Trolling is a method of fishing where one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish, are drawn through the water. This may be behind a moving boat, or by slowly winding the line in when fishing from a static position, or even sweeping the line from side-to-side, e.g. when fishing from a jetty. Trolling is used to catch pelagic fish such as salmon, mackerel and kingfish.
The largemouth bass is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but widely introduced elsewhere. It is known by a variety of regional names, such as the widemouth bass, bigmouth bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largies, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, bucketmouth bass, Green trout, gilsdorf bass, Oswego bass, LMB, and southern largemouth and northern largemouth. The largemouth bass is the state fish of Georgia and Mississippi, and the state freshwater fish of Florida and Alabama.
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting. The flies may resemble natural invertebrates, bait-fish, or other food organisms.
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining and longlining also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The hook itself can be additionally weighted with a dense tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait to attract the fish and enticing it into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake bait with multiple attached hooks is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. A bite indicator, such as a float or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface.
Jigging is the practice of fishing with a jig, a type of fishing lure. A jig consists of a lead sinker with a hook molded into it and usually covered by a soft body to attract fish. Jigs are intended to create a jerky, vertical motion, as opposed to spinnerbaits, which move through the water horizontally. The jig is very versatile and can be used in both salt and fresh water. Many species are attracted to the lure, which has made it popular among anglers for years.
A fishing lure is a type of artificial fishing bait which is designed to attract the attention of predatory fish, using prey-like appearances, movements, vibrations, bright reflections and flashy colors to appeal to the fish's predation instinct and entice it into striking. Many lures are equipped with one or more hooks that anchor into the fish's mouth when it bites and swallows the lure. Some hookless lures are placed to bait the fish nearer so it can can be impaled with a spear or be captured by hand.
The chain pickerel is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel belong to the Esox genus of pike.
Fly tying is the process of producing an artificial fly used by fly fishing anglers to catch fish. Fly tying is a manual process done by a single individual using hand tools and a variety of natural and manmade materials that are attached to a hook. Although the recent history of fly tying dates from the middle 1800s, fly tyers were engaged in tying flys since at least 200 AD.
A downrigger is a device used while fishing using the trolling method, which places a lure at the desired depth. A downrigger consists of a three to six-foot horizontal pole which supports a cannonball, generally 10 to 15 pounds, by a steel cable. A clip, also known as a "release," attaches a fishing line to the cannonball weight. The bait or lure is attached to the release.
The Texas rig is a technique used for fishing with soft plastic lures. It involves a bullet-shaped weight being threaded onto the fishing line first, followed by a glass or plastic bead, and then the line is secured to a hook, usually an offset worm hook.
A spinnerbait is any of a family of fishing lures that get their name from one or more metal blades shaped so as to spin like a propeller when the lure is in motion, creating varying degrees of flash and vibration that mimic small fish or other prey. The two most popular types of spinnerbaits are the "in-line spinner" and "safety pin" spinnerbaits, though others such as the "tail-spinner" also exist. Spinnerbaits are used principally for catching predatory fish such as perch, pike and bass.
Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/feeders, nets, stringers/keepnets/livewells, spears, gaffs, traps, waders and tackle boxes, as well as any wire, snaps, beads, spoons, blades, spinners, clevises and tools that make it easy to tie knots.
A bass worm is an artificial fishing lure which comes in a variety of different colors and body types and is usually scented with a salty, garlic residue. Bass worms are more effective than other rubber worms primarily because bass are attracted to a particular worm depending on the environment in which they are being used.
Soft plastic bait, commonly known as just plastic bait, is any of a range of plastic-based soft-body fishing lures, termed so because of their flexible, rubber-like texture. Designed to imitate fish or other natural aquatic food sources, their realistic texture and versatility, combined with simple and economical production has led them to become a standard article of modern fishing tackle. Soft plastics are available in a large range of colours, sizes and particularly shapes.
An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing. In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of the target fish species the fly fishers try to catch. Artificial flies are constructed by fly tying, in which furs, feathers, thread or any of very many other materials are tied onto a fish hook.
Swimbaits are a loosely defined class of fishing lures that are designed imitate baitfish.
Drop shotting is a high finesse technique for fishing plastic baits, and consists of a small thin-wire hook with a weight attached to the tag end of the line. This is in contrast to the more traditional Texas Rig, where the weight slides inline, resting on the nose of the bait, or the Carolina Rig, where the weight is fixed above the bait. The drop shot rig provides the ability to keep a lure off the bottom, with weightless action. Usually the bait is fished by letting the weight hit the bottom and then shaking the lure by twitching the rod. But can also be flipped, dragged, hopped, or jigged along the bottom. This simple, but versatile technique has endless combinations with the different hooks, soft plastics and weights that can be used.[1] The aim is to present a free floating, slow twitching lure to induce a strike from non-aggressive fish. This rig is commonly used for catching Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, and Spotted Bass, but can be used for a variety of other fish species, as well.
Fishing bait is any substance used to attract and catch fish, e.g. on the end of a fishing hook, or inside a fish trap. Traditionally, nightcrawlers, insects, worms and smaller bait fish have been used for this purpose. Fishermen have also begun using plastic bait and more recently, electronic lures to attract fish.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fishing:
The wacky rig is a skill technique used for fishing with a soft plastic lure, such as the Gary Yamamoto 'Senko'. Notable for its unique action even among soft lures, wacky style is used to heighten the chance at catching finicky fish on harsh days, although at the expense of lowering the chances of very large fish, because the size of the bait is very small, allowing bass of all sizes to take the bait. Unlike the Texas rig and Carolina rig, both sides of the wacky rig flutter, creating a more natural action. The name comes from its unusual style of attaching a plastic worm through the middle of the body instead of on one end.
