You listened to the bait shop guy and bought his equipment, so in return he offers a hot spot to try. After a couple of casts, you feel a strike and set the hook. The reel screams, and you're hooked up to a huge fish ... now what?

1.  Take It Easy - The first thing to do is relax. New anglers tend to panic when a fish is taking out line and reel furiously, which puts a twist in the line for each time they crank it if they are using a spinning rod. Let the drag and rod do the work. Before the fight, you should have set your drag — using a hand scale — at around 25 percent of the line’s breaking strength, so if you are using 12-pound test, you should be using about 4 pounds of drag. Unless you have hooked Moby Dick, this should slow the fish down. If it looks like it’s not stopping, pull up the anchor and idle after the fish. But don’t apply more drag, just make sure to keep the rod at about a 45-degree angle to the water, and point it in the direction to where the line enters the water.

2.  Steady As She Goes - When the fish slows down and stops taking more line, it’s time to go to work. The best technique for the catch is to gently pull the rod up and then reel down as you lower it, using a pumping motion. Do it in small, smooth strokes rather than large abrupt sweeps because it will help keep both the line tight and the fish much calmer. If the fish runs again, let it go and you will probably notice that this run is shorter. That’s a good sign — it means you are wearing the fish down. While you don’t want to horse a fish, you don’t want to let it rest during the fight either, so when the reel isn’t singing, you should be trying to regain line ... even if it is only a few inches at a time.


3.  Close The Deal - When the fish gets close, this is a critical time in the fight because often it will panic when it sees the boat. If the fish is directly below the boat, make sure you don’t hold the rod too high, or it can break. If the fish suddenly goes under the boat, jam the rod tip straight down in the water so it won’t snag the bottom of the boat or foul on the engine’s lower unit. If you need a little extra pressure when pumping the fish, use the palm of your hand on the spool, but be ready to take it off if the fish runs. When a really big fish gets close to the boat, use side pressure to try to turn the fish’s head by smoothly pulling the rod toward the fish’s tail. This often causes the fish to give up the fight, which makes the next part easier.


4.  Catch And Release - Use a net to land the fish. If you are releasing the fish, make sure the net is wet, so it will be less abrasive to the fish’s protective slime. If you have a helper, place them between you and the fish and lead the fish toward the net by walking backwards when you can’t reel any more. Never try to sweep the net at the fish from behind, always net toward the fish’s head, because it can’t swim backwards. If you are keeping the fish for dinner, get it on ice. If you are releasing it, take a picture and get it back in the water, taking time to resuscitate it by grabbing it by the tail and moving it back and forth in the water until it swims off. Like the back of the shampoo bottle reads under its instructions: “Repeat.”

Catching large mouth bass ain't easy for some. A stroke of luck isn't always enough to land a large bass in your hand! It's important to consider technique and other factors when fishing, so read this article to learn more.

Steps

1.  Decide when to fish. Largemouth bass spawn in the early spring, so they'll be much more aggressive and easier to catch then. You'll also have more success fishing in the early morning - start about an hour before sunrise - and the late afternoon, about an hour before sunset. 

2. Check the weather. The best temperatures to fish for bass are between 60 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Bass are best caught in gentle rain as well as on sunny or slightly cloudy days. 

3.  Find a place to fish. Largemouth bass can best be caught in lakes and ponds. Especially on warm and sunny days, they tend to seek shelter near underwater vegetation such as weeds, lily pads, and fallen trees/shrubs. 

4.  Choose your bait. Use live minnows, nightcrawlers, or crawfish if you want to fish with live bait. Otherwise, use a shad, grub, or worm lure between 5 and 8 inches long.

5.  Cast, and reel. Cast near underwater rocks or weeds where bass are likely to be lurking. Reel the line in at a moderately fast rate of about 2 revolutions per second 

6.  On the Bass's third "nibble", set the hook. For this, use your wrist to jerk the rod hard in an upward motion. Largemouth bass have strong jaws and a powerful bite, so don't be afraid to use a more forceful hook set. 

7.  Enjoy your catch! With these instructions, you should be able to catch a Largemouth between 14 and 18 inches long. Good luck! 

Are you an inexperienced parent trying to bring your child for a fun day at the lake? Follow these simple steps for a nice catch.

Steps









1.  Be aware that there are two major types of sunfish in New Jersey. These are the Green and Spotted sunfish.

• The Spotted sunfish are the smaller variety and are very aggressive. They can bite lures for bass. They also put up a great splashing fight for their size. You can distinguish them by their bright almost tropical coloring. They have an aqua, orange spotted carapace around the eye to their top fins, but can extend to the tail. The bottom is golden and shiny. The eyes are the most distinguishing factor, they are bright scarlet. The scale coloring is more pronounced on the smaller fish, but you should be able to notice it on the large 6 inch fish too. Like all sunfish they have spike dorsal fins, so be careful.
• Green sunfish are the bigger species. The initial author's biggest catch was a seven inch fish, which is as big as some catfish. They put up a fair fight, using their weight to dive down when hooked. They have a dark green top that blends into yellow at the bottom. They have dark green stripes going down its sides.

2.   Catch a sunfish. Sunfish are notorious for eating anything and everything as aggressively as possible for their rather small mouths. Use bait to catch sunfish, such as brown roostertail bait. Sunfish, like people will bite on meats and starch.

• Other successful baits include cheese, hotdog, smoked salmon, worms, and beef jerky.
• Smelly and meaty is the best for baits. Smoked salmon is good because of the fishy smell which is used to catch catfish, but it's pricey and falls off the hook a lot.
• Slim Jims and mealworms are recommended though earthworms (also called nightcrawlers) are good too. Slim Jims are cheap and contain a spicy juice that will attract Sunfish and catfish. You can buy earthworms 2$ for 20 or 50 “super” (type of older mealworms that are much larger) mealworms for 6$. Mealworms are recommended because, even though they are nasty little crawlers, they are natural food for catfish, bass, and sunnies. They do not smell much, so combining mealworms and Slim Jims works very well.

3.  Use a very small hook. To catch sunnies, cast out as far as you can with a bobber that’s set about 2 feet above the hook, though you can vary it on the depth of the fishing area. Use two small splitshot sinkers set an inch apart in between bobber and hook. (Small weights that can be pressed into the lines.) They make the line sit straighter and farther down, and will help you cast considerably farther especially on windy days.

4.  Wait after you cast about five minutes. If the line doesn’t tug or the bobber move by then, reel in about a foot and repeat the process. If there are no bites where you cast and you use a bait mentioned above, then there are probably no hungry fish in the area, so cast in a different place.

• When they bite, you will see ripples and the bobber might go under then up over the water with a loud plop. Don’t move your rod. This is difficult and infuriating but the fish is probably just nibbling and smelling the bait.
• When they bite, the bobber will go under and to the side. Jerk your rod up lightly in the opposite direction of the bobber to set the hook. If the bobber moves to one side but not down then the Sunny hasn’t bit the hook.

5.  It’s tricky to know when or if to set the hook. Just feel the rod and do your best. Sunfish are fun to catch and numerous in numbers so good luck catching the feisty 

You fish to find something in yourself that is lost in modern society with its specialization of labor. For the serious fisherman, tired of fishless days, fishing becomes a passion and eventually a practical pursuit.

Steps

1.  Determine what your goals are. Your goals could be to have fun, get some exercise, explore new places, to test your fishing skill, as a profession or to catch fish. 

2.  Make a plan based on what your goals are. If your goal is to catch fish, decide whether it will be catch and release or for consumption.

3.   Read about the fish you are targeting in general and locally. Sports Afield and Field and Stream are great magazines to read for entertainment and to learn. Read your local fishing magazine, watch your local fishing show on TV and ask the clerk at the fishing store for advice. Find out which fish are in season and also notice when fishermen congregating at a certain fishing spot

5.   In general, to catch fish, even small fish, you have to either get to a secluded spot in the country, have access to a watercraft or walk a distance in from the parking area.

6.  Use natural bait. Although expert fly fishermen catch many trout with flies and many bass fisherman catch many largemouth bass with worms or spinnerbaits, using natural bait will require less skill.

• If you are unsure of what to use, worms, minnows, and leeches are all good bets.

7.  Use artificial bait when it is the most productive way to catch the fish you are after. If the fish are not biting with the artificial baits, try putting a strip of natural bait on your artificial.

8.   When fishing for fish bigger than pan size, be prepared to haul the fish in with no finesse. Many times, the most productive places to find these big fishes are places where your line can break or get tangled.

9.  Set the hook quicker with artificial lures than with natural bait. With plastic worms your hook setting will be a bit delayed compared to using a topwater wood or resin plug.

10.   With natural bait, pause before setting the hook. Think of some method, when using natural bait so you do not set the hook too quickly or too hard. All this is if you are after small to medium sized fishes.

• When using a reel, instead of lifting the rod to set the hook, turn the reel handle quickly. Turning the handle quickly is slower than yanking the rod back (and have your rig shoot out of the water at you).

11.  Be sure to have a good high quality rod and a variety of lures and hooks.With spinning gear, carry an extra spool with a heavier line. Once in a blue moon, you will see a very big fish, when going for panfish, that will be close to impossible to catch with your ultralight tackle. With your extra spool with some heavy line, and a big rig or two,you could catch that lunker as a bonus. When catching a monster fish with heavy line, but on a light pole, do not fight the fish by pumping the rod in the usual way. Pump the rod, by keeping the rod angle fixed, and move your arms ie do not break your rod.

12.  Be patient because most fish will not bite at the moment you put the hook in the water.

• Conversely, be prepared to set the hook immediately after casting your lure, predator fish might track the flight of your lure, in the air, and viciously attack it when it hits the water.

13.  Bass tend to usually bite more at sunset and sunrise than during the day.

Want to know the simple steps needed to catch a whole lot of bullhead catfish? Want to know how to enjoy a day at the lake and maybe catch a lunker? Follow these simple steps to success.

1.  Tie a hook on to the end of your line using a regular clinch knot, multiple lines are an option though bullheads usually don't travel in schools. If you don't know the depth of your fishing area multiple hooks at different lengths are an option. Size 2 hooks are good for bullhead and you won't catch a sunny usually. If you do catch a sunfish, or any other fish, you can cut it into chunks.


2.  Put a split shot sinker on the line. Do not put too much weight as the fish might spit it out when it feels the pressure. Another option is a leader tied to a swivel with sliding weights set above the swivel


3.  Put the bobber a few feet above the hook usually. Catfish are bottom feeders and it pays to remember so.


4.  Bait the hook with something smelly! Stink baits are good along with homemade dough bait. Also corn and worms work well. The thing to remember is that Catfish can't see well but have a better smell then bloodhounds. Smelly and meaty are good. Pieces of fish work too. Using minnows and frogs from the area works very well too as the fish have likely encountered that food source before and remember its scent.


5.  Cast out according to the season. In spring Catfish are shallow, in summer deep, in fall anywhere really. Wait for a bite then jerk the rod. If the baits smell is enticing to the catfish, they will come to it so just wait patiently. 


6.  Good Luck!


Tips

• You might catch bluegill with small hooks keep them and you have good cut bait for catfish.
• Use heavy line 4-10 pounds even though bullhead only get 3 pounds heavier line for heavier cover
• Catfish are not everywhere so make sure there's catfish in the lake or pond when fishing.

Warnings

• Bullhead Catfish have sharp barbed spikes on their dorsal and pectoral fins. Also sometimes the catfish will swallow hooks and they will bite your fingers when you try to take it out. It won't hurt due to lack of teeth but will scare some little kids.