4 Tips to Help Beginners Land Fish

As soon as it warms up just a little more, I’ll be fishing. So don’t even bother calling. I’ve got a list of places to cast that will fill a page and big plans. Among those plans are taking some beginners fishing. For example, I hope to help several novices land their first trout this year.

If you do your “homework” and can put kids on fish, you still may need to do some coaching to help them land the fish.

Here are 4 tips:
 

1. Once the hook is set, keep the fishing rod “loaded.” That is, keep it bent, both by reeling and by raising the rod tip. Up is great, but to the side is just as good, especially if there are overhead branches.

2. When you lower the tip of the fishing rod to try to gain line reeling, you must reel fast enough to make up for this temporary lack of bending of the rod. Do not let line get slack.

3. If the drag is “singing,” do not reel. You would just be adding extra stress to your line and reel and you won’t be gaining line anyway. Just be patient and enjoy the moment. Keep the rod bent, and get ready to reel when the fish begins to slow, turn, or stop.

4. Don’t reel all the way up to the fish. Leaving a few feet of line out will help you lift and reach the fish when landing. Reeling right up to the bobber can stress the line unnecessarily.

Have you taken someone fishing who has never been before? Did you coach the fight?

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Andy Whitcomb

Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.