7 Most Common Mistakes To Avoid With Your Fishing Gear

When it comes to fishing charters in Alaska, there are plenty of mistakes that people make that can derail a trip. Luckily, there are some mistakes that you can avoid!

1. Not Changing Your Line

It is important to change your line frequently because it can get brittle and break easily. Changing your line is also an essential part of ensuring you have a smooth casting experience when fishing. Having fresh line on your reel will prevent kinks in your cast and ensure you have enough line to reach your lure deep into the water. In addition, it is best to change your line after a certain period of time. You can do this by removing about 5-10 feet of line from each spool. Then, respool it with backing and add fresh line on top. This makes it easier to use and will save you money in the long run.

2. Not Changing Your Slack

One of the most common mistakes that anglers can make is not changing their slack when they change lures or are reeling in a fish. You don’t want to have a slack line on your reel at the same time you are reeling in a fish or it will be more difficult to get the hook out of the fish. Having a loose line when jigging can also cause you to miss strikes. If you’re not feeling the slack on your jig you can’t tell when a fish is setting on it or if it has the shakey head on.

3. Not Changing Your Hook

To avoid fish getting away without you catching them, Kevin VanDam recommends waiting until you feel the weight of a fish before setting the hook. This can be particularly important when fishing with jigs, which often hit the surface on the fall and aren’t always easy to detect by feeling the weight of the fish. He also suggests reeling in slack line before a set, so that the hook is buried deeply in the fish. This will increase sensitivity and help you feel strikes more easily. It’s also a good idea to check your hooks for sharpness. The most popular way to do this is by dragging a fingernail across the hook’s point. If it grabs the nail and won’t let go, you have a sharp hook. Alternatively, you can use a purpose-built hook sharpener or your own file. This will make it easier to spot dull hooks and save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

4. Not Tying Your Line Correctly

Another problem when out on a salmon fishing trip in Alaska is tying your line too tightly; over-tightening crimps can cause the mono to break down inside the crimp, compromising it and making it weaker. This can also lead to a kink in the line that will pull out of your lure, which is the last thing you want on a big fish! Tying your knots too fast can also be a major mistake. Rushing your knots can lead to a lot of friction and burn that will damage the strength of your line. This is why it’s important to tie your knots carefully, avoiding twisting and overlap, and always wetting the line before cinching your knot.

5. Not Changing Your Flies

Changing your flies is something that many anglers do when they get bored with their current pattern or they are getting frustrated because they are not catching fish. It is not always a big change, but changing a fly when you are not catching fish can be an important part of refocusing on your strategy and helping you to renew your confidence in what you are tying on. When changing flies, it is very important that you change your rig in order to minimize the amount of dragging that is taking place with your line. This can be done by changing the length of your leader or tippet. This can be a quick way to improve the presentation of your fly, which will increase your chance of catching fish.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that a drag-free drift can be accomplished by mending your fly line in a way that allows the flies to remain submerged. This can be as simple as flipping your fly line upstream of the fly while you are lifting the rod tip high in the air. When you are tying on a new fly, take a minute to sample the bugs that are present in the water. This will help you to narrow down your selection to what the trout are likely eating. It is also important to make sure that you are tying on a fly that is close to the size of the bugs that you are seeing on the water.

6. Not Fishing Around Cover

The most important thing to keep in mind when fishing around cover is not to get too close. This may be hard to do when fishing with a boat, but it’s essential for making accurate casts and keeping your boat from spooking fish. Another thing to remember is that every piece of cover has a sweet spot. The best way to identify this is to look for something that looks different than the rest of the cover, such as a stump or tree, or a transition in the area. Prioritizing cover is a great way to increase your productivity on the water and also improve your angling savvy. By taking note of the most impressive cover items you can see, you’ll be better able to develop effective patterns and catch more fish in the future. This is a skill that’s going to be difficult to master, but it will pay off in the long run. With a little patience, you’ll soon be on your way to becoming a cover-catching machine.

7. Not Fishing Off Of Memories

If you’ve been fishing for a long time, it’s easy to get so caught up in the nostalgia of where you were when you were first starting out that you don’t think about where the fish are right now. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to you, but it can. The best way to avoid this is to take a stroll down memory lane and try to remember where the fish were when you were last out. It will help you to see where they are now, and make your next outing much more effective. Book your trip here in Talkeetna, AK with Phantom Tri-River Charters today!