canned tuna recipes: fishing tackle

Showing posts with label fishing tackle. Show all posts

Showing posts with label fishing tackle. Show all posts

Cheap Fishing Gear

If you are a mad keen fisherman (or woman), then you want the best fishing gear available. But, it can be quite pricey if you shop in the wrong stores. Thankfully, there are a few online stores that offer fishing gear at very reasonable prices. In this post, I will tell you just where to find cheap fishing gear. It is possible to save hundreds of dollars every year by finding cheap fishing gear stores online.

For Australians, try the Fishing Tackle Shop to get some of the cheapest fishing gear on the market. They have great deals on tackle, lures, rods, reels, sunglasses, wetsuits and so much more. If you know another fisherman who needs some gear, buy them a gift voucher.

For all the Americans out there, try Fishing Tackle Unlimited. They usually have the best prices of any online store. You can pick up some books, DVD's, shirts, tools, hooks, nets and lights. There is also the usual tackle, lures, rods and reels. You can pay with most major credit cards and have the cheap fishing gear delivered to your door!

If you are after really cheap fishing gear you can check out the new Discount Fishing Tackle Store, which has updated listings from all over the web to ensure you get a bargain.

How to catch marlin

Marlin are arguably the most iconic fish in sportfishing circles. Men have been known to shed a tear after an encounter with one and each fish caught is etched in an anglers memory forever.

There are four species of marlin that make up recreational catches; the blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin and white marlin. All of the marlin species fight extremely hard and the two bigger species (blue and black marlin) can grow well over 1000 lbs!

Marlin Fishing Techniques

Marlin are an aggressive fish that respond well to teasers and plastic skirted lures trolled across the surface of the water. Most anglers consider the action of the lures on the surface far more important than color. Trolling speed is about 7-10 knots and allows the marlin boats to cover a large area.

Marlin anglers also troll natural baits such as striped tuna, bonito and Spanish mackerel. Sometimes natural baits are used in conjunction with a skirted lure to enhance the trolling action.

Marlin are also caught on live baits; either slow trolled, at drift or at anchor. Live baiting usually takes place once the marlin are located with teasers or at an area that marlin are known to frequent such as a FAD.

Marlin Tackle

Marlin are big fish and require quality rods and reels and a lever drag reel is almost essential. Most marlin anglers use a minimum of 24 kg line and 200 lbs monofilament or fluorocarbon leader. Remember that marlin will make light work of any flaw in your tackle, line or knots.

How to catch sharks (shark fishing)

As I have previously posted, shark fishing is not really my thing. Where I live sharks are considered something of a pain when reef fishing, but I understand that sharks are a very popular targets in other parts of the country and indeed the world.

Catching sharks
The key to catching sharks can be found in one word chum (also called berley or ground bait) and lots of it. Sharks have relatively poor eyesight, but one of the best senses of smell of any animal. A large majority of a sharks brain is dedicated to smell and research suggests sharks can find food by smell alone from kilometers away. Some popular forms of chum for shark fishing is tuna chunks, small baitfish, tuna oil, chicken. Some people blend/mince all their fish frames up into old milk cartons and freeze the mixture to use. Best results are usually found when an angler creates a chum slick, which usually includes mixtures of fish oil and fish bits added to the slick in a consistent manner. Chum can directly be thrown into the water or added with the aid of a chum dispenser.

What you need
Sharks will make short work of low quality tackle and shark fishing requires top quality tackle. Most anglers use 50-80 pound mainline with a 200-300 pound leader usually made of wire to prevent bite-offs. A wind on leader is a very good idea! Hook size is usually between 10/0 - 12/0 and strong hooks are a necessity. When targeting smaller sharks you can get away with hooks down to about 3/0 in size. A fighting belt and harness is also a great idea when shark fishing.

Bait for sharks
Without wanting to make this sound too simple - Sharks eat fish. Any fresh fish flesh will do and tuna is one of the most popular.

Remember shark fishing can be dangerous. Always prepare well before tackling the biggest shark species. Always check local regulations when targeting sharks.

Environmentally Friendly Sinkers (enviroweights) - Tackle Review

The world is becoming more environmentally conscious than ever before. Therefore anglers should be keen to show that we are caring for our environment, instead of the littering, killing machines we are sometimes made out to be. One of the worst pollutants many anglers add into the waterway is lead. In humans lead poisoning is cumulative and effects reproductive health and can even cause cancer, but in the water lead is extremely unfriendly to the marine ecosystem. Fortunately we now have an alternative.

Enviroweights are fishing sinkers made from 100% biodegradable materials so that if they are lost they degrade safely into the marine environment. They are an Australian invention and are becoming quite popular in tackle shops all over the country. They are available in a variety of sinker shapes sizes and they are even making lead free jig heads.

Personally I am a little wary of new products, but these sinkers are a great product and design. They work just as well as regular sinkers and are very easy to use. One of the disadvantages is that they are made from lighter material than lead so you need a larger sized enviro sinker compared to regular sinkers, but this problem is easily overcome. If you are environmentally conscious check them out now!

Tackle shop addiction

Today was my once monthly tackle shop expedition and I am ashamed to say I visited 5 tackle shops and spent far too much money. Luckily my wife is a fairly keen angler and is supportive of my fishing habit (or should I say addiction). We trolled through the shops looking at all the latest and greatest bits and pieces. I found a rail mount snap lock rod holder which is Aussie made and designed. It locks the rod into place while still allowing for quick release when the fish takes the line.

I also found a great fishing chair, which should make it easier on my back when I am shore fishing. There really is nothing like a great fishing chair for a long day sitting by the waters edge.

Like always I spent heaps of time looking at the new range of lures including the new Berkley Gulp colors and sizes that I just had to have.

Do you have a tackle shop addiction? I would love to hear your stories - please leave a comment.

How to fish swimbaits

Fishing for bass, and other species, with swimbaits is becoming increasingly popular. Fishing with large swimbaits has become one of the most popular methods of catching very big aggressive bass especially during the spawning season.

Choosing a swimbait
Swimbaits vary greatly is sizes, colors and design. You can find tiny shad, crappie, and bluegill imitations to huge 12" trout swimbaits that will run very deep. Just like the fly fishing saying it is best to "match the hatch" and choose a swimbait that resembles what the bass are feeding on at the time. For really big bass during spawning try a large trout swimbait.

When to fish swimbaits?
Simbaits can be fish all throughout the year with some success, but they seem to be very popular between January and May in the pre and post spawn.

How to fish swimbaits?
Fish swimbaits around structure and when during spawning near spawning areas. Top areas include main lake and secondary points, along deep or inside grass lines, and along creek channels running through spawning flats.

When fishing around wood cover, run your lure into stumps and through laydowns, pausing momentarily after making contact with the cover. Most bass will hit either on the pause or once the bait starts up again. In grass, make sure you’re getting your bait deep enough to tick the top of the grass. When your lure starts to snag, give it a sharp snap. Many of your bites will come as the swimbait rips free. (thanks to lakeforkguidetrips.com for this info)

As with all forms of fishing experimentation is the key. Work likely areas until you discover a pattern and replicate your success.

Rigging a swimbait
This video shows the basic rigging method, but there are many variations. You local tackle shop should be able to show you all the variants of this method.

Tackle Test: Fins Braid Review (Product Review)

If you are a regular reader to my blog you will remember that I had my fishing rods stolen recently and this also meant that I had to replace all my fishing line. I must admit to being a braid addict - I love the stuff - but I have only ever used Berkley Fireline. Being a bit of a creature of habit isn't always a good thing so I decided to try a new braid this time around.

Fins Braid Review

Knots and line strength
My initial impressions of this line were that it was much more limp and smooth than fireline. This makes Fins braid is easy to tie and it knots very easily and smoothly. Like most braids the actual breaking strain is much higher than the manufacturers breaking strain, but even when this is taken into consideration the knot strength is very impressive. Knots are generally the weakest part of the braid, but because of the smoothness of Fins I didn't have any problems in this area.

On the water
The high vis yellow is very easy to see even on the brightest of days. In my initial tests the limpness of the line seems to reduce air knots slightly although it is still not recommended to use this line if others on the boat are using monofilament. The abrasion resistance was fairly low, but this seems to be a problem with every braid, my suggestion to overcome this problem is to use a slightly longer leader than usual. I was fishing over a rusty, coral infested wreck and only had one major snag and resulting bust off the entire day.

Fighting a fish
This is where this braid comes into its own. It is very smooth through the rod guides when a fish is taking line and even with the drag on tight it doesn't seem to cut into itself on the reel like many other braids.

Overall
This is one great braid, but for the price I expected it to be. The line smoothness makes knot tying a pleasure and the knot strength is probably the strongest of any braid you will try. On the water it is great to use and I look forward to using it in the future.

If you have used Fins braid or have a different opinion to mine feel free to leave a comment

*This product was paid for by myself and I received no money for this post.*

Replacing my fishing rods

Dad was kind enough to find a store (or two) open today and offered to take me out and buy me a replacement rod to make up, in part, for the ones that were stolen. Thanks Dad! I also purchased a cheap combo to tide me over and get us back out on the water, hopefully, next weekend. It's going to be a slow process of building up my tackle supply again and I am still discovering things that were stolen, which isn't such a nice feeling. It also looks like the thieves also tried to activate our EPIRB from the boat so I am glad they didn't succeed at that!

Dirty grubby thieves (I want my fishing gear back)

I am grumpy, no scratch that, really really angry. Dad and I had planned a nice Australia Day holiday fishing trip all week. However, when I turned up Dads house today to prepare the boat (ie. tie all the rigs and make sure Dad has put the bungs in) I found out that all my Penn and Okuma rods and reels (some almost new) have been stolen - leaving me with only a couple of $20 supermarket special combos. So not only am I out of pocket for rods I can't really afford to re-buy at the moment - it's a holiday tomorrow so I can't get to the shops to replace the stolen rods anyway!!

So all that means - NO fishing tomorrow!!

Even worse is the feeling that someone grubby has been in your stuff and gone through your personal items - it really does feel like you have been violated! Not a happy Australia Day really! However, putting everything back in perspective I must say I live in a great country and have lots more than many others in the world.

If the person who stole my rods and reels ever reads this (and I doubt they will) make sure you look after the stuff - those rods and reels have many memories attached and I couldn't bear to have them lying on some pawn shop floor.

If you have had this kind of thing happen to you - or if you want to donate to my tackle restocking ;-) please leave a comment

I promise tomorrow will be a happier post

The ultimate fishing blog is back

Well after one week away on holidays I am back feeling refreshed and ready to blog. I have heaps of great stuff planned for this year including more knots, recipes and tackle reviews. I am going to continue my routine of one new post a day so that all of my readers have something new each day they visit.

If you have any ideas or thing you would like to see please leave a comment.

If anyone is interested I had a really good holiday (no fishing though!)

Caring for fly line

Fly lines always benefit from a few moments of care that will not only improve their longevity but increase their performance too.

Always clean your line with conditioner - every trip
Always stretch your line before use
Always examine your rod guides for cracks
Always match your rod to your line AFTMA (weight rating)
Always store your line in loose coils
Always store your line away from heat and light

Thanks to www.tacklebargains.co.uk for these tips

Top Water Bass Fishing - Stanley Ribbit (Video)

I must admit top water fishing is fairly popular in Australia, but is no where near as popular as it seems to be in the US bass circles. This video shows off a new lure called the Stanley Ribbit and from all reports the lure is taking the top water bass fishing by storm. The lure seem to have an awesome action. After watching this video I have decided the next time I visit my local tackle store I am going to look for one or something similar. I am sure they will work on our Aussie fish too. Enjoy!

My fishing list - All I got for Christmas

My fishing presents this year consisted mainly of hooks, sinkers, swivels and other terminal tackle that I really needed. At todays boxing day sales I was busy helping my wife ward off the bargain hunters and I forgot to visit the fishing section of my local department store and probably missed out on a bargain or two.

What I want to know is what fishy things did you get for Christmas?

Please leave a comment via the comments button.

Fishing Video of the Week - Tailor (bluefish)

Well tailor is what we call them in the country, but this fish can be found all around the world. They go by many names including: bluefish, blue, tailor, elf, chopper, snapper blue, snapper, Hatteras blue.

They fight hard and it is often spectacular with fish jumping many times during a fight. They have a nasty set of teeth that can bite through fishing lines and sometimes wire leader is used. They are a pelagic fish that form big schools and feed on small bait fish like sardines. They are often caught in white water and in the surf where they hunt their prey. They can grow very big and the specimens caught in this video are considered small. They are an average eating fish and should always be eaten fresh. Never freeze a tailor.

Fishing Tackle Review - Berkley Gulp

There is no doubt that soft plastics are taking fishing by storm, especially here in Australia. Fishermen that would use only bait now have bait free boats and go out with a box full of rubbers. The most talked about soft plastics in recent times aren't plastic (or rubber) at all. The are biodegradable are made in the US by Berkley. Yes I am talking about Berkley Gulp (although I did give that away in the title of this post). These fantastic lures are claimed to be so good that they are better than live bait, but are they?

My testing

I am a reef fisherman, in that I love reef fishing before all other forms of fishing. So it is in this area that I have tested the gulp range more than any other. I rig a gulp of two on a dropper rig and drop them down onto my favourite reefs. So far the results show that little fish still prefer bait like prawns, pilchard, squid etc. which I guess is not surprising. However, gulps certainly catch fish. As a trial during my last fishing trip I used bait (prawns) and my old man used gulp lures. I would have to say that the gulp lures did work, but the prawns still took the most (and the bigger fish).

I am very keen to keep trying these lures (especially ones that look like prawns) to see how they compare over a season of fishing. I have a feeling that they will start to become a greater part of my fishing life and the amount of bait I use will slowly be reduced. I will certainly keep you updated with my results.

Types
There are many patterns to choose from (grub, shad, goby, minnow, worms, squid, crab, pogy, shrimp, etc). I use the salt water models (because I fish in salt water) and I try to buy a few different colours and styles. However because they are used more like a live bait I tend to stick with natural looking colours.

Avaliability
Originally these little lures were very hard to get a hold of in my home town, but now they are literally everywhere. Even some of the bigger department stores and stocking them now and I wouldn't be surprised if you could find them in your local tackle store.

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Fishing

Hi I am a very keen fisherman from South Australia.
I have some grand plans for this blog I hope to include posts like:

Best knots and rigs
Fishing gear reviews and tackle tests
What's new in fishing
Fishing tips
Fishing videos and photos
and much much more...

Check back soon as I plan on keeping this site updated at least weekly!

Cheers
Tom

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