fishing tips

[GAME05]

i enjoy fishing, but i have no skill in it. i've seriously been outfished by a 3-year-old before. not sure what i'm doing wrong, but i want to get better. where i live in Texas, i'm only about an hour away from the Gulf, so i enjoy going to the pier and throwing my line out. though i catch very little, i still enjoy it. i feel like i'm doing something wrong, but am not sure what it is.

 

i am using a two-hook jig and am putting my weight basically right on one of the hooks. should i be tying it to the line ahead of the jig?

 

artificial lures haven't been working even in the slightest, so i've been using shrimp, which everyone else on the pier uses. can't figure out why artificial lures don't work at all, but that's the way it's been.

 

i've been using a weight to get my line to the bottom because i'd like to be catching flounder (tasty!). however, it's just now getting to be Red Snapper season. they aren't bottom feeders, but are the tastiest fish of all (excluding Walleye of course). what should i be doing to catch those things? i saw someone using some sort of bobber with a bell attached to it, so should i be using that? it feels like the only bites i've been getting have been from those stupid blue crabs at the bottom eating my bait.

 

i'm not really sure where to begin with the question apart from rambling some, but if anyone has some experience fishing, especially fishing in the ocean, it would be much appreciated. if it was some specific equipment, i would easily be able to walk into the fishing shop and ask for that specifically.

 

i've also been using straight hooks only because it's been a little easier to get the shrimp on there, but should i be using something else?

 

i'm just now getting into fishing because it's a cheap sport and it's what everyone does around here. and even if i don't catch anything, relaxing on the pier and looking at the cranes and egrets is good fun. but if there's anything i could know that would make my fishing experience a little better, it would be much appreciated. just one time i'd really like to catch a legal fish and eat it. there's something seriously wrong with fishing for eight hours but needing to bring a steak along so that i'll have some dinner.

[nate82]

I haven't fished for Red Snappers or did any salt water fishing. Doing a search for tips on Red Snappers I have found some consistent advice in terms of bait which are sardines and cigar minnows. Hope that helps. Also what kind of artificial lures are you using? You might want to try a jig or some spoons probably a large spoon depending on the size of the fish. If I remember correctly Red Snappers can be rather large. From what I have read briefly about Red Snappers is that they are bottom feeders so you are going to need to be able to get towards the bottom. So for artificial I would use anything that will be able to sink towards the bottom and then bring it back up.

Also make sure you are using the correct type of line. I know some fish are sensitive to the line that you are using. Might have to use a lighter line that has the same color to the water that you are fishing at.

I hope this helps a little. I really haven't done much salt water fishing at all.

[Hammer]

A good rig for flounder has a big enough weight on the end of the line to "hold" bottom. Then, it will have two circle hooks set at 6" and 9" above the sinker. Tip these with either calamari or shrimp and you will just kill the flounder. I do this every time I go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and I'm sure it will work there as well. Also, as Nate said...you don't need to use too heavy of a line. Sure, you have the chance to snap a BIGGIN off but you will catch more in the long run with a lighter line. Good luck!

[GAME05]

awesome, thanks.

 

i've been using my weight higher up on the line, and one of my bigger questions was just where to tie it. i was actually thinking of rigging it above the jig so that the bait would have a little more play and seem more lifelike. the weight lower on the jig and either i'll be obscuring one of the hooks, or maybe i'll just use one hook.

 

one of the poles i have i bought from a pawn shop and it had line on it already. i've seen 20# line before, and this looks to be about 10#, so i'll stick with that. i've read a lot that heavier line can diminish the play of the bait in the water, so i'll keep using lighter line. anything bigger and i guess i'll just spend more time tiring it out, which is fine.

 

i'm not really sure what spoons are, though.

 

any particular reason for circle hooks instead of any other?

 

i was told from a fisherman out there that it doesn't really matter whether you just leave the bait in one spot in the water or slowly reel it back in along the bottom. is that right?

 

the artificial lure i have (a shrimp) got absolutely no play, and i have some artificial minnows i just haven't used yet. nothing has worked as well as dead shrimp. and those are very cheap around here, so that's easy to get. i've debated trying out live minnow bait, but that's expensive bait considering how quickly i go through it, plus i'd then have to go out and buy one of those live-bait buckets and that seems a little much for my skillset.

[nate82]

Spoons:

http://www.pelicanluretackle.com/files/1874485/uploaded/tr3.jpg

[mothershipconnection]

Get yourself some Gamakatsu Flounder or Octopus hooks. I've not fished flounder, but have used chunk baits before. You can get Gamakatsu at any fishing store and they're super-sharp, which means the extra 2 bucks nets you more fish.