How To Plan A Successful Vacation Fishing Trip
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
Here’s how you can plan a successful vacation fishing trip!
Especially during this time of the year, lots of you may be taking trips and vacations.
Or you may be planning a trip centered around strictly fishing the whole time.
The tips below will help you find and catch fish in these scenarios!!
Plan A Successful Vacation Fishing Trip [VIDEO]
Join the Insider Club and get the Smart Fishing Spots App for FREE
This all starts on the Salt Strong Dashboard and makes use of Smart Fishing Spots.
You can either plan a simple trip without going into too much detail or you can go the opposite route and plan everything out to the finest detail.
Simple Plan
Start by heading over to Smart Fishing Spots and open the menu tab in the bottom left corner.
Click on “Smart Spots” to reveal pre-selected fishing hotspots entered in by our fishing coaches.
The polygons that appear in different colors are fishing spots that you should go check out.
Whether you are fishing from a kayak, boat, or even wade fishing, there are spots and access points labeled on the map.
You can save a few or mark down a few spots to have for later and then hit them one-by-one out on the water.
Regional Map
I am a traveling fishing coach so the Dashboard and Smart Fishing Spots are where I spend a lot of time planning trips.
When it comes to fishing in a new state or area, I typically begin to scout an area about 2 weeks out.
However, you need a resource for regional history right?
Smart Fishing Spots has the Regional Map function right on the Dashboard.
Moreover, you can filter the results to show past reports from any time period.
You can then click on individual fishing reports to learn about the fish that were caught, what they used to catch them, and other helpful details.
Although some reports may not be extremely current, you still get a gauge of the trends for that spot during that time of the year.
This is beyond helpful when fishing in an area that you’ve never been to before.
Then, as it gets closer to the day you intend to fish, you can look back on the last 7 days of reports to check out the current trends.
Weekend Game Plan Lessons
Every week, all of the Salt Strong Fishing Coaches break down the current trends in specific areas up and down the Atlantic coast and Gulf regions.
This is without a doubt the BEST way to learn everything about the current trends.
The general trends of the state you’re fishing in give you a clear indication of how to approach fishing in that spot.
Information from different areas is also useful to plan your trips.
Even though the spots may look different, fish behavior and other details may stay the same.
Weather
Starting about a week out from the trip, I take a look at the weather.
Although you may know the general weather trends for an area, you need to look at the weather for any anomalies.
This is the time to take note of any cold fronts, storms, etc. that are coming into the area.
The main things I look for are any spikes or drops in temperature and the wind.
Temperature rises and falls have a major impact on fish behavior and attitude.
I look at the weather the day before my trip, the day of, and the day after to uncover the trends.
Conclusion
Whether you are on vacation or even fishing close to home, these pre-trip planning tips apply.
Smart Fishing Spots is your one-stop-shop for all things inshore saltwater fishing!
Follow the steps above and you’ll catch fish in new areas everytime!!
If you aren’t already an Insider Member, what are you waiting for?!?!
Join the Club and start using Smart Fishing Spots to plan your trips today.
Join the Insider Club and get the Smart Fishing Spots App for FREE
Do you have any more questions about how to plan a successful vacation fishing trip?
Is there anything you do differently or that I left out?
Please leave a comment below!!
Finding The Fish Help
In order to help make sure that you are targeting the right areas based on the latest feeding trends and upcoming weather forecasts, make sure to use the following 3 resources because they will save you a ton of time.
1. Weekend Game Plans (updated weekly)
These regional game plans will show you exactly what types of spots to target in under 10 minutes… just click the video to start, and you’ll be informed on what to do on your next trip.
2. Smart Fishing Spots Platform (updated every 15 minutes)
This exclusive software literally shows you where the most fish are likely to be feeding based on exactly when you’ll be fishing. It factors in the tides, wind, and weather to help you quickly see which areas to target throughout the day.
3. Community Reports (live feed)
The Insider Community platform is what you can use to see what is biting near you, and you can get to know other members who fish in your area. Plus, you can use it to keep a log of your catches so you can use past trips to help predict future catches.
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
That was huge Pat! Thanks for this, I’m headed down to Bradenton area in 3 weeks and have already begun to do everything you covered.
Thanks for watching and I hope it helps you get on some fish!
Thanks Pat, I have used the smart fishing spots several times, but did not know that it had some many helpful filters. Definitely will use on my next trip.
There are so many layers to the map and especially the weather section. When you get a chance dive in and see what you can use to help plan your trips more.
Thanks for watching!
Still disappointed at the coverage (North Carolina/Smart Fishing Spots) of the Tar/Pamlico River, Pungo River and Bay river areas of the Smart Fishing spots tool. That area has an excellent trout fishery this time of year. I do however, appreciate y’all not blowing up my current late fall/winter trout spots. The Neuse river has some adequate coverage and was helpful when I fished it a couple of months back.
Every day there is more added!
This breakdown is SO Helpful. The resources available to us are very valuable, I’m sure this will help set-up a lot of anglers for Success on their future Vacations!
Thanks Justin!
Good info Pat!
Appreciate it buddy!
Thanks for the information Pat
Glad you liked it!!
Good info, Pat!
Thanks Ruben!!
Great stuff, Pat!
Thanks James!
Great video Pat – I usually use the phone app and was not even aware of the regional historical functionalities… thanks!
Thanks Bryan!
The map is on the phone app too. Just click on the hamburger menu on the top right of the screen and select “Map” and it will open that same one.
Thanks for a lot of incite on the app Pat. You have hit on a couple points for me I didn’t realize was part of the platform. Great tools for preplanning.
Glad you liked it Jan!!
There is so much great information in there!