How to Fish and Catch Fish

I mentioned in another section that you don't need to set the hook when using a circle hook. I have found that the circle hook sets itself perfectly as long as you allow it to. Circle hooks work great with spider weights. The legs of the spider weight dig into the sand and hold your bait pretty strong in place. When the fish pulls your bait and swims off, the tug that the spider weight imposes on the line digs the hook and sets it. What you do need to pay attention to is how you hook your bait onto the circle hook. The goal here is not to hide the hook. The circle hook needs to be exposed in order for it to work correctly. A single pass through the bait should be sufficient. I never put a circle hook through the bait twice. You will also need to be careful that the circle hook will not swing around and accidentally hook itself back into the bait. I have lost more than a few fish like this.

As you are getting your rods set up and casted out, don't forget to adjust your reel's drag. You are fishing in the ocean and you never know what you're going to catch so you need to be prepared to hook into a monster. I like to adjust my drag so that I can pull it out easily with my hand. When those big fish hit, if you are not close by, you want it to pull your line out. If you don't properly set your drag a large fish can (and will) pull your rod and rod holder into the water.

I have used all of the above. You won't always be watching your fishing rod when a fish bites. Conventional reels have built in clickers that will warn you when your line is being pulled out. I have used bells on the tips on my rods during the daytime to get my attention. The bells can typically be purchased in the Catfish section of most tackle shops. I eventually stopped using bells because they can tangle into your line when reeling in a fish and some of these bells just won't attach to the thick tip of surf rods. Glow sticks are must-have for me. I attach glow sticks to the tips of each of my fishing rods with zip ties. Sometimes I will hang a larger glow stick off the tip of my rod or on the fishing line itself. When placed on the line, you will quickly see your line go slack if a fish swims toward the beach. Rod alarms are a great option but on the expensive side. The rod alarms currently being sold in stores are probably not worth your money. People that I know that have used them say that they are junk and don't seem to work well. You best bet is find someone to make one for you or make on yourself. Handmade options are great because they are fully customizable with alarms, LED lighting and mounting brackets to suite. The alarms typically have a clamp that attaches to your fishing line and when the line is pulled the clamp (attached to a string) pulls a switch that sounds the alarm. Depending on the type of siren you use, these alarms can be heard quite a distance away and will wake you up if you're sleeping.

When that big fish finally does commit, hold on and keep the line tight at all times. On the original run, let the fish run! I never try to stop or turn a fish when it's running. It is best to let the fish run and you keep the line tight. When the fish begins to tire itself out, then start putting pressure on it. Sometimes the fish will swim in towards you instead of pulling your line, you will notice that your fishing line went slack (always keep your lines tight when the rods are in the rod holder). If you see that your line is slacked, grab your rod and start reeling until you feel tension again.

Every single day you go to the beach when you get off work and you still can't catch that big bull red that you're going after. To that I say, give it time and it will happen. Sometimes you can do everything right and still not catch anything. Some people will tell you "When the wind is blowing from the East, the fishing is horrible", or "Fishing is always bad under a full moon", or "The barometric pressure was too low". Does it really matter? All that matters is that the fish weren't biting. I recently spent a weekend on the beach and found that the only time I caught fish that weekend was between 10:00PM and 10:15PM. My rods would go absolutely crazy for those 15 minutes and the rest of the weekend my bait would sit out there untouched. As a general rule, the best fishing is near structure on a moving tide. (see the How To Find A Spot section)

This is the BEST way to become a proficient fisherman. By doing this, you will figure out what works best for you. You will begin to pay attention to the things that you are doing right and things that you are doing wrong. You can see for yourself if fishing when a full moon is above your head is good, bad or doesn't really matter. Spend some time on the sand and enjoy every minute of being out there because that's what it is about. Clear your mind and enjoy the time. Catching fish is just the icing on the cake.