To end up with actual fish at the end of the day, you’d have to practice some basic knowledge for freshwater fishing. It’s somewhat different than all other waters, so hopefully, you’ll find these tips useful!
Things You Should Know
Freshwater contains less than 0.05% salinity such as streams, lakes, ponds, and rivers. These waters can be naturally occurring or human-made. Only a 3% of all water on Earth is freshwater.
What’s special about this kind of fishing is the fish itself, since it’s completely different than fish you can find in saltwater. Still, some seafood like Salmon can transition from salt to freshwater.
To make things more fun, you can fish from a kayak or a small boat. This will allow you to reach deeper depths vs. you fishing on shore.
Freshwater Tips & Tricks
Using maps
By using a map when you go out fishing in freshwater, you dramatically increase your chances of success. When fishing in a pond or a lake, get a topographical map for that area.
This helps you know where the different depths of water are. As you know, you can find various fish at different depths, so having a map can greatly help. Plus, you can even find some sunken human-made fish cribs.
Utilize Slip Bobbers
This is a common and easy thing to use when fishing in lakes, ponds, or any other freshwater. A slip bobber is actually a simple bobber with a hole through it. The hollow hole allows you to tie a knot above the bobber.
The knot you tie allows you to choose where on your line you want the bobber to stop. This whole setup allows you to set any depth you want without jeopardizing casting quality. Most freshwater fishers use slip bobbers, which tells you about the efficiency of the setup.
The Best Types of Baits
There are different baits such as live bait, and artificial bait. Which one you want to use depends mainly on the kind of fish you’re trying to catch because not all fish will pick up on just any bait.
The best type to use in freshwater are minnows, worms, soft shell or crayfish, and wax worms. Other types of live bait are frogs, leeches, and a few others. What you can do is make your bait with bread, water, corn flour, etc.
Artificial baits are mostly little fake fish that looks very realistic and tricks your pray into thinking that’s food.
Keep Your Hands Clean
This may sound odd, but it can help you a great deal. The thing is that fish have a good sense of smell. If you don’t wash your hands when fishing in freshwater, fish will sense different scent on the bait. In any case, this will turn them off, and they won’t bite your lures or baits.
Temperature Is Vital
Most fish that lives in freshwater have a certain water temperature that they prefer. So, what you should do is choose a certain fish and research all info on it. Figure out the water depth and best time and temperature it likes. This will help you know when exactly the best time is to go fishing for that fish in particular.
Final Thoughts
Freshwater fishing isn’t that hard, and you don’t need to be a pro to do it. Simply master a few tips and tricks (such as the ones mentioned above), and that should be a solid start for you to get going.
The thing is that most people don’t know about these tricks, which is why you won’t often hear about them. However, more experienced fishermen will always tell you to wash your hands when making a fish bait. Getting a map is also one of the best ideas.
Try some of these techniques the next time you go fishing to the nearby lake or pond, and you’ll see how much more successful you’ll be!
