You don’t always need a fancy boat to go out fishing. Fishing from shore can be tons of fun and very lucrative! Follow along as I take you on a journey through my own personal fishing from shore experiences. Some things work and some things dont, regardless it’s a great hobby to get you out of the house and enjoying mother nature and the great outdoors!

• Fishing License
  First thing’s first. Make sure you go out and get yourself a fishing license, without one of these you may get caught and slapped with a hefty fine. A fishing license can be purchased at your local outdoor sports store. If your from a small town, you can try the local hardware store. Most small town gas stations can also issue a fishing permit or point you to the store that does.
• Bait Bans
  Check and make sure there are no bait bans in effect. A bait ban means you are not allowed to use anything that’s artificially scented or any live bait on your fishing hooks. Usually early season fishing have bait bans. Make sure you check the local rules and regulations. These magazines are availible free of charge from the same place you have purchased your fishing license.

OK, so you’ve got your fishing license and you’ve checked the bait bans. Your good to go! Grab your fishing supplies and head down to a river, stream or local lake. I have a favorite spot about an hour from my house. It’s on a very rocky dam. By rocky, I mean massive boulders. The ones that like to snag your line. Frustrating at first, but once you have a better sense of the underwater terrain you can bounce your jig around and create a technique to decrease your chances of a snag.

Here’s a few tips I use while fishing from shore with rocky underwater terrain:

• Line Tension
  Don’t let your line get any slack in it. Constantly reel it in or use slight pauses while jigging. Once there’s slack on the line your hook will probably sink to the bottom and wedge itself into a crack.
• Using Bobbers
  Use a “J” Hook or jig hook with a bobber. This will let your hook and bait just sit under the surface of the water. This is a sure fire way to avoid any sorts of snag problems.
• Jig Fishing or Jigging
  If you prefer to jig and go for the larger fish near the bottom of the water, I like to use jig heads with a weighted head. Pair this with a soft bait lure or jelly worm and you can bounce it off the rocks. Bottom feeder fish are usually larger and funner to catch. Be prepared to loose lots of hooks, snags will happen. These hooks are cheap, just make sure you take enough to last

Here’s a few tips for fishing from shore where there is a sandy or weedy bottom. The three tips above can still apply, but when you have a nice bottom there are some additional things you can do!

• Use a “Pickerel Rig”
  These 3 hooked monsters are a great way to fish at different depths with 3 different hooks all at the same time. You can buy these pickerel rigs pre-packaged or if your experienced you can make them yourself. Either way, it’s a very effective and relaxing way to fish!
• Spoons & Spinners
  Casting with spoon lures and spinners is probably the most common fishing from shore technique. Casting out and reeling in the spoons sink to the bottom and hover across the ground with your reeling in. A huge array of colors and styles are available. All with one trait in common. They are made to reflect light and shimmer through the water.

There you have it, a few short but sweet fishing tips you to try out for yourself. Now you can sit back, relax and do some fishing! Oh, don’t forget to drink a few beers and take some time to admire natures beauty!

- Enjoy Responsibly