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One of the things that has helped me a great deal over the years is to always be
alert and pay attention to my surroundings when I'm fishing. I'm always looking for clues to
help me catch more fish or to help me eliminate time wasted trying to
locate active fish.
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If there is anybody else fishing nearby, look to see if they
are catching fish. Ask yourself these questions below, if they are
catching fish see if you can duplicate any of the conditions. If they aren't
catching fish, you will still have a good idea of what is not working so you can
try other areas, baits or presentations!
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 | What are they using for bait? What color and size? |
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| How are they presenting it? (Slow, fast, erratic, etc.) |
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| How deep are they fishing? |
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| How close to shore? |
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| Are they fishing open water or close to cover? |
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What else can you
notice? Are they fishing from a dock, from a boat, from the bank, on a point, in
a cove, by a creek channel, bridge, in the sunlight, in the shade, are there
trees, weeds, or other cover?
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Look for the birds!
| I often refer to birds that feed on baitfish
as "the professionals." The reason is because that's what they do for
a living! If you notice large birds stalking around the shallows it's
because there's baitfish in the area, and we all know where there's baitfish
there may very well be a school of hungry Crappie nearby ready to belly up
to the buffet! Sea Gulls can be a big help too. They tend to stay
close to their food source, and they also circle the skies in search of shad
and other baitfish. When schools of fish chase baitfish to the surface the
Gulls will join in the feeding spree and can often be seen from the distance
as they dive repeatedly from the sky for an easy meal with the help of the
feeding fish below. |
Changing conditions
| I am always on the look out for changing
conditions, or transition areas to key in on. Here are some examples; |
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