Fishing one lake during one or two seasons allows you to pick a technique and stick with it. However, if you fish ponds, rivers, lakes and in a variety of regions, you need to be versatile. Casting, vertical jigging, fast trolling and slow trolling are a few technique options.
Let the fish and the situations dictate your tactics. For example, the water is high so fish move up into the thick brush. You can’t cast or troll but a single long pole will let you get into the cover to dabble up and down. Or, this time of year the crappie suspend out in open water. Trolling crankbaits could be the best method.
An occasional fisherman can’t be an expert at everything. The different equipment and accessories can be expensive. So start with the one technique you’ll use most and become good at it. Once the technique learned and you can afford to move to the next one, do so with both the right equipment and mindset to use it until you learn it right. Eventually you’ll have a variety of techniques you can apply. -TH
