Fishing School
Positioning
This lesson will show you the easiest ways to position yourself to make sure you’ll be getting into some fun fish catching action even if you’re a complete beginner.
Topics Discussed
- 1:41 – Easiest Strategy – Boat
- 3:06 – Easiest Strategy – From Bridge
- 3:48 – Biggest Mistake
- 3:56 – Situational Examples
- 4:28 – Strategy for lures
- 5:36 – Cross current lure trick
- 6:15 – Worst time to fish bridges
- 7:13 – Positioning around docks
On The Water Example
Here’s a helpful video that shows these positioning strategies in action on the water:
If you’d like to see some fun fishing reports of this type of fishing, here are some links to posts we believe you’ll enjoy watching:
Please use the Comments section below to let us know of any positioning related questions you have. We’ll gladly make more lessons for you as needed.
Tight Lines!
Great video on positioning, it seems very logical. Does this apply to beach fly fishing for snook? I am from Naples and beach fly fishing for snook is very popular. I am just trying to apply the previous lesson positioning to what I am targeting.
Thank you guys so much for these video. 100% worth the yearly investment!
Thanks Bryson! For targeting snook along the beach, it’s most often best to stand as far away from the shoreline as possible since the snook are almost always cruising very close to shore… I’ve seen many people who are wade fishing and casting out while the snook are passing behind them:)
Thank you.
This will help a ton. I just bought a kayak and live right by two bridges that can be targeted. Great insights on positioning. I bought a paddle kayak (no pedals) which makes it hard to stay in position when the current and/or wind is pushing me around. I have a small 3.5lbs anchor. I’m always a little wary about anchoring close to bridges with fear of my anchor getting stuck or big boats wake. Anyone has any tricks/tips for anchoring a kayak to fish bridges/fenders?
Given the dangers of anchoring in areas with current and boat wakes, I recommend drift fishing when fishing bridges from a kayak.
Just joined last night and the few videos I have watched have me wanting to get back out on the water. I can’t wait to try the techniques.
Thanks for the video. What was the type of weedless sinker/setup you were mentioning?
The rigging details are explained in the Lures/Hooks lesson a bit further down in this course: https://www.saltstrong.com/fishing-school/beginner-module/lures-hooks/
If you could just slow down, a little bit, your talking speed I could understand
more of what you are saying.
Hey John, you have full control over the talking speed of these videos by clicking/tapping on the small wheel-looking icon that’s on the bottom right corner of the video (the Settings section). In that section, you can slow down or speed up videos as needed.
In certain areas where we fish, there are locks that provide an excellent environment to use both artificial and live bait for fishing. While I have been primarily focused on the marsh, it is time that we revisit the bridges, locks, and docks. Once more, it important to revisit the fundamental fishing techniques!
Thanks for making time to post the helpful comment Danny!
Does the newest trolling motors keep the bow and stern in place or just the bow with the current positioning the boat otherwise?
Trolling motors are most often mounted at the bow, so that’s the section of the boat that it keeps in place.
If fishing from a kayak, can you tie off to the fender itself in Florida? Thanks, great video!
I don’t believe that tying off to bridges is allowed in FL. I recommend drifting if using a kayak because anchoring down can be dangerous if the is prone to have waves from boats or wind.
These videos are super helpful. Thank you for all the work y’all put into these. Curious if there is a post/video on A) how to know when to leave and when to stay (ie how long of not getting any strikes even if you see some of the “Bs” (birds, bait)); and B) what is a reasonable expectation of time to catch a fish (y’all catch like 35 fish in a 10 minute video, which I know is edited but I have no idea whether it took you an hour or 6 hours to catch them).
Thanks Michael! Here are answers to your questions:
A) I’ll give a spot a max of about 30 minutes if I’m not getting any strikes while I’m actually seeing some Bs… much less if not seeing much life.
B) If I’m not catching at least a few target fish per hour, I’m constantly moving to find a better spot (most of my videos are filmed in roughly 3 hours of fishing).
Thanks Luke. Been raining all day today but I’m excited to get back out there and put these lessons into practice.
I am not sure how you can tell about current. Can you visually see the the current, or do you rely on tides, etc.?
If the current is strong enough to be a factor, it’s pretty easy to see which way it’s going since it’ll create eddies behind bridge pilings, channel markers, rocky shorelines, etc. if it’s tough to tell which way the current is flowing, then it’s most likely not strong enough to be a factor in where fish will be positioned.
How fast is too fast for current? I find most of the time I’ve fished under a bridge even a 1oz gets carried away. Half oz would seem to only work just after the tide is changing…?