Freshwater Shore Fishing Tips For Beginners

If you’ve just started fishing and have purchased some gear and a fishing license, you may be ready to hit the water wherever you can find an accessible spot. Here are some shore fishing tips for lakes and ponds to help you get focused and started.

What to Fish For

The most common fish species you’ll encounter in warmwater lakes and ponds are largemouth bass, various species of sunfish (especially bluegills or bream), crappies, and catfish. In cool or coldwater lakes and ponds you may catch various species of trout (especially rainbow, brook, and brown), northern pike, yellow perch, and possibly walleyes.

Evaluating the Location

A good shore fishing tip is to scout the location(s) you plan to visit beforehand, asking these questions:

• Can you get around the body of water or will you be stationery? Some places can only be accessed from one or a few spots, which is where everybody concentrates. The closest places to the parking area are always the most pressured.

• If there’s a pier or long dock, does it have access to deep water? If yes, that’s better than being restricted to only shallow water.

• Is it feasible to wade and be mobile? Wading access is possible if the banks aren’t deep. Soft bottoms often don’t make wading feasible. A hard bottom is better for stable movement.

• What do you need to be careful of? Besides obvious biting insects, there may be alligators (a serious be-on-the-lookout concern) and snakes. You may want to wear shin-high waterproof boots.

• Is the location public? If not, do you have (or can you get) permission to access all or parts of the location?

• Can you get reliable information about the species (and abundance) of fish present?

Focusing Effort

Put some thought into what you’re doing and how you’re fishing. Consider these brief freshwater shore fishing tips to focus your effort.

• Keep the noise down.

• Fish near cover (and shore) for warmwater fish.

• If using natural bait, vary depth presentations; a slip float is good for this.

• Use long rods to cast further from shore.

• Cast to open waters in a fan pattern, especially when walking along a bank.

• Fish the shade; this includes under road bridges.

• Go early to get a prime spot or to work some places before others arrive.

• Use tackle that is just light enough to get the job done. In freshwater the most common shore fishing gear is a 6- to 7-foot medium-light spinning rod and reel combo with 6- to 10-pound-test line.

• If you’ll be moving a lot, be well organized and carry a light backpack or wear a small fanny pack that contains your essentials.

• Be observant to fish movement, wind direction, sun direction, wading birds, baitfish movement, and anything else that might help you locate fish.

• When spring fishing target areas that will warm up quickly.

• When using bait, make sure it is fresh and lively, and appropriate for your target species.

• Be patient.

Remember to always pick up after yourself. Leave no waste behind and take your bait with you. Dumping bait may be illegal, so make sure to know what regulations apply.