Merry Christmas to all fellow anglers and followers out there!
Christmas beard is all decorated and ready to go…lol!
Enjoy your day with family and friends!
The AMFisH guy…
Learn more: www.amfish.ca.
#merrychristmas #fishing #AMFisH
Hi fellow AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a very thorough video about how to sharpen the hooks on various styles of baits.
I have always said that no matter how sharp we think the bait hooks are we can always make them even sharper! These days right out of the package, baits come with some really sharp hooks, but using a hook file to make the points sticky sharp is the key to many fish being landed due to an amazing hook up ratio!
A hook file like the one I use in this video does not cost much at all, between $4 and $6 at most fishing stores. These files will last a long time and do a great job at getting extremely sharp hook points, so by far this is the #1 tool to use for this.
I shot this video that I had on my list of vlogs, as I have been asked many times how often to sharpen hooks and what to use, so that is the reason why I go over everything in this video in such depth so it is as clear as possible for everyone out there still learning.
Key thing before sharpening any bait hook is to observe the hook itself, making sure that you see how the hook shape is to prevent any damages to it. Most hooks are round so they are quite easy to sharpen by running the file along each side about 3 to 5 times or as needed to reach the optimum sharpness and hook point. I also include a few level off pushes with the file across the top center portion of the hook.
When sharpening any hook you will also want to push the file towards the point of the hook as this seems to be the easiest way to prevent hook point damage that can be caused doing it in the other direction. Following how the hook is structured is by far the most critical component to a sharp hook, as you do not want to change any portions of the hook design by running the file along areas it should not be grinding.
The term I used above about getting to really sharp hooks that are sticky, basically means that when you run a hook across the surface of your hand the point should stick along the way. This is what the term sticky hooks means, a hook that is so sharp it has stick points along the area it is being dragged on.
Sticky hooks means easier fast penetration into the fish, resulting in more fish staying hook on your line! It does not take long to sharpen bait hooks so time should be dedicated to examining them and sharpening them several times per day, especially if you bait has been in contact with the lake bottom or structure. If you have also lost fish that have come free that can be a sign that your hooks are in need of a good few second sharpening.
When it comes to the barb on the hook I rarely do much sharpening on it, as it is usually very small on most hook and you don’t want to file it right down, but can if you are fishing in barbless hook lakes. On larger bait hooks you can touch up the barb slightly with a couple of pushes of the file, as the material on that larger barb will be significantly more and allows for some filing.
I got myself a few of these hook files and always make sure I have one in my pocket where it is very handy and I can touch hooks up quickly. If you do not have it easily accessible you will probably not focus on sharpening and that can potentially cost you a fish of a lifetime, so make sure to sharpen those hooks on every outing.
If you are like myself where you have all the baits you are going to use on an outing ready on a work space, it’s good practice to sharpen all those baits at once before you start your outing, as they will be ready to go the second you need them. When you are switching out baits is also a good time to sharpen those hooks so the bait is once again ready to be used quickly should you decided to use it again that day.
Sharpening hooks take almost no time at all so it should be put on the priority list for every outing. Grab yourself a few hook files and put the time into creating those sticky hooks, trust me they will serve you well!
Hope you found this video and post helpful.
The AMFisH guy…
Visit today: https://www.facebook.com/amfish14
#fishing #bassfishing #fishingtips #AMFisH #kayakfishing
Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiast’s and AMFisHers! This week vlog is a full review of one of the coolest line cutting items I have ever used!
This is a must read blog post and video watch as I go over the Line Cutterz ring in great detail to show you why you need a few of these with you on all your outings.
Watch here: https://youtu.be/ACZgmB3KR30
I have used the Line Cutterz, LLC. ring for the last two fishing season’s and quite intensely I might add as I was far too impressed with this handy little tool not to!
We have all been there numerous times on a fishing outing battling with rusted pliers, rusted braid cutting scissors, rusted nail clippers and using handy knives that are just not safe, well those days are in the past now you can cut line quickly, efficiently, easily, on the first try and most importantly safely!
The Line Cutterz ring is a one size fits all item, as it comes with an adjustable velcro strap that can be attached to your fishing rod below your reel, you PFD zipper or even a keychain.
There one blade located inside the casing that is very secure and can’t cause any harm as the slots are not big enough for fingers to access the blade. It is a sharp blade that cuts all types of line from monofilament, fluorocarbon and braided lines. It will cut right up to 80 and 100 pound test braided line and even slice right through 28 loops of 30 pound test braided line as I did in a short video I posted previously to this post.
After using Line Cutterz ring the first few times the only thing I needed to overcome was not trying to grab for those pliers that are never in the right place, or that knife that I would use and would end up sliding down and almost stabbing me in the thigh. The ring is always exactly where I would leave it on my finger!
This is one handy item as I am a hardcore kayak fisherman and battle space issues for all my gear, so there are times where I can only take 2 to 3 rods with me which results in cutting lines several times per day to put on new baits. It was instant relief when this product came out, as I was so tired of crimping and crushing my braided line with scissors and pliers that would take forever to finally cut through. Now it is just a little pressure across that secure blade and the line in cut in a split second.
The Line Cutterz ring also leaves a nice straight edge across your braid, no more frayed ends lines scissors and pliers leave, a clean slice through that leaves your braid intact. From cutting frayed line off your main line to cutting tag lines for baits you have just tied on, this product will make things so simple you will flat out be impressed as much as I was!
By far one of the best line cutting tools I have ever used and very quickly became the only line cutting tool I use! I even carry this with me on hikes and camping trips where it allows me to cut various twine and paracord for anything that is needed.
As many outdoorsman know even the smallest injury in nature can flat our cripple our ability to do the simplest things, which is why this ring eliminates those injuries when cutting rope or fishing line and you can’t beat safety at it’s finest!
Hope you enjoyed this post…tight lines everyone!
The AMFisH guy…
Here is the big news I was talking about last week! The AMFisH online store is finally here!
You can access the store through either of these two links: https://bit.ly/2kXEbVy or directly here https://squ.re/2zwn2po.
After a great deal of thought the last several months, on what I could offer all my fellow anglers, fishing enthusiast’s and AMFisHers through an online store I decided on this amazing line cutting item that I have absolutely fallen in love with!
I proudly present the Line Cutterz rings and flat mounts that are now available on the AMFisH online store!
After having used this product the last two seasons, I quickly realized how unique it was. There was no more panic setting in on where are my scissors, where did I put the pliers, the only line cutting tool I needed was right there on my finger looking right at me!
This is by far the best braided line cutter I have ever used. With very little pressure at all this ring or flat mount slices right through everything from one strand of 10 pound test braid right up to 28 strands of 30 pound test braid. Yes you read that right I sliced through 28 strands of 30 pound test braided line with this ring!
When I believe in a product so much it quickly becomes an easy decision to offer that same item to fellow anglers that have engaged with me throughout this AMFisH venture over the years.
There has been a lot of hard work put into providing all the content I put out there for everyone, from long fishing days shooting videos for my series, to the few days I spend writing a detailed fishing blog post and I have loved every single second of all this time! When I get feedback from all of you on a video topic or blog post that helped you catch more fish, it’s the best thank you I could ask for!
These two Line Cutterz product’s have definitely added value to my fishing outings, not to mention relieving a lot of stress with scissors and pliers that just don’t work effectively enough when cutting fishing line.
I have a limited quantity for this first order and have decided to offer introductory pricing and a minimal shipping cost for this time around. Don’t miss out and should stock sell out too quickly I will be right on it replenishing with a new order as soon as I can!
The rings are offered in 5 different colors: standard black, pink, glow in the dark, pearl with Line Cutterz logo in black and carbon wrapped green. The mounts are available in two colors, standard black and purple should you want it to stand out a little more.
If you have any questions about these two products feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them for you.
The AMFisH guy…
Visit today: www.amfish.ca
Hi fishing enthusiasts, fellow anglers and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH is a short fishing tip video and more of a reminder to increase the size of your baits now that fall has arrived.
The fall feed is on, this is the time of year when all fish species put on their feeding bags and go to work! It’s a great time of year when fish start putting on weight, as they feed quite heavily throughout the week to increase their weight for the long winter months below the ice.
Fall by far is my most favorite time of year to fish, as your odds of catching that fish of a lifetime increase drastically! There will be a few tips on this post about fall fishing but the first one is to increase your bait size drastically. In the early spring and summer months we can get away with a mix of smaller and mid size baits, as bait fish will not have grown much from the time the hatched. By fall any bait fish that were lucky enough to have survived not being eaten will be at their largest size, in length, thickness and overall weight.
Bigger bait fish means using bigger baits! By increasing the size of any bait you have been using in the earlier months, you not only match the forage size of what the fish are more than likely feeding on at that time, but you also increase your chances of fooling the fish into thinking your bait is what they really eat!
Using bait sizes that match what fish are feeding on is critical and in the fall even more critical due to the fact that fish are gorging quite heavily and will be following their food sources around the lake. By using baits that are much larger than baits you have been using all summer long, you are sure to increase your fall fish catch percentage by more than 70%!
This is by far the most valuable fall fishing tip I can share with all of you and as you can clearly see in this video the sizes In increase to with my baits are a few levels above the normal bait size and that is the key part of this video to focus on.
As fall progresses you will need to revisit this tip once the water temperature drops further, as fish will require a lot more time to digest what they have eaten recently, so there may be outings where the big baits are not working and you need to downsize drastically to a much smaller bite size bait to get them to bite. The fish will always tell us what they want and how they want it, so you should always stay connected to this part and react accordingly to what they are telling you.
Start with increasing the size of the baits you have been using recently and from there assess what kind of bites you are getting from fish along with how many fish you are catching. In these earlier fall months it is hard for fish to pass up a nice big juicy looking meal so “GO BIG” for now and watch what happens!
Hope you found this video helpful…tight lines this fall everyone!
The AMFisH guy…
Hi AMFisHers! This AMFisH fishing vlog is a short kayak lake tour video that I wanted to share with all of you. This blog post covers some advantages of fishing in a kayak, that truly do expose you to a entirely new way of fishing waters you may not have been able to access before.
I have mainly fished from shore and in boats my entire life and a few years ago I decided to purchase a fishing kayak to tackle fishing in a completely different way than I had ever done before.
What I can tell you in my eyes opened up to the surplus of water I could get into and fish that I could never do before from shore or in a boat. In this video you will see I have paddled into a small cover that is about 8 to 10 inches deep, with a lot of great spots to find a bass sunning itself. When you see me paddle back out into the deeper water, you will understand that trying to get in this area from shore or in a boat is next to impossible. Does it make fishing this area from a boat totally impossible? No it does not but it makes it much more complicated. Sitting out in the deeper water and casting into the cove with not being able to see clearly as to what I am casting to, will only result in spooking any fish in the cove.
The advantages of fishing from a kayak are quite high to any angler, I mean look at things like being able to drop in almost anywhere on a lake, zero gas expense to operate the kayak, accessing water on the lakes you fish, where fish may not have even seen a bait before, these things alone are enough to have me signing up for kayak fishing!
I have accessed some very remote areas on lakes I fish that I could never find a way to access before, this is where my eyes opened up to an entirely new world of fishing. Being able to paddle into a spot that is merely inches deep is quite amazing if you ask me and catching fish you have never caught in those remote areas is even more amazing! Fishing from a kayak has allowed me to add several new spots to my fishing spot list on the waters I fish that I had always struggled to find a way to fish in the past.
I would recommend doing your homework on what kayak will suit your needs best, as there are a lot to choose from with various pros and cons to each. There will be a link in the video screen that will take you to a previous kayak video I shot, that goes over key items you should consider while looking at fishing kayaks and I suggest you give that a watch to help you along.
Kayak fishing is quite an inexpensive way to keep yourself on the water, which explains why it has been picking up a lot more popularity over the last couple of years! If you are looking for a challenging new way to fish or are just looking for a better option to shore fishing, consider getting yourself into a fishing kayak that will allow you to fish more efficiently and be more affective on your outings.
Hope you found this video helpful and feel free to contact me should you have any questions about kayak fishing or to review your kayak fishing needs further.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH fishing vlog is about how to identify a good weed fishing area.
I have been asked by fellow anglers on how to know if a weed area you are fishing is a good area to fish or not and the answer is quite simple. When it comes to weed areas being productive areas or not the key is observing how healthy the weed growth is in that specific spot.
Good lush healthy bright green weeds means there are very high levels of oxygen in that areas waters which is the biggest sign of a good spot. If you notice lots of bait fish and forage activity in an area like this it is also another clear sign that the area is an active area which makes it a good spot to fish.
As you can see in this video, the bright green weeds I am holding up were from a great spot that always flourishes and has become one of my honey hole fishing spots over the years! The dead weeds I had snatched up from a spot several yards away from my honey hole, that has always been a dead spot when it comes to fishing and that is the key to avoid fishing dead spots without even knowing they are dead spots.
On the other hand if you see nothing but dead dark brown weeds in an area, the quick answer to whether or not this is a good spot is no and the lack of activity in this same area will confirm this for you are well. Fish do rely heavily on high oxygen levels and will gravitate to those areas, in most cases actually seeking them out.
By using a good pair of polarized fishing sunglasses you will be able to observe the weed condition as you move into a spot and if visibility is not very good the next best thing to do is actually snag some weeds with your bait and bring them up for a look. If you are not observant you could end up fishing in a totally dead fishing spot that results in not catching fish the entire day, so it is critical to observe the weeds in every area you try to fish.
This is the first thing I check at every spot on new lakes and regular lakes I fish as weed lifespan transitions do occur throughout the season and are also impacted by currents/storm activity. In the later part of the year many of these same weed areas the growth starts to die off which is why fish will quickly move to other areas like rock drop offs and sandy bottoms, where they once again follow the freshest highest oxygen levels and their food sources.
There is nothing worse for an angler than not catching fish, which is why it is important for us to focus on our surroundings especially when it comes to fishing spots. If you dedicate some time to observing an areas you are fishing and I mean to continuously observe the area while you fish through it, your success on the water will drastically increase!
Taking those few minutes to snag some weeds and have a close look at them, maybe even a smell to see how fresh they actually are will go a long way when it comes to productive fishing days.
I hope you found some value in this post everyone…tight lines!
The AMFisH guy…
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Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiasts and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of the SPRO BBZ1 rat top water bait.
If you love top water fishing as much as I do, definitely watch this entire video as I go over the features of this bait in great detail as I have been using it now for a few seasons and absolutely love it!
SPRO U.S.A makes a lot of great quality baits and this BBZ1 rate bait is made extremely well! From the hard plastic molded body, the good quality strong hooks, heavy duty o-rings and a real lifelike tail, this bait rocks!
As I mention in this video this is the largest size of this rat bait and it also comes in a much smaller version which is great for catching other fish species as well. This larger size has caught me some 5 pound range largemouth bass and I have even had some big smallmouth bass strike at it before, the action and sound of this bait is what brings fish up for the attack.
This bait has a wiggling body and when the two pieces bump into one another while it is being retrieved it makes quite the clanking noise that can be heard several yards away from the boat. This sound is what allows fish to feel the vibrations traveling below the waters surface and due to the lifelike action of a rat moving across the water, it blends right in to what the fish are seeing on a regular basis.
Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and predator fish will attack everything from small rodents scurrying across the surface, to snakes, baby ducks, bugs, frogs, lizards, birds and anything that is near that water surface is fair game for these species.
The SPRO rat bait is quite durable as it is made tough as nails! The paint job on this bait will not scratch off quickly at all, which confirms this bait is made very well. After several pike attacks on the grey bait I show in this video, there were only a few small teeth scratches on the body of the bait, it held up extremely well after being viciously attacked by predator fish that hit baits hard!
If you are looking to add a very cool looking top water bait to your fishing arsenal definitely consider the SPRO BBZ1 rat bait, it’s a killer at getting fish attention!
Hope you found this post and video helpful and if you have any questions on this bait feel free to comment with them.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
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Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about how to fish more effectively on windy days.
Watch below and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, visit the link my website today!
Don’t forget to visit my site above and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more informative videos like this one!
Wind can be our best friend while fishing or our worst enemy so there are key items to take into consideration when you arrive to a lake and see it is a very windy day. One of the first things I like to do is start a chat with any locals that have arrived to fish as well, this is a great way to get a better understanding of what the last few days have been like in that area. I will ask stuff like has it been windy like this all week or how has the weather been here this past week, both great starter questions to gather more info on how to approach your day on the water.
From here I take a few minutes while getting ready to observe the wind and waves, so I can get a better gauge on speed and my strategy moving forward. Once I am on the water I feel the lake out, by paddling out in my kayak and stopping to see if there is only one wind direction I am dealing with or two like in this video. From here I immediately head into a streamlined shoreline casting approach, where I drift with the wind to gauge speed again and it’s much easier to fish with the wind than against it.
There are a variety of baits that can do well with a little wind, first one being a spinnerbait as it is best fished with a slight wind. You can also try some lipless crankbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, jerkbaits and spoons, all good choices for casting with the wind and possibly into the wind if need be due to the weight/profile of these baits causing minimal drag in the air. As I have these baits ready to go I cast the shorelines to try and locate any tight to shore holding fish or moving fish that are chasing down schools of bait fish, as those windy days stir the water up a lot causing massive movement of the feed bait fish feed on hence causing the predator fish to follow the bait they feed on.
Any attempt at fishing directly in an open water area on a windy day is quite the task, as is trying to fish slow bait presentations that require keeping your bait in the strike zone for as long as possible. If I locate fish along the shorelines on the above baits I stick it through until the fish stop biting then I review my approach again. If the fish are not near the shorelines I back myself out several yards to try and find that deeper edge of water, anywhere from 8 to 15ft where I try these same baits again either casting or trolling them which is a great way to fish on windy days.
Trolling is quite the natural bait presentation, as it a bait in a steady swimming motion that is covering a lot of water and again is easier to do on windy days. If there are still no bites I stay in this same area and slow things down by dragging a bait along the bottom while the wind blows me along the lake. Good baits to do this with are soft plastic swimbaits rigged on jig heads, deep running crankbaits, soft plastic tubes, any soft plastic bait that can be rigged on a lead jig head and dragged along will do the trick.
Depending on the species you are targeting you can really put a pattern together on windy days by trying some of the above baits and strategies, which can also include trying to tuck into bays and direct target casting areas within that bay with slower presentations like the ones above as well. The key thing to realize is when the wind arrives you automatically need to adjust for what is happening, in order to be able to fish that day.
Now on really windy days where you are unable to even cast any bait, the choice of trolling is quite clear as being the only option for you. Trolling can be quite productive and it can be done in various conditions, so when it gets far too windy use a high confidence trolling bait and get to covering as much water as you can, moving in and out of shallow/deep water to locate moving fish. Remember to always keep safety at the top of your list and if wind picks up to an extreme level, it’s best to leave fishing for another day.
Here is a recap of the key items to note when wind and waves arrive: user heavier baits, used baits with aerodynamic body styles, cast with the wind instead of into it, tuck into shoreline bays, avoid fishing open water as it will be much more windy, consider trolling for a while and cast the shorelines with the wind carrying you along. Learning to utilize the wind is a must as it will help keep you fishing more often instead of trying to avoid those windy days.
Hope you found this video helpful…tight lines everyone!
The AMFisH guy…
Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiasts and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about top water fishing and what times are the best to catch fish on top water baits.
As many of you may think early morning is the best time to catch fish on top water baits, but that is not really the case as you can actually catch fish throughout the day as well. No granted using top water baits as soon as the sun starts to rise is always a good time of day, but you can also try top water baits throughout the day and even into the late evening.
My most favorite time to fish is dusk, during that last 25 minutes or so of daylight as it seems to be a great feeding time for roaming predator fish species. I also fish top water around this time as well, as it too can produce some crazy strikes! Morning and dusk are typically your best time to use top water presentations, due to the fact that in the morning we will see bait like frogs, schools of bait fish scurrying around and lots of bugs on the surface of the water, same happens at dusk so when you see this type of top water activity taking place it is by far the best time to try top water baits!
When I see frogs swimming around I use frog baits, when I see schools of bait fish jumping around in the water I use a top water minnow style bait, when I see insects on the surface I go right to buzzing a small inline spinner just below the surface, all good bait choices for matching the top water activity that is happening at that time. I will also try top water baits when I see large flocks of birds sitting on the surface feeding, this is another great time to catch fish as where the birds are in where the bait is and where the bait is, is where the fish are.
I also try top water throughout the day, as it can produce a good bite as well. When slight waves pick up it’s a good time, when a slight wind picks up it’s a good time, when it starts to rain it’s a good time, when it’s mid day and really hot it can be a good time fishing top water baits in the shallows as well. As you can see there are a lot of top water time choices, so don’t limit yourself to always thinking you need to race to the lake for 5am to try top water fishing, as that is not the case, especially with so many time options available.
Another good time to pull top water baits out is just before a storm rolls in, as the pressure changes there is a small window of opportunity where the fish start to feed like crazy once they sense this pressure change, so capitalizing on this window can result in some big fish being caught!
Rule of thumb is to use bright colored baits under bright sunny conditions and dark colors under low light conditions and this should be a big focus for top water fishing especially later in the day, because fish will not be able to see a very bright bait much at all when they look up at the surface of the water in low light conditions. Using a darker bait like an all black or dark blue, green, grey, red or orange will allow the fish to see the bait profile 1001% better. If you fish top water baits during the night which is also another good time choice, definitely make sure you are using the darkest bait possible and incorporate sound in the bait, like extra rattles or more blades for extra vibration, that will all help the fish zone in on the bait a lot easier, as they will be able to feel it and track it down better.
The top water bite is a very exciting bite to say the least, so make sure to try it throughout the day especially if some of the conditions in this post arise.
Hope you found this video helpful…tight lines everyone!
The AMFisH guy…
Hi fishing enthusiast’s fellow anglers and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of the Freedom Tackle Corp. spinnerbait.
This post is a must read and this video is a must watch for anyone out there that enjoys fishing for bass with spinnerbaits as much as I do! This is a great product line of spinnerbait’s with some very unique action to them that you will not find on another spinnerbait on the market.
Freedom Tackle’s spinnerbaits and some of their other baits as well have a free swinging hook that attaches securely to the bait head through a very cool head chamber and rigging system. With the bait allowing the head ad hook to move around in all directions this creates a lot of extra bait action you will not be able to replicate on standard spinnerbaits. A standard spinnerbait has the hook built right into the lead head, making it all one straight piece with zero movement. The Freedom Tackle spinnerbait on the other hand allows you to remove the hook if need be, as it attaches and detaches quite easily off the mechanism.
This spinnerbait offers a lot of advantages like being able to change the size of your hook, to something smaller or larger, being able to remove the hook if for some reason it gets damaged, being able to have various soft plastic trailers pre-rigged on spare hooks for easy changing of the baits appearance, switching out and replacement of the spinnerbait skirt and most importantly a superior bait action that drives fish insane!
In this video I talk in great detail about all these benefits that a normal spinnerbait does not offer, especially making these changes quickly and easily. You will also be able to Texas rig your soft plastics on these spinnerbaits which is not something a regular spinnerbait offers either, so this one thing alone is a big advantage as you can make an already weedless bait that much more weedless!
When it comes to using soft plastic trailers there are two advantages over regular spinnerbaits as well, first one being there is a corkscrew style bait keeper on the hook that allows you to secure your soft plastic to prevent it from being pulled off easily. Second advantage is the money you will save on soft plastics, yes you read that correctly this product will save you money on soft plastics due to the fact that you can pre-rig numerous soft plastics on spare hooks and have them ready for use. By doing this you eliminate constantly threading on soft plastics over and over again as you would on a normal spinnerbait, as all those entry and exit holes on soft plastics cause them to get torn up much faster.
With 6 of these spinnerbaits the combinations you can come up with are endless, talk about a huge advantage! Being able to quickly and easily turn 6 spinnerbaits into various style spinnerbaits and further more various style baits out of a spinnerbait is priceless to any angler as we all battle space in our boats, canoes and kayaks. Being a hardcore kayak fisherman myself this spinnerbait really does allow me to get on the water with a lot less tackle and that is a huge advantage when space is an issue.
If you are looking for some very unique spinnerbait action and a superior product with some many advantages you will definitely want to check Freedom Tackle Corp out!
Hope you found this post and video helpful and if you have any questions about this product feel free to comment below.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
Hi AMFisHers! This blog post is the full story of my recent two day 2017 musky opener fishing trip.
The trip started Saturday June 3rd as that is when musky season officially opened in the area I decided to fish. This is a lake I have fished for many years now and have caught some muskies here in the past. I know the lake very well and know a lot of great musky spots, but my biggest challenge this season was musky fishing out of a kayak.
Musky fishing is already a challenge in itself, strong heavy gear is needed along with big heavy baits, so fishing for musky from a boat is already draining enough and I was very prepared for how draining it would be from a kayak, but determination could not hold me back!
I arrived at the lake around noon as my plan for the first day of fishing was to stay out on the lake well into the late evening as I wanted to experience and get more familiar with fishing for muskies at night. I got all my gear ready and the weather was in full cooperation as it was a warm day with lot’s of sunshine, only immediate problem I realized was the water temperature was still quite cold. The weather in this area had not been hot enough over several days so with the cooler temps I immediately knew I would have to revisit my strategies that were in place in order to try and catch some muskies.
As I headed out to my first spot that was a big weedy bay not far from shore that leads into some deeper water, I was going to stick with my strategy for a short while to see if I needed to rethink things as I kind of knew I would. My presentation was to use 6 to 7 inch bucktails in bright colors due to the very sunny day. I started casting right up over the weedy area, as the weeds were submerged and the presentation was to burn these bucktails back quickly to trigger any active fish strikes. About 20 casts in with no action I decided to slow the speed of my retrieve down slightly as I mentioned the water was still quite cool for early June so it made sense to slow my bait retrieve down. After another 20 casts in this same bay with 4 different bucktails there was still no musky action or even any sign of any fish being interested.
I switched from bucktails to some mid size minnow style crankbaits, then some mid size soft plastic musky baits and lastly some top water pro style baits. The result on my first spot was the same with all the baits I used, no fish in sight no fish interested in what I had to offer. The weather was not ideal as muskies prefer warmer water in the early months during and after their spawn is complete, but a sunny hot day and water that was still cold made me quickly revisit my approach and instantly start considering much slower bait presentations, so I was actually approaching it like I was fishing in late fall.
I hit my second spot which is a decent size rock shoal a few hundreds yards straight out from the main dock area. This spot is ideal for muskies, large somewhat shallow rocky sandy flats with many scattered weedy patches that are surrounded by deep water escapes and even thick weed cover deeper water as well, the best of everything. I started off with my original approach for several casts and actually got a solid hit as soon as my bucktail with the water. It felt like a good hit from a decent size fish but I knew it was not a musky and was pretty confident it was a nice big smallmouth bass that was hanging around the rock shoal. Low and behold the battle was on, this very chunky smallmouth was jumping everywhere trying to get off the hooks!
Needless to say during both these smallmouth bass fights the fish got the best of me this day, as they jumped and bounced off the kayak as I was was pulling them into the cradle I had secured on the side of my kayak. After wrapping up at this spot I paddled over to my third spot which was the largest one I had easy access to and holds muskies. Again it a large flat with various weed edges in that 5 to 10ft depth range and has access to deeper water and shallower water. I started off with top water, then went to my shallower running crankbait, then back to bucktails and finally a medium size soft plastic musky bait. At this spot I must have made over 12,977 casts and figure eights, talk about grueling work! Unfortunately again there were no musky sittings in the area, nor any kind of fish activity at all, so the pattern of this many casts with several baits and not fish brought me back to the fact that the fish had really turned off being active and it was going to take even more than a slower fall presentation to hook into any.
Day one ended with me continuing to fish right up until around 10pm, but I fished the two first spots again and again as they were much closer to shore so safety had to be first. Once day one ended I went back to the main dock, loaded all my gear and kayak and decided to try some casting from shore to see if any big ones were cruising the shallows at night. Worked the same group of bait presentations I had been working all day, not one bite not one breach not one fish anywhere to be found. After a few more chats with fellow musky anglers they too mentioned a few smaller musky run in’s but no landed fish, so I decided to call it a day as the bugs by this time were out in full force.
I crashed for the night as a typical angler would do, in my JEEP and enjoyed a very not so good sleep, when I actually thought it would not be too bad to sleep in but those JEEP seats are not comfy at all! Got up early Sunday morning grabbed some breakfast and a coffee from Tim’s and headed back to the dock which was only 7 minutes away. Note to anyone thinking of sleeping in there vehicle overnight during a fishing trip, make sure to make yourself as secure as possible, which is why I decided to crash at a Tim Horton’s because it was an all night open location with a lot of car and people traffic, cameras and lights, seemed like the safest place to crash. Also make sure to have a very bright luminous flashlight handy, as it can make for a great self defense item, by utilizing the intense brightness to blind the eyes of anyone either trying to get into your vehicle or trying to harm you.
Once I got to the lake it was absolutely the most stunning view I had seen in many months! The lake was completely motionless and resembled a large piece of glass, not a wave or any water movement in sight. While getting things prepped and assessing if the rain they called for was going to actually happen, I knew that water this still would not make for good musky fishing. While enjoying my coffee and breakfast there was zero and I mean zero water activity by anything. No bugs moving on the surface not birds feeding and no fish breaches, all things you do not want to see not taking place.
A few other anglers that were there for their second day of fishing walked over and we engaged in a lengthy conversation about if we any of us were actually going to fish that day. Since I had mad the 2 plus hour drive up to this lake from Toronto and was in no rush to get home, I spoke with a few guys a long while longer to see if any changes would start happening to the lake. After some time had passed a slight wind picked up and the water started to move, this was a good sign but it needed to last in order for the fishing to start picking up. The wind stayed steady and the few of us were about to get out on the water in the next few minutes, when it clouded over even more and the rain moved in.
I jumped into my truck to observe what was going to happen next, as rain usually stirs up the lake and fish start to feed. Low and behold nothing was happening, the wind got stronger the rain less intense and there was once again zero fish activity, no surface breaches which is usually the norm once it starts to rain. I decided to wait a while longer as it was still quite early and cool that morning. A couple of boats headed out anyway and I used this time to rethink about what my strategy was going to be if I got out on the water.
After a short while it was still raining but quite lightly, so I decided to shore fish again with some top water musky baits, to see if anything was going on. When I say zero attention to my baits I mean a big fat “0”, nothing was anywhere, no roaming fish not feeding fish. From here I tried a few more musky baits with no success and decided to downsize dramatically to see if any other species might be feeding. Started using smaller size inline spinners and again no fish action of any kind. After an hour or so of experimenting I could see the two boats heading back towards the dock, with their heads shaking side to side as they had not had any luck. The second boat was heading to the other side of the lake and also gave me the we saw no fish look as well, this was when I knew battling the lake in that wind with my kayak with a hope that fish would start to feed was completely off the table at this point.
I continued to walk around the immediate shoreline casting various size baits with no success at all and the decision to pack it all in and head home seemed fitting right about then. All in all it was a very tiring musky opener with a lot learned on my end even though I did not catch any fish, I was going home with a new appreciation for musky fishing as well as very sore muscles.
The fish of 10,000 casts definitely beat all the anglers that weekend and that is how things go sometimes, we do everything we can and still come up empty handed when it comes to catching fish, but the learning’s are the most valuable takeaway for any angler who stuck it through as long as they could.
Hope you enjoyed this musky story…tight lines!
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Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH fishing vlog is a review of a great product by Freedom Tackle Corp., which is their Stealth swim jig.
Watch here:
Swim jigs are quite unique baits themselves as they allow us to fish them various ways with various soft plastic trailers, but this Stealth version from Freedom Tackle is unique in itself as it has a swing motion to it, which other swim jigs do not have.
Their is some pretty cool technology behind the head of this bait, that offers all us anglers and fishing enthusiast’s something we have never seen before and nothing we have ever been able to use this way before. The hook can be removed from this bait very simply, yes you read that correctly, you can take the hook off this bait due to the specialized technology inside the bait head.
These baits has a brass chamber inside the lead head, which was designed this way to allow for more noise when the bait hits the bottom of the lake. Lead is quite dense and does not really make much noise at all to to it being dense, but this Freedom Tackle head has a hollow brass chamber that will give off noise in the form of a ping and clacking sound as it bounces along the bottom. Inside that brass chamber is also a unique curly arm like structure that is where the hook attaches to and can be removed from, making this a very versatile bait especially for kayak and shoreline anglers who are looking to travel with much less tackle.
Now why would it be beneficial to remove the hook off this bait? Well lets say the hook on your standard swim jig gets damaged or breaks, there is no way to replace that hook and the bait now becomes useless. If the hook on the Freedom Stealth swim jig for some reason break’s due to a band hangup or snag that causes too much tension/pressure on the hook(note: it comes with a very strong hook I might add.) it can quickly be taken off and replaced with a new hook so that bait is now a usable bait again!
Other benefits to being able to remove the hook off these bait are that you can pre-rig multiple soft plastics on extra hook that you have in your tackle and be ready to change that swim jig presentation in just a few seconds, this is absolutely priceless to us anglers! Say you are using the swim jig with a creature bait soft plastic bait on it and the fish stop hitting that bait, you can very quickly slide that hook and bait off the jig head and slide on that soft plastic swimbait that you already have rigged up on another hook. But this bait’s efficiency does not stop here, you can do this again and again quickly without damaging and wasting soft plastics due to pulling and putting them on and off the hook.
This is versatility at it’s best especially for all anglers who fish in small vessels like myself in my kayak, where battling space is a big issue as well as those fishing from shore, because a few of these Stealth swim jigs and a few packages of soft plastics can take you a long way creating 8 to 10 different baits from one, all while saving you money on soft plastics!
If you are looking for a great versatile bait with a lot of advantages to it, definitely take a good look at what Freedom Tackle has to offer, you will not be disappointed!
Hope you found this video helpful…tight lines!
The AMFisH guy…
Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of LIVETARGET Lures baits!
If you are looking for very unique lifelike fishing lures, you will want to watch this entire video from start to finish, as I talk in detail about many of their product lines.
LIVETARGET baits have been designed to look extremely lifelike and to mimic natural food sources that fish see on a daily basis in their environments. From their baitball series, to their yearling series and most recently their swimbait series they have done an excellent job providing new innovative baits to us anglers/fishing enthusiasts. They even have an awesome top water series, which focuses on the baits that mimic injured or struggling bait fish, quite an amazing line of top water which are called the hollow body sunfish series, check these out ASAP!
Deep diving LIVETARGET baitball crankbait series:
From an overall appearance standpoint these baits do look a lot like the real thing, their top water frogs look great, top water sunfish looks great, swimbaits look great, flat out they all look great! What makes these unique is that they have zoned in on various baits that resemble small schools of bait, which again fish see swimming around all the time. Why does this work? Well let’s think of a bass seeing a small bath of fish swimming by, that bass knows there is more than one fish in that bundle and the odds of at least snatching up a few of them with an attack is pretty good, but little does that bass know what it sees is this uniquely made bait with very sharp hooks!
Long body baitball crankbait LIVETARGET baitball series:
The craftsmanship of these baits is bang on solid and nothing less. The overall structure of the hard baits are very durable and made extremely well and they include very good quality hooks that are razor sharp. Their top water baits are just soft enough to expose hooks quickly but are not too soft that they will get all torn up too quickly, the body composition of the hollow body top water baits is pretty solid and will be durable for many fish catches.
All around these are great baits with a great unique look that you can’t find with any other manufacturers, so they are definitely worth checking out!
Hope you found this video helpful and if you have any questions about these baits feel free to ask me.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
I have always done my best to not handle any fish I catch too much, with the #1 rule being to always wet my hands really well before grabbing a fish to eliminate removing the protective slime.
As you will see in the video after the few good jumps this little chunky largemouth put up during the fight, I instantly slow things down drastically from all the excitement that was just taking place. I was battling some wind and current which is where I quickly realized I would not be able to land the fish immediately as I first thought.
I needed to back out of that shallower water to land this fish so keeping my line tight was a key part to being able to land this fish without it jumping off. With my rod secure I paddled backwards into a better position before I attempted to finally land the fish. By slowing things down when the fish fight is about to end, this calmer state allows us to be a lot more focused on the tasks at hand. There actually are a lot of things that need to fall into place before a fish can be landed safely and they range from landing the fish on the side of the boat of kayak that best works for you, avoiding clutter and any snags with the rod, having a wet glove ready to grab the fish, battling wind, battling current, having the net untangled/ready and even having your camera/phone ready for those pictures.
With any of the above out of sorts landing any fish can quickly take a turn for any angler, so being prepared before you land every fish is key. Make sure all the tools you will need are organized and easily accessible. By keeping all these items in the same place on each outing really makes things simple and your memory will be kicking in and reaching for those same areas, for what is needed at that moment.
In most cases using a small net or lip gripping the fish will do just fine for landing it safely, but that also depends on the species of the fish. I recommend using rubber coated fishing gloves as they will provide the best grip possible especially if you are not very confident in holding fish. When it comes to a landing net I use a small fold up trout net that works great for landing any size panfish, bass, walleye and even smaller pike.
Now when you finally land the fish one key thing to remember especially if you are grabbing it by the mouth is to let out some line, to avoid battling the fishing rod. When you have that firm grip on the fishes mouth, let out a little line to relieve the tension off the rod and hook. By doing this is will allow you to have some slack in the line and will make hook removal quite easy at that point. Also avoid placing the fish at the bottom of the kayak or boat, that will only lead to damaging the fish and you scrambling around trying to grab it. A good solid mouth hold on the fish will allow you to unhook it quite safely so there is no need to rest the fish anywhere in your water vessel.
When it comes to taking fishing pictures they #1 thing to have in mind here is how long the fish is out of the water. Fish can only hold their breath as long as the average person, so please keep this in mind as what we think has only been a few seconds can actually be a lot longer, so giving a fish a few breaths in the water between pictures is a must. Make sure your phone and camera are in a secure easy place to grab quickly and only take the fish out of the water just before you are going to take your pictures. By doing this it will be a lot let stress on yourself and the fish, with the result being much better fishing pictures!
Hope you found this post helpful…tight lines!
The AMFisH guy…
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Hi fellow AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about the benefits of fishing in a kayak.
I have mainly fished from shore and in boats my entire life and a few years ago I decided to purchase a fishing kayak to tackle fishing in a completely different way than I had ever done before.
What I can tell you in my eyes opened up to the surplus of water I could get into and fish that I could never do before from shore or in a boat. In this video you will see I have paddled into a small cover that is about 8 to 10 inches deep, with a lot of great spots to find a bass sunning itself. When you see me paddle back out into the deeper water, you will understand that trying to get in this area from shore or in a boat is next to impossible. Does it make fishing this area from a boat totally impossible, no it does not BUT it makes it much more complicated as I can sit out in the deeper water and cast into the cove, but not being able to see clearly as to what I am casting to will only result in spooking any fish in the cove.
The advantages of fishing from a kayak are quite high to any angler, I mean look at things like being able to drop in almost anywhere on a lake, zero gas expense to operate the kayak, accessing water on the lakes you fish, where fish may not have even seen a bait before, these things alone are enough to have me signing up for kayak fishing!
I have accessed some very remote areas on lakes I fish that I could never find a way to access before, this is where my eyes opened up to an entirely new world of fishing. Being able to paddle into a spot that is merely inches deep is quite amazing if you ask me and catching fish you have never caught in those remote areas is even more amazing! Fishing from a kayak has allowed me to add several new spots to my fishing spot list on the waters I fish that I had always struggled to find a way to fish in the past.
I would recommend doing your homework on what kayak will suit your needs best, as there are a lot to choose from with various pros and cons to each. There will be a link in the video screen that will take you to a previous kayak video I shot, that goes over key items you should consider while looking at fishing kayaks and I suggest you give that a watch to help you along.
Kayak fishing is quite an inexpensive way to keep yourself on the water, which explains why it has been picking up a lot more popularity over the last couple of years! If you are looking for a challenging new way to fish or are just looking for a better option to shore fishing, consider getting yourself into a fishing kayak that will allow you to fish more efficiently and be more affective on your outings.
Hope you found this video helpful and feel free to contact me should you have any questions about kayak fishing or to review your kayak fishing needs further.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
Hi AMFisHers! This AMFisH(LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of great largemouth bass top water areas and the ambush points around them.
Watch here TODAY!
Top water fishing is the most exciting way to catch bass and being able to identify key areas will help you catch a lot more bass!
The area I review in this video is a very key area, filled with thick weedy pockets and a lot of top water cover like lily pads, which provide a lot of shade filled areas that bass will use to hold in for ambushing prey as well as staying cool out of the hot sun.
With areas like this the approach for top water fishing should be casting your bait right up to shore or close to it as possible, then slowly working it back to the boat or kayak. If you are fishing from shore the strategy would be slightly the same, as you will want to fan cast along the shore and work your way out from shore with your casts.
Once oversight many anglers make is cutting their retrieves too short, as a key area I point out in this video is the drop off access to deeper water right where the lily pads end coming back to my kayak. This area is a “must” fish area, don’t pull the bait back into your boat or kayak too soon, focus on really fishing this dividing edge from lily pads to open water as a chasing fish could be right on this edge waiting for it’s strike moment!
Hope you found this vlog helpful and if you have any questions about this video feel free to ask.
The AMFisH guy…Billy….tight lines!
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I am and always have been a bass fisherman since I was a youngster and both largemouth and smallmouth bass had me hooked on fishing very quickly! There are some key differences to note between these two species, which is why I decided to do a vlog on what the differences are with respect to habitat and how to secure each species when setting the hook.
Largemouth bass are mainly found in very thick weedy areas, with the depth they hang around in ranging from a foot right up to several feet, dependent on various factors with the main two being freshest oxygen and staying close to schools of bait fish. Smallmouth bass on the other hand do not hang out in the same areas, you will mainly find them in extremely rocky areas, filled with gravel and sand as well as sand flats, as they stay close to their number one food source which is crayfish. You will also find smallmouth in deeper water areas as well, which would also be dependent on the situation around oxygen and their second food source like bait fish.
This is one of several largemouth bass I caught, in the 3.5 to 5 pound range while fishing weed lines and cattails on a fishing trip at Lake St. Clair.
Largemouth bass will have a roaming areas of a few hundred feet or so and can be found clinging close to all types of structure, like docks, sunken trees, rocks, logs, boathouses, you name it they will be around it! All these areas are used for ambushing prey, staying cool, sunning themselves or even hiding out from predator fish. Largemouth will also hang out in schools as well, normally you will find a few in one area but can stumble upon that monster bass sitting behind a dock post ready to strike! Smallmouth bass will stay close to the rocky bottoms searching for crayfish in around all the rock pockets below. They will roam around rocky weed areas as well, but unlike the largemouth bass smallmouth will not sit deep inside the weeds like largemouth love to do.
This is by far my largest smallmouth bass ever caught, while I was dragging a tube in 15 plus feet of water on lake St. Clair. Weighed in at over 7 pounds!
Both are amazing fish specimens that out up a stellar fight, but pound for pound smallmouth bass will give you the fight of your life! A 3 pound smallmouth bass can right as tough as a 5 pound largemouth bass, as they usually feel a lot bigger than they are. Smallmouth bass have a very wide body structure with a very strong head area and jaw, which is needed for crushing crayfish. The roof of the smallmouth bass’s mouth is filled with a thick hard bone plate, kind of feels like a bunch of bumps and this is the plate that does all the crushing with that jaw strength pushing crayfish into the bone plate. Largemouth on the other hand do not have this same mouth structure, they don’t have this thick rooftop bone plate as they will eat items like worms, frogs, minnows and small panfish which they swallow whole and do not require to crush anything. Largemouth bass will flat out inhale their food not just bite at it, whereas smallmouth bass will usually investigate a bait before they strike. Smallmouth are known for following a bait along the bottom, looking at it intensely then striking at it a few times before they completely hammer it.
This largemouth bass is my biggest Canadian largemouth to date, weighed in at around the 7 pound mark and was caught on my go to bait, chartreuse spinnerbait with double Colorado nickel blades and a chartreuse twin boogie tail soft plastic trailer.
Since fish do not have hands they only way for them to really investigate a bait it to take it in and out of their mouth a few times, which is why we have those missed strike feeling sometimes. Just because a fish takes a bite at our bait it does not mean it did not instantly spit it back out before we set the hook. This actually happens quite often as that is how the fish feel a bait out. Now granted we should not give bass much credit for being smart at all, their feeding habits revolve around the need to feed and territory guarding of nest’s. Largemouth bass for example will strike at things like worms, small snakes and lizards to kill them so they don’t eat the bass eggs. Smallmouth bass will also do the same when they are spawning, it’s all instinct driven with the need to protect the eggs/nest’s.
This photo is a release shot of the largemouth bass photo just above, what a sight watching this beauty swim away!
When setting the hook on a largemouth bass, you do not need a lot of power as you would require with a smallmouth bass. Due to the bone filled jaw/mouth of the smallmouth bass you will need to set the hook with more power to penetrate through that bone, whereas a largemouth bass has thin tissue around it’s mouth area that hooks can penetrate much easier. You should also note that during the warm months, when water temperatures are quite warm as well the fish will be at their softest when it comes to skin and mouth areas. Living in those warm water temperatures will soften up the lip and body of the fish making it much more easy to damage so extra care will be needed when setting and removing hooks, as well as overall handling of the fish itself.
As I mentioned above these are both great species to fish for and understanding some of the subtle differences and the big differences will definitely help you find and land more fish!
Hope you found this vlog helpful!
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
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#fishing #bassfishing #AMFisH #fishingtips #fishingvideos
Hi AMFisHers! This week AMFisH(LEARN more: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a short video about how to approach fishing a new shoreline.
When it comes to fishing shorelines you has fished before and new shorelines the rule of thumb in most cases stays the same. When you approach a shoreline you want to start fishing, I always recommend starting with a very high confidence bait you love fishing! Now you might ask why, well it’s simple the second we as AMFisHers start using a bait we have caught fish on our confidence level increase astronomically.
Once you have that one confidence bait ready to go, take this part a few steps further by making sure you have another 4 to 6 high confidence baits ready, as they will come in handy after the first two passes across the shoreline. Next thing to consider is distance from the shore itself, you don’t want to be too far out and not getting the bait to the fish and you also don’t want to be to close casting past the fish, so a safe approach is to stay out far enough where you can try some cast’s really close to shore and some further out from shore. Once you find out where the fish are hanging out and striking the bait you can then adjust your position accordingly.
Below is an example of a typical shoreline one might see, that has a mix of some sandy beaches, trees hanging over the water, rocks and weeds, all excellent structure to fish!
I always suggest making two passes down a shoreline with the same bait, WHY well there are often so many good spots to cast that it is almost 100% impossible to hit every good spot with a cast, so by making two passes along the shoreline with each confidence bait you are increases your odds of determining if the fish are into that bait or not. You do not want to stop using a bait when the fish might be into that bait, so breaking things down like this is critical.
When it comes to those good spot and determining those good spots, this is where being very observant is of the utmost importance. As you slowly drift along the shoreline keep your eyes glued on any high fish catch percentage spots, these are the areas that stand out the most. Examples would be long submerged trees, large sunken rocks that are sticking up out of the water, sunken trees with thick bunched up branches, that shallow water that leads right into a deep drop off and those very shade filled pockets, these are all examples of high percentage fish catch spots. By studying the shoreline and determining where each cast should be will also help increase the amount of fish you catch!
The shoreline example below is more of a typical bay or inlet that would have some great structure around the shoreline with direct access to deeper water, again another great shoreline to find good quality fish and predator fish.
Fishing is kind of like opening a new puzzle and working on it for the first time, we as AMFisHers really need to focus on the important things that will result in a successful day on the water and once we have taught ourselves how to approach a strategy we can then deploy that same strategy in similar situations on different lakes to lead to even more successful fishing days.
Hope you found this video helpful!
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
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Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about jumping out of the normal way of doing things and tipping regular baits with soft plastics.
There are baits we use regularly that we add soft plastic trailers to for more action and scent, BUT there are some other baits that many people may never think about tipping with soft plastics, which I discuss in this video.
There are various reasons for tipping a regular bait with a soft plastic bait, that range from giving the bait a different look if it has stopped working right down to making it appear much larger and bulkier than it would look without the soft plastic being added. Spoons catch fish as is and have always done so, but as you will see in this video I added a large minnow/swimbait style soft plastic to this already decent size spoon and created a very large target for the fish to see and react to.
On this specific day I was out with limited tackle and not very many of my large baits with me, so I created a massive looking bait with killer action by utilizing a soft plastic bait. The second bait is a skirted bucktail which many use as is as well and they sure catch fish like that, BUT by tipping it with a matching soft plastic bait I was able to add more bulk under the skirt and make the bait longer with a significant amount of more action as well.
There will be times where this can create some very memorable fish catches, especially with a larger looking bait as those big fish will almost always exert themselves for a bigger meal instead of a smaller one. Consider this for baits like spoons, inline spinners and bucktails as it’s a great way to experiment with your baits, that also allows you flexibility on the water for days where the fishing for regular stuff may be slow and the bite for bigger predator fish is on!
When tipping baits with soft plastics this way, it is a good idea to match the hatch as best you can, meaning to use the exact same color soft plastic or something that is very close to the bait you are putting the soft plastic on. What this does it create a solid flow of the bait where the fish see this large profile moving around that appears to be one solid body.
I have been doing this with these two baits for years and it works very well when you have been using these baits without a soft plastic catching fish but when the fish stop reacting to the bait, adding that soft plastic to it now makes the bait look that much different. In most cases this sudden change will get you back on the bite.
Getting out of the norm or things with baits can really open up an entire new way of catching fish, as well as giving you a variety of creative bait setups, that you would not have access to if you did not try something outside the norm.
Hope you found this vlog helpful and if you have any questions about this video feel free to ask.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about fishing structure at dusk.
You don’t always need to get to the lake for 5am, as fish are always eating, yes there are fish always eating somewhere on the lake, it’s not like they have a gathering to eat together! Considering dusk is my most favorite time to fish because most people have left for the day and it’s a nice low key wrap up to a fishing day. But having said that I have caught many “monster” fish at dusk, several large pike well over 15 plus pounds, big 5 plus pound smallmouth bass and my biggest Canadian largemouth bass 7 pounds, that was actually caught at the spot I am talking about in this video.
When it comes to areas with structure the key thing to understand is how important structure is to all fish species. It can be a very safe place for them to hide from feeding predator fish, it can be used as a feeding zone, ambush zone and a place for fish to sun themselves. Structure plays a very big role in survival to fish and understanding all of the above clearly defines why fishing areas like this can be extremely productive even outside of dusk hours.
This specific spot off to my right where you can see weeds sticking out of the water it actually a large rock shoal, that is surrounded by various thick weedy areas and drop offs to deeper water. I always make sure I fish this spot before ever outing ends when I am on this lake, WHY well as I mentioned above I have caught a lot of fish on this spot and a lot of BIG fish on this spot.
When dusk starts to roll in and light is several minutes away from completely fading off, get right over to the spot of structure you enjoy fishing, which could be anything from fishing a bunch of docks, to rock shoals, or even a deep drop off, the key is to get near structure. Once you are at the spot of choice, if there is still some light out stick with those brighter larger baits in the range of 7″ to 10″, depending on what you are fishing for of course. Typically you will want a slightly larger target around this time to really lure the fish in on a good meal! If there is less light and the sky is starting to darken, best lure choice will be something either all black or a very dark solid color bait, examples here would be a dark blue or dark green, as it will stand out more to the fish when they see that darker profile moving around.
My strategy has always been to fish baits rather quickly around dusk structure spots, to cover as much water as possible in hopes I get my bait right in front of a roaming fish. Bucktails for example are a great larger bait that you can fish pretty quick and at a few different depths, even just under the surface. I would also recommend trying a top water bait, something that you can cast out and do a steady retrieve with. Move you way around the entire area of structure making several casts a few feet apart to make sure you have fished it very thoroughly.
Once daylight is pretty much gone, you will get to an even better time to hook right into a monster! So the best dusk fishing window would be between the last 15 to 20 minutes right before sunset to 15 to 20 minutes right after sunset, really good time frame to focus on. There have been outings where I have caught numerous fish feet apart from where I caught another fish, all because they came in to feed at that time. There will also be days where fishing a structure spot like this will result in no fish and that is fine because you will be teaching yourself to focus on fishing a very high percentage spot right before the end of the day instead of fishing dead water somewhere else.
If you fish long days like I do start making fishing structure a regular practice and you might just hook into that beast of a lifetime!
Hope you found this vlog helpful and if you have any questions about this video feel free to contact me…tight lines!
The AMFisH guy…
Hi AMFisHers! I have shared numerous fishing stories with the world and have enjoyed doing so over the years, as I am a true believer that through someones stories there is always something be gained by everyone.
This specific fishing story is about my biggest northern pike catch ever, that was one of the most exciting fish fights I have ever experienced! As you may or may have not read about in previous posts some close life long friends and I have done a boys fishing week trip up on the Ottawa River, which is one spectacular fishery to say the least! With anticipation building up on our trip that was fast approaching a few years ago we had received some messages from the cottage owner that some huge pike were attacking walleye as they were reeling them in. The pike were actually in fact stealing the walleye off the line so that tells you they were BIG fish to say the least!
Here is a picture of my biggest northern pike catch…what a beauty!
My close friend Dave shared this news with me and I was determined to catch the thieving pike on our trip. As I was getting my gear ready for the week I decided to review all the large pike and muskie baits I currently had to see what my approach was going to be. The area in which the pike were taking the walleye was a large channel in a bay with very deep water in the middle areas leading up to weed and rock filled shorelines by a light house. This area sees a lot of boat traffic as well as unstable water at times do to the wide open channel flowing water, which was not going to make it easy to fish nor catch one of these MONSTERS!
Knowing these big northern’s were taking walleye in that 12″ to 15″ range off the lines I knew that this was all about big fishing gear and big baits. After having had a very close look at all my big fish baits I knew a trip to my local Bass Pro Shops was needed, as I was in search of one key bait that would allow me to achieve this goal of catching the thieving pike. While on the drive to Bass Pro I already knew what bait I was looking for, as I had a few in a smaller size that had served me well on the Ottawa River before, so once I arrived I headed right for the muskie bait isle. As I walked into the isle one bait instantly caught my eye as the bait that would catch me a walleye thieving pike, it was a 13″ silver & black Grandma muskie bait, with a huge diving lip on it. I knew that this was the bait to get the job done as it was the right size and had enough flash to match several of the bait fish on the Ottawa River.
This is the bait that got the job done! As you can see there are some patchy white areas between the two front hooks, this is where the monster pike smashed the bait and actually ending up scrapping and chewing away some of the hologram print. If you have any questions about this bait feel free to contact me!
Consider this one bait was all I was after I grabbed it and was off to the register, as there were not many days left before our trip and I had a lot to do. All I can tell you is that as soon as I had that bait in my possession on the way home I knew I so knew I was going to catch the thieving pike on our trip! I was on a confidence high as I knew a lot about big pike feeding habits, knew a lot about the water and area we would be fishing and knew that I was going in prepared to achieve this fishing goal!
The remaining few days passed relatively slowly as they always do before we head off on vacation to do the things we enjoy most and as those days were going by slowly my confidence level was increasing by the hour, no joke I was on a fishing mission to stop this thieving pike right in it’s tracks! Before I knew it, it was departure day that long 6 plus hour drive into the Quebec area of the Ottawa River for our boys fishing week trip, man was on a high of a lifetime! Heading up to a stunningly gorgeous area for a week with amazing life long friends who loved to fish, I could not have asked for anything more that day. The boat was rigged, packed up and ready to go as I was on my way to meet the guys at our meet up location. After having met up with them the main portion of the drive was done with my long time friend Dave in the truck with me and I can tell you the conversation was mainly about that thieving pike!
Dave knowing how much I love to fish instantly started asking about my approach and I was very eager myself to tell him exactly how I was going to go about it. I told him about the bait I had picked up and why I picked that specific bait, as well as about the 12ft muskie rod and power musky reel I had planned to use. The plan was in placed right down to the 100lb 18 inch fluorocarbon muskie leader I was going to use along with the 80lb braided line on my reel. There is definitely something to be said about a high level of confidence and what can be achieved by it! After a few stops along the way, talking about the thieving pike and catching up on life we arrived to our docking area where the reel work started. This was by no means an arrive and fish right away situation, there was a lot of work to be done, as all our gear needed to be loaded into our boats and taken to the cottages we were staying at a few miles up river. Labor intensive is the only way to describe this process, unloading the vehicles with multiple bags, coolers, fishing gear, propane tanks, extra gas, you name it we would bring it on this annual trip due to the fact that this was quite a remote area with no electricity or stores near by, oh and it was only accessible by boat.
The guys and I got to work, using a trolly and walking out gear down the long dock to load the boats. Now the boats would get to this private dock location from a public dock a few miles away, so we would get to the public dock launch the boats and meet the guys over at the loading area, again no time for fishing as the work needed to get done first. With the boats finally loaded and our vehicles securely parked for the week, we started the slow journey up river to the cottages. Our boats were usually quite packed with things, as the entire surface of my 17ft bass boat was loaded with stuff. Upon arrival at the cottage docks even more work began, the second monumental task of unloading all our gear for the week. Item by item cooler by cooler we kept plugging away walking all our gear into the cottage and settling in. Now I don’t have to tell you where my mind was stuck all this time, you got it on catching a thieving pike! man was it hard knowing the day was fast approaching it’s end and we could not hit the water to fish just yet.
Once we had settled in we all quickly blurted out so we squeezing in a quick fish as we still have some time? I don’t have to tell you that we were in our boats quite quickly and off to enjoy and hour or so of fishing. We knew exactly where we were going to fish, straight for the lighthouse we went! Gear was all ready, excitement was at a lifetime high as we neared the spot where I could actually feel the thieving pike were feeding. The time was close to 5:30pm on an August summer evening and the water was just right…oh so right it was! This fishing trip for me was all about catching my biggest pike and I knew there were big pike there to catch because they were using the large channel as a feeding zone, but what I did not know was for how long as many days had passed since we got word pike were thieving walleye. None the less we briefly stopped in the channel and I grabbed for my monster muskie rod and took my 13″ Grandma bait out of the package and attached it to the swivel on my leader. With rods and baits ready to go, we headed up the channel several yards so we could troll back through with the natural flow of water. As we started into turning around we cast out our baits for the troll, I was at my highest point at this second, when my bait hit the water this intense feeling took over of I am catching this pike in the next few minutes.
I let out more and more line as we were trolling through 20ft to 60ft of water with deep diving baits. Once I had enough line out I tucked my rod in nice and tight and we started to troll. Just feeling that massive bait move down there was lifting me out of my seat, I could not contain myself much longer I needed to catch the thieving pike! We were about 40 yards into our troll at about 4 to 6 mph and as I looked over to engage with my friends I felt a massive attack on my line. I had done it a massive thieving was on my line, or was it? It was for a split second only, as the fish had attacked the bait so viciously it missed getting fully hooked. I reeled my bait back in to examine it and what I saw very clearly was evidence of a massive predator who had scratched my brand new $39 plus dollar bait! With no time to waste I tossed it back in while one of my friends blurted out oh you probably snagged some rocks, it was not a fish. Oh I knew it was a fish and quickly replied to him with, the big thieving pike it here that was it and I am catching it on this next troll through.
My bait was back out and I was waiting for it to reach the optimum diving depth. Once it was done there I started the countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7, then blank blank blank I had stopped counting as my rod bent way back on the biggest fish strike I have ever felt! This time the monster pike was on my line for the battles of its life and my life. I yelled out I got her I got her she is on the line! Trying not to battle the fish with nothing but excitement I did everything I could to compose myself as this fish gave me its all. I stood up to get try and get the upper hand on it, but man oh man was this one big tough northern pike! My 12ft extra heavy action muskie rod was bent right over into the abyss of the river. I knew it was still quite far from the boat as I had about 60 yards of line out and I could feel that the fish had also started to swim upward. I held on for dear life, trying to make sure I had set the hooks as well as I could and then it happened, the monster pike darted straight out of the water vertically! This was the first glimpse I had of this fish and knew it was going to be the biggest pike I would catch that year! A quick measurement on my fish cradle ruler revealed this pike was around the 48 inch length and had to be between 20 and 23 pounds, with a girth both my hands could not wrap around. Nice big healthy specimen to say the least.
Trying to gauge how big it was in the air was next to impossible, so much adrenaline was rushing through me it was hard to stay focused. All I knew is what I saw jump out of the water was once MASSIVE northern pike! Back down my line went with this pike not even close to given up. Having been well prepared I had all the confidence that I would land this fish, hooks felt like they were in nice and good, my 12ft muskie rod was doing its job, the big reel was doing its job, the leader its job and I could only hope the very good knot I had tied was doing its job. After what felt like an hour, but was only about 10 minutes or so I saw the pike finally showing signs of giving up. My power reel was bringing this beauty to me, slowly but surely as to know over stress the fish it was almost to the side of the boat. I could see I had two of the three large treble hooks perfectly placed in the fishes mouth/jaw, so I was not worried it would get free. After being blinded by this amazing specimen I took a closer look and realized my leader swivel had opened up and it also looked like the front bait hook was coming off the o-ring. Nothing shy of panicking which I did right away, I yelled out for help with the landing cradle, help guys help my swivel is open.
I took a chance and leaned over and grabbed my leader keeping tension on the fish. Waves had picked up and we needed to get this fish in the cradle ASAP. I could not close my open swivel and let go of the leader right away. Only option I had was to fight this fish with my rod again, keeping all the tension on it that I could. The second I saw myself guiding the fish into the cradle I felt very little relief as we were not out of the woods just yet, actually not even close. Anticipating this monster was going to dart off again I kept the tension on. The next thing I see is that the beast had given up and was in the cradle, we had landed my biggest pike! After a very quick screaming celebration session and rest session for the cradled fish, we went back to bringing it into the boat to be unhooked. I would say oddly enough but it wasn’t I knew exactly what I was seeing, one hook was almost out of the fish, with the second still secured well. Time being of the essence, we unhooked the beast as quickly/safely as we could. I yelled out for the camera and grabbed my monster pike with one had in the gill plate and lifted her up. Man did my eyes see one big pike in front of me! The thing was absolutely enormous! Not only long but thick and heavy. We got ready to take a few pictures so I could release her.
Sometimes no matter what you do the fish does get stressed out, especially a big fish like that out of deep water. I placed it back into the cradle in the water by the side of the boat and I knew the fish was stressed. I began doing everything I could to make sure the monster did not die on me, not an outcome I would ever want with a big fish like that, especially my biggest pike ever. I kept an eye on its fins for any movement and bubbles coming out of the mouth, within seconds I could see it was recovering but very slowly. Holding on to the tail with all my might, I started feeling the strength coming back into the fish, what a great moment! After several minutes I knew the fish was getting close to a safe release and I was waiting for my goodbye splash! The fish looked and felt stronger, then it happened one fast swoop of the tail, out of my hands it went and the splash of water was coming for my face! I had done it, went up to catch the thieving pike and I had just let it go…..unbelievable feeling!
It’s hard to really describe the feeling at that moment, especially when I was examining by gear. The swivel on my leader was still open, the body of the bait was all scratched up and two of the o-rings on the hook had almost fully opened, quite the battle and I had won the opportunity to land my biggest northern pike ever! The fun did not stop there as I knew there had to be more big pike feeding in this same area, there would never just be one all alone. I fixed my bait up as best as I could with some pliers and we were back to trolling. It was not long and bang I had another big pike on the line! This second battle was another intense one but we were lucky enough to land that fish as well, followed by a third big pike.
It felt so great knowing that everything worked out as planned, which is normally not the case with fishing sometimes. All the time I had spent reviewing the area we were going to fish in my mind, from water depths, area structure, the bait to use, my gear and if it would hold up well, every single thing had fallen into place for me. My pike catch of a lifetime fish was complete and my fishing goal/mission of catching the pike that were thieving walleye from fisherman’s lines had been achieved on the first day of the trip in just a couple of hours!
Having a plan and being able to execute it as perfectly as you can is the key, again it may not always work out as the rest of the week that exact same lighthouse area had no feeding pike that were interested in any bait we were casting or trolling with, the bite was completely off. We did move on to other areas catching more of the species we enjoy up there, smallmouth bass, catfish and more pike. All in all this is a very memorable catch for me as it is not easy to execute with such confidence at that level and have everything work out, but it did and I was grateful for the opportunity to land “MY MONSTER PIKE”!
I hope you found some inspiration in this story, as that is what my passion for fishing has always been about inspiring those around me to achieve their fishing goals any way they can!
The AMFisH guy…
LEARN more: www.amfish.ca
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#fishing #fishingtips #AMFisH #fishingblogs
Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(LEARN more: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about heading out of fishing outings with minimal tackle and the benefits of doing so:
As anglers I know many of us feel a lot more comfortable heading out with every rod and bait we have, BUT getting outside that comfort level can really make you that much more of a better angler!
I do this from time to time on some lakes I fish on a lot as well as the occasional new lake I fish, as the challenge itself of being outside your comfort level is a massive one and the focus that takes place in your mind when you think about only being out there with 6 to 10 baits and two rods is quite intense as well. There is very little to no growth when we are in our comfort levels and with fishing being quite unique in the sense that it is not easy to always find and catch fish. The fish will always tell us how they want a bait, by the way the strike the bait, where they got hooked on the bait, how intense the fight was with the fish and various other factors really do come into play.
The biggest benefit of heading out with minimal tackle is the focus that takes over, you will feel quite vulnerable which is good because this allows us to focus on everything we would normally not focus on by having everything we own with us. Try heading out with 1 or 2 rods maximum and a small tray of 6 to 10 of your high confidence baits that allow you various styles of fishing. Examples here could be the white spinnerbait that you always catch various fish species on, a lipless crankbait that you can fish shallow, fish deep and vertically jig if you need to fish deeper water, a top water frog so you can cover the surface, a 20 pack of a standard black 6 inch worm that you can Texas or wacky rig for a slower presentation. Having just a few of your top performing high confidence baits and a few extras, as well as a few extra hooks and weights really does minimize any clutter/storage issues while you fish and does make you focus more on not trying to figure out what the fish want so much while looking through 78 baits as you normally might.
The key is to select minimal baits that allow you to fish different depths making your still as versatile as you would have been before, just more zoned in on the fact that you have few baits to select from, hence resulting in faster decision making and more fishing. When you have just a few baits to select from, your brain actually does focus more on the surroundings a lot more, examples here would be what spots do you really want to fish, why do you really want to fish those spots, examining areas to fish more closely with respect to observing more for bait in the area, fish activity, bird activity, things we all may not focus on as much inside our comfort levels.
The result of all of the above is that less is actually more sometimes with respect to the value it can bring. Spending endless minutes throughout a fishing day looking through all your tackle trays trying to figure out what a fish would strike all suddenly goes away and with those split second decisions from looking at just a few baits you will have a rod in the water that much longer automatically increasing your odds of catching more fish!
I would recommend trying various minimal tackle days on the water, there is so much to be gained by doing so that it’s hard passing up on so may positive gains. Grab yourself a small tackle tray, that allows for maybe 6 to 10 baits, some slots for extra terminal tackle and get to work on building that minimal tackle tray that you can also tweak from lake to lake by removing baits and adding other baits. Maybe even take it one step further by having a small tray with baits for each of the specific lakes you fish, this way you know you are heading out to on the water fully prepared with confidence fish producing baits.
With fishing being as difficult as it is sometimes, due to all the factors that come into play to be able to catch fish, it only makes sense not to add further difficulties to our outings. Creating outings that we learn and grow from is absolutely priceless and everyone should strive to want to become a better angler. We battle weather issues that impact fishing right down to our bad attitude when we lose a bait, BUT when you are prepared on the water and have had success catching fish those little things don’t seem to bother us as much, hence why heading out with less makes so many things that much easier for us. Small tackle tray, 1 to 2 rods and off you go, ready to target the fish species you want right away with as little to no complexity involved.
Start getting out there with less and enjoy the more of everything good it will bring!
Hope you found this vlog helpful…tight lines.
The AMFisH guy…
LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca
#fishing #bassfishing #fishingtips #AMFisH
Hi fellow AMFisHers! I am sure many of your are getting ready for some January ice fishing, which is why I am writing this post.
With so many different baits on the market for summer fishing and ice fishing it’s never easy deciding on what to buy and use, that will result in catching fish on your outings. Thought I would share two very simple looking baits that work very well for me while ice fishing.
The first bait is the Johnson Thin Fisher – Johnson Fishing, which is the blade bait in the first batch of pictures below. This is a very simple design for a bait, that is great for vertical jigging through the ice. It’s available in various natural looking colors as well as some flashy options. These baits also have a small rattle chamber that is built in(it’s the bulky part at the bottom/sides of the front half of the bait) which allows for vibration and sound. With the three hole option for rigging you can work this bait three different ways, from a tight wobble(first hole), to a slightly wider wobble(second hole) and then the widest wobble(third hole). Having three different ways to work this bait through the ice makes it extremely versatile when the bite all of a sudden changes.
All around the Johnson Thin Fisher stacks up high on the list as an versatile ice fishing bait!
Second bait is the Lindy Darter – Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle which you will find in the second batch of photos. This bait looks like a very small crankbait, which it is. Works great in the early spring months when forage is at it’s smallest BUT also work very well for ice fishing. Key thing to note with this bait it the action, it darts off into different directions when you vertically jig it. Off to the left then to the right then a quick left to right, really great action that actually calls in the fish as it also has internal rattles. Using baits that do make some sort of noise is a good choice for ice fishing as the fish may be stationary or roaming around, so the rattles and darting action will help you catch more fish.
Best part of these simple baits it that they are relatively inexpensive for what they are, making it easy to have half a dozen of each “OR MORE”!
Be sure to check them out at the links I have included below, a must in your ice fishing tackle boxes this season!
Johnson Fishing: https://www.johnsonfishing.com/
Lindy Fishing Tackle: https://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/
Hope you found this post helpful and if you have any questions about these baits feel free to ask.
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
Happy New Year to all fellow AMFisHers out there! Hope 2017 is filled with many tight lines and days filled doing what you enjoy most!
The AMFisH guy…
LEARN more: www.amfish.ca.
Hi fellow AMFisHers! Merry Christmas to you all, enjoy this day with family and friends!
The AMFisH guy…
LEARN more: www.amfish.ca.
There is no doubt these baits catch a lot of fish, BUT do all the soft plastic baits you have allow you the flexibility to tweak them on the spot? This is key for any AMFisHer out there, being able to tweak a soft plastic when the time arises.
In this vlog I use a simple black worm as the main example, having this worm in a 6 inch size only allows you to make it smaller, so what happens when the fish suddenly change and want a bigger worm and you don’t have any? This is where having planned right with some 12 inch worms in the same color that catches fish for you gives you the upper hand!
You can always cut the 12 inch worm down to various sizes BUT it is not very simple to increase the 6 inch worm in size, it can be done in a pinch situation if you have some superglue and use 2 of the 6 inch size worms, but it will take a lot longer to do that than simply cutting a 12 inch worm in half. Having your best soft plastics in a few different sizes can really make a difference and this can be applied to other soft plastic baits like creature baits and lizards.
I have always tried to be as versatile on the water as possible, without breaking the bank and having 200 plus bags of soft plastics, which is why I usually have a few packages of my top performing baits in a few different sizes. Best path to take is having a much larger size of a specific bait, as that will allow for the most flexibility.
Hope you found this vlog helpful and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see more!
The AMFisH guy…tight lines!
#fishingtips #bassfishing #AMFisH #fishing
Hi AMFisHers! This AMFisH(LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of some key largemouth bass baits I have a lot of success with:
If you enjoy catching largemouth bass as much as I do this is a video for you to watch! I review some great easy to use baits for catching small and large largemouth bass throughout the season.
Largemouth bass love hanging around extremely thick weedy areas and any type of structure as they use these areas as ambush points as well as shelter from predator fish. The #1 bait I always recommend to fellow AMFisHers is a chartreuse spinnerbait, with double colorado blades and a twin tail scented soft plastic trailer. I have caught hundreds of largemouth bass on this bait since I was a young kid getting into fishing!
With so many baits on the market it’s not easy to know what will catch fish, as there are a lot of variables that come into play. The baits in this vlog are all key baits when it comes to bass fishing, as they allow you to cover various fishing styles, from using a fast running spinnerbait for aggressive fish right down to flipping a tube jig around docks and getting those subtle bites.
My top bass baits in this video are: spinnerbaits, jointed hard body swimbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, lipless crankbaits, short lipped bulky body crankbaits, texas rigged soft plastic creature baits and flipping jigs with a creature trailer. It’s hard to go wrong with these baits, as they will allow you to fish various conditions on your outings. Some of them will let you fish the bait deeper if need be and other will allow you to work them shallower when needed, making these all great choices!
Here are some tips on how to fish these baits: spinnerbaits – cast and retrieve these slowly and quickly, all depends on how the fish react. Also add some pauses in between reeling it back, a split second pause is fine. Jointed swimbaits best retrieve by far is extremely slow, where the reel handle is just slightly turning. Soft plastic swimbaits, same as above extremely slow retrieve with the rod tip way up, this makes the bait look like a very easy target from fish below. Lipless cranbaits – cast and retrieve either slowly or quickly, with bursts of split second pauses. For tough bite days cast these out let them sink then slowly pop the bait up with the rod tip, then let it sink again and repeat. Short lipped bulky crankbaits – cast and retrieve slowly or quickly, the fish will tell you how they want it. You can also retrieve these almost like top water or wake baits, by reeling in very slowly so the bait is just breaking the surface with a ripple. Texas rigged creature baits – fish these around thick weedy areas by flipping the bait into small darker pockets of weeds. Let it sink to the bottom give it two small pops off the bottom and let it sink again. Great to use around all types of structure. Flipping jigs with trailers – same presentation as above, advantage here is this bulkier bait will produce bigger bass as it is a bigger meal.
The best part of these top bass baits is they are all what a bass would eat, swimming bait fish and crayfish resembling baits. The second best part is these are great baits for starting out with, as you can cover a lot of water with the faster presentation baits then slow it down for the tougher bite days with the slower presentation baits. When it comes to colors I never make it too complicated, matching the hatch with bait fish in your lakes is the first way to go, second thing to do it remember to use lighter brighter colors on sunny days and darker tones on darker cloudier days, two rules that really make a huge difference when it comes to catching more fish.
Hope you found this vlog helpful and if you have any questions about any of these baits feel free to ask, or you can also check my YouTube channel out as I have more videos that cover these baits individually. You can also search for more in depth information on each bait in my website, CLICK here: www.amfish.ca.
Tight lines!
The AMFisH guy…
Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(LEARN more: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about practicing your casting, flipping and pitching on and off the water:
Some say practice makes you perfect, I just say it makes you a whole lot better at whatever the task at hand is. Since casting is such an important part to fishing, especially when you are zoning in on good locations to fish and need to be that much more accurate to where a fish might be holding, it only makes sense to be able to cast to the best of your abilities.
In this vlog I share how I practice my accuracy, it’s a great easy way to practice off the water. I also make sure to practice with all my rods/reeds and various baits, WHY well being able to cast efficiently with one rod/reel/bait may be fine but what happens if you are not using that length of rod, or a heavier reel or even a lighter bait? As an angler we need to be as prepared as possible with all the gear we are using that day.
When practicing I use everything from spinning rods, to frog baits, to plain lead weights in different sizes, as this will allow me the best way to cast well with various styles of baits, with various weights to various distances of targets. There is nothing worse then seeing a big bass near a boat house, panicking and making a bad cast that bounces off the boat house and on to the dock, this is where practice can eliminate that from happening.
By setting up various targets as I have in this video, you can practice casting to short distance targets and far distance targets repeatedly, as well as chance your vantage point by moving around the targets and standing in a different spot. Once you start developing that fluid motion to hitting target after target off the water, I suggest practicing in a similar way on the water.
Pick a stretch of shoreline in some shallow water and start casting out to any targets you find, could be sunken trees, floating docks, pile of weeds, anything you see as a good target to try and get a bait close to. A good example is an area like the one in the photo below, where there are several small docks along a long stretch of the shoreline, great area to practice getting a bait to all the good spots of a dock. You can do this from a boat, kayak or even while shore fishing, all great ways to get that casting accuracy up to speed.
Hope you found this vlog helpful and if you have any questions ask away!
The AMFisH guy…
LEARN more: www.amfish.ca
#fishing #bassfishing #AMFisH #fishingtips
Hi AMFisHers! This AMFisH(LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about some tips to follow for finding good spots to fish:
This is a question I get asked quite a bit while fishing the lakes I do and I enjoy those conversations with fellow AMFisHers a lot. When it comes to finding some good spots to fish there are a lot of things to consider, BUT don’t make it too difficult on yourself follow some of these tips!
Let’s say you are fishing a new lake for largemouth bass and are at the dock ready to head out or are shore fishing, where to start can seem difficult but it does not have to be. First while at the dock or shoreline engage with other people fishing, by sparking up a conversation about the nice day. From there ask a few questions about the lake, even talk about how it’s your first time fishing there. Many anglers will always pass along some details about a lake, they will pretty much NEVER share their secret spots but the few details you get from that conversation can go a long way.
Once you are out on the water cruise along the shoreline to see what the structure is like, example very shallow weedy areas leading to deeper water, or tall reed bulges that run the entire shoreline. Once you find a spot that looks like it may be holding fish, cast a line out to test the water.
This is the same for pretty much any species of fish you are looking for, example if you are pike fishing you will also look for weedy areas leading to deeper water, if you are smallmouth bass fishing you will look for rocky sandy flats with drop offs. The key to finding good spots on lakes is actually learning where each fish species lives and hangs out.
A simple first and second step like the above can quickly make that monumental task look quite simple after all! When I am on the water I follow these steps to find good spots:
1) fish the immediate shoreline and start branching off into slightly deeper water.
2) keep an eye on where people are fishing and check those spots out after they leave that area.
3) Observe where groups of birds are floating on the water, where the birds are will be the bait and where the bait is will be the fish!
4) if you have electronics use them, if not use a fishing app on your phone, can be very helpful at locating structure you can’t see.
5) have polarized fishing glasses on, as they will allow you to see various details in and around the water in much more detail.
By following some of these steps or even all of them, you can cut down the amount of time it takes finding a good spot to fish. You will actually find a lot more good spots that much quicker which you can log for future outings.
So the next time you are on a new body of water don’t allow yourself to get stumped, follow these tips and you should end up on more fish faster which will allow more time for fishing instead of paddling or driving the boat around searching.
Hope this vlog helped and if you have any questions about this topic feel free to ask!
The AMFisH guy…
LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca
#fishingtips #bassfishing #AMFisH #fishingvideos
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