How to Fish ??? (silly question??)

[Sandworm]

This may at first sound like a silly question and well maybe it is but still i will ask!

When fishing, do you catch the fish or do you let it catch itself?

- do you strike when you feel he is having a bite OR give him stack and hope he swallows and swims with the slack then strike

I'm mainly talking bream and flathead snapper etc.

I was fishing over the weekend and i was striking as they bite to huge sucsess, but i was watching a video last night where they let the trout have line to swim off with first

- should i have a tight line on the rod with bailarm closed or leave it open (if so how do you detect bites?)

Regards
Ben

[jimi]

Hi Sandworm, not sure if you are talking about lures or bait here. With hardbody lures, definately don't strike, the fish will take it and hook themselves. If they tap the lure and fail to hook up, it's often good practise to stop the retreive and just leave the lure there. They will often come back for another swipe if the lure has stopped moving, and hook up the second time.

For softies, sometimes you can strike as they will often nibble it like a bait. Give them a few seconds to swallow it before striking. A lot of the time you don't need to strike anyway as they will aggressively take the lure. Don't give them slack line or they will reject the lure when the detect it's a fake, and you won't feel anything anway.

If you are talking about bait, I can't help you as I haven't used bait for bream for 2 years.

HTH

James.

[SWANK-E]

bail arm closed, tight lines!