Reservoir Fishing Techniques:
Summer reservoir fishing can be as frustrating as anything. During the morning hours, we have come to find the best fishing to be in the shallower cove areas, around cover. During this time, largemouth feed on smaller baitfish and other food sources. We have found that soft plastics (worms and creaturebaits), crankbaits, and spinnerbaits work well during this time period. Our fishing technique usually involves beating the shoreline around structure, including down trees and grassy areas. Once about 10:00am arives, the fish usually retreat to deeper water. During this time, as hard as it is to do, fishing is best in the deeper water (about 10-25ft). It is crucial to find structure submerged underwater at this depth, which is where the fish usually retreat to. In grassy reservoirs, however, fish usually stay shallower at around the 8-15ft mark. In either situation, we usually fish soft plastics and crankbaits. Dropping a soft plastic with a 1/8oz weight down to submerged structure is our favorite technique. Giving it a few thumps then letting it sink back down usually produces a strike or two. Running a crankbait along the bottom next to the structure usually produces some fish, but most of our luck has come with soft plastics. (Remember, this is just our technique, and you may find a way that you like better). During the evening hours, at around 4-5pm, we usually go back to our early morning techniques. Soft plastics and crankbaits working along the shallower structure seem to work well, along with fishing grassy areas in anywhere from 3-6ft of water.
*The information above went over our fishing tactics, and what types of tackle we like to use and when we like to use it. More information on how we use the different types of tackle will be coming in the near future.
Tidal Fishing Techniques:
Although relativly new to tidal fishing, we are currently testing moon phases and tidal phases to see if they factor in to how well the fish will be biting. At the moment, we have had our best fishing in the early morning hours, two hours before high tide and during the high tide. Like we said, we are testing to see if this is fact or coincidence. Depth doesnt come into play as much in tidal fishing as in reservoir fishing, since most of the rivers you will fish have a constant depth (our favorite, the gunpowder, only ranges from 2-6ft). In some spots, we have had luck beating the bank of down trees and weeds with white spinnerbaits and brownish crankbaits. Our best luck, however, has been fishing piers and pilings (specifically the railroad bridge pilings), with pumpkin seed and watermelon seed plastics (mainly creature baits). With the 1/8 oz texas rig set up, dropping in a plastic on the pilings and thumping it a few times produces a fish almost every trip. We usually fish the north side of the pilings, and we are not sure if this is where they like to sit, or if it has to do with tide and currents. This is another thing we are trying to test over the next few months. Hopefully over the next few months we will be able to give you more accurate information on tidal fishing, but as of now we can just give you what we know. Greenish color plastics near pilings or piers seem to be the way to go.
*The information above went over our fishing tactics, and what types of tackle we like to use and when we like to use it. More information on how we use the different types of tackle will be coming in the near future.
Lure Types and Colors: Currently, we use two types of soft plastics: worms and creature baits. Both seem to work well on any given day, but color can play a factor as well. When fishing murky water, darker colors seem to work well to help blend in with the darker water. A green, black, or brown tackle seems to work well, such as a pumpkinseed or watermelon color. When the water is clear, a more natural or transleucent color would work. Blue, red, or purple work well in this type of water, with a red shad being our favorite. Crankbait colors can vary from reservoir to reservoir, but we have had luck with the same color scheme as the soft plastics. Our two favorite brands: YUM and Powerbait, although we have tested some others with a little luck.
Rigging: Usually when fishing a crankbait, or hard tackle in general, they are just tied on to a line the way they come. When using soft plastics, our favorite technique is using a 1/8oz weight to help drop the plastic a little bit quicker. We also use a texas rig set up, preventing the hook from catching anything on the bottom or in thick cover. To texas rig your plastic, stick the hook through the middle of the top of the plastic, and pull it back through about a half inch down the plastic. Re-enter the hook into the middle of the plastics body, making sure the hook stays hidden in the middle of the plastic and does not come out the other side. To find out more on texas rigging, simply google search fishing texas rig.
