Fishing tip of the week

Fishing Tip of the Week

Thursday, 31 August 2023 08:30

Retrieve is Everything
by Mike Gerry

Observing my customers day after day most anglers fish their bait the same way cast after cast. The contrary though, is recommended as most experienced anglers are constantly adjusting their retrieve and making a change as to how they present it until they find a bite.
Customers ask me all the time what and how am I presenting my bait. My answer is pretty standard: I am constantly changing what I do with the bait until I find a presentation they react to. This adjustment in my presentation is something every angler should do, day after
day, cast after cast. When you find a bite remember what you were doing to get that bite, then repeat it. Pay attention to the details!

The details can be the difference in catching or not. Many of the world’s best fisherman will talk about cadence as a key to catching fish on many different types of baits; there is no doubt that cadence is very important while retrieving a bait. Cadence does not mean to do the same thing every time you work a bait. Change
your cadence continually with speed variations or pauses, or tip and wrist action. When you do this, you’re still creating a cadence, but it’s just changing it up until you find a cadence that the bass reacts to.
It is also a fact that all rods present a variety of tip action. If you find that you cannot easily change the action of bait, then you might very well be fishing with a rod that might be too stiff in the tip, or the rod might be too long or short for your body type, making it hard to make
longer swings or fast movements with your wrist.

Line is also a factor in being able to change your cadence or retrieve action, as all lines are different. Some lines are thick, many are thin, some have stretch and some do not, and many different lines sink while others do not. These line differences
also change your retrieve and cadence while working bait, so experiment with line.
It can also be a factor in catching fish as it can inhibit your ability to work bait. That old saying, “if you’re
doing the same thing and getting the same result,” it might be time to change.
Captain Mike