Techniques
A technique is a mechanical idea before it's a shopping list. Understand what the rig is doing in the water and the tackle choices stop being arbitrary.
Difficulty and family
| Technique | Family | Difficulty | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crankbait Fishing | Lure | 1/5 | Covering unfamiliar water quickly to find active fish. |
| Spinning with Lures | Lure | 1/5 | Trout, perch, pike, chub and sea bass — the most beginner-friendly lure approach. |
| Float Fishing | Coarse | 1/5 | Roach, perch, bream, tench, carp — and the best way to learn bite detection. |
| Legering / Bottom Bait | Bait | 1/5 | Catfish, carp, barbel, bream and most static bait fishing. |
| Texas Rig | Lure | 2/5 | Bass in weed, laydowns, docks and flooded timber. |
| Drop Shot | Lure | 2/5 | Pressured or clear-water fish: smallmouth, perch, zander, finicky largemouth. |
| Topwater | Lure | 2/5 | Bass, pike and perch at dawn, dusk and over weed mats. |
| Method Feeder | Coarse | 2/5 | Commercial-fishery carp, bream, tench and skimmers. |
| Deadbaiting | Bait | 2/5 | Pike from autumn to early spring. |
| Live Bait Rig | Bait | 2/5 | Walleye, perch, catfish and striped bass. |
| Jig Fishing | Lure | 3/5 | Bass, walleye, perch, zander and pike in almost any depth. |
| Jerkbait / Glidebait | Lure | 3/5 | Cold, clear water — pike, bass and zander in late autumn through spring. |
| Trolling | Lure | 3/5 | Walleye, salmon, trout, pike and striped bass on large lakes and coastal water. |
| Hair Rig | Coarse | 3/5 | Carp, barbel and big bream over a baited area. |
| Surface Fishing for Carp | Coarse | 3/5 | Warm, still summer days when carp are cruising high in the water. |
| Surf Casting | Sea | 3/5 | Striped bass, sea bass, cod, flatfish and rays from the shore. |
| Fly Fishing | Fly | 4/5 | Trout, grayling, salmon, and increasingly bass, pike and saltwater species. |
Lure fishing
Texas Rig
A bullet weight sliding free above a worm hook rigged weedless through a soft plastic. Built for fishing inside cover without snagging.
Drop Shot
Hook tied above a weight on the tag end, so a small soft plastic hovers at a set height off the bottom.
Jig Fishing
A weighted head and hook in one, dressed with a skirt or soft plastic, worked along the bottom.
Crankbait Fishing
A diving hard bait cast and retrieved to cover water and trigger reaction strikes.
Topwater
Surface lures — poppers, walkers and frogs — worked across the top for visual strikes.
Jerkbait / Glidebait
A suspending or slow-sinking minnow worked with sharp rod jerks and long pauses.
Spinning with Lures
Casting and retrieving spinners, spoons or small soft plastics on light spinning tackle.
Trolling
Pulling lures behind a moving boat at controlled speed and depth to search large water.
Bait fishing
Deadbaiting
A whole dead fish presented static or sink-and-draw on a wire trace for pike.
Legering / Bottom Bait
A weighted rig holding bait hard on the bottom, with bites shown on a tip or alarm.
Live Bait Rig
A live minnow, worm or leech on a light rig so it can swim naturally.
Fly fishing
Coarse fishing
Float Fishing
A buoyant float suspends bait at a set depth and signals bites by dipping or lifting.
Hair Rig
The bait sits on a short hair of line behind the hook instead of on the hook itself.
Method Feeder
A frame feeder moulded with groundbait, with a short hooklength buried in the mix.
Surface Fishing for Carp
Floating bait fished on or just under the surface for visibly feeding carp.