Debunking Saltwater Fishing Myths

Although there is no exact science to fishing, there are plenty of concepts that will inhibit your success on the water much more than it will benefit. Many inexperienced anglers tend to get caught up in common myths, which often lead to more unsuccessful trips rather than memorable outings. If you feel like you’ve been missing out on the action these past seasons, maybe it’s because one of these myths has been holding you back. 1. The heavier the line, the better. It’s nice to know the fish on the end of your line has no chance of snapping it, yet I can’t say this is a good way to go about catching fish. I try to use the lightest setups possible in every situation, not only to make the fight much more enjoyable but also to ensure no finicky fish pass up on my bait. In my opinion, where line size and strength is most important is in your leaders. This is the section of your line that will no doubt take the majority of the abuse during a fight. That being said, your leader is also the closest thing to your bait and therefore must be light enough to not ward off any interested fish. Finding the perfect size and type of line for your target species will take some work, but knowing the range of what works and what doesn’t will be a huge benefit in the long run. To give an example, I like to use fifty pound test monofilament as my leader in most scenarios when targeting striped bass (typically paired with thirty pound braid). This size line is heavy enough to be fairly abrasion resistant against barnacle encrusted boulders and thick enough to be held with your bare hands. Whenever the fish are acting finicky, I will often scale down to my lighter setup that has a thirty pound mono leader and twenty-five pound braid. 2. Slack tide can not be as productive as rising or falling tide. Tide has a major influence on the feeding pattern of fish. While the bite may have been hot on the surface by the rips at the end of rising tide, now that it's at full high tide maybe the action suddenly disappears. While many inexperienced fishermen might pack it up and head in, considering the action to be over for the time being, it would be worth your while by switching up methods and locations. Perhaps find a nearby drop off with the contour lines on your navigation system and scan for marks on your sonar. That switch to dropping jigs or natural baits might be all it takes to get the bite going again. 3. Some honey holes are always productive, no matter what. This is something that certainly held me back for a while when I was starting out. I just relied way too much on certain locations that had been productive in the past, which in the end kept me from finding where the action really was at that moment. While I would agree that there are many hotspots that offer great structure, tidal current, or consistent amounts of baitfish; but they (like any spot) are never guaranteed to yield good results. To find out where your next fishing spot will be, I like to start with local reports. You can do this by asking around at your local tackle shops, or going to sources like On the Water’s website who offer detailed fishing reports for all over the North East. Reports like these are good for getting an understanding of where the bite has been good recently, but the best way to put that information to use is by finding your own spot where you believe those conditions might replicate themselves the day of your trip. Let's say the report says that four days ago there was a really good fluke bite at some sandy shoal. I would then research the topography of this spot as well as what the water temperature was at that time. With that information you could assume that any other nearby shoal that has similar depths and water temperatures on the day of your outing will potentially offer similar results. Finding your own spot that isn’t directly where the report stated will also keep you from having to fish crowded waters.