Welcome to Tim's Fishing Tip's

  Fishing can be a frustrating sport.  Sometimes everything can be perfect but the fish are just not hungry.  The trick is to get the fish to bite. I try to fish with the lightest line I've got in my tackle box (4 and 6 pound test lines) depending on what I'm fishing for.
   One time I caught a Bass on 4-pound test line.  The bass was about 5 pounds and it took about a 1/2 hour to get him in.  It was fun chasing the bass around the lake and trying to keep the bass out of the weeds and away from the docks.
  I normally fish for bass with at least 10 pound test line but If I can't catch anything, I go with lighter line.

BAIT:  One time a friend and I spotted a school of fish on the depth finder.  This was in about 10-15 feet of water.  They appeared to be bigger than pan fish.  We tried everything in our tackle box but the fish just wouldn't bite.
   I finally tried a small plain hook and light line with a small split shot about 2 feet away from my hook with a big night crawler.  In about an hour and a half I had 2 bass and about 6 nice walleye's.   My friend used the same set-up but he had heavier line.  He still caught fish but I out-fished him.  It must have been the lighter line or it could be that I'm a better fisherman!  Jon would say that it was the lighter line.

  Ever since that day I have been using that set-up quite often.  I found that minnows work too. Just stick the hook through the minnow's lips and let it sit on the bottom.  You have to have a small sinker.

BOBBERS:   I just can's figure out how people can fish with big bobbers and fish for pan fish.  The only time I use a big bobber is when I am fishing for big fish.  I believe that the fish can feel a big bobber more than they could a small bobber. Sometimes I use a stick bobber with no weight.  I call it the stand up system.  It only works in shallow water (2-3 feet).  When the bobber stands up you more than likely have a bite.