How to Fish Effectively While Reeling

The concept I want to talk about in this post is a very important one relating to the maturing of a fisherman. The concept I am referring to is reeling and the technique in which to do so. This is a very touchy concept for a lot of fishermen as they all believe to be experienced and mastered in the ways of reeling. Truthfully, this is wrong. Many fishermen are only decent at best in one way of reeling a lure, however, there are many ways to reel lures and they all require a lot of practice and technique. The way you reel a lure can be personal preference, dependent on underwater structure, or just what the fish seem to be biting on that day. In order to expand the knowledge for some under experienced anglers out there, I plan to discuss 4 of the most basic and broad ways to lure retrieve lures after casting. The list of these lure retrievals is a straight retrieve, jigging, twitching, and jerking/sweeping.

A straight retrieval is the first thing you learn as a beginner. It is the most simplistic and straight forward approach to catching fish. A straight retrieve is when a person casts their line out and simply reels back in without any motion of the rod or lure induced by the person reeling. This technique can be simple but it can also be effective when paired with accurate casting. An accurate cast toward shore with a straight retrieval can always be effective. As stated by basspro.com, "A straight retrieve is effective for many reasons. The fact that the bait maintains a undeviating trajectory and speed (in most cases) makes it easy for fish to find and hit the lure." This is true, however, although this technique is effective for beginners it can only be used for certain types of fish with certain types of lures.

The next type of retrieval is jigging. Jigging is another simple approach to reeling where the angler lets the lure fall to the bottom or near the bottom and uses a vertical retrieval technique with a flick of the wrist. This technique gives the bait a sense of liveliness and action in the water that cause fish to bite. I enjoy this type of fishing as I have used it a lot and found it to be very effective in water with little structure beneath so you do not get snags. In addition to my opinion of jigging according to basspro.com, "I've heard several pro anglers and outdoor personalities' state, "If I had to choose only one lure to use, it'd be a jig." In most cases, they were referring to a simple jighead teamed with a tube or twister-tail, soft-plastic body." Overall, this fishing technique along with the next two are my favorite based on past experience and success rates.