You want to go trout fishing, but you do not have the simplest idea what to do. First of all, here's some good news: Anyone can do this sport, me, you, your next-door neighbor, and even your mother-in-law! But in order to obtain knowledge before you go find a body of water to fish in, you need a trout fishing guide.
Here's even more good news: this IS a trout fishing guide made especially for you, so there will be no need to look further. I'll try to tell you a few things I know about trout fishing, and I do my best to keep things as simple as possible, so here goes.
Before you go on your planned fishing trip, make sure you have all the proper documents and permits that will allow you to fish for trout. Carry them with you at all times! Don't forget them at home, or worse, lose them. Every place has its own rules that you have to be aware of. Know them by heart, if you must. You don't want to be sent home because you forgot to bring your fishing permit or didn't follow a rule. That would be such a bummer.
Once you're gotten hold of the proper permits and documents, make sure you have all the equipment you need. Prepare them a day before (or even days before, which I would personally suggest). Imagine driving all the way to the fishing spot you've chosen, getting ready to catch some trout, and then you realize you forgot to bring bait or that your fishing rod is broken. That would be such a complete waste of time, energy, and not to mention gasoline.
Another important point to keep in mind is that the location will greatly affect your chances of trout fishing successfully. Remember that trout thrive in cold waters, and that they like to hide under cover habitats such as logs, rocks and even plants.
Wear the appropriate clothing. Wear camouflage, even. This will help you blend in you your environment, making you less noticeable. If the climate is hot, wear light clothing. If it's cold, have more layers of clothes on. Here's another tip: wear green or blue. Trout are cannot recognize these two colors.
Most importantly, remember to be patient. Patience is a virtue, and as clich'd as it may sound, this holds true to trout fishing. Learn how to wait and you will definitely be rewarded. Also, and I always make it a point to tell this to all trout fishing beginners, avoid making unnecessary sounds and movement. We don't want to scare the trout away, do we?
I hope this trout fishing guide has helped you attain knowledge, which will in turn help you gain the appropriate skills and right attitude towards trout fishing. Keep in mind the things I just said and you'll be on your way to catching trout after trout after trout.
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Showing posts with label how to find fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to find fish. Show all posts
Friday, August 20, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Understanding Habits of Fish Article 2
Reading Stream Basics For Trout & Salmon
Understanding how moving water shapes a stream channel and learning to recognize the resulting habitat types can improve your chances of finding trout. In good trout streams, the current creates a riffle-run-pool sequence that repeats along the course of the stream. A deep pool may hold big brown trout, but rainbows and smaller browns are more likely to be found in runs. Riffles hold only small trout during midday, but are important morning and evening feeding areas for bigger trout.
Most stream anglers know that water plunging over a falls will dig out a pool at the base. But many do not realize that the turbulence caused by the plunging water undercuts the base of the falls, forming a cave that makes one of the best feeding and resting stations in the stream.
An experienced stream angler can learn a great deal about a stream by walking its banks and “reading” the water. He observes current patterns, surface disturbances, coloration, changes in bottom type, as well as other clues that reveal trout and salmon hiding spots.
Current patterns pinpoint the location of rocks, logs or other underwater objects that shelter the fish from the moving water. Current pushing against a bank may indicate an undercut that offers cover. The seam between fast and slow current makes a good feeding station; trout hold in slower water waiting for food to drift by in faster water.
Novice anglers pass up any water where the surface is broken and ripply, mistakenly assuming it is too fast and shallow for trout. If you look carefully, this water may have slack-water pockets. A small pocket behind a rock might be home to a good sized trout, even though the water is a foot deep or less.
Bottom makeup also dictates where trout will be found. A section of stream with a sandy bottom generally supports fewer trout than a section with a rocky or gravelly bottom. Important trout foods, especially larval aquatic insects, thrive among rocks and gravel, but may be completely absent in the sand.
If possible, examine the stream from a high angle to get an idea of streambed contour and location of boulders, submerged logs, weed patches and other underwater objects. You can see most on a bright day when the sun is at its highest. Polarized sunglasses will remove the glare so you can see into the water.
Weather
When stream fishing, nothing is more important as the weather. It affects water clarity, temperature and water level of a stream, which largely determine where fish will be found and how they will bite.
One important factor is the rain. Trout often start to feed when the sky darkens before a storm. A light to moderate rain slightly clouds the water, washes terrestrial foods into the stream, and increases the flow, causing more immature aquatic insects to drift downstream. These changes make for great feeding conditions and good for fishing. A heavy rain, on the other hand, seems to turn fish off. If the downpour is prolonged, it will muddy the water so much that fish cannot see, and with rising water, they abandon their normal locations. As soon as the rain subsides and the muddy water begins to clear, the fishing action picks up.
Air temperature also has a dramatic effect on feeding. Trout and salmon feed heaviest at water temperatures from 55 deg. To 60 deg. F. On a typical stream, warm, sunny weather early or late in the season will drive the water temperature to that range by mid afternoon, triggering an insect hatch and starting a feeding spree. But in summer, the same type of weather warms the water too much by mid afternoon, so fishing is poor. Trout bite better in the morning or evening when the water turns cooler during the hot summer months.
In sunny weather, trout are extra-wary, seeking cover of boulders, logs or undercut banks. Cloudy weather makes trout become more aggressive and more willing to leave cover for food. Anadromous fish will migrate more under cloudy skies. Windy weather makes trout more aggressive. The wind blows insects into the stream and trout start feeding.
Wildturkey's Wild Outdoors Site.
Understanding how moving water shapes a stream channel and learning to recognize the resulting habitat types can improve your chances of finding trout. In good trout streams, the current creates a riffle-run-pool sequence that repeats along the course of the stream. A deep pool may hold big brown trout, but rainbows and smaller browns are more likely to be found in runs. Riffles hold only small trout during midday, but are important morning and evening feeding areas for bigger trout.
Most stream anglers know that water plunging over a falls will dig out a pool at the base. But many do not realize that the turbulence caused by the plunging water undercuts the base of the falls, forming a cave that makes one of the best feeding and resting stations in the stream.
An experienced stream angler can learn a great deal about a stream by walking its banks and “reading” the water. He observes current patterns, surface disturbances, coloration, changes in bottom type, as well as other clues that reveal trout and salmon hiding spots.
Current patterns pinpoint the location of rocks, logs or other underwater objects that shelter the fish from the moving water. Current pushing against a bank may indicate an undercut that offers cover. The seam between fast and slow current makes a good feeding station; trout hold in slower water waiting for food to drift by in faster water.
Novice anglers pass up any water where the surface is broken and ripply, mistakenly assuming it is too fast and shallow for trout. If you look carefully, this water may have slack-water pockets. A small pocket behind a rock might be home to a good sized trout, even though the water is a foot deep or less.
Bottom makeup also dictates where trout will be found. A section of stream with a sandy bottom generally supports fewer trout than a section with a rocky or gravelly bottom. Important trout foods, especially larval aquatic insects, thrive among rocks and gravel, but may be completely absent in the sand.
If possible, examine the stream from a high angle to get an idea of streambed contour and location of boulders, submerged logs, weed patches and other underwater objects. You can see most on a bright day when the sun is at its highest. Polarized sunglasses will remove the glare so you can see into the water.
Weather
When stream fishing, nothing is more important as the weather. It affects water clarity, temperature and water level of a stream, which largely determine where fish will be found and how they will bite.
One important factor is the rain. Trout often start to feed when the sky darkens before a storm. A light to moderate rain slightly clouds the water, washes terrestrial foods into the stream, and increases the flow, causing more immature aquatic insects to drift downstream. These changes make for great feeding conditions and good for fishing. A heavy rain, on the other hand, seems to turn fish off. If the downpour is prolonged, it will muddy the water so much that fish cannot see, and with rising water, they abandon their normal locations. As soon as the rain subsides and the muddy water begins to clear, the fishing action picks up.
Air temperature also has a dramatic effect on feeding. Trout and salmon feed heaviest at water temperatures from 55 deg. To 60 deg. F. On a typical stream, warm, sunny weather early or late in the season will drive the water temperature to that range by mid afternoon, triggering an insect hatch and starting a feeding spree. But in summer, the same type of weather warms the water too much by mid afternoon, so fishing is poor. Trout bite better in the morning or evening when the water turns cooler during the hot summer months.
In sunny weather, trout are extra-wary, seeking cover of boulders, logs or undercut banks. Cloudy weather makes trout become more aggressive and more willing to leave cover for food. Anadromous fish will migrate more under cloudy skies. Windy weather makes trout more aggressive. The wind blows insects into the stream and trout start feeding.
Wildturkey's Wild Outdoors Site.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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.
Looking forward to following articles Understanding Habits of Fish? Follow us and be notified by email when the next article is published.
Wildturkey's Wild Outdoors
Wildturkey's Outdoor Sports Shop
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.
Looking forward to following articles Understanding Habits of Fish? Follow us and be notified by email when the next article is published.
Wildturkey's Wild Outdoors
Wildturkey's Outdoor Sports Shop
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About Me
- Victor Gravano
- Great North Kingdom, Vermont, United States
- Outdoor sportsman and guide. Travelling all over North America to the most beautiful places on earth.