Fishing Licenses and Procedures

There is no better way to ruin your fishing trip than to get a ticket for not having a license or keeping fish that are not regulation size.

Keeping fish that are not regulation size is also in poor practice of angling. It makes for smaller fish the next season because they did not have time to properly grow to the right size. If you are going to fish, at least be respectful of the laws because after all, they are there to protect the waterways and the fish that inhabit them. Companies even make large bumper sticker like rulers for your local area that can be put on top of your cooler so as to always have a measuring device handy.  Most common fish measurement regulations can be found here.  Other regulations involving many other matters of fishing can be found here.  Keep in mind all the links I am providing are for the state of Virginia.

Licensing

In order to fish in public places, one needs to get a license that allows them to do so. They’re not expensive and all the funds go to the parks and marine government organizations to keep our waterways maintained and clean. Getting your license is quick and easy and can even be done online. All the information on licenses can be found here.

Just for your information, fishing on private land (just make sure it’s your own or you have permission and aren’t trespassing) still requires a fishing license.

The only time a license is not needed is if you own the actual waterway, be it a lake or pond.

For more information and just about everything you need to know visit, take me fishing, for Virginia, here.

This week’s post was brief but necessary, because without taking proper precautions and fishing correctly, then we will eventually negatively impact our waterways as a whole, and the fishing for everyone will be much less enjoyable. So keep it clean, keep it safe, and get your license to support Virginia’s waterways!

Lake Fishing

From a Dock

When fishing from a dock, most times you will see many people fishing with basic bobber rigs and sitting in lawn chairs, kicked back waiting for a fish to bite. But this does not always have to be the case. The poles from the dock and the coverage of the dock provide an excellent place for fish to hang out in the shallows. You can jig around the poles, usually with a good amount of luck, or you can try your luck by casting a lure farther out, which is a distance and depth advantage from just fishing from the shore.

From a Boat

When fishing from a boat, you have an advantage because you can reach any area of the lake with ease. The drop off where the shallow water meets the deep water is always a good place to start if you don’t know where underwater shelter and coverage is. If you do know where the coverage is, then select your rig or bait of choice and go for it–try a few casts and if nothing strikes after twenty minutes or so, then just simply move locations.

Trolling

One of the greatest things about boats is that you can get a small electric trolling motor, and use a fishing technique called trolling. Essentially, you want to cast a good ways out, but not too far, with a lure that either dives, or is weighted properly, unless you want to fish top water with a popper. Once you’ve casted, just turn on your trolling motor to a good steady speed that gives your pole a little action from the drag in the water, and just zig-zag across the lake or go around the perimeter. This is almost guaranteed to produce results. You cover so much area of the lake with this technique that it’s almost like cheating and is even looked down upon by some. Most anglers will troll just to find out where the fish are hiding and then once they have located the target areas they will go back and fish there normally with a variety of lures and rigs depending on the underwater coverage and the depth of the water.

Know Your Lake

Essentially, it comes down to how well you know your lake. Over time, you will come to learn where the best spots are to go fish at, and you will learn the dead areas to avoid. If you have a depth finder and a fish finder, or either, (usually fish finders have depth finders on them) then you can even topographically map out the underwater picture of your lake, and this will be immensely helpful. If you’re feeling even more into it, then keep a log of the fish you caught and where you caught them. All of this data compiled will help you in the end to catch more fish, and have more success out on the water in your boat.

Thanks for reading this week! Next week I will cover the precautionary steps to take in order to make sure everything you’re doing is legal including licenses and seasons.

Rigs!

It’s time to discuss rigs. Another one of the most important aspects of getting the most out of your fishing trip. There are as many ways to rig a line as there are things to put on the end of a line. Basically, there’s a lot of rigs. There are different types of rigs for different effects that you would want to achieve from the end of your line. A rig presents the bait to the fish in a specific way that makes it more appealing and easier to eat. There are some more general rigs and even some rigs that are specific to one type of fish. I’m going to go over three that are very simple to do, and will provide hours of fishing fun.

Basic Bobber Rig

The simple basic bobber rig is just a bobber set the equal distance away from the hook that you want it to be deep in the water. So, distance the bobber is away from hook, equals how deep your bait is. You can put weights in between the space to help weigh down your line, and it will cast farther from the extra weight. Bobber fishing is fun because after you cast, all you have to do then is just kick back and wait for the bobber to go under. Here’s a picture of the basic rig, one with a worm and another with a minnow.

This is probably the most widely used rig in the fishing world, and has produced time and time again some great fish and fun.

The Texas Rig

This is a rig used with a plastic worm, and requires a special cone shaped weight called a bullet weight and an offset hook, which are very easy to find in your local fishing section of any Walmart or sporting-goods store. The bullet sinker gets threaded through first, cone side facing the line going to the pole and then tie on the offset hook with the worm hooked in a special way. Its easier to show the way the hook goes through than to explain it in words. Here are bullet weights, an offset hook, and the completed rig:

The Carolina Rig

This is the most complicated of the three and it requires the same materials as the texas rig, plus an additional leader and a glass or plastic bead to keep the weight from destroying the knot tied to the swivel. This is a rig that is very popular in the bass community because it is generally weedless, meaning it won’t get snagged in grasses and debris, and it makes for a lively bait on the end of the leader, due to the bouncing around of the weight in front of it.

 

Thanks for reading this week! Next week I’ll be going over more specifics of lake fishing!

Baits

What to choose?

When fishing, selecting the right bait is one of the most important parts of a successful trip. There are many different types of baits, and the most effective are live baits, but most fishermen choose to use baits that not alive. Why? Because it presents a different kind of challenge, and most tournaments do not allow live baits to be used. Simply put, using a bait that is not alive requires more skill. I will cover the basic live baits, and then the basic types of non-live baits that are most commonly used. Techniques for using them will be covered in next week’s post!

Live Baits

The most commonly used live baits are different types of worms, namely night crawlers and bloodworms, crickets, grubs, and minnows. The best part about live baits is they do most of the work for you. They react in a lively manner and are what fish love to eat already. They move for you in the water and require much less skill, because the angler does not have to incorporate many different types of reeling techniques to achieve the desired effect of making the bait look like something fresh and appealing that the fish would want to eat.

Non-live or Artificial Baits

This is where Bass Pro Shops becomes the angler’s disney land. There are aisles and aisles of different baits of all different shapes, sizes, and colors.

Plastic Worms and More

There are plastic (more like a rubber type material) worms, grubs, and bugs of all kinds that must be rigged a certain way to achieve the proper motion in the water, and there are lures.

Lures

Fishing lures can be made of wood, plastic, metal, rubber, cork, and can incorporate materials such as feathers, tinsels, strings, animal hairs, etc.  There are so many different types of fishing lures that I will just cover the top three most used types.

Plugs: These are also known as crank baits, and are usually fish shaped in appearance. They resemble small minnows of many different types of species, used accordingly with what fish it is the angler is trying to catch. They make life-like movements due to the way they are weighted, a lip at the front of the lure that causes the head to shake back and forth, and reeling techniques.

Spinnerbaits: These are lures that use a piece of wire with a hook at the end of them, around the wire is a piece of metal that spins in the water causing a flashy effect that attracts the fish. Many spinnerbaits have brightly colored spots and skirts to make them more flashy and appealing to the fish. Spinnerbaits are great for beginning anglers because for the most part you just cast and reel with no special techniques. The spinning motion of the bait does most of the work for you.

 

Jigs: These have a weighted head at the top of the hook and are almost always used in combination with a plastic worm, or grub with a tail that makes for a lively looking bait. These require some of the most skill to use, but are very effective when used correctly.

Thanks for reading this week! Techniques and rigs for baits will be covered in next week’s post!

How to go Fishing!

The Basic Rundown

This is really quite simple, and a little bit of a complicated matter all at the same time. The most basic way to fish is with a bobber and a worm. A bobber is the little red and white or neon yellow or orange ball that keeps the bait afloat in the water. This is attached to a hook with bait on it, usually a worm is what comes to mind, and is the most traditional bait to be used, but fish also love hotdogs, small pieces of bread, and even corn kernels.

Casting

Think of your dominant arm moving in a circle like a large clock, with three being in front of you and nine being directly behind you. Twelve is directly above your head, and six is at your feet. We’ll assume that you’re using a basic closed bale zebco reel. Press the button on the reel and hold it down, leaving about a foot of line off the end of the pole. Bring your arm back to around ten and swing it forward to around two, letting go of the button. Congratulations! You have just casted a fishing line, one of the most important parts of fishing. Now with the bait in the water, it’s time to kick back and wait for the fish to start some action.

Wait for the bobber to “bob” up and down or submerge entirely underwater, and this is always accompanied by action on the rod. You can feel the fish take the bait and the hook set in the fish’s mouth. The pole comes and alive, and the excitement begins.

It’s Time to Reel!

Wait though not just yet! Give the rod a jerk backwards toward ten again to “set” the hook in the fish’s mouth to make sure he’s on there. Now you can go ahead and grab the crank on the side of the reel and start reeling in your catch.

Removing the Hook

Now there is one thing to take into consideration here, does the fish have spine on top of it? If so, hold the fish with your fingers under it’s belly and run your thumb from the top of the head back towards the tail halfway down so the spines are pushed back onto the fish’s body. We don’t want to get stabbed by one of these nasty little suckers. It can hurt pretty bad and draw some blood, trust me.

If the fish doesn’t have spines, then you can hold him in the same manner, but you don’t have to worry about getting pricked.

You’ve just caught a fish! Go ahead and smile, and take a picture if he’s something to be proud of.

Here’s a picture of me with a pickerel that I caught last summer! They have teeth so removing the hook required gloves and pliers just to be safe!

Where to fish?

Choosing the Best Spot.

When choosing where to fish, this may be one of the easiest and hardest decisions to make. Of course, the topography of the body of water and the banks or shore will all play a great deal into making your decision. Here are just a few different places to think about, some being especially friendly to the neighborhood angler, and others for the more adventurous types.

Ponds

This is a great place to catch those really big bass and plenty of small panfish with little difficulty; in a way its like shooting fish in a larger barrel. The fish are isolated and have few predators, mostly just fishermen, and therefore grow rapidly, reproduce quickly, and always supply a great afternoon of fun for all ages. You can fish from the bank or a dock if the pond has one. Small panfish love the structure that a dock provides, and in a way even brings the fish to you.

Lakes

These bring boats into the picture. So now we have three options, from the banks, a dock, and in a boat. Boats allow easier access to coverage and underwater structure that one would not be able to reach from land, greatly increasing the area that you can fish in. If you can find your way into a boat, it’s definitely the way to go if you are looking to catch a large fish of a certain species. If you prefer to kick back in a chair with a cooler and just enjoy the serenity, then a dock or the banks are for you. Before too long something will come along and check out your bait. This is all a matter of preference, and basically what it comes down to is what you like to do while you are fishing.

Rivers

Rivers provide a completely different type of fishing with an extremely interesting dynamic. A river is always flowing and continually changes. This produces many different types of habitats for many different types of fish. The options here are fishing from the banks, perhaps a dock, in some waders ( long waterproof overalls with boots on them, generally only for fly fishing, which I know near nothing about, and just a quick note, fly fishing is almost a completely different sport in and of itself with the hobby of tying flies, and the technically skilled aspects that it requires) or in a boat. The varying habitats that can be found in a river are what make river fishing so dynamic. In Richmond though, I will say, the James provides excellent cat fishing.

The Ocean

Here your options are surf fishing, pier fishing, and fishing from a boat. The ocean is just the ocean. It requires bigger everything. Heavy lines, heavy rods, heavy reels, larger baits, and bigger fish. In a boat the best places to fish are usually around underwater structure, and at the drop off where the shelf meets deep water. In the ocean there are many more things to take into consideration, especially if using a boat: the tide charts will guide you and most fishermen have a preferred time during the tide’s changing or peaks that they will fish in, the wind also can affect fishing, especially surf fishing. This needs a little further explanation I feel, there are no surfboards involved, though I’ve contemplated it, surf fishing is like shore or bank fishing on any other body of water, except you need a very long pole to whip your bait way out as far into or past the breakers (breaking waves) as possible. Undertow and current along with wind will greatly shift where your bait goes, but this can be balanced with an appropriate amount of weight on the line.

 

-These are just the basic places people go fishing, and next week I will cover basics of how to actually go fishing: how to cast, how to reel, and what baits are to be used when, and how to rig them.  Thank you for reading this week’s Angles for Anglers!

Fishing 101

The Basic Tools and Jargon

Today let’s examine some basic fishing terms.

Rod: the pole to which a reel is attached. Has eyelets for the line to pass through the length of the rod and out onto the water.

If you ever fished as a child, I think we all remember these:

Most kids who fish begin with a rod like this one. It’s small, and nice and flexible, giving it more action, making catching small fish more fun.

These are easy for children to handle, and are great for learning to cast and catch small spot, bluegill, and crappie. (All of which are referred to as panfish because they are not very big and are easily panfried for eating.)

The technical term for such a short rod with a small reel is an ultralight.

This makes catching small panfish great fun, and the light action of the rod makes it feel like you’re trying to land a good sized large mouth bass.

A lot of times when just looking for something to fish with, a rod and reel combo is a great way to keep things very affordable and still have a great day on the water.

This is a rod with light action (which means it bends more easily):

Reel: attached to the rod and holds the string/line in a baled fashion to be let out and taken in using various mechanisms.

These are reels from simplest to most complicated:

 

This is what most refer to simply as a zebco reel. It is the simplest in design and easiest to use. The push of one button and you’re ready to cast.

This is an open bale, or spinning reel. These are great for everyday fishing and allow for line to be given or taken, something that critically comes into play when waiting for a large strike that could otherwise break your line.

Finally we have our baitcasting reel. These are the most difficult to learn how to use, and many employ magnetic breaking systems to aid in the most accurate cast of the three reel types. This is great for maneuvering casts around brush and cover with many different techniques of casting.

We’ll cover more about rod and reel combination selection in a later post. I just want you to get a basic feel for the different components.

Tackle: anything that attaches to your line on the end that goes in the water. This includes weights, snap swivels, hooks, lures, and other various rigs.

Tacklebox: what one keeps all their tackle in.

Rig: a specialized way of tying hooks and other objects such as weights together to achieve a desired effect from your bait in the water. Most fish have a specialized rig that is to be used when fishing for that desired species.

Casting: the act of tossing your line in the water.

Reeling: the act of retrieving your line from the water.

Setting the hook: when a fish strikes, one waits momentarily then jerks the rod backwards in a rapid motion to make sure the hook is in good and deep in the fish’s mouth so he wont shake loose and spit the hook out.

Lucky fishing hat: yes, it’s true, many fishermen are superstitious and I do myself have a lucky fishing hat that I never go fishing without. It just adds a nice touch to any fisherman’s apparel, and becomes almost as necessary as the tackle itself.

These are just some basic fishing terms, and I will go into more depth when I cover tackle, and rod and reel combinations, and casting/reeling methods specifically with a post devoted to each.

Thanks for reading this week!

What is Fishing?

According to Merriam-Webster:

Fishing: the sport or business of catching fish

Ah, yes, that would be one way to sum everything up.

But when you want to learn about fishing, the first place to look isn’t the dictionary.

Fishing is more than a sport or business, it’s a past time, and even a lifestyle that one lives.

Why fish?

We’ve all heard the old Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Quite true, and for some this is their life. Some people fish to support themselves, while others fish purely for fun. Fishing is serene. It’s relaxing. It can also be much more serious if one chooses to make it so. From the professional angler to the one who enjoys sport fishing every once in a while, all go fishing for the same reason, and share the same attraction to the sport.

What Lurks Beneath?

I would say that it all starts with the water, whether standing beside it, in it, or floating on top of it, we all want to know what waits, lurks just beneath the depth where the sunlight fades out, and we can no longer see. What waits down there? Lots of things, even things we know nothing about, and this is the best part. When one goes fishing he or she may know the kind of fish they want to catch, or where they are most likely to find such a fish, but they are never certain what lurks beneath.

It’s all about curiosity.

You stand there with rod in hand, rig ready to go, and just as you cast, a thought flashes every single time, “This could be it. This could be the cast where I get my catch.” From the first fish one ever catches, they are “hooked” quite literally. Curiosity killed the cat, and it dragged the fisherman out to the edge of the water, and eventually onto it, where he naturally doesn’t belong, with a small pole and a hook, just hoping to pull something back out of the water.

Fishing is Challenging and Fun.

There are many different methods and types of fishing, all with varying degrees of complication and difficulty. One can kick back and enjoy reeling in fish after fish if they do it right, or even if they do it right sometimes this isn’t the case. Catching a fish, in a way, is just as much up to the fish to decide as it is up to the one holding the other end of the line. Catching the fish is the sole purpose of fishing. Simple enough, yet a daunting task at times. Like I said, there are easier methods and tricks, but after a while these can get boring, and one begins a small quest, if you will, to catch the one. That one fish that just haunts you. He may bite and let go, one of the worst feelings while fishing, choosing that today just isn’t the day to be caught. So you go back again and again to catch that one. Fishing is a challenge, and a successful trip to the water will make just about anybody’s day brighter.