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What Are The 5 Senses of Fish? [Learn These & Catch More Fish!]

July 18, 2020 by Cory Haasnoot

Hand holding a fish at sunset and the words 5 senses of fish.

Understanding the five senses of fish will help make you a better angler and in turn, will help you catch more fish. Since that’s the case I thought I would write an article on the subject and that’s exactly what I have done.

So your first question would be:

What are the five senses of fish? The five senses that fish have are:

Vision
Smell
Taste
Hearing
Lateral Line

By the end of this article, you will completely understand these five senses and how knowing this information can help you catch more fish!

The Five Senses of Gamefish

Depending on the conditions fish find themselves in will determine what senses they use more. For example, if the water is cloudy or mucky and a lot of debris is stirred up gamefish will use their hearing, smell, taste, and lateral line.

If the water is clear they will make better use of their vision. I will explain each of the five senses of fish so that you get a better understanding of how fish operate underwater.

Vision

Bony Fish Eye Diagram — Gretarsson / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

All fish have eyes but some fish species see better in certain conditions than others. All gamefish have two types of receptors. They are:

Rods
Cones

The rods are the intensity receptors and the cones are color receptors. Fish such as sunfish and bass which are shallow water fish have a high cone to rod ratio. Having this high ratio allows them to see color just like a human would.

Also shallow water fish see color better than their deepwater counterparts. It’s amazing how nature equips animals with the senses they need for the specific situation they are in.

Deepwater fish like northern pike and walleye don’t need to see color because color becomes distorted the deeper in the water you go. You can only see the color red up to 10 feet of water and blue becomes nonexistent at 50 feet. So being able to see color does no good to deepwater fish. Northern Pike and walleye need to rely more on their other senses.

Another factor is if the water is cloudy or at night both shallow water and deepwater fish have to rely on their other senses to navigate the waters accurately.

Hearing

Fish don’t hear like humans because they don’t have external ears or an eardrum. In order for fish to hear they rely on small internal ear bones that vibrate from the external sounds in the water. This is called bone conduction.

Although fish don’t have ears like humans they do have what is called Otolith organs that are an inner ear of fish. Humans have this organ as well in our ears. It helps with keeping our equal Librium in balance. The otoliths also help us perceive our sense of speed when we are traveling and in fish, it does the same thing. It works with the gravitational pull of our planet.

Hearing is very important to fish especially at night or if the water is not clear. Using noisy baits such as Larry Dahlberg Whopper Popper works well for catching bass. Bass are a very receptive to noise especially in conditions that they can’t see well. You can also use rattles on your lures to imitate the noise that crawfish make when they bounce off the bottom of a river bed. Bass go crazy for that.

Lateral Line System

Scales of the lateral line of fish.

The lateral line system is the touch sensory organs of fish. These sense organs run the length of the fish from what’s called the head canal system to the trunk canal system. They have small pores along with the system that picks up vibrations and pressure variations in the water. There are then nerve endings that pick up these vibrations and send them to the inner ear bone of the fish where bone conduction takes place.

These pores can tell the fish that prey is present. They also tell the fish how big the prey is, how fast it’s going, and in what direction it’s going. The lateral line is one of the most important senses a fish has. For without it fish would be hard-pressed to catch their prey.

Smell

A fish’s sense of smell is important because that is another sense that they use to pick up predators or prey that are in the area. Smell because more important when the water is cloudy or at night and if the sound is not there.

The current of the water plays a role because the smell of their prey or predators will flow with the current of the water. Some fish use scent more than others.

Fish such as bream, salmon, catfish, and trout use their smell much more than northern pike, bass, and walleyes. As a matter of fact, salmon can find the home rivers that they come back to spawn in using their sense of smell. They can actually remember the smell of the river that they have been before. To me, that is just amazing!

This is why fish like bream or catfish go after smelly type baits like scented plastic worms. You can also use a liquid base to add to your bait. Anything with a strong smell that humans would not like fish like catfish, bullheads, and bream will love. A good blood smell will go a long way in catching more fish like the ones I just described above.

Taste

The last fish sense is taste. Most fish don’t use taste as much as they do smell. But bottom feeders like catfish and bullheads use their whiskers that have taste buds at the end of them to taste out prey and other goodies at the bottom of the lake or river.

All fish have a sense of taste. Taste buds are located at the end of the whiskers or barbels as I said above. Fish also taste with their fins, mouth, and on their tongue. Catfish have what’s called chemoreceptors all along their bodies. Letting them taste everything they touch while swimming. Fish can taste:

Bitter
Sweet
Sour
Salty

Understanding the Five Senses of Fish

Once you have a good understanding of the five senses of fish and how they use these senses to navigate the waters you will be better equipped to use this knowledge to catch more fish.

You can use visual baits and smelly baits depending on the fish you are trying to catch and what conditions you find yourself fishing in. All of this plays a role in how many fish you will catch.

If the water is clear and your fishing during the day in shallow water you will want to focus on using baits that are colorful and stand out visually because in this condition fish will be relying on their vision and if the fish are there you will catch more of them.

When using colorful baits you will want to experiment with different colors to find out which colors are best used for that day and time you are fishing.

If you are fishing in dark waters at night for deepwater fish you will want to rely on smelly and rattle type baits to catch more fish. Experiment with different smells and types of bait to see what works best. Before you know you will be catching more fish then you can keep!

I hope you got some useful information from this article and if you have any questions or comments please leave them below. I would be glad to answer them to the best of my ability. Thanks for reading and Happy Fishing!

Different Types of Fishing Reels – A Helpful Guide

August 30, 2020September 27, 2019 by Cory Haasnoot

Different types of fishing reels. Baitcasting, fly fishing, spinning and spincast reels.

What are the different types of fishing reels? That is the question. It is also a very good question to ask when you are just getting started in the world of fishing. It’s a good question because the reel is one of the most important pieces of equipment you will want to acquire in your fishing arsenal.

But first, you will want to choose which type of fishing rod you want to use and then choose the reel that is right for the rod. So assuming you have picked a rod I will explain the different types of fishing reels and their uses.

4 Different Types of Fishing Reels

There are four types of fishing reels that you can choose from before going out fishing. The four types of reels are:

Bait-casting Reel
Spinning Reel
Spin-cast Reel
Fly Reel

Bait-casting Reels

Baitcasting spinning reel

There are two main kinds of bait-casting reels. They are round style and low profile.

Round Style

The round style is the more traditional type of bait-casting reels. They hold more line than the low profile reels but your line can get tangled up easily with these reels. This is the style you want if you are fishing for the monsters of the sea because they can put up with the fight of a large fish.

Low Profile Style

Low profile bait-casting reels are lighter and smaller than the round style reels. They produce less backlash and don’t tangle as easily as the round ones do. This style is not quite as accurate as of the round style but still can get your line pretty close to where you want it to be. Low profile reels are best used for large species freshwater fishing like lake trout, musky, or catfish.

Bait-casting reels are best for the more experienced angler. It takes quite a bit of practice to learn how to operate a bait-casting reel. You need to control the spool using your thumb which can be tricky to learn.

Once you do get the hang of how they work bait-casting can be one of the best reels to use fishing because they are extremely accurate casting reels. When you cast your line you can stop the line by pushing a button on the reel at the exact spot you want. This makes for excellent pinpoint accuracy that anglers love about the bait-casting reels.

Most of the bait-casting reels come with an open face. They are best used with heavy test line and big heavy lures. You will be able to fight some monster fish with these reels because there are many gears in these reels. For every revolution of the handle, the spool turns three times giving you extreme power against the fish.

So naturally, you probably guessed but baitcasting reels are popular with the saltwater anglers who go after the larger sized fish species like Marlin or swordfish. Saltwater anglers also love these reels because you can cast long distances with them. Which is important when casting into the ocean.

Spinning Reels

Spinning fishing reel.

Spinning reels are the most popular of all the reels. This is because they are easy to use and you can do most types of fishing using these reels. The reel itself hangs below the rod, unlike bait casting and spin casting reels that are located above the rod.

All you have to do with a spinning reel is hold the bail arm open when you are casting and let go when your lure or bait hit the spot on the water that you were aiming for. You also need to keep your fingers on the line before you cast and let go when you cast.

With spinning reels, you want to use light no heavier than 20 pounds test line. Line capacity is excellent on these reels and there’s no backlash with spinners.

There are six main components on a spinning reel. They are:

Drag

This component is located in the front of the reel on top of the spool. With the drag, you can adjust the tension of the fishing line on your reel. By tension, I mean how much the fish is going to feel when it’s yanking on your line.

Bail Arm

The bail arm is the curved piece of the metal lever that you flip when casting your line. Doing this lets your line loose so that it can be cast. You let it flip back when casting is complete.

Reel Handle

The handle that you use to retrieve the fishing line.

Line Spool

The spool holds the fishing line.

Line Roller

The line goes from the spool to the line roller to the rod.

Reel Foot

The reel foot holds the reel to the rod. It’s held to the rod by a screw or some type of tightening mechanism.

It can be a daunting challenge trying to decide on the right spinning reel to choose from. There are so many different kinds on the market.

If you’re in the market for a new spinning reel then do yourself a favor and check out my review of the best saltwater spinning reels here. These spinning reels are rated for saltwater fishing but can also be used for freshwater fishing as well.

Spin-casting Reels

Spincast Fishing Reel.

Spin-casting reels are good reels for beginning anglers to use. There’s not a lot that can go wrong with these reels. All the critical components are enclosed with a cover that screws or pops on and off for protection from line tangling and the elements getting in. You won’t have any backlash with this type of reel.

The fishing line comes out a hole in the cover. A button opposite of the cover lets the line release when you push it and it stops when you let go. Very easy to cast. But this type of reel is not as accurate as the spinning and bait-casting reels. And you won’t be able to cast as far as you could with the other reels.

Fly Reels

Fly fishing reel.

The last of the main types of fishing reels is the fly reel. What are the fly reels used for? You guessed it fly fishing. These reels are a lot different than all the other types of fishing reels.

I’m not sure why they even call these reels because you don’t even reel the fish in with them. They are only on the fly rod to hold the fishing line but they provide tension or drag which is important when fighting big fishing at the end of your line.

The main thing you want to consider when choosing a fly reel is that you want one that won’t rust. When you are fly fishing your reel is going to get wet. You are probably going to get wet as well because you are usually in the water likely a river or a stream when you are fly fishing. So a rust-resistant fly reel is very important.

The other thing you want to know is the weight of the line you’re typically going to be using and choose a fly reel that’s compatible with the weight for the line you are using. There are various sized fly reels and the prices can vary wildly so due your homework before choosing a fly reel for the first time.

If you’re interested in getting started fly fishing then you will want to check out the guide I wrote about fly fishing for beginners. The fly fishing beginners’ guide will show you what equipment you need to get started and some useful tips to get you catching those delicious trout that a lot of us crave.

Which Fishing Reel is Right For You?

Now that you have an idea of what different types of fishing reels are out there it is your turn. To recap there are four main types of fishing reels to choose from.

Bait-casting

There is the bait-casting reel used mainly by experienced anglers. They are the most accurate of all fishing reels. You use them when you are fishing large types of fish and for saltwater fishing. They handle heavier weight lines and large lures.

Spinning

Then we have the spinning reels. These are the most popular of all the reels. They are easy to cast for long distances. You can catch a variety of fish using spinning reels. They are ideal for intermediate experienced anglers.

Spin-casting

Next, we have the spin-casting reels. These are great reels to use as a beginner. They are easy to cast but they don’t cast as far as the other reels. These are the most inexpensive of all the reels but they won’t tangle or give you backlash and all the main components are protected by a cover.

Fly

Last, are the fly reels. These reels are used exclusively for fly fishing. There are many varieties and prices vary on these types of reels. You will want to choose a fly reel that is rust-resistant and is rated for the right weight of line you will be fishing with.

I hope you got some useful information from this article. Thank you for reading and If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comments section below. As always Happy Fishing!

How to Clean a Spinning Reel – Helpful Guide Shows You How

August 30, 2020September 25, 2019 by Cory Haasnoot

Person's hand holding a spinning fishing reel.

Knowing how to clean a spinning reel is crucial to the continued performance of your spinning reel. Spinning reels are one of the most important pieces of fishing equipment that you could own. So you will want to clean your reel properly by removing dirt, debris, and saltwater that can accumulate on and in your reel.

These little particles can get in your reel and cause damage and corrosion that could become irreversible. That’s the last thing we want. You have spent your hard-earned money on this equipment and you want to keep it as pristine as possible.

If you adhere to the following guidelines your spinning reel should last for years to come. Without further ado let’s jump right into the dirty little details. 🙂

How to Clean a Spinning Reel Properly

Saltwater Usage

Saltwater is one of the worse things that can happen to your spinning reel. If you are a saltwater angler you will want to clean your reel more often than a freshwater angler would. You will want to clean it after every fishing outing that you go on.

Freshwater Usage

If you are a freshwater angler you will probably want to clean your spinning reel about once or twice a year. I will usually clean my reel once in the middle of the fishing season and then when I’m done fishing for the season. That way you don’t put it away wet so to speak.

Items Needed For Cleaning a Spinning Reel

You will need a few every day around the house type of items to clean your reel with.

Here’s what you need:

Phillips head screwdriver or screw gun with a Phillips insert.
Flat Head Screwdriver
Tweezers
Q-tips
Toothpicks
Toothbrush
WD-40 or a similar brand lubricant
Reel Grease
Ball Bearing Oil
Clean towel or rags that you can get dirty and stained

Once you have these items you are ready to clean.

First Clean the Outside of the Spinning Reel

Cleaning the outside of your reel is the easiest and doesn’t take long at all. You can do this after every fishing outing that you go on if you like. You can use a hose with a light mist of water to clean the salt and dirt off the outside of the reel. Next whip it off with a clean, dry towel or rag.

Whatever you do don’t dunk it in a bucket of water even though bearings and components are sealed it is not good practice to put your reel in water if you absolutely can help it.

Next, take the spool off and then you will want to lower the axle of the reel so that it is in a downward position. You can do this by turning the handle. After that, spray the body of the reel with WD-40 making sure to have the rotor and spool axle away from you while you are spraying.

Now take the towel and whip down the body of the reel. This will clean the dirt and grime from the outside of the reel. Pretty easy right?

Cleaning the Internal Components of the Spinning Reel

Now that the outside is nice and clean you will want to start disassembling your spinning reel so that you can clean the internal parts of the reel.

I recommend taking your reel apart piece by piece taking special note of the parts that come off so that you can reassemble them in reverse order from the way you disassembled them. A good way to keep track of the parts is to get a pad of posted notes and put the part on the posted note with a number that corresponds with the part 1, 2, 3, etc. Then you would assemble the parts in reverse order after cleaning.

Take out little parts like springs with the tweezer. This ensures that you won’t lose any parts while you are disassembling them. The tweezers also make it a lot easier putting the small parts back as well.

Grease the Gears and Oil the Bearings

Once you have everything disassembled, check the gears in the reel make sure that grease doesn’t look black or have dirt and grime in it. The only reason the gear grease would be dirty is if you dropped it in mud or dirty water. If the gears have dirt in the grease then you will need to take the gears out and clean them with the Q-tips. Make sure that you align them right when you put them back in. If the gears are misaligned you are going to damage the reel and or it won’t work.

If the grease seems clean then all you have to do is dab a little grease using a toothpick onto the bottom and top of the gear teeth. The block that holds the gears should be greased as well on the top and bottom.

Clean the ball bearings with a biodegradable cleaner and then oil them using only one drop of oil per ball bearing.

Cleaning of Parts

Now you will want to clean all the parts with a biodegradable cleaner. There are special rod and reel cleaners that you can buy but you can also just use Simple Green or WD-40. Clean the parts scrubbing with a toothbrush and toothpicks to get into the small crevasses. This is the most important part of the cleaning process. Make sure all sand, grit, and dirt are out of the component parts before reassembling.

When All is Said and Done

Once you have sufficiently cleaned all the internal parts of the reel, greased and oiled everything that needs it then you can start reassembling all the parts. As long as you numbered the parts as I mentioned earlier you should have no problem reassembling them in reverse order from how you disassembled them.

Once the reel is put back together spin the reel and make sure it works the way it’s supposed to. The good thing is that it’s not that difficult as long as you have everything laid out and individually numbered. You only need to do this once or twice a year if your fishing freshwater but if your saltwater fishing you might want to do this after every fishing excursion.

At the very least for saltwater fishing clean the outside of the reel every time. Now that you know how to clean a spinning reel you will be able to keep your reel corrosion and damage-free for years to come.

I hope I have provided you with useful information on how to take care of your spinning reel. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comments section below and I will be happy to answer each and every one of them. As always Happy Fishing!

Minn Kota Talon Shallow Water Anchor | Anchor’s Away!

August 4, 2020January 10, 2019 by Cory Haasnoot

Product: Minn Kota Talon 
Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com
Product Dimensions: 57 x 8 x 6 inches ; 60.5 pounds
Guarantee: Limited Warranty
My Rating: 9.8 out of 10

>>Available Now on Amazon

If you’re thinking about purchasing a shallow water anchor, then you need to check out the Minn Kota Talon Shallow Water Anchor. This anchor has it all from a user-friendly interface to offering 4 different depth versions.

In this article, I will give you thirteen reasons why the Minn Kota Talon is by far the best shallow water anchor system you can buy to date. So let us jump right into those eleven reasons.

Reason #1 – Electro-Mechanical Design

The first reason you want to purchase the Talon shallow water anchor is that of its electro-mechanical design. This design is quieter and more user-friendly than other shallow water anchors on the market. The Talon comes with a mounting bracket that’s adjustable up and down so that it fits any transom. It also has 30 degrees of pivot and easy removal.

Reason #2 – Vertical Deployment

With the Talons vertical deployment the anchors stay out of your way when you are rummaging around on the boat trying to hook that trophy fish.

The Talons go straight down so you won’t get your lines tangled in them. Having the light is great at night when it’s hard to see when the fish swims to the stern of your boat.

Reason #3 – Five Ways to Control

You have six different ways you can control the anchors.

Footswitch
Wireless Remote
i-Pilot or iPilot Link Remote
Minn Kota Smartphone App
Directly from Your Hummingbird Unit
Directly on the Talon Control Panel Itself

Reason #4 – Sleek New Design with Many Color Choices

The new design has a sleek and sexy look to it. And it’s more arrow dynamic than the competition anchors. The Minn Kota Talon also come in a variety of color choices to match your boat. The colors are:

Black/Black
Blue/Black
Red/Black
Silver/Black
Silver/White
White/White

If you can’t match your boat color with them, I don’t know what to tell you. I guess you will have to get some spray paint and do your own paint job on them. 🙂

Reason #5 – Led Depth Indicator

The Minn Kota Talon shallow water anchor has a led depth indicator to tell you how deep the water is at any given time. The indicator comes in handy if you don’t have a fish finder on board. Check the depth of the water on the talon’s control panel and fish accordingly.

A depth indicator is an option, not all shallow water anchors have on them. But the Talon provides it and much much more.

Reason #6 – Deployment Notification System

A deployment notification system sounds an alarm if you try to take off with the talons deployed in the water. I don’t know how many times I have forgotten to take up the anchor before I have taken off. All I can say is that it is not good for the boat or the anchor!

Reason #7 – Launching Is Easy As Pie

Easily launch your boat. Just back your boat and trailer into the water. Launch the boat off of the trailer and press the remote button to deploy the talons. Then park your truck. This keeps the boat from floating all over the place and drifting out to sea before you are ready to get in and go.

Hop into the boat press the remote button to bring the talons up and your off and fishing! There’s nothing to it. This saves a ton of time at the boating dock so that you will have more time out on the water fishing.

Reason #8 – Built-in Work Lights

Built-in Work Lights There are work lights built right into the anchors. Light up the boat transom with the blue and white work lights. Each of the lights has three brightness intensity settings to help light up whatever you are doing on the boat.

The light is perfect for night time fishing or if you have to tie knots in your line when it is a dark day. You can never have enough lights on your boat. The lights also help so that other boaters can see you at night on the lake.

Reason #9 – Push Button Selections

The push-button selectable anchoring modes let you adjust your anchoring positions for any weather conditions. The separate anchoring modes are:

Soft Bottom – If it’s muddy or silty
Standard – For normal anchoring
Rough Water – For heavy winds and choppy water conditions

Reason #10 – Lower Profile

A lower profile allows you to fit into more places like your garage or under low bridge decks.

Reason #11 – Foot Tap Stowing

With the Minn Kota Talon shallow water anchor, you have easy stowaway of the anchor system with a tap of the foot.

Reason #12 – Four Different Talon Lengths

Last but not least. The Talon anchor system has four different lengths for a variety of depths to choose from.

8 Foot
10 Foot
12 Foot
15 Foot

The fifteen-foot version is 50% deeper than the deepest anchor of any shallow water anchors on the market today. The anchor talons are indestructible. They have a strong and flexible anchor spike that carries a lifetime guarantee. The talons are also engineered to resist the effects of saltwater corrosion.

Reason #13 – Wave Absorption

Minn Kota Talon Your boat stays anchored down even in rough weather with the built-in floating suspension. The anchor won’t be affected when the boat is rocking back and forth and up and down. Nothing worse than having your anchor rip out of it’s holding on the bottom when you are trying to fish your perfect fishing location!

You will really appreciate the wave absorption that these anchors offer especially on a windy day when the water can get rather choppy!

Anchor’s Away

So there you have it thirteen reasons you should get yourself the Minn Kota Talon shallow water anchor. With it’s

Electro-Mechanical Design
Vertical Deployment
Six Ways to Control
Sleek new design and many color choices
Led Depth Indicator – Wave Absorption – Deployment Notification System
Ease of Launching
Built-in Work Lights
Push Button Selections
Lower Profile
Four Different Talon Lengths

You can’t go wrong and deciding to pick up the best shallow water anchor system that has been made so far. I recommend Minn Kota as a stable and trustworthy company that stands behind their products, and they have awesome customer service.

Go out and get yourself the Minn Kota Talon shallow water anchor for your boat. You and your fellow anglers will thank you for it.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comments section below. Thank you for reading and Happy Fishing!