I have read and heard so much rubbish over the last decade that I feel the need to strip this amazing sport back to the absolute basics to be able to give any advice at all. I am not an expert by any means. I don’t fish everyday and I certainly wouldn’t bet on myself in any competitions. But I can and do catch fish almost every time I go, and I am absolutely certain the advice in this article will increase your chances of catching fish if you are not already following it. If you are already catching plenty of fish on a regular basis, first of all well done! And then please move on as this post likely isn’t aimed at you. But please also share your secrets and advice in the comments!
I’m gonna sum this up with 3 very basic rules and then develop each rule with something a little more in depth to think about.
Remembering these rules will get you on your way to catching more fish if you are struggling to get started.
Rule number 1 – You can catch 100% more when you are fishing than when you are not!
My son spends over half of every session with his line out of the water whilst he mucks around, talks, and generally questions me on why I am catching more fish than him. There are more factors involved but the vast majority of my success over his is that I try to keep a lure in the water for as much of the session as possible. Whilst you have a lure or bait in the water, you have a chance, while you’re sat on your couch at home, whilst you setup, whilst you eat, drink, sleep, rest, sit talking to people and generally do anything that prevents your hook getting down to where the fish live you will not be catching fish. It is that simple!
So maximise your time fishing by keeping your line wet whenever you can. If you have an hour spare, go and fish, and whilst your there, actually do as much fishing as you can!
Rule number 2 – Looks are everything! But forget Gucci!
Forget £100 sunglasses, fancy Japanese reels and rods that weigh less than a couple of split shot. This is all to make your fishing more comfortable or to give you a small percentage swing. We are talking 1 or 2 percent at most. But putting something in front of your target fish that appears to be a tasty meal is a deal breaker and can swing your odds of landing a fish from between 50 to 90%. There is a reason Mcdonalds has those big pictures on the boards! And why cars are made shiny, it’s because we want what we see and like the look of. And the same works for fish. Your presentation is immensely important and in my opinion, it’s second most important after having a lure or bait in the water in the first place….What you present to the fish is the second biggest advantage you can give yourself. If a lure doesn’t swim right or a baited rig is sat with the bait buried in the weeds and the hook point nowhere to be seen you are seriously reducing your chances. If not completely putting the fish off.
If your bait moves, let it! If you have paddle tails, get them moving and if you can see obvious signs of what the fish are eating then imitate the prey! Experiment with what looks good. If you fish with lures then make sure you practice in clear shallow water or in a bucket or bathtub so you know how your lures move and how they appear underwater.If you are using a piece of bait make sure your rig presents itself the fish in the best possible position with the hook in prime position to allow the fish to bite and you to set the hook.
Rule number 3 – Variety is the spice of life
There will be times when proven methods don’t work, when a venue you never blank at has a stinker and when a certain bait or lure you have come to rely on lets you down. You do have to chose to have absolute confidence in what you are doing sometimes and stick to your guns for at least a while but don’t be afraid in these situations to make a change, or 2 or 3 once you realise that it just ain’t happening.
Fish can and do often become obsessed with one source of food and will move to find it and ignore everything else. Moving location and changing through lures and baits until you find some fish and what they are after is my 3rd and final tip. I will sometimes clip on a lure and stand still for up to an hour and not catch anything and then the second I switch lure of take 5 steps to my left or right, bang, fish on. It’s remarkable. You don’t have to make a change every cast. Give things a chance to develop, but if you start to lose confidence or 20 to 30 minutes are showing with very little signs of success, make the change!
So go find some fish and make your fishing time count!
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If you want to find out more about catching UK fish on lures, I strongly recommend you try this great book here which provides info on everything you might want to know about lure fishing in the UK and how to catch a huge variety of species.
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