Understanding Habits of Fish Part 1

Ever hear that old saying “10 percent of fisherman end up catching 90 percent of the fish.” I don’t know of anyone who has ever proven this to be fact, but the assumption is that it could be close to the truth. Many anglers head home with nothing in their creel, and many of these fisherman have one thing in common: little knowledge if fish habits. The reason I’ll be covering this topic in the next few weeks is to help readers of my articles who love fishing but have trouble catching fish, join the 10 percent who end up catching most of the fish, most of the time.
To start catching fish, you must know where to find them. So the first two subjects in this article will cover location, and reading the water. Electronics will be the only subject not covered in the following articles. We want inexperienced anglers to start using their god given senses.

Location - Location - Location

Anglers who fish in one area often learn the best locations, such as under a fallen tree, undercut banks, tangle of submerged roots, or behind a certain big rock. These places often remain good hotspots because once a fish moves on or is caught and not returned to the water, another fish soon takes up residence in that same spot. Many of these fisherman have one disadvantage. When fishing in a new area they have no idea where to locate fish in the new location they’ve never been before.

Part of the battle to finding and catching fish for anglers in a new area is that obvious spots or honeyholes are not producing fish. There first thought is that the area has no fish in it. If the water is well oxygenated , decent cover, hatches, causations, or bait fish, most likely the quarry is there or close by. If a certain spot in the new area is not producing then move to a new spot. Keep looking for deep holes, heavy weeds, overhanging limbs, big rocks. Plan your casts and your angles to certain spots. Never give up on a new pond, lake, or stream. Think about where fish are located in that certain body of water. Where are the obvious food sources, and think like a fish, if you had predators all around where would you hide.

Locating fish by their habits is also important. Many anglers have no idea about a certain fish species requirements. After learning about fish requirements and taking that practice to the water, often you will find them by understanding their habits. Each species varies in its requirements, there’s five basic ones to consider, the urge to travel ( usually once a year ) to a suitable place to spawn. Fish need sufficient oxygen in the water they live in. Fish want water to be a comfortable temperature range. They want a place to rest or hide which gives the protection. For fish who live in streams they will seek areas in the stream where the flow is moderate without always fighting with the currents. Fish want abundant food nearby, or at least convenient enough so they can get to it with a minimum amout of effort.
When you consider these five basic location requirements, you can eliminate certain areas or water levels, and work on the areas where these five basic requirements are met.

Reading The Water

This method is the ability to read water. It is most important and one of the best because it can be applied anywhere. Reading the water is the instinctive ability to select good locations from the poor.

The average person likes temperatures between the 65 to 75 degree range. When it’s too hot we seek cooler temps. When too cold we look for warmer places to be. Even more than us fish are particular about water temperature, being sensitive to changes as small as a degree. Every fish species seeks its ideal temperature, but will tolerate somewhat of a wider range. Magazines such as Field & Stream and books about fishing have water temperature tables for individual fish species. Here we will show you the optimum temperatures for a few of the most popular fresh water fish.

Largemouth Bass                 65 to 80 deg.
Smallmouth Bass                60 to 75 deg.
Muskellunge                       60 to 75 deg.
Shad                                    55 to 70 deg.
Yellow Perch                      60 to 75 deg.
Walleyed Pike                    55 to 70 deg.
Striped Bass                      56 to 73 deg.
Lake Trout                        40 to 50 deg.
Coho Salmon                    45 to 61 deg.

Chinook Salmon              50 to 66 deg.
Brook Trout                     48 to 68 deg.
Rainbow Trout                48 to 68 deg.
Brown Trout                   48 to 70 deg.
Crappies                         60 to 75 deg.
Northern Pike                60 to 75 deg.
Cutthroat Trout             48 to 68 deg.
Landlocked Salmon      40 to 55 deg.
Cutthroat Trout            48 to 68 deg.

People do not like strong winds, so they try to walk or stand where they are protected. Fish like people dislike strong currents, so they will rest in areas in moderate or broken flow. So what is moderate flow? An easy way to determine the difference from fast to moderate flow is to stand facing downstream in the fast water of a stream. Put your hand in the water on either side of your boot and you’ll notice the flow of water will be equal in strength to the current. Put your hand in front or behind your boot, you will find a more moderate current. Any obstruction in a stream such as a dead fallen tree, rock, jutting ledge, will produce the same results but at a much larger degree. Fish like to hang in these areas of moderate flow where they do not have to constantly battle the current. Fish in the current are usually on the move or feeding at certain times of the day. Trout leave their havens at certain times such as dawn or dusk for food, often in tail water or riffles.

Lakes and ponds are much different than streams and present different methods in locating fish by reading the water. Fish in lakes and ponds spend most of their time at levels where water temperatures suit them. Usually the temperature level near sides of lakes, islands, or submerged ridges or reefs. From these places, they travel to feeding areas in shallower water or rocky shorelines. Lily pad areas or similar places of abundant grasses or vegetation. Fish travel to feeding areas can be predicted. The routes they take, and the depths. When the five requirements mentioned above are met it can be predictable as to where to find the fish.

When the long summer days heat up the water, you can bet you’ll find fish at greater depths. Fish congregate along food lanes in a pond or lake, so do the birds such as gulls, they tell anglers that baitfish are below and if baitfish are there most likely the gamefish are there or not far behind. Also look for dimples in the water or rings. Fish are rising to feed and it’s a good chance some good size fish are lurking below.

As we cover more about angling in following articles, more will be discussed in reading water as well as other subjects that go hand in hand.

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