A few tips for catching more fish

I get asked by a lot of readers for tips on how they can catch more fish. That’s fair, since this is an outdoors column, isn’t it?

Take a look at this in a different way, if you will. If you can’t land a quarter of the fish that bite your bait because they get off your hook or break your line or never get securely hooked in the first place, wouldn’t hooking those fish be even better than trying to catch new fish? It sure would.

I’ll eliminate the fish that look at your offering but never really bite your bait. If you are using line that is way too heavy, a fish won’t bite because your bait doesn’t move properly. You can have the best-looking lure or bait in the world, but it needs to move naturally in the water.

You can be using the most realistic lure in your tackle box, but it needs to swim like a real bait should. Lures should be tied to your line using a split ring, so the lure has some wobble instead of being tied solidly to the line. An option is to tie the lure to your line with a loop knot.

Remember not to attach anything to your line that will cause your lure to spin on your line unless it is meant to spin. A lure that imitates a minnow is not designed to swim in loops, it should swim straight to you when you reel it in. Line twist is a primary reason for one’s fishing line breaking at the worst possible time. We are our own worst enemies for our lines breaking.

A little-known fact is that basic lead sinkers can cause line twist and line breakage if they are the sinkers that have the little “ears” on them They are there for your convenience. You can easily pinch them to attach the sinker to your line. Unfortunately, easy is bad in this case.

I strongly advise that you never use a leader of any kind unless you are fishing for pike and muskies. Sure, you might have a toothy fish bite your line and break it on a rare occasion, but you’ll lose dozens of bass and walleye who will not bite a line that has a leader attached to it.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not totally against leaders. I use heavy-weight steel-wire leaders when I fish in Canada for big muskies. I’ve lost muskies on Lake Geneva, but I don’t get upset, because I usually lose one when I am fishing for bass when it happens. I’ll take a dozen Geneva smallies over an accidental muskie any day of the week.

Personally, I prefer steel leaders to any others. If I feel the need to tie on a steel leader, I’ll make sure that I don’t use one that is too heavy. The heavier the leader, the lesser the action of the lure. The largest muskie lures are designed to be pulled behind heavy line. Smaller muskie lures, like the kind most of us use in the Midwest, pair up favorably with lighter line.

Now, let’s look at the main reasons that we don’t hook and land interested fish. First of all, you can have the best bait in the world but if the hook isn’t sharp enough to pierce the inside of the fish’s mouth, that fish isn’t going to make it to the end of the rod without falling off. Dull hooks are the No. 1 reason for lost fish.

I’ve said this before and I’ll continue to preach the fact that you need to carry a little file to give your hooks a quick sharpening while you fish. Now keep your hooks sharp and go catch some fish.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.