the Legend of Orlando bass fishing guides. Ed learned his fishing Techniques from the Miccosuki Indians who raised him. He passed his knowledge and skills on to Jackson, his friend, and partner. Ed died in 1998, but his legend lives on. Ed continues to hold the certified lake Toho record of 16 lbs, 10 oz!

If you get a good Fort Lauderdale sport fishing charter or Orlando bass fishing guides, you may even be helped with the accommodation and restaurants in the area. Thus, all you will need to remember is to take a suitably long trip to be able to catch fish. Six to eight hours is the normal recommended time if you are serious about this sport. Most operators will help you with the licenses, Orlando bass fishing guides, ice to keep the fish and the fishing equipment.

Besides learning about the bass fish, you need to understand and maximize the use of your fishing equipment & Orlando bass fishing guides. The type of rods, reels, lines and lures to use will depend on the type of bass fish you are expecting to catch. You certainly do not want your equipment to fail at the moment when a fish bites.

Other means of fishing for bass is trolling its harder portion knows its function when you are not fishing. Majority of the trolling involves weights; downriggers or wire line rods as bass go into the inner portion of the water line once the sun rises thus you need the way of getting your rig deeper around the bass place and Orlando bass fishing guides will help you to do it, This makes rigs dip to almost 20 feet which is sufficiently closer ascertaining the depth of the water and the way the rocks stick up.

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What’s the Best Time to Fish?

For all of us who fish there is one question we continually ask. Whether we fish in fresh water, brackish water or salt water, in rivers and streams or in the ocean, we always ask, “what’s the best time to fish?” Other common questions on the best locations to fish, the best bait and what techniques to use all can pale into insignificance.

Here are the Seven Times of the Day Fish Bite Best

• Sunrise

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, the old saying goes. It’s also one of the best times to go after the “catch of the day”. As the first light of the sun begins to cast hues of color across the sky, breaking the outline of the horizon, you should be with tackle in the water to greet the early-rising fish species.

• Sunset

Many fish species are nocturnal feeders. That is to say, they become active feeders as the sun echoes its final rays across the waters of late evening. From then on and through the night it’s feeding time for these species. Night fishing is also often less crowded, quieter and cooler in tropical climates.

• Moonrise

If you’re familiar with solunar calendars, you’ll know that they provide times for the moon’s rising from below the horizon. This can impact the feeding habits of many saltwater as well as fresh water fish species. While this can occur at various times of the day, depending on the time of year, it can be useful to know when planning a fishing outing.

• Moonset

In opposition to moonrise, moon set, when the moon goes below the horizon, is another potentially good time to have your fishing tackle in the water. Any good Almanac will give these times for each day of the year. So plan your fishing trips accordingly.

• Full Moon

This one has always worked for me. Not mostly, not many times - always. I became addicted to fishing the full moon at night in winter on the open sea. I didn’t even use live or cut bait. I simply used artificial lures, silvered sinking plugs or florescent multi-hook jigs and “whammo” - it never failed me. Yes, it was cold as a you-know-what, but the fishing was always top-notch.

• New Moon

Many fellow anglers swear by the new moon as well. I know so many catfishermen who live for a new moon it’s almost passé. Even in salt water, there are species better caught at night in totally overcast conditions or during nights of a full moon.

• Incoming Tide

When you fish the surf, the best time to do so, according to a number of addicts I know, is when there’s an incoming tide. A half an hour before, get started and continue fishing the shallows of the incoming surf for the best chances of a consistent catch.

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Many fishermen avoid making their own baits but secretly wished they could to save money. The fact is that making your own very effective baits is far easier than you might think and you can use most of the ingredients and similar recipes that commercial bait makers have used successfully for years. You just need a little know-how in order to catch bags of big fish and to save yourself a fortune!

For the more technically minded, carp do not get their energy needs from carbohydrates but mostly protein and also fats and oils in their natural diet. Being aquatic they are extremely well adapted to extract far more energy from protein foods than humans on land. The very basic protein requirements of carp are extremely significant in terms of making effective baits because these are composed of basic building blocks called amino acids, some of which carp essentially need to consume in order to survive.

There are around 10 basic essential amino acids that carp need although there are a few others, but let’s keep things as simple as possible for now. These include: lysine, methionine, arginine, phenylalanine, valine, tryptophan, leucine, isoleucine, histidine and threonine. Carp eat foods containing these amino acids because they are essential. Using almost anything that a fish basically needs to survive can give you the edge you need to get bites although exploiting fish nutritional needs are not the only way to get bites; in fact, far from it!

It may be no surprise that both humans and carp have evolved in part due to the energy providing foods available for us to exploit in our environments. We can exploit how these foods are detected by smell and taste for example, by boosting the levels of the most highly stimulating substances within our baits. These may consist of natural food sources of soluble amino acids, flavors or even using specialist hormone preparations etc, but there are thousands to choose from!

In fish experiments the essential amino acid requirement of very few fish has been established, but those of carp are known and can be exploited in our baits to good effect. But you do not need to know how to create a balanced profile or high protein bait to catch fish. It does help to use protein foods like hens eggs, fish meals, caseins etc which are high protein sources, because they provide many essential amino acids and are extremely well proven bait ingredients.

There seems to be some snobbery in regards to protein based baits compared to using cereal or carbohydrate based baits for example based on wheat or semolina or soya flour. In fact many very economical baits can be made from these ingredients which will just keep catching carp on many fisheries for years. All you need to do to keep catching carp on many waters is to keep changing your attractors regularly as in flavours, various specialist protein extracts, and proprietary fish stimulants and so on.

So many carp fisheries are over-stocked that the fish need to eat your bait and treat it as natural food. As many carp anglers know well, possibly the greatest edge is to be different and so you can fish with confidence against any well-used readymade commercial bait knowing your unique bait has a great edge of being different and unique. This is one great motivator for me to make my own extremely economical and productive homemade carp baits rather than spend 10 pounds or 20 Dollars on a bag of readymade bait that others are already using!

Other ingredients like bird foods containing hemp and corn, crushed seeds and nuts etc, can be utilised to make very nutritious stimulating baits simply bound together with eggs to make a dough and boiled in water. You can combine such crushed ingredients these with any of a vast diversity of both carbohydrate and protein ingredients to make any recipe of bait you so desire and bait making does not have to be rocket science to catch fish!

Even a bait made from plain wheat flour and rice or corn flour will catch carp if you add certain groups of attractors and stimulators to fool fish into the impression the bait is far more worth consuming than it really is! This kind of approach is ideal for anyone who simply cannot afford the expensive readymade baits sold by the bait companies today which really are a luxury item for so many keen but average or low income carp fishermen wishing to catch those big fish of their dreams. It just takes a bit more know-how to make very cheap, but very effective baits for fooling those big fish…

Carp baits are often talked about with respect to their protein ingredient content levels; for instance of caseins, or specific fish or marine meals but to be honest, for most homemade carp bait makers this is not important at all really, when compared to the actual true digestibility and assimilation potential of those proteins! In fact in most carp baits the thing that does most of the work of catching the fish is the soluble fraction of the bait in water and often this has little scientific measurement in most bait homemade recipes in regards to actual bait digestion in reality!

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You should know that aluminum fishing boats are becoming really famous. It is true that these types of boats are considered best, all over the world. It is getting popular because aluminum boats have many benefits.

It is a known fact that aluminum fishing boats are manufactured with the help of fiber glass. Some boats are manufactured with steel as well. Usually, aluminum fishing boats are manufactured in such a way, which can resist themselves from to rust, decay and drip. You will be amazed to know that aluminum fishing boats are sturdy. At the same time, it is easy to repair and fix problems in aluminum fishing boats.

It is a known fact that aluminum fishing boats are costly to purchase. However, it will give you lot of benefits as well. You will be able to save fuel. You don’t have to spend lot of money, besides the repairing and maintenance of these boats. You will come across many people who would prefer to utilize these boats for recreational purpose. These types of boats can utilize in salted as well as fresh water.

If you are an individual person who would like to use a boat for fishing then you should prefer to have aluminum fishing boats. You should know that these types of boats are managed easily. It can be carried by a single person. You will be able to set the functions of the boat, according to your requirement.

You will come across many people who would think that aluminum fishing boats are not durable. If you are amongst this group of people then you have a misconception. These types of boats are manufactured with sturdy materials. Generally, metal is used to develop these boats. Furthermore, the metal is molded and welded in such a way that, water cannot enter inside the boat area.

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The rip at Block Island’s north end can be a very productive fishing ground if you know when to fish it and what to use. I used to go there and catch very little to nothing, never really thinking of it as a productive place until I learned how to fish it. Even after all these years I am still learning how to fish it. There are a variety of ways to fish the rip, but in each case conditions that work best for that type of fishing should be followed. Pay attention to the tide and time of day, and see if you detect a pattern which repeats itself. This is how you’ll become better at fishing any area.

Trolling. I find that the best trolling occurs when the tide is incoming and you arrive around 6:30-7:00am with the tide coming in for about an hour already. Then you can troll wireline outfits with umbrellas or parachutes and catch bass and bluefish for about 3 to 4 hours until the tide begins to slow down. I always troll against the current from 70 feet deep to go over the top of the hump at 40 feet, going very slow by the time I reach the 40 foot mark. Every time I’ll hook up under these conditions. If you don’t hook up, try letting out more line. The current can get very strong and if your not near the bottom nothing will happen.

Drifting. Drifting is another very productive method, and works best on the outgoing tide. Best to arrive around 6:30 with the tide having been outgoing for at least an hour. You can drift over the middle hump, which is about 12′ deep over the top. Use soft plastics like the Storm pearl 6″ swim shad, cast them out, let them sink near the bottom, and use a jigging retrieve. Be ready, when you lift the rod, the fish will be there. If you feel a hit and don’t hook the fish, work it very slowly with lots of short jigs, as if it were an injured fish. This will bring more strikes. Drifting can be used at any point along the length of the sand bar. Different rigs can be used, even live bait, like eels.

Topwater plugs are another good option, but they only work with a running tide and during overcast or foggy days, when the fish can’t get a good look at the plug. They also work in the dim light of dawn, but it isn’t very safe to be crossing over to the island in the dark unless you are a very good navigator and there is radar on the vessel. It isn’t fun to end up on the bow of a barge as it is being towed east or west by a big tugboat. Topwaters are worked when near the rough water, after you drift out of range you’ll have to go around for another pass.

Another useful technique when drifting the Rip is diamond jigging. For this to be successful, you need to be in deeper water usually near the outer rise of the sandbar where it comes up to 48 feet or so. Also, this works best when the tide is running slowly, as it gives the fish a chance to see and hear the diamond jig. A minimum depth for diamond jigging would be 40 feet. Best conditions are early morning with the tide running slowly.

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Founded in 2004, the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) has created a way for consumers, retailers and wholesalers to take a stand in support of awareness in South Africa. Years of over-fishing and poor management have caused the populations of many fish species to drop to dangerously low levels.

76% of the world’s fish stocks are now overexploited, meaning that restaurants and traders of all kinds need to take the control of the situation by learning about which species are in trouble and encourage others to do so as well.

Restaurants in Cape Town are taking part in the SASSI Restaurant and Retailer Participation Scheme. By joining the scheme, they will voluntarily agrees to ensure that they only buy fish from legal sources and never trade in species that are illegal to sell (as stipulated on the SASSI ‘red-list’).

The restaurants also endeavour to not promote species that are from overexploited or vulnerable populations and always have better choices available for their customers - fish and seafood from relatively well managed and healthy populations.

The initiative also educates buyers of the methods used to catch fish and their associated impacts. By being discerning buyers, restaurants and retailers can use their consumer buying power to try to encourage more responsible fishing practice further along the chain of custody. “As restaurant owners, we can make a huge impact by refusing to spend our money on products that are unlawful,” comments Brian Singer, owner of the Blowfish Restaurant. “The idea at Blowfish Restaurant is to create good food with a clear conscience.”

The fishery business is a large one the world over, with upward of 200 million people earning all or part of their income through fishing and related activities. “The solution is not to ban fishing as this will have a negative impact on the world economy, and possibly an even worse impact on the environment, but rather it is to maintain reasonable regulations whereby we can make use of resources available to us without damaging the environment,” adds Jaco Barendse, Seafood and Technical Advisor of SASSI.

SASSI provides its members with a list of South African fish that are categorised according to their conservation status on a colour-coded chart. Red for those species that are protected such as Kingfish, Garrick, Galjoen and Blacktail, through to green for those species, like Dorado, Snoek, Bluefish and Yellowtail, that are able to cope with commercial fishing demands. These indicators are a good way for restaurants to avoid causing damage to an already delicate and endangered environment: the ocean.

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