Lima bean technique: Confirmed

Remember that article I posted about lima beans as bullhead bait? Well, it works! I tried using lima beans at a local creek where I had seen a bullhead come to the surface and take an insect. I was also using hotdogs, I have to admit that hotdogs seem to work a little bit better for these little catfish at least they do at this creek but I did in fact catch at least one bullhead using a lima bean, I estmate this one weaghing at least ten ounces.

Presentation

Fish are like toddlars, they constantly need to be entertained, you have to keep them interested as long as you can before they bite. That is why the key to fishing is presentation! This is a vital step when using dead bait or lures. Presentation is ever too true when you are fishing for large and smallmouth bass. But remember, if you don't want the fish to find out that your lure is a fake or you don't want him to lose interest in your dead bait don't keep doing the same routine over and over, put some spice into your reeling pattern! play with your rod a little! keep thinking of new ways to impress those fish! for example, what I like to do is cast, let it sink, reel in three times then Jerk it! Sink, reel three times Jerk! see what I mean? You have to play the fish just right before he attacks your lure. Sometimes I will constantly shake my rod and spin it around in circles as I'm reeling in. You have to keep it up while trying new patterns every time you cast.
Remember one more thing, just like the key to fishing is presentation, the key to presentation is patience!

You may have better success using a spinning reel

hooked on Walleyes

Although you can catch them all over the united states and canada, the beautiful lakes of Wisconsin, minnisota, michigan and especally canada, ontario in particular host the best walleye fishing in the world! Walleye are particulary large fish growing up to five pounds just as an average weaght, they can grow eight pounds in just a few years and a ten to twelve pound walleye is a monster, a wallhanger if you will {I can just imagine one of those hanging over my fireplace} I personally beleive that they are the best eating freshwater speicies around, in fact if you get a walleye sandwich from Culver's you wont be able to find a tastier fish around! But how do you catch these Beautiful fish? I have been studying up on how to catch walleye for the past few days and I happen to know a few secrets that may prove sucsessful for you. First of all, during the warmer months of summer and late spring, these fish move out to deeper water with cover or underwater structure so if you have a boat, you should look for them there. Another key to sucsessful walleye fishing is knowing the fact that these fish are night dwellers, although they can be caught during daylight hours, if you are hoping for the best odds, I would reccomend fishing at dusk or dawn and throughout the hours between 9:00 pm and 4:00 am. Water conditions are a critical factor when using lures or live bait use bright flashy colors in murky water and natural colors in clear water. Remember that each day is unique, if you caught a walleye with a certain technique on sunday dosn't mean it will work on monday. due to the deep water feeding habits of these fish, it is best to have at least one weaght on your line and colored beads on your line may improve your chances of a bite. Now that you know the basics it is time for the most important part , bait, Walleye will eagerly take a lure or plastic bait but for the best results you should use live bait. Walleye are best caught on minnows, nightcrawlers and leeches, yes for some reason, walleye and perch seem to love leeches. Here is a technique that I learned watching a fishing show. Take a fathead minnow and hook it into the gill and out then through the body diagnoaly, this will kill the minnow but the walleye are just as willing to strike it if you cast and make a slow retreive. In case you are interested, this technique will also trigger bites from the close reletive of the walleye {The sauger} and from northern pike. Good luck!

surprise bait for bullheads

Bullheads your going for? Well get this! I read a book called 500 fishing tips for freshwater and it said that the author got this peace of advice from some kid fishing at a local pond, he was using lima beans for bait just simple canned lima beans and he kept catching bullheads so I figured that I would give it a shot. So I bought some canned lima beans and I tried them out at a small pond here in Kenosha Wisconsin where I live, the pond is at Porio park near Bose Elementary school. I knew there were bullhead in the pond because my friend's grandmother caught two of them in one day and I found a dead bullhead in there once. Well anyway I baited my hook with a single lima bean and casted out, I got a bite and I reeled in a trout! The pond gets stocked with more trout every year and I guess that the reason they bite on lima beans is because they are raised on corn in the hatchery. Now that you have this information you should try using lima beans. Although I didn't catch a bullhead I still will keep trying with lima beans, you should too, who knows? you might catch truckloads of bullheads and maybe a trout or two!

How to build your own minnow trap

You can buy minnows at almost any bait store and they make excellent bait but gosh are they expensive! You don't have to tell me, I know you are getting tired of paying $4.00 for one dozen and $8.00 for two dozen. Well let me let you all in on a little secret, It is so much cheeper to catch your own minnows than pay insane prices for them. Again you can buy minnow traps at most bait stores for the low price of $30.00!!! These things get stolen so easily in fact it happened to me once because it is best to leave them over night. Why go back to the bait store and spend $30.00 for another minnow trap when you can simply just make one yourself? Thats right! You can make one yourself! It is actually a whole lot simpiler than it sounds, all you need is some kitchen twine, some duct tape, a hole puncher and a two liter bottle of your favorite soda. First drink all the soda and empty the bottle then take a knife and slice off the very top end and you should get a funnel shape, turn the funnel upside down inside the bottle {this is how the minnows get inside your trap.} next tape it around the top to hold the funnel in place then take the hole puncher and punch a holes on both sides last string some kitchen twine through the holes and then tie it togather then take more kitchen twine and tie it to the string so you can pull the trap up. Heres how to use it, put sand in the bottom or just let the water fill it up to weagh it down. Tape some bread too the bottom for bait. I would recomend tying the string to a stick and anchoring it to the ground, this will keep it from floating away. Leave the trap over night at your favorite fishing location and with some luck when you return in the morning, Free bait! I tried this once and I had sucsess but I only caught two minnows, don't be dissapointed, sometimes you will catch fifty minnows sometimes none at all. The best thing is that when the minnows swim inside your trap, They are too stupid to find they're way out!!!

Best bait for all freshwater species

Baitfish are found throughout The world and make excellent bait for all freshwater species. In North America you can fish with a variety of different baitfish, what you use depends on what species you are fishing for, here are some examples. If you are fishing for larger gamefish use larger minnows, for example, if you are fishing for bass, pike,salmon, steelhead, muskie or even catfish you should use medium or large roaches or shiners, esspecialy gold shiners {Pictured}, these larger baitfish are just big enough to work wonders on these bigger species while the small and pesky fish such as bluegills are unable to get they're mouths around them. fathead minnows, rosy reds, madtoms, bluntnose minnows and even goldfish can be used for panfish, perch and bullheads. The larger fish will also eagerly bite on these esspecialy walleye and striped bass. An effective way to reel in lunkers is to use large fatheads, these plump minnows will ring the dinner bell for large gamefish and if a panfish bites it, that means it is probably a pretty big one! If you are fishing for monsters like pike, muskie, catfish and sturgeon a last resort is to use baitfish weaghing at least a pound like suckers, carp or drum and small bluegill will sometimes trigger a bite, they can be used eather live or chopped up. The key to fishing with batfish is the way you hook them {When hooking live baitfish, try to do it as humainly as possible} If you want it to swim around and flap in the water, hook them eather through the tail, mouth or back, when hooking through the tail or back, avoid the spine or you will cripple it. When using a dead minnow, you can hook it through the head or out the gill, then you can cast and slowly retreive for that will make it seem alive, this method is also effective when trolling. When using a freshly dead minnow, you can slit the belly with a knife, the blood will attract predetory fish.