Popular Fishing Tips for Brackish Water

Follow the Tides

Get a tide chart, which is available free at most bait and tackle shops, and study the times around your planned fishing days. Get on the water an hour before the tide change, be it rising or falling, and plan to fish steadily until an hour or so after the tide change. Fishing brackish water at any other time of day is a pleasant way to enjoy the great outdoors, but it is not likely to produce a lot of fish. The reason for this is the tide change stirs up the water and gets baitfish moving. This draws out the predators. Fish from the mouth of a stream or river and move upstream as the tide changes.

Bring Tackle for Two Trips

It's important to remember that you can catch fresh and saltwater fish when angling in brackish waters, so you need to be prepared. Many anglers keep one tackle box loaded with freshwater gear and another stocked with saltwater lures. Bring both of them, or grab a good assortment of lures from each box and place them in a third tackle box for your brackish water excursion.
Because you get the best of both underwater worlds, having two sets of tackle will help land more fish. If the channel catfish aren't biting spinners, you can switch to saltwater jigs or squid strips and catch a mess of flounder and perch.

Use Good Equipment and Take Care of It

Fishing brackish waters can often turn up a surprise. You might toss a crankbait for a smallmouth bass and end up reeling in a (saltwater) bluefish with a mouth full of nasty, sharp teeth. Because the conditions and the catch are unpredictable in brackish water, having a medium-action rod equipped with a reliable spinning reel or baitcasting reel gives you a balance between sturdiness and enough action in the rod to play fish. It never hurts to bring along an extra spinning combo if you decide your medium-action rod is too heavy for the job. Either way, plan to spool your reel with 10-12 pound test, and bring a few wire leaders rigged with hooks in case toothy fish, such as small snapper blues, are biting.
Be sure to wash your rods and reels thoroughly in cold, fresh water when you return from your trip, because brackish water contains corrosive salts and minerals that will rust your gear and eat the insides. Rinse the equipment the same day; don't wait until tomorrow.

White Perch Fishing Tips

Identify and Locate

Look for white perch in rivers. Know what they look like before heading out to try to catch them. White perch are typically between 7 and 10 inches long, silvery and possess three sharp spines on their dorsal fin. In a river system, white perch typically will hang in the deeper and slower water. Coves, backwaters and places where the shallow waters flow into deeper areas are all favorite hangouts. Always check out a spot where a tree hangs over the river, as white perch will congregate there waiting for insects to fall off it and using it for shade in the summer months.

Tackle

Utilize the type of tackle that will allow you to catch white perch and have good sport doing it. This includes a low-cost, light-spinning reel rigged with 4 lb. to 6 lb. monofilament line. Use a fast-action rod to allow you to feel the slightest nibble but still have enough strength to set the hook rapidly. Tie a No. 6 long shank hook on with one or two split shots about 1 1/2 feet from the hook, depending on how far you need to cast.

Bait

Make night crawlers your ultimate white perch bait. They are economical bait because you can catch them yourself on a moist warm evening on your own front lawn. Use just a small section of the worm when fishing for white perch. These fish will bite an entire night crawler off the hook with ease and avoid capture doing it. A smaller piece threaded onto the hook's shank with just a little hiding the barb works much better. It forces the perch to bite close to the point of the hook and increases greatly your hook-to-miss ratio.

Tactics

Try fishing for white perch with multiple fishing poles if your state regulations allow it. Rig them with your night crawlers and cast both out into an area of the river---one far out and the other closer to shore. Lean them against a forked stick jammed into the ground and carefully monitor the lines. A tug on the line, the line suddenly going out on the surface of the water, or the rod tip twitching will alert you to a bite. Pick up the pole and set the hook. White perch will give a decent fight, zigzagging in the water as you reel them and they feel the hook in their mouth. Replace the worm if it is in bad shape and cast out again, targeting the area where most of the bites occur. You may have a hard time keeping up with this action when a good-sized school of white perch comes along.

Walleye Ice-Fishing Tips in Michigan

Location

Real estate is not the only thing that is affected by location--location also plays a major role in ice fishing for walleyes. Any time of the year you will usually find walleye located a few feet from the bottom of a lake or river, especially in areas with some type of structure such as rock piles or sandbars, where bait fish gather. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources offers maps of the state&039;s lakes and rivers to help you locate prime fishing areas. You&039;ll find it easier to locate these spots in the summer and return to them during ice-fishing season. In early winter and early spring, when the ice is thin, you&039;ll find walleyes in shallow water near the shore. In the middle of winter, look for them in deeper water near the middle of lakes and rivers.

Time of Day

Walleye tend to be much more active during the evening and night, particularly around sunrise and sunset, when they are feeding. During the day they slow down considerably, so if you want to fish, then go when the sun is out. But if you want to catch fish, then go when it is dark. Winter in Michigan is dark more often than it&039;s light, so you will have plenty of opportunities to fish in the dark.

Moon Phases

Walleye are more active when the moon is full and when it is new. For three days before and after these moon phases, walleye are more active feeders. Consulting a calendar can help you determine which days will offer the best fishing.