Ice fishing is perhaps the most dangerous type of fishing. It contains many risks for the fisherman due to the weather conditions. If you are heading for this eskimo sport anyway, you’d better read carefully through the following tips.

First of all, ice fishing is extremely dependent on weather. This means that before going on the open ice, you need to have supplied yourself with many useful cold-protecting materials. Of highest importance is to have a properly constructed ice shack. The shack can become your only rescue place from the cold outside: ice fishing leads to health problems such as hypothermia if you don’t have a warm and cosy shack.

The second thing you need to have in mind before going ice fishing is to carefully check the weather conditions. Walking on thin ice is a beautiful metaphor that can easily become a brutal reality if you don’t consult with the weather prognosis. Bear in mind the condition of the ice. Be careful where you put your ice shack, and double check the ice surface before going too far. Ice fishing is dangerous because sometimes winter conditions change too fast. You have to be aware that a winter blizzard would be a lethal possibility.

Your shack is not a perfect rescue from all weather conditions, a blizzard may cut your way and you may get stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dreadful cold. When ice fishing, you need to pay special attention to the stove or the other heating device within the shack. Make sure you have enough wood. Take even more than enough to reduce the risk of freezing to death in an unpredicted blizzard. The other rule for stoves when ice fishing is to make sure the heat doesn’t thaw the ice underneath. Put your stove on a proper place where no dangers of heating the ice surface exist. Don’t stay too long in the open when ice fishing: you have to go into the shack periodically and check if everything is under control. The health risks that ice fishing puts fishermen into, can also be reduced by regularly warming yourself.

If still not dissuaded by these strict safety regulations, you may try ice fishing and discover how enjoyable it can be. It is really fun and exhilarating as long as you have in mind and prevent the things which may go wrong.

Article by Robbie Darmona - an article author who writes on a wide variety of subjects.
For more information click Ice Fishing

Tags: Fishing, Baits, Fishing Baits, Fishing Lures, Fishing trips

Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in Bass fishing and this has led to many new business sprouting up to ride along with the wave of excitement. Hooking, pardon the pun, new Bass anglers is easy. All you have to do is to invite them for a Bass fishing trip and before you know it, they are now passionate about the sport. Businesses seek out hot interests like a heat seeking missle and we see resorts, sports gears and fishing related things being built - all with the aim to capture this hot market. As a Bass angler, clearly we have benefited from all these interests.

Right now, more and more are getting their feet wet to learn and find out what the big bass buzz is all about. For the uninitiated, Bass fishing is more than just fishing. Having a prized big bass in your hands and the opportunity to show it off is a feeling that is hard to describe. Only those who have done it will know the feeling and once you have done it once, you want to do it over and over again. But after the first bass fishing expedition, for the beginner, there is still lots more to learn.

First, you have to know the lures that you must have to enjoy bass fishing.

What the top 3 lures for catching Bass? No real surveys have been conducted but it is generally agreed by pro bass fishermen that plastic worms makes the best lures, followed by the spinner bait and then the crank bait.

After considering the lures, there are still other factors to consider, chief of which is how you intend to cover the waters

in your fishing. Do you want to cover a smaller segment of water thoroughly or do you want to skim across a larger area as quickly as possible to find fishg. Worm baits are very effective and Bass are absolutely seduced by it. However, worm baits tend to be slower and are best in certain areas which will come with experience.

One main problem with learners fishing with a worm is that they do not realise that the worm does not have the ability to sense strikes. And the main reason for the inability to sense them is due to the fisherman using a sinker that is too heavy and a line that is too thick.

To overcome this predicament, a variable buoyancy worm using lead strip sinkers can be adopted. The advantages are:

• No moving lead on the line to dampen the feel of a gentle pickup

• Precise amount of lead can be applied to deliver the worm action needed

• Bass finds it easier to inhale the worm

• It helps in hook setting

• In snags, you can quickly shake yourself loose

• Worms can be hung virtually suspended over the bottom when fishing in shallow water.

To tell how much lead strip is needed, wrap one strip around the hook and bury the barb in the worm. Ease it into the water

and watch it sink, it should barely settle toward the bottom. If it sinks to fast, take some off, etc. Make sure to use no heavier than 8-pound mono line - preferably 6 pound.

How much lead strip do you need? Well, one tested way is to wrap one strip around the hook and bury the barb in the worm.

Now, gently ease it into the water and watch it sink. It should barely settle toward the bottom. If it sinks too fast, start

again by taking some off, etc. Use a mono line that is no heavier than 8-pounds - preferably 6 pound.

Spinner baits, by virture of its construction, can move more quickly across the surface. It can be bounced on the bottom,

against tree limbs and moved in many different ways in order to stimulate strikes. It is a great probing lure for the shoreline because of its tangle-free construction.

Lastly, Crank baits are great if you want to check out a spot without wasting too much time. They cover a lot of water in a hurrry and you can use them for locating fish that may be scattered.

The most important rule is this - make it easy for the Bass to get to the lure - no matter where you are fishing in. Drop that lure right in front of them! Scientists have proven that Bass can calculate the amount of energy it will take them to go after the prey and if they decide its too much effort, they won’t bother.

The bottom line is this - discover and learn to use each type of lures and find what suits you. Once you find the right one for you, you will really find enjoyment in bass fishing!

Aside from considering the lures, the other important factor is to know the accurate time in going for bass fishing.

The Biggest Bass are definitely caught at dawn or dusk. Remember - bass love to prey at ambush spots, which seems to offer lots of cover for the baitfish. They like to hide, and then pounce on their prey.

These bait fish are most active in the dusk or dawn. When they feeding, the bait fish’s guard is down and less aware of threats, So that is when the bass strikes. Fish during these times for the best chances of success.

When retrieving an underwater lure in poor light conditions, pull in the lure at a steady pace once it is set in motion. This makes it easier for bass to locate and grab it.

Although I mentioned that dawn or dusk is the best time to fish for bass, there is one exception. Don’t bother trying when the water is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature causes certain aquatics species to disappear, which in turn, nullifies the food chain feeding.

Just by keeping these 2 factors in mind for bass fishing - lures and the time to fish - you are on your start to winning the
game of bass fishing. Once mastered, you can then consider other factors like water quality and weather conditions. Happy Bass fishing!

Gordon Lee has met the ultimate Bass Fisherman - Steve Masters, who has showed him how to be a top Bass Fisherman at Bass Fishing 101 At the same time, Gordon operates the Bass Fishing 101 Portal.

Tags: Fishing, Baits, Fishing Baits, Fishing Lures, Fishing trips

Fly Fishing is such a traditional sport many refer to as an art form, and compared to other modes of fishing, incorporates so much to learn in terms of casting technique, and more particularly the study of the trout’s diet, and their imitations, that it can distract anglers from focussing sufficiently on their quarry’s habits and behaviour. If you want to catch more Trout, and particularly larger Trout, you need to know more about the Trout than you do about casting and their diet.

The deeper I looked, the more things just didn’t make sense. I reared both Brown and Rainbow Trout in my lounge room aquarium and studied them closely. From atop steep banks of clear pools on the stream, I experimented and studied them.

There was finally but one conclusion I could make. We, as fly fishermen, to a large degree, have been kidding ourselves for a very long time. Looking realistically at many of the trout flies, it seemed that the trout must either be half blind, or quite stupid, to accept many of them as the insects being imitated. Either way, it detracted from the achievement of having deceived them.

The more I critically analyzed the whole routine of fly fishing, the more assumptions I recognised as having been made to compensate for our lack of understanding. At best, some of the assumptions may have been correct to some degree, but could never be proven or confirmed. At worst, some were just blatantly wrong.

These assumptions have been cycled for so long they have just been accepted as fact. The Trout have been considered ‘Unpredictable’ because their behaviour or actions didn’t always fit what we would have expected when fly fishing. No-one, it seems, had ever thought about the possibility of their actions not matching our expectations because our beliefs could be flawed.

I started evaluating alternative possibilities. Gradually I put the puzzle together. Eventually, those long standing questions had answers. The trout behaviour then became extremely predictable. I started taking advantage of these findings. Having realized I didn’t need to imitate anything to induce takes, I was able to construct flies which could do specific jobs for me rather than imitating anything.

With each of the situations I encountered on the water mastered, the results just automatically followed. I had seemingly mastered the sport of fly fishing.

Wayne Smith
Author of the acclaimed ‘Fly Fishing For Trout - A Quiet Revolution’ which can be found here:
Fly Fishing
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Fly Fishing

Tags: Fishing, Baits, Fishing Baits, Fishing Lures, Fishing trips