Thread: New to the fishin world..

Hey to Yall from Birmingham Alabama. I am sending this out today because i am new to the fishing world. My buddy is a Striper fisherman and has tried his best to turn me on to the big uns but I would prefer to go out and catch a few or more fish in a lake near by. I have a few questions:

1. Does time of day affect bream fishing?
2. How deep should I fish?
3. Should I only target areas of brush that I can see on the top water?
4. Best way to hook a cricket?
5. Best artificial bait for bream?
6. If on a large lake (1500acres) should I only fish the shoreline or try some deeper areas?
7. what size/brand of hook works best?




1. At this time of year, early and late in the day are probably best, but I fish as much as I can, not just during those times.

2. Depth is relative. A lot of the places I fish have a max depth of about 20 feet. So, I tend to focus on 6-12' depths.

3. No. Look for good bottom structure in deeper water.

4. I don't use crickets anymore, but when I did, I'd hook him once under his chin, then twist the hook and hook him in the butt.

5. Almost any small jig or fly.

6. The shoreline will be loaded with small bluegills. If you want to catch bigger ones, try deeper water. Bigger fish do come shallow at certain parts of the day, though.

7. For a cricket, you'd probably want to use about a #8.

Originally Posted by cereal69

Hey to Yall from Birmingham Alabama. I am sending this out today because i am new to the fishing world. My buddy is a Striper fisherman and has tried his best to turn me on to the big uns but I would prefer to go out and catch a few or more fish in a lake near by. I have a few questions:

1. Does time of day affect bream fishing?
2. How deep should I fish?
3. Should I only target areas of brush that I can see on the top water?
4. Best way to hook a cricket?
5. Best artificial bait for bream?
6. If on a large lake (1500acres) should I only fish the shoreline or try some deeper areas?
7. what size/brand of hook works best?

Any and all help will be apprecieated.

Thanks guys.
Al

1. It certainly effects it, just not to the degree that it effects catfish. If you're going for a mixed bag of bream, I'd start at about 4:00 pm, but if you're targeting the 7 and 8-inchers, I don't like to start until 8:00 pm.

2. I fish very close to the shoreline in about 3-4 feet of water. Shellcrackers stay a bit deeper than that, though.

3. Well, if you KNOW the brush is underwater but you can't see it, you might as well still target it. Heck, you might run up on a catfish too.

4. Can't help you there, I use pieces of nightcrawlers.

5. A very small solid yellow rooster tail spinner has caught me more bream than any other lure, hands down. A black and yellow beetle-spin is also real productive.

6. I wouldn't go to the trouble of trying to fish the deep area of the lake as long as you're only targeting bream. I've caught my biggest lunkers right at the shoreline. If you're fishin in the middle of the day, I'd try deeper water, but after 8:00 pm you can catch some hawgs in about 5 feet of water at the shoreline.

7. In my personal experience, the light-wire aberdeen hooks made by Eagle Claw in the size 6 will catch anything from a 4-inch bream to an 18-inch catfish. These hooks can't be beaten for bream.

Have fun bream fishing! That's how I got introduced to the fishin world, and I still go out and catch dozens of bream from time to time. If you want to have the most fun bream fishing, I like to get a 4'6" micro graphite rod and put a Zebco 11 on it. Every bluegill you catch feels like a behemoth.

Hey Guys,
Thanks for the tips. I am using a light action Quantum Ignition 10 combo from the local sporting goods mega plex. It is a nice spinning combo with good action. If I am fishing at night (ie. after 8pm) how should I go about this? Is shoreline alright or would I need to be boat bound? What size yellow rooster tail? I guess I can get both 1/8, and 1/16. Just looking for good tips to take along next time as to hone the skills. What is this I hear about using frozen shrimp?
Thanks again.
Al

For bait fishing, I use a float. Set the float so the bait is about 6" off the bottom. Boats are fine, but I usually fish from shore.

I'd use 1/16 or 1/32 oz rooster tails. I'd take a jig or a fly over any spinner, though.

Frozen shrimp is good bait, too. Let it thaw, of course, and cut it into bite-size pieces. Pieces of hot dogs will also take bream.

For bluegills at night, would I need a light? Q-Beam or what? Glow in dark jigs? How do you work your jigs for gills?

I am truly going to need more time fishing and less time dreaming of fishing.