Trying To Improve At Fishing. Please Help!

Awesome, how are you finding the switch to braid so far? We'll get out for sure over the winter some time. Im headed out tomorrow to wash a few lures, dont usually fish this time of year because it can be pretty dead, but my friend really wanted to go!
 
Longer than years past. 36 inches min. I used to run them shorter. Also trolled them at 2.7 mph on the GPS. No big secrts, others figured this out long before I did..lol
 
Dogbreath said:
Pay attention to the colour of the water/match your lures and be aware that as ambient light changes lures will appear differently underwater.

key word-ultraviolet
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Thanks DB
Could you please elaborate a little? Dark water, brighter lures? Clear water, smaller lures and longer leaders? I’ve never been confident using”dark” lures, I always use glow/uv/ and pops of colour. Or flashy gold/Chrome. Maybe I need to venture a little more!
Cheers
 
Having an idea of the speed you want to troll is great, but current can also play a big factor in some areas. If the current is slack then the speed you troll at is equal to the speed of your gear under water, but once the current starts to move you should factor that in. Your gear will spin faster as you troll into the current and slower as you troll with it. A lot of guys judge by the angle of the dangle, or just by feel, and others use basic math - I doubt anyone is using trigonometry or a vector equation to calculate their target trolling speed!

When Im fishing bait, my target trolling speed is anywhere between 1.8-2.5MPH (plus or minus current speed), and with gear anywhere from 2.0-3.0mph (again plus or minus current speed). I fish this way because I feel like I already have a ballpark idea of what angle Im looking for on my lines at a particular depth, and what speed I want to troll at, so I kind of cross-reference everything to get my gear working as closely as possible to how I *think* it should. Theres nothing wrong with trolling around at the same SOG all day, especially if its working for you, but just know that your gear isnt also spinning at the same speed all day.
 
For me, I have found that if I am confident in the gear and location I am fishing and still not catching I tend to live by two rules.

Rule #1 If I am not catching drop it down another 20 feet.

Rule #2 speed up. Then refer to rule #1
 
Jencourt said:
For me, I have found that if I am confident in the gear and location I am fishing and still not catching I tend to live by two rules.

Rule #1 If I am not catching drop it down another 20 feet.

Rule #2 speed up. Then refer to rule #1
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Hey, thanks Jencourt! Good call...I’ll try that!
Glad to see you stickin’around :)
 
Try and get out on the water and fish as much as possible. It’s hard to do sometimes with everything thing else in life going on. The more you’re out there the better the skills get. Working gear, seeing gear. You start to get spidey senses going and get a feel for what needs to be done. Become one with your boat grasshopper.
 
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TheHurtLocker said:
Try and get out on the water and fish as much as possible. It’s hard to do sometimes with everything thing else in life going on. The more you’re out there the better the skills get. Working gear, seeing gear. You start to get spidey senses going and get a feel for what needs to be done. Become one with you’re boat grasshopper.
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I tend to have pretty short sessions (2-4hours) and often I can’t choose the time of day. Sometimes Ill have a buddy in another boat fishing he same spot as me then I have to go, and it seems like after I leave they usually text me pics of their catch. I’m always happy for them, but of course I get a bit jealous. As @Original says “you have to stay to make it pay!”
I know I miss the hot bite times sometimes with my busy schedule, but I dgilp really love floating around and letting a few shakers go and netting the odd 10-12 pounder. I’m just aching for the stars to align and I hit a big one! Or even better... multiple big ones!!!
Or maybe one day I’ll be the guy who fluked into a 40# halibut while trolling bottom for salmon.

I think one day will eventually happen. Gotta keep trying!
Thanks for the good tips guys.
I do take them the heart and put them to practice. I remember somebody said when they pack up for the day they pop the pin and let the lines drift up while getting cannonballs in and tidy up. I now try that every time. I haven’t hit one yet, but when I do it’ll be epic.
 
i’ll echo what others have said above: know your tide ebb and flows ; and your currents. think of the ocean tides as a huge river that changes directions couple times a day so if you are a fish what do you do: you get lazy and you let the river wash the food into your gaping mouths. Now as fisherman present your bait of choice to their awaiting mouths. start up current and troll the bait to them. pay attention to trap zones where the salmon can easily ambush bait this is why Thrasher, The Hump (cr) where i’m from ; and all sorts of other formations up and down the coast consistently hold fish and produce.
 
RiverBoy said:
i’ll echo what others have said above: know your tide ebb and flows ; and your currents. think of the ocean tides as a huge river that changes directions couple times a day so if you are a fish what do you do: you get lazy and you let the river wash the food into your gaping mouths. Now as fisherman present your bait of choice to their awaiting mouths. start up current and troll the bait to them. pay attention to trap zones where the salmon can easily ambush bait this is why Thrasher, The Hump (cr) where i’m from ; and all sorts of other formations up and down the coast consistently hold fish and produce.
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On the structure note I've also found that going rogue and not following the pack can produce well also. If there's 200 boats at the hump and 200 at Bowen and you've only heard of a few fish taken then chances are the fish could be migrating between the two feeding spots. I bet I've caught more fish thinking about where they've been and where they're going and intercepting them. I'm talking winter and spring here of course. If you can't catch a fish in late August sell your boat.
 
BarryA said:
You should buy a copy of “The Science of Salmon Fishing.” Written by a former BC guide and chock full of technical information that will help you put all the pieces together (tides, bait, presentation, color choices, mental game, etc).

http://thescienceofsalmonfishing.com/

Great book.

-Barry
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Yup ordering one now, that's an interesting book every fisherman can benifit from.
 
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