Fishing is for Everyone BY ERICA HIRSCH
N
ot everyone will catch fish. Just the other day an acquaintance wanted to book a charter with Twilight Charters. He expressed that he had taken his young sons a few times with a friend, but they didn’t really catch anything. He asked me “What is your trick to finding fish?”. That is a difficult question to answer, as there is no easy explanation. Just like most things in life, you can get lucky a few times but to catch fish consistently depends entirely on an angler’s ability to read the conditions, make decisions based on them and put in the work to get the results. The casual angler is often under the impression that you can return to the same spots multiple times and there will be fish. This can be true as we all know how “sacred” fishing sports can be to a fisherman. However, it is not realistic that it will remain consistent in one area for long periods of time. Fish move in and out of areas and feed based on numerous variables relating to weather, tides and barometric pressure. We know all of these elements are intertwined and should be considered when determining prime locations and feeding times. The more time spent on the water, the better suited you are to analyze the conditions and determine if your favorite fishing hole will actually contain fish that day.
active. Changes in air pressure can be good as it can cause fish to become more active, therefore increasing the bite. Fish have been known to feed heavily before a pressure drop (before a cold front) but stabilized pressure can also make fish more comfortable to feed.
Without getting too scientific, your best bet for a causal weekend of fishing is to do a little research on the weather. If the water temperature is colder, fish will be deeper and more lethargic. If the water is warmer, it has the adverse effect so look shallower and for fish to be more
If you are looking for quality, personal best fish, my advice would be to take up wade fishing. When it comes to my proclivity to wading over drifting it hasn’t always been this way. Drift fishing from a boat can yield great results without a doubt. For me, personally though, I feel
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Lastly, tides affect water levels so if the tides are low, your normal fishing area might be shallower than normal meaning it will hold less bait, or food, for fish. Tide movement is a good thing in that bait is constantly moving through an area drawing in feeding fish. If you are still not confident in your fish-finding capabilities, book a guide. I know a pretty good one!
