Fishing and the Farmer's Almanac

You may notice that it's been a while since my last post.  Rest assured that there have been trips, just not a lot of success.  As I've mentioned before, bites in the winter tend to slow way down.

In this part of Texas, winter weather is a roller coaster.  It might be in the 30's for a high and the 70's for a high in the same week.  The bizarre thing is that I've hit the lake on some of those 70 degree days with an arsenal of baits ... and nothing.

By contrast, the 3.5 lbs bass I caught last month was on a 46 degree day.  I was discussing some of this with a fellow fisherman at work.  He mentioned that he was going to try it this weekend.

That surprised me because our forecast was cold and rainy.  At that point, my friend mentioned the Farmer's Almanac.  The almanac forecasts good fishing days for 2015, and he said this weekend's fishing forecast was good.

I was intrigued.  Like most everything else, the Farmer's Almanac is online.  I took a look, and I learned a lot.  The almanac's forecast takes into account moon phases and tides, both of which affect fish feeding activity.  That's even true inland, away from the sea.

So my daughter and I gave it a shot.  It was in the 40's and sunny, but the windchill was in the 30's.  Once the bait was set, we stayed in the car and watched the poles.  I cracked a window so that she could blow bubbles.

The baits were worms and chicken livers, both of which I was able to get at Walmart.

What happened next surprised me.  The fish started biting almost immediately.  They were all bullhead catfish, and most were small.  Here are the two larger ones.

I can now say that I'm a believer in the Farmer's Almanac.  I think it's especially helpful in winter when fishing becomes more difficult and you need every advantage.

On a warm day during any part of the year OTHER than winter, would I do something else because the almanac says it's a bad fishing day?  Not a chance!

Tight lines!

Carp Fishing with Canadian Nightcrawlers

There are many different kinds of worms, most of which are suitable for fishing.  However, there is a certain group of worms that get fish's attention like a steak gets mine.  They're known as nightcrawlers.

I prefer Canadian nightcrawlers.  They're available almost any place where bait is sold.  I usually purchase mine at Walmart or Academy.  See below.

How you put your nightcrawler on the hook depends entirely on what  you're fishing for.  In this case, we're talking about carp.  We need to get the worm far enough into the fish to give the hook a chance to pierce the fish's lip.

At least half or even more than half of the worm should be off of the hook.  This will allow the carp to ingest most of the worm before feeling the hook and trying to eject it.  A carp that's not spooked is a carp that's hooked!  Here's what I'm talking about.

Notice only the top portion of the worm is hooked.  Most of it is hanging free.  Now I know what you're thinking.  What's to keep the carp from eating the portion that's not on the hook and leaving the rest?

It all has to do with how the carp eats.  They don't bite.  They inhale.  A carp will inhale that worm like we inhale a spaghetti noodle.  At the tail end of that worm is a hook that the fish is not expecting, and suddenly it's not so easy for the carp to eject because most of the worm is already have way down its gullet.

There is one other very important reason to leave a large portion of the nightcrawler dangling free:  presentation. Worms are incredibly resilient.  They will stay alive for as much as a couple of hours after being placed on the hook.  During that time, the worm is moving all over the place to get free of the hook.  On a lake bed of otherwise inanimate objects, this sticks out to a fish like a neon sign does to us.  See below.

Check out those photos again.  You're looking through the water at the worm resting on the lake bottom.  See how it stands out?  In the second photo especially, you can see how the worm stretches out to move.

All of that screams to a fish, "Eat me!"  But don't take my word for it.  Ask today's catch, a 4.08 lbs common carp.

The shot below gives you an idea on length.

With regard to the hook, I used an Eagle Claw baitholder size 4.

Tight lines!