While waiting for a fish to bite, have you ever thought of how they live each day and what they need to survive?
What Fish Need For Their Basic Needs
A fish experiences three essential urges. Each one sustains them and brings their reproduction into a complete cycle of life. You’ll locate the fish you want far easier when you learn these aspects.
- Habitat
- Food
- Reproduction
- Water Temperature
Habitat
Their habitat controls how they behave. Fish are cold-blooded, and they want the type of environment that caters to that. Other aspects like rocks and shelves provide that perfect match for their needs. When you understand that, by fish type, you have an even better advantage while fishing. A fish map provides that information for you. Then you can match the habitat to your desired catch. Think about the area you are considering for a fishing spot. Is it somewhere the fish you want to catch would swim? If so, chances are, you’ll catch them soon.
Food
Fish all eat on a regular schedule. Constant feeding provides the angler with yet another way to help locate the fish they want. Those feeding habits also often include a flow of water that is specific to their feeding needs. It’s predictable too. As an angler, you need to know your fish. Then, you need to know what each type eats. That’s your bait. You can use that to find the exact kind of fish you want to catch. Also, when you see the things they eat, you know, they’re not far behind.
Reproduction
Their reproduction requires specific environmental factors as well. It’s generally based on water temperature, signaling the perfect time to begin the process. Humans can actually interfere in this natural process. You’ll want to avoid that. Fishing is a wonderful sport, but interfering in it, means less fish later.
Water Temperature
As the temperature changes, it not only signals fish to reproduce, but it can change their activity levels. They will be far easier to catch if it’s at their optimum temperature. Otherwise, they will hide and tend to sleep. That makes the angler’s work more difficult. If you need to bring the fish to you, it isn’t the best way to catch them. When you understand the way fish react to varying water temperatures, you can enjoy your fishing trip better.
The Hierarchy of Fish
Besides their needs, fish have an order to their behavior amongst themselves as well. Fish chase, lunge and retreat away when they meet each other, depending on who the alpha is. Like other creatures, they test out what the others behave like when they first meet. Those moments are advantageous to you. While the fish are sizing one another up, you can easily catch one of them. Their predators are looking to catch them too. Think of it as two predators looking to get them. They are bound to fail far more than if they are dodging you.
Fish Real Estate
This hierarchy leads to where the fish live. They seek their comfort zone for their home. While they go out and swim around, this is where they always return to at the end of the day. Knowing that information brings the fish to you. All you need to do is go where they are. It’s a predictable way to find the perfect fishing spot for the day.
Knowing these things should help you fish more effectively. You can be the most informed person in the world about fishing, but ignoring these basic needs that all fish have, means you’ll waste time. If the process of fishing is your goal, then you can still have a wonderful day fishing. Just realize that catching the ones you want takes skill. That skill takes understanding the basic needs of the fish you are attempting to catch.
