What strategy to implement?
The first thing to do when you are about to tank fishing (but also elsewhere) is to ask yourself the right questions. Here is a non-exhaustive list.
- What is the water temperature? Is it rising, falling, stable?
- Where does the wind come from? Analyze the atmospheric pressure (rise or fall).
- Where is the natural food of the tank?
- Is there any activity on the surface? And if so, what do they feed on?
- In which part of the lake do you fish? How deep is it?
Once these questions have been asked, the next step is to observe the environment and see if the trout show up. If they do, we already have a clue about their presence.
Then it is necessary to locate the surface currents and water veins. Arrival and exit of water which are always strategic points.
Knowledge of the lake saves time and allows you to fish in the right places according to the conditions.
If not, you have to fish around quickly to find the areas where the fish are active.
Often, it's a matter of water depth. Finding out in which layer of water the trout are located then allows you to know how to fish for them.
Then of course comes the type of fly, the colors, the animations, etc. This can vary from one day to another, even from one hour to another!
The use of several rods mounted with different combinations allows you to quickly change technique, water layer and try to answer some of these questions and catch some fish. Then it is necessary to refine as the day goes on.
Which techniques to use?
Reservoir fishing can be done in many ways.
Many times, fishermen are content to fish with streamers, but this is very simplistic.
On freshly introduced fish, indeed, it may be one of the most productive techniques, but it is not always the case. As soon as the fish are more educated, you will often have to fish with finer techniques, more natural flies and less aggressive animations.
Therefore, there are a large number of techniques to use, including :
- Streamer fishing. But still it is necessary to fish with the good models, sizes, the good animations and especially at the good depth with the adapted line.
- Dry fishing with aquatic or terrestrial insect imitations, including fishing with chironomid imitations called "chiro". This last one can be practiced again in many ways.
- Drowned fishing is similar to chiro fishing, but with different flies.
- Tandem dry-nymph fishing.
- Bung fishing.
- Nymph fishing.
- Fishing for boobies.
- Blob fishing, but also a mix of both (blob/booby).
In short, you will have no choice but to try to find the fish of the day and catch the active fish that are either feeding or marauding in the reservoir.
The tank allows you to learn many techniques and to progress in all these fisheries.
