Essential Bank-Fishing Tackle Pack
This selection of gear carried in a handy satchel will help you tackle any fish
Tackle box: Tackle Logic Day Tripper System with a soft-side
carry case, five laminated zip-seal bags and a hard-plastic StowAway box with divided compartments that will carry everything for a day of bank-fishing (www.tacklelogic.com)
Three boxes of hooks: 50
Tru-Turn Blood Red Aberdeen Panfish Hooks, Size 2; 50 Tru-Turn O'Shaughnessy Catfish Hooks, Size 2/0; and 50 Tru-Turn Bronze Aberdeen Hooks, Size 6 (www.
truturnhooks.com)
Sinkers: Water Gremlin Pro Pack with 63 Snap-Loc sinkers and removable split shot (www.watergremlin.com)
Floats: Thill Gold Medal Float Kit Assortment with seven different balsa floats, five bobber stops, 10 red beads and six silicone sleeves (www.lindylittlejoe.com)
Lures: Beetle Spin Strip Pack with 10 Beetle Spin lures (www.johnsonfishing.com) plus
a selection of Rebel's perfect-
for-panfish "creature lures,"
including the Big Ant, Bumble Bug, Cat'r Crawler, Crawfish, Creek Creature, Crickhopper Popper, Hellgrammite, Tadfry and Wee
Frog (www.lurenet.com)
30 innovative tactics to help you catch more trout, white bass, bullheads, crappies, yellow perch and sunfish.
Jun 3, 2004
Yellow Perch
Got perch? Lots of folks do. Yellow perch are particularly common throughout the Midwest and Northeast, and they're bank-fishing favorites. Why mess with a boat? Why bother with expensive charters? We could do that, but let's loaf on a fishing pier or a rock jetty instead.
24 Find Some Structure: Piers and jetties are plentiful in perch country. You'll find them on huge lakes like Erie and Michigan, and on big and medium lakes, too. Even small lakes usually have docks or small piers from which to fish.
Bait up with a live minnow, drop it straight to the bottom, then kick back and relax while waiting for a bite.
25 How to Rig: Tie a three-way swivel on your line. Next, add an 18-inch leader with a No. 6 hook and a 12-inch leader with a 1-ounce sinker. Hook a live minnow through the lips and drop the rig down. With luck, you're on your way to a fish fry.
26 Finding Fish: Perch stay deep much of the year. Pier and jetty fishing is best in spring and late fall. Summer can be good if the pier or jetty extends into deep water.
As spring progresses, perch move shoreward to spawn. Many swim restlessly up and down shoreline structure.
Fall action differs; the perch stay deeper then. It's best to walk to the end of the pier or jetty, or near it. Luckily, cooling water triggers perch appetites. Sooner or later, they'll come your way and make you remember why you
always liked to fish.
Trout
A cold-water stream is the main ingredient when bank-
fishing for trout. Take your pick: a mountain river, perhaps a clear brook or maybe the
tailwater below a big dam. Certainly you'll want to visit a scenic stream, one with a cuff of trees to shade you, plentiful wildlife to watch and lots of trout.
Rainbows, brookies, browns and cutthroats-it doesn't matter to most bank-fishermen. Wild trout or stocked? Who cares? Both
are sure to please. Many bank-fishing trout anglers prefer a solitary experience. Sit and ponder. Get rid of brain clutter. Savor the
moment-alone. Some want company. It really doesn't matter. It's all fun.
You can flyfish for trout or catch them on spinners, jigs or spoons. Bank-fishermen, however, tend to be bait fishermen.
27 Bugs for Bait: Two baits you should try-baits often overlooked-are crickets and grasshoppers. Secure one on a thin-wired hook, then fish it on top, like a fly. Use light line with no weight. Pitch it out, twitch it, ripple the water, then hang on. Where trout are plentiful, action won't be long in coming.
28 Fake food: When natural bait is hard to find, try artificial trout foolers such as Berkley Power Baits and new Gulp! In fact, some trout fishermen use such concoctions even when more traditional offerings are available. Trout love them.
29 Worms Work, Too: Trout aren't finicky when it comes to worms. Everything from giant night crawlers to little red wigglers will work. Use a bait-holder hook, anywhere from No. 10 to No. 6. Thread the worm on and leave one or both ends dangling. Use very little weight. Cast upstream and drift the bait down.
30 Marshmallow Bobber: Try wax worms as well. Trout love wax worms, the larvae of bee moths that are frequently sold at docks and bait shops in trout country. Impale three or four on a hook, leaving the ends free to wiggle enticingly. Then squish a miniature marshmallow on your line just above the hook. The marshmallow serves as a float and, thus buoyed, the wax worms strike a pose that no trout can resist.
Boil it all down and the recipe for bank-fishing success is really a pretty simple undertaking.
Take one clean shoreline on one pretty lake or stream. Add one angler or several. Warm them in the sun or beside a campfire. Throw in a few plump panfish. Season with a blue sky or starlit heavens. Stir with a light breeze. Brew as long as possible.
The result is unforgettable.
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