Techniques
The how of fishing -- the methods that put a lure or bait in front of a fish the right way. Each guide covers what the technique is, how to do it, the gear and lures it uses, and the species it catches.
New to this? Start with the styles
Every technique belongs to one of five broad styles. If the names below are unfamiliar, these plain-English explainers are the place to begin.
- Natural Bait Natural Bait Fishing Let something real and edible do the convincing. The most beginner-friendly way to get bit. 2 techniques →
- Reaction Reaction Fishing Cover water fast with moving lures and trigger fish to strike on instinct, before they think. 5 techniques →
- Finesse Finesse Fishing Small baits, light line, and patience. The style for pressured, finicky fish that ignore everything else. 4 techniques →
- Bottom Bottom Fishing Most fish feed near the bottom. This style puts your bait or lure down where they live. 2 techniques →
- Vertical Vertical Fishing Drop straight down over deep fish and structure, and work the lure up and down beneath you. 2 techniques →
Bottom Bottom Fishing
Presenting bait on or near the bottom with weight to reach structure-oriented fish -- one of the oldest, simplest, most productive ways to catch fish in fresh and salt water.
Reaction Cast & Retrieve
The foundational moving-bait technique -- cast a lure out and reel it back, letting its built-in action do the work to cover water and locate active fish fast.
Finesse Drop Shot
A finesse technique that hovers a small soft plastic off the bottom on light line, giving pressured, clear-water fish a near-motionless look they can't refuse.
Finesse Finesse Fishing
A patient, light-line approach using small baits and subtle movement to catch pressured or inactive fish that ignore aggressive presentations -- the technique to reach for when nothing else is working.
Reaction Flipping & Pitching
Close-range, pinpoint presentations that slip a jig or soft plastic quietly into heavy cover to pry big bass from laydowns, docks, and grass mats.
Natural Bait Float & Cork Fishing
Suspend bait or a lure at a set depth beneath a float that doubles as a strike indicator -- from classic panfish bobbers to the clacking saltwater popping cork.
Fly Fishing
Casting a weighted line to deliver a nearly weightless fly -- the classic, versatile way to imitate insects and baitfish for trout, bass, and saltwater gamefish alike.
Vertical Jigging
Fishing a weighted jig head with a lift-fall hop along the bottom -- one of the most universal and productive ways to catch almost any fish that swims.
Natural Bait Live Bait Fishing
Presenting living baitfish, shrimp, or worms so their natural motion and scent draw strikes -- the most reliable way to catch wary or pressured fish.
Reaction Power Fishing
An aggressive, fast-moving approach using heavy gear and big, loud baits to cover water quickly and trigger reaction strikes from active fish -- the technique for finding the biters fast.
Finesse Sight Fishing
Visually spotting an individual fish and casting to it specifically -- the most hunting-like, demanding, and rewarding way to fish, built on stealth, accuracy, and patience.
Bottom Surf Fishing
Fishing from the beach into the surf zone for fish cruising the troughs and bars -- accessible, shore-based, and rewarding to anglers who learn to read the sand.
Reaction Topwater Fishing
Working lures across the surface so fish blast up through them -- the most visual, heart-stopping way to fish, from poppers and walkers to frogs and buzzbaits across fresh and salt water.
Reaction Trolling
Pulling lures behind a moving boat to cover water at a controlled depth and speed -- the go-to method for offshore pelagics and Great Lakes salmon and walleye.
Vertical Vertical Jigging
Dropping a heavy metal jig straight down to structure and ripping it back up to imitate a fleeing baitfish -- the go-to method for amberjack, tuna, and bottom fish over reefs, ledges, and wrecks.
No techniques matched those filters.