Poor Man’s Inshore Saltwater Fish Finders
Established anglers and newcomers alike all have seen the expensively outfitted huge boats that are competing for inshore saltwater fishing. These boats are almost always outfitted with the latest gadgets including depth finders, GPS units, electronic fish finders and nearly any other piece of equipment geared towards providing an edge while angling. However, you need not worry about this, you may be electronically challenged or simply not willing to invest that kind of money in your hobby. There are other alternatives to these high-tech options that anyone can take advantage of. You simply need to adapt to what you have available to you and make the most of it. Here are some tips for inshore saltwater fish-finding for the less than affluent fisher.
Using online resources
Take a little bit of your time and check online for your favorite fishing areas. Chances are that you will find a website or blog that contains information that has been shared by other anglers. These sites can be treasure troves of information that you might not get anywhere else, and a lot of it may be from inshore anglers. If you do find information that is helpful make sure you take a few minutes after you return from fishing to drop by and share your experiences. Remember, someone else may be visiting the site who is in the same predicament you were.
Local Tackle Shops
Your local area is no doubt a wealth of great information about fishing holes that anglers have found worth spending time at. Simply make a trip to your local bait and tackle shop, and you can pick up all types of tips. Just remember that information sharing is a two way street, and you’ll get a far better reception if you are a “buyer” rather than an information seeker. If you indicate that you’re a beginner and in need of help and guidance you’ll more than likely get some help, especially from more established anglers.
Local Fishing Clubs
Another great source of information is a local fishing club. These clubs provide a social atmosphere for local anglers to gather, relax and share their tales of success. While these clubs do often require a membership, you’ll be contributing to the education of others in the area who are interested in angling. Remember, these are typically like-minded individuals so you won’t be wasting your membership fees.
Charter Cruises
Although some people may consider it a waste of funds, if you hire a fishing captain to take you on a chartered fishing cruise, you might be surprised at how much information you can garner from one of these trips. Remember, these charters make their money by taking anglers to the most populated areas for fishing. If you listen while you’re on board, you can glean great information from not only the captain, but other anglers. This is all information that you can use later when fishing on your own.
Check out the Wildlife
Stop and think about the last time you were at your favorite fishing hole. Chances are that if you were being successful you had company. Flying around above you may have been eagles, osprey, sea gulls and even cormorants. Remember, these fish are looking for bait fish and their presence indicates that this might be a ripe fishing area.
These ocean birds are far quicker at identifying a school of baitfish than the humans that are searching for them. You can tell by the noise they are making as well as their flying patters exactly where the baitfish are located. Stripers and blues tend towards top-feeding meaning that the presence of these baitfish are a good sign that their predators are in the area.
Area Anglers
As you stroll along the beach, keep an eye out for jetties, docks and areas of beach for tell tale signs of blood and scales. If find these signs, it’s a pretty good guess that someone has been successful fishing in that area. Another sure fire sign is a group of anglers with bent rods and shouting out words of encouragement to their fellow anglers.
Sure, you can invest thousands of dollars on a boat and all the electronic gadgets you need, or, you can use a bit of creativity and find the cheapest methods for i dentifying inshore saltwater fish.
When you are preparing to undergo a saltwater fishing experience, it is important that you have the proper fishing gear. Some of the most popular gear include Shimino Reels, Okuma Reels and Van Staal Reel.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 6:43 am and is filed under Fishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.