Go Where the Fish Are
One of the most enjoyable, relaxing and productive ways to go fishing for people of all ages is to fish the bottom.
In a nutshell, place some bait on the hook, attach a sinker to your fishing line, drop it to the bottom and wait until you catch a fish. I am going to take this a little bit further for you in hopes that you will get out there and enjoy the sport with your friends and family, or just by yourself. Universal Truth: You need to go to where the fish are to increase your probability of success. Believe me, the fish are going, where they can eat. Going to where the fish are usually means going to a reef. A reef is a rocky place or even a sunken ship or some other obstruction where the depth can be much less than the average depth of the ocean for that area. One species of marine life feeds off another which feeds off another and so on.
You need to be very careful around a reef. The bottom is usually rocky and the depth can get extremely shallow. So, be careful to mind your boat bottom and propeller. I fell victim to the reef more than once. Many a story has been written about the perils of a reef. I don’t want to scare you. Respect the reef. Speak to someone from the area about the reef and/or consults a chart for the area. Knowledge is power. Just keep your eyes open and be careful.
The reef, by definition:
A reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water (80 meters or less beneath low water).[1] Many reefs result from abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock outcrops, and other natural processes—but the
best-known reefs are the coral reefs of tropical waters developed through abiotic processes dominated by corals and calcareous algae.
Artificial reefs such as shipwrecks are sometimes created to enhance physical complexity on generally featureless sand bottoms in order to attract a diverse assemblage of organisms, especially fish.
You need some bait. There are only two things I have ever used when bottom fishing in Connecticut. Green crabs for blackfish and
sandworms for everything else. You can go to the local bait and tackle shop and buy some. That is the easy and quick way out. I would always catch greens crabs and dig up sandworms on the reef at low tide. I would use them later that day or the next. At the end of this article, I will link you to a paper I wrote about sandworms and green crabs. For now, let’s assume that you have your bait and let’s go fishing.
Your fishing pole should be fairly stiff for bottom fishing. At the end of the line, you should attach a swivel.
To the swivel, you should attach a lead sinker. The weight of the sinker should be based on the depth of the water. You want to get your bait on the bottom as quickly as possible, while not stressing your fishing pole. To the same swivel where you attached your sinker, attach a hook, which has some monofilament line with a loop on the end.
To your hook, securely attach a sandworm or green crab. Drop it to the bottom and wait for the hits. I have always found it best to
go bottom fishing at low tide. That’s just me. I like to attach a bobber about 6 inches from the hook. It keeps the hook off of the
bottom where it can get snagged causing you to lose everything you are fishing with.
When you feel a fish biting your bait, pull up on your fishing pole quickly to set the hook. Land your fish and decide if it is too
small. If it is, send him back to get bigger. Only keep fish that you are going to eat or use for bait for bigger fish. Be a sportsmen and not a killer, there is a difference.
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