Tim's Fishing Tips

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 half 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 panfish. 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.

My friend used the same setup, 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 setup 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't figure out how people can fish with big bobbers and fish for panfish. 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.