Global Fishing Tackle
Keep In Touch
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Products
    • Fishing Rods >
      • Fly Fishing Rods
      • Spinning Fishing Rods
      • Casting Fishing Rods
      • Flipping Fishing Rods
      • Jigging Fishing Rods
      • Carp Fishing Rods
      • Boat Fishing Rods
      • Surf Fishing Rods
      • Feeder Fishing Rods
      • Match Fishing Rods
      • Ice Fishing Rods
      • Catfish Fishing Rods
      • Other Fishing Rods
    • Customer Brand Rods >
      • Lure Leader
    • Fishing Rod Accessories
    • Fishing Reels
    • Fishing Lures >
      • Lure catalog
    • Fishing Bags
    • Fishing Rod Grips
    • Fishing Line
    • Fishing Caps & Hats
    • Fishing Apparel
    • FAQs
  • Become a Partner
  • Jobs
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

How to Catch Sunfish

9/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.

Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Global Fishing Tackle

    Categories

    All
    Fishing Knowledge
    Fishing Skills
    Fishing Tackle

    Archives

    April 2025
    October 2024
    October 2023
    March 2023
    October 2022
    May 2022
    August 2021
    November 2020
    February 2020
    June 2019
    April 2018
    January 2018
    April 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Articles list
    The Fishing Rod: Parts & Terms

    The Fishing Reel: Types of Fishing Reels

    Fishing With Live Bait

    Fishing With Prepared Baits

    Types of Fishing Lures

    Fish Anatomy

    Understanding Fish Senses

    Which Rod and Reel Should I Buy? – Your First Rod & Reel

    Two Knots You Absolutely Need to Know  

    How to Assemble a Spinning Reel and Rod

    How to Load Line on a Spinning Reel

    How to Set the Drag on a Spinning Reel

    How to Cast Your Spinning Rod

    How to Find Fish


    How to Play and Land a Fish

    How to Keep and Clean Your Fish

    How to Fish a Small Creek

    How to Fish for Flounder

    How to Make a Topwater Lure for Saltwater Fishing

    How to Take Children Fishing

    How to Be a Good Fisherman

    How to Become a Professional Fisherman

    How to Become a Fishing Guide

    How to Begin Ice Fishing (USA)

    How to Cast Baitcasting Tackle

    How to Cast a Bait Caster or Spinning Rod

    How to Cast a Fly Fishing Rod

    How to Cast Spinning Tackle

    How to Catch Bass on Topwater Lures

    How to Catch a Carp

    How to Catch a Muskie

    How to Catch Fish in a Lake

    How to Catch a Catfish

    How to Catch a Snipe

    How to Catch Blackfish

    How to Catch Bullhead Catfish

    How to Catch Freshwater Fish

    How to Catch Sunfish

    How to Catch Large Mouth Bass

    How to Fight a Fish

    How to Catch Striped Bass

    How to Select a Fishing Rod

    How to Fish for Bass

    How to Choose Fishing Line

    How to Fix a Broken Fishing Rod

    How to Cast With a Surf Rod on a Beach

    How to Equip for Ice Fishing
    ​

    Purchase fishing tackle from us, help you earn more money

    How to Learn Fly Fishing
    ​

    How to Catch White Sea Bass

    How to Fish (for Beginners)

    How to Find the Best Time for Fishing

    ​How to Catch Bass, Trout, and Panfish After Dark

    ​
    How to Use Color When Fly Fishing

    Share some photos at ETTEX 2016
    ​
    How to Choose a Fishing Rod
    ​

    How to Net a Fish

    How to Maintain a Fishing Rod
    ​
    ​
    Choosing a fly rod is not difficult. Simply follow a few simple tips

    ​
    How to Rig an Ice Fishing Rod

    ​
    Fishing Rod Maintenance and Safety – Top Ten Tips

    ​
    How to Pick Freshwater Fishing Lures

    ​
    How to Find the Best Time for Fishing

    How to Deep Sea Fish

    How to Put a Weight on a Fishing Line

    ​
    How to Ice Fish
    ​
    ​
    How to fly fish

    ​

    RSS Feed

Picture
About Us   Products   Cooperation   Blog   Jobs   Contact Us   Privacy Policy 
© Global Fishing Tackle Inc. All rights reserved.