new year - new skills

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

Right folks.

 

In keeping with Eltons wishes to get this forum back on track, lets talk fishing!

 

Imagine I am a complete numpty when it comes to shore fishing. (Believe me it's VERY close to the truth!!)

 

I live 10 yards from the shore, and as I will probably not be driving for a year or two I guess I will be fishing here a fair bit this year.

 

I've got the basics, rod reel etc (crappy ugly stick beach rod big shakespeare reel) when funds allow they will be upgraded to a decent beach rod and multiplier.

 

So what do I need to know ?

 

What line?

what rigs?

what baits?

 

What do you need to know from me to give me good advice?

 

Bear in mind that I want this thread to become a useful resource for others begining to shore fish too, and lets have some good information.

 

And please guys and gals, lets keep this one on topic.

[sam-cox]

What sort of ground are you going to be fishing Nick?

Where abouts are you?

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

Hi Sam

 

Right outside the house I've got a mixture of mud and pebbles. Couple of hundred metres one way there is an area of rock, with a vicious tidal run.

 

Within a mile of the house I have access to sandy beaches, muddy beaches, and shingle beaches, plus some deeper rocky marks.

 

I'm at North Corran, which is on Loch Linnhe, about 8 miles south of Fort William.

[Dan]

When I'm fishing new ground I try to cover both angles so on the open beaches I would use 15lb main line with a 50lb shock leader. I'd put on a running ledger at the bottom, 18" hook length with a fairly large hook 4 O plus. Up from the lead I'd use a boom with a 12" hook length and a smaller hook. I'd put a big fish or squid bait on the bottom and a smaller bait on the top. Id then experiment with bait and distance to see where the fish are holding, ten adjust to suit. A good wander on a spring low water would help you investigate the bottom and get a better idea of what the fish might be eating, rag, lugg, mussels etc etc.

 

Ideally I'd fish 2 rods, perhaps one with big baits and one with small, that way you can cover more ground. If the bottom is rocky I'd up the main line breaking strain, perhaps use a rotton bottom and a lead lift.

 

How does that sound!

 

dan

[SandTiger]

Assuming you are not going to be fishing very very snaggy marks which is a totally different kettle of fish then 15lb (.35mm) mono mainline – Daiwa Tournament is nice and supple but a bit on the pricey side at around £8.50 for a ¼ oz spool. However you will probably find that Daiwa Sensor is just as good at around £6.29.

 

Now for the public safety announcement – Shockleaders, these should be the length of your rod plus about 5 turns on the real – The Shockleader is a much thicker bit of mono which takes the impact from casting out a lead which 15lb would not handle – As a general rule of thumb for every oz of lead add 10lb of shock plus 10lb (ie for a 5oz lead then use 60lb of shock) – One example for joining shockleader to your mainline can be found here - http://www.fish4fun.com/Leader_to_Line.htm but there are quite a few other methods.

 

Rig clips (http://gemini-tackle.co.uk/clips.php ) are worth adding to the end of your shock to allow you to change and use different rigs dependant on where and how you are fishing andwil also allow for faster baiting up if you have a few rigs on the go (double patting). A good all round knot to master is the Uni Knot - http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/guide...2003Sp_Uniknot/

 

Rigs – Keep ‘em simple and always make sure that the body of the rig is suitable to handle the lead that you are chucking! I know it’s Xmas but you don’t really be needing to add the decorations to your rigs. However beads will help to cushion impact on any knots that are likely to come into contact with swivels – For where you are I would go with a simple pulley rig setup – Crimps or Power Gum can be used where needed to act as stops. Bait Clips - These are an effective way of improving streamlining for increased casting distance.

 

An example of a pulley rig can be found here - http://www.nesa.co.uk/rigs.htm along with a few others. Given the possibility that you could be hooking Spurries then you may wish to take that into consideration when making up your snoods.

 

Leads – Basically some come without grip wires and will roll in the tide and are useful for types of fish that may bury themselves and wait for prey to come to them such as Plaice. Grip leads will hold a bait static (in theory) and present a scent trail for more active predators.

 

Bait - keep it fresh and natural – There are quite a few promising marks for gathering bait close to where you are.

 

That’s a start where I’ve only really just touched on one very basic but general all-rounded set up for fishing over sand and shingle

Good Hunting.

[sam-cox]

Shock leaders are only nessersery when casting long distanses. If you are fishing at close rang from the rocks into deep water for wrasse I would use 15lb line straight through, or if fishing the shallow gullies that run inbetween rocks 15lb straight though would be about right.

A lot of anglers cast past decent fish, I always fish faily close range, the nearest ground I fish to what you mention Nick I suspect is the Cornish Coast. I have caught hundreds of bass from veryu shallow rock marks using a carp rod 15lb, running ledger and peeler crab baits.

You may have a beach with rocks at the edges, if you get a surf running you could cast across the surf from the rocky endges letting your bait be brought round with the surf.

[flattiefanatic]

Considering that you have a variation of bottom compositions available to fish Id go with a mainline of around 18-20lb. A good quality mono will still retain a diameter of around 0.35mm or so even in these breaking strains. Plus you get the added security of those few extra pounds.

 

Rig wise, keep it simple. Something like a two hook flapper for the rock mark and a one up one down, or a two/three hook clipped down rig for the clean ground, stick with hooksizes of around twos for the first few sessions just to find out whats around.

 

Even though you might not be fising at distance a leader is still necessary IMO for a multitude of reasons; it gives you extra security when you need to blast the bait out those extra few yards, if you're fishing from a high stance then it allows you to lift a largish fish to dry land. It wont impede on your distance that much.

 

IMO main species around Corran would probably be dogfish, maybe some Codling at this time of year, so Id use mainly fish baits, but a fish/shellfish cocktail could be useful for picking out a Codling or two. You'l no doubt get some flats on the muddy ground so worms will come into their own if you can get a hold of them for the clean ground.

 

Hope this is of some help.

[Leon Roskilly]

And don't forget to do some lure fishing too

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Guest @Winter@]

Your fishing will improve if you know the ground you fish. Walk it as many times as possible over low water. The bigger spring lows are a good time for this. Learn where every rock and hole is, if its kelpy learn where the areas are with no kelp ( a good area to cast to), look for little channels that connect 1 deep area to another. Pick areas where you would imagine fish would be lurking when the area is covered by water. Photograph these areas and put them on your computer. Look at them as often as possible untill you feel you could go there blind folded and be able to find your selected area ( effectively if you fish in dark it is rather like being blindfolded). Choose some areas where you can cast from at different states of tide and learn how far you need to cast to hit certain features in the water. I know many people who know they are hitting a certain gulley or area of kelp by the amount of turns of the handle when they wind in.

 

This shows an excellent gulley which would hold fish. Casting into this very gulley has actually produced many fish into double figures and above. I think Bc had a 20 pounder near here.

 

Casting beyond the red line would give a good chance of fish at this rocky venue. As you can see, in some places you wouldnt need to cast much further than 20 yards or so.

[SandTiger]

We’ll I guess it might be worth covering heavy ground also – Remember you will be putting far greater strain on you gear – A heavy rod like the Ron Thompson Axelerator and a Daiwa SHV 40 would be my personal weapon of choice – Use a fixed spool and you’re likely to watch it shoot up through your rod rings.

 

First off, expect to lose plenty of lead (or equivalents) in the snaggy ground that you are fishing – There are various methods for creating a weak link between your weight and your trace or mainline. If you are just doing gentle lobs into deep water then replace your mainline with 30-40lb straight through. Although I still prefer to use an 80lb rubbing leader just to take the abuse that rocks can do to line especially if you have a decent fish – It’s a matter of personal choice at the end of the day.

 

A simple running ledger with one 5/0 hook will see you fine – Again with a simple approach there is far less to snag.

 

I hear some very good Conger sport can be had in at certain places