Simple Fishing

One of the most confusing, frustrating, and overwhelming things about getting into fishing is just the amount of information and opinions out there. If you are just starting out and don't have someone to show you the ropes, you quickly find that you are bombarded by articles, videos, and posts telling you what lures to use in what seasons, when things are happening (i.e. bass spawns), what rigs work best, etc.

I went through all of this. I would spend my weekdays reading up on what rigs or lures to use, buy them or set them up on my rods, and when the weekend hit I would go out and find myself getting frustrated because some guy online said that this is what works.

One of my methodologies in everything that I do is if something is too tedious or too much of a pain to do one way, there has to be an easier, better way to do it. With fishing, it's supposed to be both fun and relaxing. Nobody wants to spend two to three hours on a beautiful day sitting in nature cursing because they are still figuring out how to tie an FG knot, or because they have all the colors of the rainbow for their crankbaits but they keep cutting and tying new ones on their line and the fish aren't biting.

I like to keep things as simple as possible so I don't get frustrated or overwhelmed and I ensure that I'm going to have a fun time while also catching some fish. I am in no way a pro, so of course take all of this with a grain of salt.

Rods, Reels, and Line

Some of the most common things I see or hear when looking up fishing tips is what rod, reel, and line people are using to catch fish. Some of these guys say you have to use a certain length rod with a certain strength to do X Y and Z. Another example that really hit home for me is that you absolutely must use braid with a fluorocarbon leader for a dropshot rig. You get the picture.  None of this is true. Just like the saying, "the best time to go fishing is when you have time to go fishing," I like to say that "the best rigs are the ones you find easiest to use."

Rods

When I'm choosing what rod I'm going to buy or take with me on a trip, I take two things into consideration - where am I going and what am I fishing for?

If I'm going on a boat trip with my dad to go bass fishing on a local lake, I'm bringing a medium-heavy, a medium, and medium-light. I do this because I know this will cover most situations and lures that I'm going to be using.

If I'm going somewhere with my daughter to do some panfish fishing, I'll bring one rod, maybe two, depending on if I want to just do live bait or if I want to do live bait and some artificial lures on a split shot rig.

In my mind, it's good to have a medium-heavy for those bigger fish and bigger lures, a good general purpose medium rod, and an ultralight for the little guys that are fun to catch. Keep it simple, don't bring too much stuff with you when you go out, and plan for what you want to catch. All my rods are 7-foot or shorter, and I've had plenty of success with all of them.

Reels

Another thing I like to keep simple is my reels. Some people have several reels and swap out which reel is on which rod and whatnot. That's too much to think about for me. I know that my medium-heavy is going to bring in big fish with big lures, so I have arguably a huge reel on there - a 5000. This was because I was bringing this to my first fishing trip at Lake George and wanted to make sure I could handle big 30lb braid line and could pull in a big fish if I needed to.

Otherwise, I just tend to match the reel to what I expect to try to catch on a specific rod. If I want to have a general purpose rod, I'll put a 2000 or 3000 reel on it. If the rod is an ultralight for smaller fish, I'll look at a 1000 or 500.

I'm also talking spinning reels here. I've tried baitcasters and personally I don't love them. I can understand that they cast farther and that they may be more accurate and all that, but personally I just don't find them to be comfortable. I feel like I'm constantly fighting the reel as far as birds nesting or just balancing it, where I can more so relax with a spinning reel in my hands.

Line - Mono, Braid, and Fluoro 

Just like every beginner probably did, I started off with 8lb mono. I have absolutely no complaints about mono. I know that it's the stretchiest of all the types of fishing line, but honestly I haven't had long enough experience to really see a difference between using that or anything else. The majority of my reels are spooled with mono, except one that has 20lb braid on it.

I was hesitant for quite a while to start using braid because there are so many colors, and supposedly you need to match the color to the body of water you're fishing and blah blah blah. That's way too much to think about. When I got my first spool, i decided to go with a dark green, low-vis braid. And you know what? I love it, and it works great.

Where the simplicity really comes into play is the rigs. One of my favorite rigs is a drop shot, and all the articles and videos tell you to tie a fluorocarbon leader on to your braid for a successful drop shot. This is total bologna. Almost all the fish I caught in Lake George were on a drop shot rig, and I had it on 100% braid. I even caught my PB on a wacky rig with braided line.

Hooks

There isn't much for me to say about hooks, except that I now the various sizes and shapes of hooks can be very confusing for new anglers. What I focus on using are two kinds of hooks - circle and EWG worm hooks.

Circle hooks are very effective, easy to use since they set on their own, and relatively safe for fish if you practice catch and release. Octopus hooks fall into this category as well. Typically when I'm fishing for bass on a wacky rig or a drop shot rig, I'll go for a 1/0 or 2/0 circle hook. If I'm going for smaller fish, I've used #2 circle hooks as well as #6 if the fish are biting but not taking the hook in their mouths.

The other hooks I use are EWG worm hooks, or "extra wide gap." These are your typical Texas rig hooks, and are also just effective weedless hooks when using soft plastics. Size is dependent on what you are trying to fish for, but in general I use somewhere between a 1/0 and 3/0 hook.

It takes some experimenting, but it's not hard to figure out if your hook is too big or too small. If you're using a large hook and the fish are taking your bait without biting the hook, go smaller. If you're using a small hook and the fish are taking your bait and running with it, but the hook is sliding out of their mouth seemingly, try going bigger.

Lures

There are so many, thousands in fact, of different types, colors, and sizes of lures that anyone could choose from before even getting their lines wet. How does anyone know what to use?

You always want to mimic what the fish like to eat. Part of knowing what they want to eat is learning the body of water and trying out different things to find what works. Most likely, if you catch a fish on a certain type of lure in a body of water, that lure will work if fished in the same place during the same season. You also want to make sure that you aren't moving your lure or bait in an unnatural way. Don't yank a spoon through the water at a rate of speed that would out-swim a pike.

Colors

There are a few things I try to think about when I'm choosing a lure - weather, water clarity, and the species I'm fishing for. For example, if I'm fishing for bass in clear water on a sunny day, I will go with a more natural-colored lure. Most likely this is a green pumpkin Senko wacky rigged if I'm fishing shallow, or nose-hooked on a drop shot if I'm fishing deep.

The general rules I like to follow are these:

• Murky water? Use bright colors.
• Clear water? Use natural colors.
• Sunny weather? Use natural colors or flashy lures.
• Cloudy weather? Use bright colors or noisy lures.

Sometimes the fish bite the bright colors more on sunny days in clear water, so it's always just time and experience that will teach you what is best to use on a body of water.

Confidence Lures and Baits

The best lures to use in any situation are lures that you are confident in. I'm definitely guilty of having way more lures and baits that haven't caught fish than ones that have. I have my confidence baits and lures that I know I can be successful with, and I have a wide selection of lures and baits that I'll tie on when I want to test a body of water that I've had luck in before, just to see what else can work and how they work.

It's always good to try something new, but there's no shame in falling back to what works for you. If what works for you is live bait on a fixed bobber rig, there's no shame in that. Keep catching fish with lures you know how to use, and keep practicing with different lures to learn different tricks.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is keep it simple. Have fun with fishing, don't overthink it. If something's not working, slow down, take a breath, and try a few more times if you want, or change it up and go with a confidence lure or bait that you're used to. Worst case is that you don't catch any fish, but you still got to go outdoors and get some fresh air. A bad day of catching fish is still a good day of fishing.

Keep doing you.