Other Fishing Tackle Tips

Tip: Monofilament can be damaged by excess exposure to direct sunlight. Keep your equipment in a dry, shaded area. Fishing on a hot summer day is fine. Keeping your rods in a hot car trunk, or exposed to direct sunlight in the back seat, is not recommended.

Tip: Always use a well balanced outfit. This means the rod, reel, line and lure should be made for each other. Do not load a light outfit with a heavy line. Conversely, do not throw a huge lure with a light outfit.

Tip: More rods are broken in car doors, house doors or through poor storage. Do not let rod tips bang all over your boat.

Tip: Always rinse rods with freshwater. Periodically remove reels and lubricate reel seats with CRC-6-56.

Tip: Remember, proper maintenance, balance, storage and handling are imperative in taking care of the equipment that takes care of you.

Tip: Store all bulk line in a cool, dark place. Direct sunlight will damage monofilament over a period of time.

Care Of Fishing Line

Always check the line for nicks or frazzles or areas of abrasion that will cause a weakness. After every fishing trip, or after playing out a nice fish, cut off approximately ten feet of line and retie, if you have reason to believe it may have been frayed. This is very important.

When fighting a decent fish, in fresh or saltwater, three things can happen:
(1) the fish goes deep, pulling the line across rocks, logs or other hard objects,
(2) the fish is big and the line will rub across its body or tail, and
(3) other things, such as the boat, a jetty, surface objects or dock, or even other fish inthe area, may bump into your line.

All three factors will cause abrasion, eventually prompting the line to break. The easiest solution is to cut off the weak line and retie.

Quality monofilament that has not come in contact with the above items does not need to be totally replaced. (We have had saltwater charter boat captains catch over 20 Blue Marlin without respooling new Ande monofilament.) So, if you check your reel's drag system, your rod guides and cut away line that may be damaged, we guarantee you will catch more fish. Take the time...it is worth it.

Umpan Tiruan #2

Waking or Bulging: Cara ini adalah membaling umpan ke arah yang dikehendaki dan mengaraunya dengan pantas supaya spinner berada di permukaan air sekali gus akan mewujudkan riak air (wave).

Jigging-It: cara ini satu lagi cara berkesan menggunakan spinner bait. Kaedah ini adalah membaling ke arah yang diperlukan seperti kawasan air berumput rampai dengan membiarkan ia tenggelam dan mengangkat hujung joran naik turun di antara dua dan tiga kali.

Terdapat banyak lagi kaedah menggunakan spinner bait. Saya rasa cara di atas paling sesuai. Apa yang penting adalah kita perlu berlatih menggunakan kaedah ini dan yakin semua ikan pemangsa akan memakan umpan ini. Saya pernah mendapat toman, haruan, sebarau, baung, pacu malah ketutu menggunakan kaedah ini.

Crank bait pula ialah umpan tiruan yang terbaik digunakan memancing ikan yang aktif. Ia diperbuat daripada plastik keras, logam dan kayu. Cara penggunaannya dengan menentukan pergerakannya beraksi tidak tentu arah (action appear erratic) untuk menarik perhatian ikan pemangsa. Di sini saya kemukakan beberapa tip cara, warna di mana dan bila perlu digunakan.

Logam (metal): Penggunaan di kawasan air jernih antara 1.5 hingga 3 meter. Amat sesuai untuk menunda dan membaling. Warna emas, merah dan krom sesuai digunakan.

Shallow diver: Penggunaan di kawasan air yang gelap atau keruh antara 30 hingga 90 cm. Amat sesuai pada kawasan dasar berpasir dan selut. Warna yang sesuai merah, putih dan kuning kemerahan.

Medium diver:, Penggunaan di kawasan air yang gelap atau keruh antara 1.2 hingga 1.8 meter. Amat sesuai di kawasan dasar berpasir dan selut. Warna yang sesuai merah, putih dan kuning kemerahan.

Deep diver: Penggunaan di kawasan air yang jernih atau keruh antara 1.8 hingga 4 meter. Amat sesuai di kawasan dasar berpasir atau selut, berbatu dan kayu. Warna sesuai merah, emas, putih, perak, logam dan kuning kemerahan.

Umpan Tiruan #1

Spinner bait adalah umpan tiruan dengan satu atau lebih bilah (blade) yang berputar apabila umpan itu dikarau. Terdapat juga reka bentuk berjurai dipanggil janggut atau replika ikan yang bermata kail. Tujuan spinner bait menarik perhatian ikan dengan kilauan pergerakan bilah dan pergerakan umpan tiruan. Bagi saya, spinner bait adalah umpan terbaik memancing ikan air tawar. Terdapat beberapa cara menggunakan umpan itu:

Chunk-N-Wind: Baling dan karau ini dipraktikkan kebanyakan pemancing dengan melontar (cast) dan dikarau pada tahap sederhana. Umpan ditentukan berada di bawah permukaan air – antara 5 cm hingga 1 meter dalam. Cara ini dilakukan sekiranya kita perlu mencari ikan di kawasan yang luas dan ia amat berkesan.

Slow-rolling: Digunakan apabila memancing di kawasan air yang dalam antara 1.8 meter hingga 4 meter atau lebih dalam. Bagi kaedah ini, kita perlu biarkan balingan spinner bait tenggelam ke dasar dan mengaraunya perlahan lahan bagi memastikan spinner itu bergerak setiap masa.

Skirt Teaser Lure

The basic designs incorporate weighted heads, imitating a bait fish, coupled with various skirt materials and configurations. Generally these lures are from 4 inches to over 13 inches in length.

Some incorporate jig heads with chambers filled with small BB’s. As the lure is trolled the jig head rotates and produces sounds from the BB’s inside the jig head chambers.

Skirt materials are plastics, polymers, or feathers in bright colors.

Some boat skirt lures are used in conjunction with a jet. A jet is an airplane looking device which serves as a trolling depth control. This technique is used frequently in Alaska on King Salmon.

Skirt teasers are trolled at speeds varying from 5 knots up to 16 knots and higher. These lures are designed to produce turbulence in the water and leave large bubble trails for the purpose of attracting game fish.

Common species caught with these lures include Spanish Mackerel, Dolphin, Tuna, Ling, Sail Fish, Tarpon, and King

Soft Plastic Fishing Lure

Soft plastic lures come in the form of shad bait fish, shrimp, crabs, frogs, worms, minnows, small fish, mullet, lizards, and grubs.

Some soft plastic fishing lures glow in the dark. When a flashlight is held next to the glo bait, the bait absorbs the light energy and glows for several minutes.

Fishing off the Copano Bay Bridge outside of Rockport, Texas at night can produce as many or more strikes as live bait on speckled trout when using glowing plastic grubs. There is nothing more thrilling throwing a plastic worm next to a tree trunk on the shaded side and feel the tap tap bite of a nice size bass.

Fishing soft plastic lures are fun because they can be fished as slow sinking, along the bottom, or retrieved at various speeds, plus they catch fish of almost every species.

Fishing Jig

Fishing jigs are more flexible baits than many people realize. The reason for this flexibility is the variety of sizes, shapes, and designs available today.

Fishing jigs can be spoons which are jigged vertically when game fish are suspending in deep water. Spoons can also be cast and trolled as well as slow fished along the bottom.

Other jigs are made with deer hair skirts and plastic skirts. The skirts are attached to lead or tungsten jig heads in a wide variety of sizes and weights.

Jigs are effective in catching all types of game fish in both fresh and salt water.

Jig heads are sold independently of attached skirts so the angler can attach the bait of choice such as plastic skirts, grubs, or artificial bait fish shapes.

Some jig heads come with built in coiled wires at the base of the jig head which allows a plastic bait to be screwed onto the jig head.