Lid

As ajp said, different meats vary in consistency. Some meats like spam and bacon grill are harder and stay on the hook better. Recently I started using Boosted meat from the tackle shop. I found it an excellent bait and it stayed on the hook really well. Well worth the £1.20 for a tin. The only downside for me is that the flavoured meats in this range of tinned baits contain milk protein which my 8 year old is very allergic to!

Thanks for the replies folks. I haven't yet been on the boat yet, but it's a 20 foot Hardy Pilot and is kept moored in the harbour for 6 fair weather months of the year. It is capable of longer hauls, but probably a bit uncomfortable for conditions over Force 3, so I'm told.

I am a fresh water fisherman who occasionally dabbles with sea angling. Some friends have a small boat in Poole and they want me to show them how to catch fish other than mackerel. In fact they are keen to catch bass, but any other species would be fine too. Can anyone please advise us on what sort of rods, reels, line and tackle to get and whether targeting bass is going to be successful, or should we aim for something else. Although we don't know much about boat fishing, they have an echo sounder and my friends are competent in handling the boat as they go wreck diving, etc. Any advice or recommended books will be much appreciated. Cheers.