Post your angler tips and tricks

[goindeep]

This thread is for you to post any little tricks or mods or ideas that you use while fishing. Im not asking for closely guarded secrets here, just little things youve discovered or learned that make life easier while fishing. Heres something I do to keep my tackle box more organized.

I keep all the little packages that sabikis, hooks, etc come packaged in. Even if you dont buy hooks in small packages, most of us buy sabikis, and I even find these empty packages laying around the pier all the time. I use them to store my pre-tied leaders. I can store 2 per package, and they stay separated by the cardboard insert inside. This way they stay neat and organized in my tackle box, and I can even put a bunch of them in my pocket without worrying about tangles, etc. Grabbing a pre tied rig is quick, easy, and hassle free. I can have a hundred pre tied leaders in my tacklebox with easy access and no mess.



flip em over and viola



I keep one stack in my box with snapper rigs, another stack with grouper rigs, one with BIG rigs, and a couple other packs with various sized hooks and leader lengths and material. Grabbing and changing rigs is a breeze, and my tackle box isnt a mess. I guess thats the OCD in me. lol. Theyre also easy to label with a black marker (I put "F" on the ones with floro and leave the mono ones blank). The little ziplocks that sinkers come packaged in are good as well. Just cut a piece of thin cardboard to size and stick inside for a divider.


Heres something else: I always keep a sabiki rigged on my bait rod. To avoid snagging those little hooks on everything in between fishing trips, I tip each hook with a small piece of cork and secure the bottom of the rig to the rod with a rubber band. Sure, the rig still wraps around the rod sometimes, but its alot easier to unwrap the line a couple of turns than it is unsnagging the small hooks.


So...whatchya got?

[tylerdurden]

GREAT idea GD. I will definately have to do that especially with snapper making a come back, hang up city.

This is just one i have off the top of my head, but i had a sabiki last year that i would wrap around one of those knife sharpener thingys you get with an eagle claw or another cheap filet knife and i would stick it inside of a bag slightly larger than the sharpener. Farely easy to unwind and reuse. If it falls out of the bag tho forget about it. Just find anything really to rap it round would work, empty line spool with a rubber band maybe

Also if i have a bunch of swivels getting tossed round my tackle box ill put them on a safety pin to keep them together.

Also when fileting fish like snook that are being picky bout eating, cut open the stomach and see what kind of fishies they are eating

[bill jacques]

I leave my sabiki on my rod also. I start hooking the hooks together starting at the top 2 and work my way down, then i wrap the weight adround the handle. never gets tangles

[BigDawg71]

Great idea GD, works much better than the ziplock bags I use.

[fishonfishoff]

hey Steve, got lead sorry, couldn't resist. If I only had a buck for every pound I lost.........good organization on the rigs

[goindeep]

Lol. I knew a lead comment was comin when I saw your username

I'm gonna start drillin holes in rocks to use as weights. Otherwise I'm gonna go broke from losin lead.

F'n rockpiles.

Cya

[bcc]

Thats funny goindeep cause when i was a kid and dident have any lead i would tie rocks to my fishing line.

[goindeep]

over 100 views and only a couple of offerings? c'mon now...

[inshorebasher]

i like to use the small zip lock baggies that eagle claw hooks come in, and the sinker baggies as well. as far as tips goes. sometimes i put a red bead after my sliding sinker because of smaller snapper rigs or what have you have smaller swivels and sometimes the lead will slide into the leader or get stuck on the swivel.

wow i'm a average or above average fisherman but i really can't think of any helpful tips via fishing right now. aside from clean your gear after each trip, look back b4 you cast, use styrofoam to store used sabikis, top shot large capacity reels with mono before loading up with braided line or expensive mono, freeze leftover bait for future bait.

[jab]

i always keep my stuff in dirrerent containers. sabiki rigs are tricky. but what i always do before i go fishing is not even take a rod with and go for a walk to see what other peole are cathing so what there using see how far there line is out and compare there luck to other peoples luck .and then the tide. only takes up about an half an hour. then i go catch bait.

[sharkark]

When you are fighting a fish at the pier and he starts heading toward you, many people will try to position themselves half way between pilings thinking that will be the best place to give them the most distance away from the pilings. Most of the time (Got to give myself an out here in case you lose a fish this way) it's best to go to the piling and stand directly over it. This gives you a whole pilings distance on either side rather than a half if you stand in the middle. Does that make sense? Not sure I wrote that very well, but you get the idea. Fight the fish from over the piling and then run to the next one if necessary.

[havetofish]

Well I guess this is a tip. With a bad back, its hard for me to pull a 5 gal bucket full of water to the pier. So I use a 2 gal. bucket to fill my live well. Yea, I know I could rig a pump, but I carry so much crap as it is, this is just easier. Also, how many of you do the bucket flopping routine to get the bucket to fill with water? I just put a chuck of lead on the side of the bucket and it tilts perfectly every time.

[tylerdurden]

you can use zip ties or bungy straps to keep your poles from getting taken by a fish if you want to set them down. Or use the pvc pipes like you do for beach fishing and wrap the zip ties or bungie around that

[goindeep]

Havetofish, I use a small bucket as well, and am a bucket flopper lol. I never thought of putting a weight on the edge like that.

[inshorebasher]

what i do is the throw the bucket over w/ all the rope, majority of the time its full for me and i do 5gallon...ain't gettin' any younger so i may start to use the 2 lol.

[BigDawg71]

Anyone have a tip on how to keep my line from getting all twisted up around the weight and swivel? Happens more when I use power pro with a mono or fluorocarbon leader but have had it happening with mono line as well. that current can really play havoc on the line and I spend a few minutes every other cast untwisting it.

[havetofish]

BigDawg,
There is no one good answer to the problem. It can be caused by lots of things. But here's my thought on it.

Cut you tag line closer to the swivel.

Tends to happen more with a shorter leader and heavier weights. Not easy to explain, but look at it this way. If you have a heavy sinker and a 1 ft leader with a shrimp on it, then when it hits the water the sinker is gonna spin the leader down on top of it. If it was 3 feet long with a 4oz bait on it, then the bait and sinker will sink at a closer rate.

When you cast, watch how it lands in the water. If you see distance between the sinker and the hook, then you chances are better it won't happen. If they look like they hit the same spot, then chances are it will.

Then again, if you got a pinfish pinned to the bottom and is swimming circles around your sinker, then its gonna happen anyway.

My .02 cents

[havetofish]

May 13, 2009 9:55:06 GMT -5 sharkark said:

When you are fighting a fish at the pier and he starts heading toward you, many people will try to position themselves half way between pilings thinking that will be the best place to give them the most distance away from the pilings. Most of the time (Got to give myself an out here in case you lose a fish this way) it's best to go to the piling and stand directly over it. This gives you a whole pilings distance on either side rather than a half if you stand in the middle. Does that make sense? Not sure I wrote that very well, but you get the idea. Fight the fish from over the piling and then run to the next one if necessary.

Sounds logical to me. Now all I need is a chance to try it.

[filletnrelease]

BigDawg, I agree with what Havetofish say's with regard to the tag line. Also something I do is just before the bait etc. hits the water I close the bail, this straightens out the line and seems to help. This works real well when using a Gotcha or Spoon. Hope this helps. This a a great topic, some good ideas being put out there. I too use a 2 gallon bucket and toss it out, but that lead idea is a good one. I bought Sabki Rods for my boat and use one on the Pier so I don't have that problem with the tangling or snagging up my other rods in the lock down. Sometime ago I went form a more conventional Tackle Box to a Bag with plastic boxes. These are real good for keeping everything in their place and organized. I don't tend to make a lot of leaders up ahead of time, I use about 25 to 30' of 80 or 100lb Triple Fish leader when fishing for Grouper, that way the Braid is all on the reel including the knot when I swing that bad boy over the rail. You never know when you may have a fray or weak spot in your braid with all those rocks and such. I swear by my 100lb power pro, it has not let me down. Perhaps the obvious, but when I change a lure, I leave it out of my box until I get home, this way I can wash it down with fresh water before storing, keeps them hooks from rusting as fast and I don't forget which ones i have used. If you plan on fishing for say Macks, I paint the casting sinkers or barrel sinkers with black paint, I have had a lot of rigs lost because of a strike at the silver lead. Never use the brass swivels either, same thing, if it glitters it's history. Just a couple of ideas.

[SkyJay]

May 13, 2009 9:55:06 GMT -5 sharkark said:

When you are fighting a fish at the pier and he starts heading toward you, many people will try to position themselves half way between pilings thinking that will be the best place to give them the most distance away from the pilings. Most of the time (Got to give myself an out here in case you lose a fish this way) it's best to go to the piling and stand directly over it. This gives you a whole pilings distance on either side rather than a half if you stand in the middle. Does that make sense? Not sure I wrote that very well, but you get the idea. Fight the fish from over the piling and then run to the next one if necessary.

1.Listen to this man, when he offers advice.

2.Always remember/realize, that no matter how much you think you know about fishing at the SkyWay (or anywhere for that matter), there is/will always be something new to learn.

3.Although it may be a little bit harder for some than most, (including myself) always remember to be as nice and as patient as you possibly can be with other fisher folks at the piers. We were all rookies once, and I think sometimes some of us tend to forget that, and get a little full of ourselves. And that is just not cool. Unless you hold a patent on a particular technique or fishing
skill, just remember that most, if not all you know was passed on to you, by someone nice enough to take the time to explain and show you how. In the interest of good Karma, you/we should all remember to "spread the love".
It will come back to you 10 fold, and will be more rewarding personally, than any fishing trip.

4.Remember the Boy Scout motto, and "Be Prepared",
Make a list, and check it twice... Every Trip. Don't skimp on tackle in hopes that you "might' have enough. Take EXTRA everything, to cover you for the unknown. Nothing worse than running out of an important weapon in your arsenal, in the middle of a hot bite, which if you fish the SkyWay enough you already realize can happen at any time!

5. KEEP A LOGBOOK!
Write down EVERYTHING.
Date, Times, Weather Conditions, bait, location, PILING NUMBERS,
The price of gas, and what color socks you were wearing.
Refer to your logbook every trip, and take hints as to how to plan /prepare for your next trip. It takes some time to build data, but once you start practicing this one habit alone I'll guarantee you'll catch more fish! I read this tip in Field and Stream Magazine as a child. Those of you old enough might remember the column, "Tap's Tips". After several halfhearted attempts at a logbook, I finally trained myself to make it a habit about 15 years ago. I've lost count how many slow trips I've salvaged by taking hints from my little books. You gotta make yourself do it... But it is worth every minute of time it takes to keep it current.

(P.S. if anyone is interested, I'd part with copies for around 500 bucks LOL )


6. Always be as observant to your surroundings as you possibly can while fishing. If there is one feller catchin all the fish, WATCH HIM!
Don't make the mistake (I've been guilty of this one a few times to) of being stubborn, or too proud to ask questions. That is how we learn. If you get to the point you know it all, you are in serious doo-doo. You would be amazed at the stuff you can learn from the little kids, etc. that frequent the Piers.
7. Have a GOOD time.
If you find you are taking it all too serious (the reason I quit Golf...) take a break. It's supposed to be fun. Too many people these days seem to have forgotten this I am afraid.

8.Practice knots, Rigs, Casting, or any other skill you may be lacking in at home. Don't wait till Saturday. A castnet opens up just as well on dry land as it does in water. Regretfully a backlash is just as hard to get out to. The point is the more we do something, the better we get at a particular task. Do something enough, and it becomes second nature. Equaling less time farting around while on the water, and more time fishing. In my opinion people watch way too much TV, Computer etc these days, instead of practicing hands on skills, and techniques.

9. Take a Kid fishing. Make the trip about the Kid. You'll be surprised how much you can learn/remember, when you take the time to teach others. Especially the young-uns.

10. Team Daiwa Rules. (Be nice to others) LOL

There's my top 10... I'm gonna start working on 10-20 now (and the crowd moans)

Fish On Folks

J.

[jab]

thnx skyjay this is another good post i am favoriting.

[jmfishin]

i just got me a new jeep, theres no way im spillin stinky shrimp water in it. so now i take my baitbucket, and set it inside a thick trash bag. so when ya mash on the gas and water splashes out, it stays in the bag and not in your ride.

[SkyJay]

I give that jeep 6 months, and it's gonna smell like the Sushi buffet! (Just kiddin) LOL

Seriously though, good Idea!

[fishonfishoff]

It's a Jeep thing.................... not a BMW. Use it what's it's made for. Trust me on that one. Take it for what it's worth. Park it where ya want it !!!! Got back up on that one ....lol.....

[tylerdurden]

no way, better keep the salt water away from it. Dang jeeps will rust out from under you

[bcc]

Not so bad if the floor board rust out you can save a lot of money on gas and flintstone power it. IF he could move to 2 huge boulder wheels you can move a rusted out jeep.

[eaglesfanguy]

LOL Hence the reason i dont buy brand new......Cant keep nothin nice these days, some moron will ding it.

2004 F250.. allready broken in and ready for the mess!

[SkyJay]

11. Snapper Fishin? JUST REEL!

(It's so easy, it don't even require directions!

12. Ambassador 5500. Learn To Use.


fish on.

[jmfishin]

its used. just new to me:)
and i wanted to try the just reel thing today. i couldnt buy a snapper bite. did have something take off with my shrimp at warp speed, but no hookup

[jmfishin]

i too am a bucket flopper