If you’re new to fishing, we will help you out when you come fishing with us. However, you may be interested in learning some things before you come out on the water with us. In this article, we’ll be tackling what to do if there aren’t any fish biting! There are many things you can do when the fish just aren’t biting. From changing lures to moving to a better spot, we believe that this article gives a good summary of what to do when the fish won’t bite. We hope you enjoy learning more about fishing in this article and that it will encourage you to come out to the beautiful Pacific with us!
TIDAL WATER MOVEMENT
Tides can definitely affect the way the fish are biting! On an outgoing tide, you can catch a lot of fish because they’re biting regularly. But if the tides change and the current stops, then so could your fishing “luck”.
That’s because the lack of a current can turn away fish and turn off biting. This can even happen in offshore fishing because there are still currents happening even if you don’t notice them. If you are working with a slack tide and no current that probably means no fish, which isn’t good for your chances. If you can, try moving to a different spot.
WEATHER
The weather conditions can definitely affect whether you catch a fish or not. If there’s an oncoming storm or low-pressure conditions, fish will often swarm and feed, allowing you to easily get bites if you’re in the right spot. This is because the water will be stirred and the fish will know that a storm is coming – a storm coming means it will be harder to feed. The water will be murkier than normal after the storm making it harder to find prey, so the fish will hunt for their food, allowing you to fish for them. However, if a cold front is passing through your area (check your weather channel), high pressure will also invade and the fish won’t be interested in your bait. You may have to move your boat around and change with the weather conditions of the water.
WARM TEMPERATURES
Warm temperatures attract fish and colder temperatures do not. During a cold front, surface water is severely impacted by the cold temperatures, making it less likely to find a lot of fish near the surface. The further down the water column you get, the warmer the water is, and that is where all the fish will be in the case of a cold front. However, even if there isn’t a cold front and you’re still not finding fish, you may want to try looking for a plant or factory, somewhere where warm water is pumped in. The fish will swarm the area and you should be able to catch fish there – just make sure you’re allowed to fish there before doing so.
CHANGING LURES
If none of the above works, or if you’re unable to do any of the above suggestions, then you may want to try changing your lure. Try using very natural looking lures that mimic live bait or perhaps even try to use live bait in order to convince the fish to bite. There is more information about lures in previous blog posts if you’re interested in learning more about lures.
More information about Lures
First, is your lure moving fast? If it is then you might want to adjust. Slow moving fish don’t want to deal with quick lures like the spinnerbait, they want something easy to catch. If you give them something easy to catch then you’ll probably catch them!
Slower fish also prefer larger prey rather than smaller prey. Chasing after larger prey costs them less energy than a school of little fish that may easily escape their attack.
You should also try to use live bait when you can. Or at least natural lures that look like live bait.
In negative conditions such as a cold front, those loud colors and rackets in lures won’t work as well when compared to natural lures. The fish have more time to examine the bait before they bite in negative fishing conditions. Natural looking bait is more likely to convince them to go for the bait.
What Else Can You Do When the Fish Won’t Bite?
If all of this fails, is there anything else you can try? There are actually a few other things you can do in order to catch a fish in negative fishing conditions. You can fish tight to cover. This is useful to do when many fish are burying themselves in the thickest cover they can find. They won’t move for very much and if you want to catch them you practically have to land your bait on their head. Cast into the thickest cover you can as the closer you get your bait to the fish the more likely you are to catch something.
We hope this guide helps you when the fish won’t bite! Now you’ll at least understand why this can happen to the best of anglers – sometimes the weather or temperature just doesn’t suit the fish. If you’d like to try out your luck and fish with us on the Kona Fishing Charters, call us at (808) 960-1424 to book your Kona fishing trip! We can guarantee you’ll have a blast no matter what!