The Proper Tackle For The Job
We help you choose
If your location is limited to only a few fresh water lakes or ponds with limited size and variations of fish, then your choices are much easier than if you live on the coast and will be fishing back salt water, inland fresh water, surf and deep sea.
We will try to give enough tips here to help you get on the right page of the catalog or site you decide to shop.
Lets start with shore fishing a pond or small lake with some perch, crappie, blue gill and small trout. They will all be easiest to catch on a light or ultra light rod and reel. We prefer spinning reels or closed face spinning reels also known as spincasting reels. Why? Because they allow the farthest reach when casting without the hassle of backlash. A 6' to 7' light or ultra light rod will give plenty of distance on your casts and a very sensitive tip to feel the the little buggers trying to steal your bait.
Lite mono filament line up to 4lbs is plenty to handle the biggest fish you will catch here. We like to add a 4' 6lb fluorocarbon leader before the hook or other terminal tackle. The most popular fresh water bait is earth worms. I like to put them on a 1/8oz jig head leaving most of the worm to dangle below the hook rather naturally.
Of coarse there are literally hundreds of artificial lures you can purchase, but I would ask for some local advise before spending much on them for this type fishing.
These pan sized fish are a lot fun for the whole family and make a great meal fried up in some olive oil with a little Italian breading on them.
Now, larger lake fish like walleye, salmon, steelhead trout and lake trout require quite a different arsenal of weapons. ( keep your lite gear handy in case you find a school of perch)
They can all be caught on the same rod and reel. But the type fishing you plan on doing can make a difference especially in the reel. If you know you will only be anchored or drifting then a conventional reel of about size 30 is great on a 7' medium weight rod. But if you think you will be trolling then we recommend a line counting reel. That is a conventional reel with a line counter on it as the distance the line is let out is a very important factor in the depth your lure will be running.
If you are at anchor, fishing with live bait, ie: worms or minnows, we would use a jig head of 1/4oz to 3/4oz depending on the depth of water and underwater current strength. Monofilament line of 8lb to 10lb will be sufficient for still fishing. If you plan on trolling we would use 16 to 20 lb mono or 10 to 12lb stainless steel, both with a 6' leader of 20lb fluorocarbon. A 50lb barrel swivel at both ends of your leader will help prevent line twisting while drifting or still fishing but ball bearing swivels should be used for trolling lures.
Here again, there are hundreds of lures to choose from. Our favorite for walleye is the Bomber Long A, for salmon, King Spoons, and for steelhead and lake trout, anything fast and shinny. By the way, we have also caught a lot of walleye trolling worms on a worm harness.
Another great freshwater fishing is for large mouth bass. They are a hard hitting tough fighting fish. Pound for pound probably the most exciting fish to catch, but finicky about what they eat at times.
A good lite spinning rod reel combo is best as you will be doing a lot of casting and retrieving and don't want to wear yourself out with a heavy rod and reel. I would use 6lb mono with a 10lb fluorocarbon leader of about 4'. You can use worms, minnows or lures. I like a rattling lure or an 1/8oz jighead with a soft curly swim bait.
Ok, there is still river fishing for catfish, pond fishing for carp, fly fishing and ice fishing. But lets face it, I don't know everything, but I bet with the above advise you could figure out what kind of gear to buy for any fresh water fishing except fly fishing and ice fishing.
Now, lets move to the salty back water fishing, by far my favorite. I have fished the backwaters from North Carolina around the peninsula of Florida, to Texas. I could use the same rod and reel wherever I was. Most of what you are going catch is gonna be red fish. The Carolinas will have their spots and flounder and Florida will have their snook and sheepshead. But the most sought after backwater fish is the red fish.
A good medium heavy rod, one piece carbon, of 6' to 6'6" with a saltwater spinning reel of about 10lb to 12lb line weight is plenty. You will be throwing your arm off if you get too heavy with your gear. Here is one sport you want to spend a little more on for gear so you can remain light but still fight a 15lb red screaming though the grass or mangroves. I like a reel with at least 5 ball bearings and classified "Salt Water". I spoolup with 15lb braided line cause it is the size of 6lb mono and hard to cut off on the snags and it is light to cast. Then I tie a 6' length of 20lb fluorocarbon leader directly to the braid. The less terminal tackle the better.
My favorite bait is live shrimp on a 1/0 circle hook with a popping cork set at just less than the waters depth. Johnson spoons in gold are the favorite of most lure fishermen, however some like jig heads with wiggly soft plastic swimmers on them.
A recent test I did in both South Carolina and Florida proved that Gulp Alive Shrimp work equally as well as live shrimp and they can last all day, then you put em back in the juice and use them again tomorrow.
My next favorite is grouper digging in the Gulf of Mexico. There are several ways to catch them that require different equipment.
The most popular way is to anchor over hard bottom and drop live bait down to them on a slider rig. This requires fairly heavy gear compared to jigging for walleye. I like a stout heavy short rod of about 5'. Some call them tuna rods or standup rods. They are built to handle fish in the 60lb to 80lb range. On that I put a 50 size conventional reel with a lever drag. Load that with 40lb mono and an 80lb 6' fluorocarbon leader. I use 100lb barrel swivels when bottom fishing or 100lb ball bearing swivels when trolling. I both bottom fish and troll with these rods and reels. You can buy pre-made grouper rigs in the local bait shops for bottom fishing.
I like the short stout rod because you can jerk the grouper up off the bottom before he gets back in his hole. Of coarse if you are catching smaller grouper you'll want to lighten up on the rod for more fun fighting.
Trolling for grouper is a good way to find hard bottom and bait pods while fishing. We use the rod reel combos from above to run deep diving Magnum lures and or Old Salty Divers with spoons. This type of gear is good all up and down the salt water coasts for medium heavy sport fishing.
Then we also like to run 2 downriggers with the same reel but a 7' heavy rod. Reason being you want to have your rod bent over when it is rigged to the downrigger. This not only makes for a quick 'fish on" reference but also helps to set the hook. We like to bait our downrigger lines with a skirted game fish rig with a 4/0 hook. To the hook we tie a whole squid with thin brass rigging wire pushed through the tail then the eye of the hook and wrapped tightly around the tail to drag it backwards like they swim. If you can't get fresh or frozen squid then Gulp Alive Squid work equally as well.The grouper love em!
Of coarse, when you're out on the Gulf or any other deep salt water you'll want to have your backwater rods with you to catch bait. And a little heavier spinning rod and reel, say 16 to 20 lb range, for casting into pods of bait for tuna, Spanish mackerel, cobia and many other top water foragers. We also keep a couple of 30lb spinning outfits for larger top water guys like shark and barracuda. For these guys, be sure to have some wire leader on your line and some fresh live bait for the cobia.
Another popular method for catching salt water fish is surf fishing. The secret to catching fish in the surf is finding and keeping your bait in the trenches were the game fish lie in wait. A couple of signs to look for that indicate the presence of fish are birds working the area just outside the surf and an abundance of sand flea holes in the edge of the surf. Where there are fleas there are fish!
For this type fishing you need pretty heavy gear. Usually a rod of medium heavy build and 10' to 12 ' long so you can cast out to the trench. A good heavy (about 30 size) spinning reel is the easiest to handle. I like 30 lb braid because it is way over the limit you need but only as big and heavy as about 12 lb mono, so it casts nicely and just about can't be broken off. To this we attach a 30lb fluorocarbon leader of about 6'and what ever rig we are using. You want to use the pyramid shaped bottom sinkers to hold your bait in the trench. The heavier the surf the heavier your sinker needs to be. Don't forget to get a spike rod holder to stick in the sand. Those rigs are just too heavy to hold onto all day.
Hope this article was helpful in getting you started on the type of fishing you plan to do.
About the Author
Ted Koppel, Just an ole' fisherman trying to pass the fun on to the next generation. Visit us at Http://efishbox.com for a great selection of gear and at http://mytacklespace.com a free community for fishing blogs and forums. Feel free to join. Tight Lines, Ted
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