Innehållsförteckning för Issue 532 från Sea Angler

HOW MANY OF YOU STARTED angling by tagging along with a parent or friend? I’d guess that would be the case for the vast majority of anglers. Whatever fishing discipline you got into at the start, be it sea, coarse or game, it’s safe to say that all anglers need a helping hand to get a taste for the sport. You might branch out on your own later, join a club or specialise in certain areas of the sport, say shore, boat or kayak, and make even more angling friends. With that in mind, there’s some useful advice in this issue about helping others get into our great sport of angling. There are some must-have tips in the Sea School section on taking children out on boats, a useful teach-in…

Trim head off sandeel, thread on first hook of Pennell, secure with bait elastic. Do not insert the top hook of the Pennell at this stage of the baiting process. Using sharp scissors, cut a strip of squid and ensure it is longer than the sandeel. Fix the strip on the hook and use bait elastic to secure alongside your sandeel. After securing with bait elastic, make sure the hook point is clear of the bait. Fix the top hook of the Pennell into the other end of the sandeel/squid cocktail. The finished cocktail should look neat and tidy with a hook at either end. Although it is meant for rays, this cocktail bait can attract other greedy species.…

LOCATING EARLY-SEASON SPOTTED and small-eyed rays along my patch of Hampshire can be fraught with difficulties. They are far from consistent, so you can struggle for a bite on one tide, and then just 24 hours later have a bagging session from the same venue. Early-season fish are on the small side, with only an occasional better one taken, although some hefty undulate rays popped up in the most unexpected locations in recent years. As a result, there was a sense of apprehension in the air as I set off on a ray mission during April because, on this occasion, I would be very much the underdog. My target was the White House – not the most famous one in Washington DC, but a section at Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, on the…

GETTING THERE Follow Plymouth’s Union Street leading from the City Centre to Stonehouse. Turn left at the roundabout into Durnford Street and follow the road above the water’s edge to a sizeable car park, which is always open. The Point is about 300 yards away to the right. TACKLE SHOPS • Osborne & Cragg, 37 Bretonside, Plymouth PL4 0BB, tel: 01752 223141. • Plymouth Angling, 131 Victoria Rd, St. Budeaux PL5 1RZ, tel: 01752 361294. • Rob’s Tackle & Bait, 196 Paisley Street, Ford Hill PLS 1DT, tel: 01752 651636.…

THE HEADLINE ON THIS ARTICLE describes my 2015 fishing perfectly, but I had an ulterior motive for using the title of the 1966 Small Faces hit. For I knew that Sea Angler’s editor was a like-minded soul; a fan of the tune penned by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. So it was that April 2015 marked the arrival of another bass season. Calm and unusual, almost sweltering conditions got me from my home in Cheshire into Wales. As the sun dipped towards the horizon, I stepped into the brine for the first time that year. However, things didn’t seem right. The water felt so cold against my chest waders and I knew, with an absence of baitfish, any bass seeking a late peeler crab would be tempered by the cold…

SUPPORT IS WELCOME I read your Welcome page in issue 530 and want to say thank you for what you wrote. It was very positive to read your encouragement to anglers and trade to put aside any previous differences and come together to support the fight for our bass fishing. There are lots of people putting in many hours of work fighting to get us all a better future for our fishing, and seeing Sea Angler magazine helping towards this, along with the tackle trade, is very positive. You guys are in the perfect position to keep the momentum and awareness going and raise it further. I’ve no doubt that together we will all make a difference. Andrew Coombes, Save our Sea Bass RAYS SHOWING EVERYWHERE While improving weather has…

COMPARE the fishing gear used by modern anglers to that of 20 or maybe even 15 years ago and it’s fair to say that tackle has seen a massive overhaul. Rods are far lighter, longer and better balanced. Reels are featherweight, powerful and user-friendly. Even hooks have come on leaps and bounds. One item that’s progressed massively and gives anglers a huge advantage is reel mainline. It wasn’t too long ago that using a shockleader rather than heavy line straight through seemed a ludicrous idea; now we have ultra-strong, thin mainlines with tapered shockleaders that match with any line and cover all eventualities. Modern line offers loads of advantage. It is softer and limper, which aids casting because line flows off spools naturally and doesn’t coil off on its own.…

Each month we’ll select a winning question from each of the shore/ LRF, boat/kayak and lure questions. Three lucky readers will get great gear prizes from sponsors Tronixpro. • BEACH: Tronixpro Centurion Rod, worth £149.99. • LURE: HTO Rockfish Revolution ML 7-28g, HTO Lure Game 3000 reel and HTO Lure Game 20lb Braid, worth a total of £121.97. • BOAT: Tronixpro Envoy Wave reel, Tronixpro seat box, Tronixpo Boatpro rig selection, worth a total of £109.88. HOW TO ASK A QUESTION • Q&A, Sea Angler, Media House, Lynchwood Business Park, Peterborough PE2 6EA • cliff.brown@bauermedia.co.uk • www.facebook.com/ seaanglermag…

TOPE ARE A SPECIES OF HOUND shark typically found in coastal waters, and further offshore in depths up to 550m. A highly migratory species, fish that have been tagged in the UK have been recaptured in The Azores, Canary Islands and off the coast of Iceland. The species is found all around the world, with key areas in the Southern Atlantic including Namibia, South Africa and Brazil. Further afield, tope are found in the North Pacific between British Columbia in Canada, and the Baja peninsula in Mexico, and in the southern Pacific off Chile, Peru, New Zealand and Australia. SPECIES One of the hardest-fighting fish caught off the coast of the UK and Ireland, especially when caught on light tackle, tope (Galeorhinus galeus) are, as a result, a very popular…

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP fishing the Thames Estuary we only had a few choices when it came to lead weights. We either used a breakout grip lead for uptiding or a 1lb bell style sinker when downtiding. If you were really lucky you’d get to use a 12oz watch lead, but they were rarer than mullet’s teeth in my neck of the woods. Long gone are the days of tangled traces due to a bell lead falling over on the seabed and rolling around in circles in the tide. Nowadays there is a huge array of sinker styles to choose from to cover every fishing situation, so I thought it would be a good idea to cover my top seven, all of which I use at some point during…

FRESHWATER AND MARINE BIOLOGY students like me, who also happen to enjoy their sea fishing, do get a few perks. Such an opportunity saw me taking up a post on the edge of the Shannon estuary to help with research into a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Duties included taking pictures of these mammals to identify them, the idea being to ascertain whether the population was stable, growing or in decline. Acoustic monitoring was another feature of the work, as was manning the foundation’s visitor centre – well worth a visit for anybody finding themselves in the Kilrush area of County Clare. It wasn’t all hard work, though! The presence of a large pod of resident dolphins in the estuary means only one thing – food in the form of fish…

TG-F1 MK-3 ROCKET REEL RRP: FROM £290 WAY BACK WHEN 240TBEACH rods were all the rage, Lowestoft’s Tony Gittins developed the best reel-bearing lubricant you can buy. In the 30 years since, Rocket Fuel, in its several versions, including the versatile Yellow formula, has been a must-have for anglers keen to extract the best from their reels and to extend bearing life. Then along came Tony’s range of high-performance replacement bearings, now including the latest ceramics and hybrids, to fit just about any multiplier. Attracting customers worldwide, most people would have sat back and enjoyed the benefits of a tidy business. Not Tony. About seven years ago, a caster from Sweden raised the issue of lightweight, custom-made, casting spools for CT reels. His samples were made of three pieces pressed…

• John Payne caught this bass while ray fishing in the Thames Estuary. The angler, from the Isle of Grain, Kent, was aboard his own boat when he caught the fish on a piece of bluey offered on a size 3/0 hook. The fish was returned. • This 16lb smoothhound was caught on two hardback crabs by Anthony Bailey, of Cardiff, while boat fishing off Tom’s Point, Barry, during an ebbing tide. He was on Matthew Campbell’s Alisha 3. • Strips of cuttlefish on size 3/0 hooks produced this 25lb 8oz cod for Sam Chiverton. The angler, from Newport, Isle of Wight, was fishing from his own boat, Plaice 2B, at the island’s spoil grounds.…

South coast boat anglers are finding some superb shore and boat sport for turbot and brill. A trip out of Weymouth, Dorset, for skipper Jeff Clarke with his boat Duchess, produced six turbot, including this 14-pounder for local angler and boat regular Caroline Haddrell. A few days later, Leah Pitcher, of Bridport, Dorset caught her first brill, weighing a whooping 6lb 5oz, and her partner Paul Gale followed up with a 6lb turbot and 4lb brill. The same boat also produced an impressive 12lb turbot for Geoff Dyke on May 1. Using a launce bait resulted in a 10lb 1oz brill for Lance Kempster, of Braintree, Essex. He was fishing aboard Rob Hickin’s boat Sea Juicer, out of Portsmouth, Hants. Bob Drew, a builder from Eastney, Hants, got his holiday…

• Carl Savell from Portsmouth bagged a 25lb 8oz blonde ray at Selsey west beach in Hampshire. He fished with sandeel and squid wrap on an up-and-over rig with size 3/0 Sakuma hooks. “It was my biggest shore-caught fish, so I was over the moon,” said Carl, who returned the ray. • Highlight of a Lymington & District SFC match on April 25 was a three-bearded rockling of 112 per cent of the specimen weight. The 1lb 11oz fish was caught by club member Denis Mapes. • An angler from Gloucestershire boated a superb 20lb 8oz spurdog during a charter boat trip in the Bristol Channel. Medwyn Jones, of Upper Hatherley, was aboard Dave Bobbet’s Anchorman, out of Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, on May 5 when he caught the big…

• Gary Streeter, of Tonyrefail, Rhondda, used a flowing trace baited with bluey to catch this blonde ray, estimated to weigh 16lb. He was fishing from a friend’s boat out of Penarth. • While fishing off Felixstowe, Suffolk, Ken Wright caught this 12lb blonde ray, quite a rare species in the area. The angler, from Ipswich, also added an 11lb 8oz thornback ray. He was uptiding with a squid and lug cocktail aboard John Cooledge's Laura III. • Tim Dinee, of Gosport, Hants, caught and released this 22lb undulate ray on April 24 while fishing from a private boat at a mark north of the Nab Tower, near Portsmouth.…

GLORIOUS SUNSHINE GREETED THE 106 anglers who travelled from all over the country to compete in the two days of the 4th North Norfolk Bass Festival, organised by Holt SAC. Even the ban preventing anglers retaining any bass until June 30 this year failed to dampen their spirits as catch-and-release angling once again reinforced its credentials as 59 bass were safely returned to the sea. It was one of two bass caught by Mark ‘Kipper’ Colman, of Great Yarmouth, that topped the festival. He caught the fish of 6lb 5oz 10dr and 3lb 2oz on the first day at peg C57 at Kelling, with his biggest the heaviest of the event. The brace of bass helped him to win the first day with 14 fish for 620 fish points worth…

THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH happening with the destiny of our bass over the last year. It has certainly been a rollercoaster of emotions for anyone who has a deep connection with the species and the magical places we go fishing for them. The recent setbacks with Fisheries Minister George Eustice’s weak approach to policy will certainly have tested your faith. If you fish for bass on a regular basis, I’m sure that you must have developed the ability to dig deep when the going gets tough, ignore the three blanks in the last week and write off the big bass that straightened your treble hook. Anglers are a resilient species. Your alarm will still go off at 3am tomorrow and you will still clamber down the rocks or turn…

WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF the top shore angling venues in South Wales, the stubby headland of Stout Point has long been a favourite with shore anglers who specialise in targeting specimen fish. Located approximately midway between Summerhouse Point at the western end of Aberthaw Bay and the beach at Llantwit Major, the closest access to the most productive part of this boulder-strewn beach is achieved by climbing down the cliff at one particular spot. It’s not a difficult climb, but invariably very slippery and, given the added burden of long beach rods, bulky tripods and tackle boxes, the descent should be treated with great care, and not by anglers fishing alone. Certainly, the cliff access is not an option recommended for unfit, elderly, less able or unaccompanied junior anglers,…

I’VE SAID IT MANY TIMES BEFORE AND I make no excuse for saying it again. Local knowledge can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to sea angling on the open coast. The Isle of Purbeck, which is actually a peninsula, offers many miles of exposed fishing on Dorset’s open coast and has a long history of producing specimen fish. Huge conger eels, black bream and bull huss are just some of the species to have made a regular showing here. When an invite came through from Ben Stockley, my friend from Weymouth, Dorset, I was curious to discover what else was on offer. He was fairly confident that an evening tide in late April offered us the chance of catching an undulate ray, a variety of…

CONNECTION The swivel at the top of the rig fits on a link clip on the shockleader. ADD TENSION An SRT spring fits below the snood swivel and provides tension. RELEASE POINT The lower hook releases from the Impact Lead as soon as it hits the water. STOP ON SNOOD Create a bait stop with a sequin or bead fixed with a silicone knot. CASCADE CLIP The top hook clips to a Cascade swivel tied into the lower snood. HOOK CHOICE For this session, the anglers used either size 1/0 or 3/0 short-shank Aberdeen hooks.…

“The higher above a fish you can get, the more control you have” RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, LIGHT ROCK Fishing is associated with the quest for small fish. The ultra-fine tackle is the perfect way to catch mini-species, but you are likely to encounter bigger specimens at some stage. There are times when the larger fish, like pollack, bass and wrasse, become obsessed with taking small prey items. While hooking bigger fish is easy, the hard part is landing them. With the correct tactics it can be done, and it is one of the most fun experiences in fishing. TACKLE CHOICE Standard LRF rods (7-8ft, 1-8g) are more than capable of landing good-sized fish, but some are more suitable than others due to the rod’s action. For fishing close in, I…

IF YOU READ THE CATALOGUES, BOOKS AND magazines, you would certainly think it is important to have tackle that will cast lures a long way when you’re bass fishing. Here are just a few examples: “For a little extra distance, go for hooks with a belly weight.” “The fast action is needed to punch your baits out, even in unfavourable conditions.” “But it’s not going as far as a long-casting lure.” “Suited to modern, long-range lure fishing.” “I do like to cast beyond where I am trying to fish, because this lessens the chance of spooking fish.” Clearly, there is a body of opinion that considers casting distance really does matter when it comes to catching bass. Why should this be? Perhaps it stems from the feeling that if you…

TAKING a son or daughter fishing afloat for the first time is a dream for many sea anglers as soon as they become a father – certainly it was for me. Neither of my offspring are keen anglers, but often, when they were growing up, we would fish together. Amy, my daughter, was quite competitive, though she vehemently denies it, while my son, Luke, was always the quiet one who let the fish do the talking. Both started offfishing for roach at Cwmbran boating lake, though it was probably the prospect of an ice cream rather than the fish that was the deal clincher! I remember almost bursting with pride when, on his seventh birthday, Luke caught his first two blue sharks off the Kerry coast, and Amy was not…

INTRODUCING SOMEONE TO OFFSHORE angling, be they a junior or an adult novice, is not always the simple process that it might first seem. The vast majority of charter boat trips are, by necessity, booked many weeks, if not months in advance. When the big day arrives, while the weather might be suitable to safely fish, all too frequently, conditions offshore are far from ideal for showing a rookie angler the ropes. Most charter trips range from eight to 12 hours, and that’s a long time if it is your first trip and 10 minutes after setting sail you realise that your stomach is less than happy with the experience. Looking at the state of some anglers I’ve seen at the end of a full day at sea, you could…

ABOARD CHARTER BOATS, THE least understood tactic is open ground drift fishing. Anglers often have the wrong approach, inappropriate tackle for the task ahead, and misunderstand what they are trying to achieve. That’s natural when you first take up boat fishing, and it was no different for me because I made every mistake in the book. At many marks, the easiest way is to anchor up and either uptide cast away from the boat, or downtide fish, letting the smell of the baits work their way downtide and hope fish follow the scent trail. This can be very effective in areas where fish, such as rays, are available in good numbers, and where the tide run is so fast that only anchoring is an option. Where it falls down is…

WE’RE LOOKING FOR THE nation’s favourite charter skippers. Each issue we will throw the spotlight on a top boatman nominated by a Sea Angler reader. Use the form right (photocopies acceptable) to tell us the skipper’s name, boat, port and typical charges, along with the reasons you would recommend their services (use a separate piece of paper if you require more space). It’s your chance to tell Sea Angler’s readers why the skipper is so good and what a great service is provided. We’ll select the best entry for each issue and will award the winning operator with a special Sea Angler plaque that the skipper can display with pride on their vessel. This month’s winner: ROB RENNIE • Boat name: Lady Jue 4 • Port: Milford Haven, and Penarth,…

A GROWING NUMBER OF SEA anglers realise that a small, open, easily-trailerable, light, strong, affordable, easy to launch and recover, economical to run and comfortable-to-fish-from angling boat is all they need to get afloat…and the 4.2m Dorset Fast Fishing Boat is precisely that sort of vessel. Built in China and imported into the UK by DFFB, the boat is manufactured from welded sheet aluminium to produce a tough, businesslike boat that has been built to be used and, dare I say, abused on a regular basis. Conforming to Category D, this boat is rated for use in sheltered waters. To be more precise, the publicity material states she is designed for voyages on sheltered inland waterways, where wind Force 4 and significant wave height of 0.5m may be experienced. With…

TG-F2 MK3 ROCKET REEL BLACK & GOLD Price: £366.67 The TG-F2 MK-3 multiplier is an incredible indication of the brilliance of real British engineering. The brain behind this outstanding product is Tony Gittins, who is the guy that also brought us Rocket Fuel reel oil. Manufactured to the very highest standard, this is reckoned to be the ultimate casting and fishing reel, straight out of the box. It can even come with 24-carat gold plating on all fittings, screws and knobs. Other features include black anodised aluminium end plates, and super duraluminium spool ABEC 7 hybrid ceramic bearings. The engineering goes further with a perfectly tensioned (15n) mono-mag control, carbon fibre brake blocks, long-life bronze pinion gear and stainless steel precision drive gear and brake block holder secured with a…

GEARTRAC RRP: APPROXIMATELY £5 FOR FOUR-INCH SECTION AN INNOCUOUS - LOOKING PIECE of metal rail system, GearTrac is mountable to any kayak that possesses a flat surface on which to attach it. Indeed, many kayak manufacturers now include a rail system on their kayaks. In fact, GearTrac is the original rail mounting system, first utilised by Wilderness Systems Kayaks. It has become a firm favourite with paddlers and allows for secure rigging of accessories that is adjustable and removable at the end of the day. Rail-mounting systems facilitate easy application of accessories to the kayak and the rail system is usually of a generous length when pre-installed on kayaks. The advantages are many; a rail system will allow the mounting of all manner of hardware, which can be kept within…

The British Conger Club (BCC) could fold next month unless new blood is found to take on various administration roles. “We've been trying for more than two years to get people to come on to the committee, with no success,” said BCC member and Sea Angler contributor Mike Millman. “This is not only a BCC situation. In the past couple of years we have lost nine clubs, including two of the biggest, simply because of a lack of administrators. It’s a worrying business for saltwater angling.” The Conger Club's annual general meeting takes place on the evening of June 11 during the Members Championship, which has so far attracted only 30 entries, compared to more than 200 at its peak. Cost is certainly a factor in the poor turnout, with…

A charter party fishing off North Cornwall have caught two porbeagle sharks weighing more than 400lb. Best fish was a 457-pounder taken on a live mackerel by Mark Northam, of Cardiff, while on Anchorman 2, skippered by Dave Bobbett, out of Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan. “We went on a two-day trip to North Cornwall in search of porbeagles. This fish took two and a half hours and over a dozen laps of the boat before it was aboard,” said Mark. There were two more porbeagles of 421lb and 145lb. All the fish, caught on May 11, were returned alive.…

FANCY winning tackle from Shimano by catching a fish? Your target is to catch one over the weight given on our nominated species list. If you do, you automatically win a Mission Accomplished badge, as well as being in with the chance of winning a great monthly tackle prize. Each month we award a Shimano Nexave Surf 400 five-piece rod and a Speedcast XS-B fixed-spool reel, worth a total of £300, to the captor of the best shore fish, chosen on merit. The top boat angler each month, chosen on merit, gets a Beastmaster AX Boat Slim rod and a Tyrnos 20 multiplier reel, worth a total of £320. Dennis Thompson, Luton, Beds. Fish: 6lb 1oz brill. Bait: Mackerel. Venue: Flamer IV (Colin Penny), Weymouth, Dorset. Date: Apr 29. Monthly…

BRISTOL CHANNEL FSA SPRING OPEN Blue Anchor to Minehead, Somerset, 75 anglers Sport was tough for this event, with only eight anglers weighing in a total of nine fish. Winner was Richard Allwood, of Weston-super-Mare, with a pair of turbot from his first two casts at Minehead town beach. They fell to fish baits cast close in. The best measured 65cm, about 2lb. • Result: 1 Richard Allwood, Weston-super-Mare, 65cm (7pts); 2 Steve Liddle, Williton, 62cm (6); 3 Chris Stephens, Bridgend, 59cm (5). GARRY EVANS SEAMASTER NEWPORT SAC OPEN St Brides, Newport, 146 anglers A 2.71kg thornback ray secured victory for 36-year-old builder Ross Jones, of Newport, in the first leg of the Seamasters series. Ross, who was fishing at the lighthouse end of the beach, won £300 and £120…

GETTING THERE To get to Stout Point, take the A4265 from Barry towards Llantwit Major. Follow the signs for the beach and just after a mini-roundabout outside of the town, turn left on to a farm track. Park at the end of this track adjacent to the farm building, and please be very considerate as the farmer is tolerant towards anglers. Walk up the path heading towards the coast from the farm, across a field, being sure to keep to the edges, and on to the cliff path. Head east, and after about 100 yards you will locate the well-used access point down the cliff on to the beach below. Due to the nature of the ground, travel as light as you can and avoid walking directly beneath the cliffs…

WHERE TO FISH • The Isle of Purbeck is vast, and fishable platforms are at a premium. I respect Ben’s decision to keep the precise location of this mark under wraps because it’s a long walk to find out that someone has beaten you to it. This is not an area for the inexperienced angler though. Casting is difficult and the ground underfoot quite unsteady in some areas. It is also advisable to seek permission from the landowner before parking on the numerous private tracks that lead to the cliff tops. GETTING THERE • From the A35 at Poole, follow signs to Wareham and take the A351 to Corfe Castle. Continue along this road to Swanage and the Purbecks lie just to the east.…

THE DEVIL’S POINT JETTY DATES back to the early 19th century and is within the Western Kings peninsula on the western side of Plymouth. Angling has been going on at the Point since at least 1820, as proved by a painting in a local collection of an angler fishing from rocks where the present jetty stands. Much of this territory was under military control between the 1700s and mid-1960s until handed back to Plymouth City Council in the 1970s, since when the area has been well developed for public use. Long before the handover, the Point was not totally denied to angling ambition. Illegal access required swinging out over a sheer 30ft drop to get around a 20ft high, rusting wire fence, several feet of which stretched out over the…

WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT IF the majority of fish we caught were big, angry brutes? I would love to be able to say that most of the fish I catch strip hundreds of yards of line from my reel and bring me to my knees with the sheer physicality of the fight, but the simple truth is that we have to work hard to catch the larger fish. For all that, I love my bass fishing, even if they’re not all rod-breakers and reel-emptiers. If size was everything, then I would either emigrate or I’d spend my life out at sea trying to catch species such as sharks and conger eels. Actually, I’m happy just catching fish, so if I happen upon those occasions when hordes of often fairly small…

GROWING UP A STONE’S throw from the River Thames meant I spent a lot of my youth fishing the estuary’s muddy marks with my pal Jason White. We’d cycle to the river with our gear tied to the handlebars and, usually, with only two lights between us – the leading cyclist would have the front light and the one following displaying the red lamp at the rear. It wasn’t without its risks in those days of proper bobbies pounding the local beat. I can remember a policeman stopping us early one Saturday morning when cycling through the town on our way to a mark and telling us to get off our bikes and push them! Don’t get me on the subject of today’s community policing, but things have changed. The…

Sunline, the largest Japanese producer of fishing lines, strives to develop the thinnest and strongest lines. Our winner gets a selection from the range: • Sunline Super PE 150m (4 strand): Hi-vis green, dark green and light blue. Low stretch for sensitivity and extra-tight braiding for durability. Special finish reduces guide friction. Superior control and response when using lures. Very tough when fishing rough ground. Knots are easy to tie. • Sunline Super PE8 150m (8 strand): Hi-vis orange. Resistant to abrasive structures. Sensitive, low-stretch design to capture delicate bites. Slick, smooth line surface for low guide friction and excellent castability. Knots effortlessly. • Sunline Momentum 4x4 150m (8 strand): High-grade polyethylene and high specific gravity ester mono with amazing specific gravity of 1.05. Less susceptible to the effect of…

1 Bait can be a major expense. Digging or collecting your own will not only save you money, but also will ensure you always have the very best-quality bait for your fishing. 2 Buying frozen bait in bulk will save a lot of money. For instance, get a 5lb block of squid and then split into trip-size packets. 3 Tying your own rigs saves money. Buying rig components in bulk, especially hooks, clips and swivels, either online or in your local tackle shop, is the most economical way to buy your terminal tackle. 4 Buying bulk spools of line, either monofilament or braid, is considerably cheaper than buying single reel-fill size spools. Why not share the cost of bulk spools of lines with other anglers? 5 Lead weights are very…

ADAM KIRBY & DAN SISSONS The Portsmouth-based duo fish ultra-light from shore and boat. They’ll provide answers on light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic where size of fish is secondary to the fun of catching them. PAUL FENECH Sea Angler’s features and tackle editor Paul Fenech is here to solve your shore angling problems. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. GARY ROBINSON Galway-based Gary gets a thrill from fishing afloat on a kayak. Send him your kayaking problems. HENRY GILBEY Angler and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, will answer questions on lure angling. Q: I am new to sea fishing and find it increasingly difficult to work out what rigs I should use for beach, pier or boat fishing. Can…

THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF OFFSHORE wrecks within easy reach of the Brighton charter boat fleet. During the summer these produce superb hauls of pollack and cod, but once autumn arrives the focus for wreck fishing turns to bass. There are numerous wrecks known to hold numbers of big bass, and there’s nothing more exciting than drifting with a live mackerel or lure for the chance of that magical double-figure fish. Come the winter, these wrecks continue to fish well and play host to the hard-fighting pollack and cod once again, and it’s not uncommon to catch these powerful fish on relatively light gear and lures. ALL YEAR ROUND There’s something decent to have a crack at all year when fishing out of Brighton. We’ve already explored the realms of offshore…

THERE IS NO BETTER WORD THAN bullish to describe a bull huss on the feed, on your line, or even on the deck of a boat. Its meaning implies aggressive confidence and self-assertiveness. They are certainly aggressive, with no lack of confidence as they twist, turn and bite; you cannot doubt their assertiveness. Find a bull huss and you have a true British shark with a bulldog spirit like no other. For me, at certain times of the year, such as when the water is too coloured to go after bass, they are one of my target species. Growing to more than 20lb, they are fun to tussle with, always fight back and their very real attitude impresses all who come into contact with them. Their proper name is nursehound…

“Dad told me to lift the rod high and the fish came up” IDON’T HAVE BREAKFAST WITH THE FAMILY at weekends because I’m usually out on my kayak catching lunch. When my daughter Eloise was nine she pleaded to be allowed to tag along, so, knowing that my friends were going too, and would provide safety in numbers, I agreed. Shortly before 6am it was time for the short drive to Hopton-on-Sea on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk. The forecast was overcast leading to sunshine, and the plan was to be on the water for 7am. Armed with a Fladen Ice Pike rod, multiplier reel and a running leger with a Pennell rig carrying size 2/0 hooks, Eloise was ready to paddle out 400 yards northwest of the ramp…

WHEN PENN INTRODUCED its original Rampage surf rods, they were instant hits. Now, the range has been improved and taken on a whole new modern look and feel. There are three surf and beach models to choose from, including a pair of three-piece outfits measuring 13ft and 15ft 9in, plus a three-piece bass rod at 11ft 6in. PENN RAMPAGE II SURF BEACH 13FT SSP: £99.99 Designed to cast loads of 4-6oz (113-170g), this stylish rod is a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s very deceptive, and first impressions led me to believe it would struggle to whack a sinker – how wrong I was. From the first thump, it performed incredibly TECH SPEC PENN RAMPAGE II SURF BEACH 13FT • SSP: £99.99 • SECTIONS: Three • LENGTH: 13ft…

RAYMARINE DRAGONFLY 7 PRO RRP: £565 I’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE PROGRESS OF the Raymarine Dragonfly series of displays since they were first put on the shelves a couple of years ago. This is just a quick look at some of the features and functions of the new unit, and I hope to be out on the water soon to do a more in-depth testing. This latest offering in the PRO series is packed full of modern features, some of which are going to change the way we fish. And, costing around £565 including a Navionics chart, it’s a very competitively-priced piece of kit. The Dragonfly 7 PRO is equipped with an extra-large seven-inch display for maximum visibility, and higher resolution for photo-like sonar images thanks to the exclusive DownVision™. Like…

The West Country is producing some massive whiting for both shore and boat anglers. A superb 2.514kg whiting caught off Mevagissey has beaten the Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers’ boat record. It was taken by Robert Griffiths (below), of Threemilestone, Cornwall, on mackerel strip in 200 feet of water over a wreck. Robert, whose club Mounts Bay AS is not affiliated to the Cornish FSA, was aboard Chris Gill’s charter boat Aquila. From the shore, a 2lb 3oz whiting was caught by Rory Eastlake (below) during a Chesil League match at Abbotsbury on April 23.…

• Jon Patten, of Barnstaple, Devon, landed this 3lb 8oz plaice at Slapton beach, South Devon, on a bomber rig carrying Varivas size 1/0 hooks baited with rag tipped with black lug. It was part of a bumper haul of 64 fish from the shore with stingray record holder Guy Spriggs, of Combe Martin SAC. • Leo Toms, of Poole, Dorset, shows off a 16lb 8oz undulate that he caught on a sandeel while fishing at Southbourne beach. His pal Martin Hughes, also from Poole, bagged a 5lb 13oz blonde ray on a mackerel bait at the same beach.…

Adam Slack, of Brixham, Devon, is hoping this 15lb 11oz 7dr small-eyed ray will be accepted as a new British shore-caught record. The Brixham SAC member caught it at 8pm on April 23 while fishing at Mothercombe, South Devon, with a long pulley rig with size 4/0 Sakuma hooks baited with sandeels from Euro Angling. The record, set in 1991, stands at 15lb 8dr. It means the South West now has both the boat and shore records for the species, the former being a 17lb 8oz fish caught off Watchet in 1991 by Susan Storey. The session also produced a spotted ray of just over 5lb for Adam.…

• Reef Patten mounted black lug on a 2/0 bomber rig to catch this superb 3lb 2oz plaice. The 15-year-old angler from Barnstaple, North Devon, was fishing at a shore mark near Slapton when the fish struck. • On his maiden boat fishing trip, Charlie Tossell hit the jackpot when he caught this 6lb 2oz bass. The five-year-old from Swansea used a live mackerel for bait to tempt the predator, which was released after weighing. • Luke Brierley from Cromer, Norfolk, visited East Yorkshire’s Holderness Coast in search of bass. Conditions were near perfect at Dimlington, where he caught and returned this 3lb fish, which took lug on a Pennell rig. • Hannah Love recently fished aboard charter vessel Final Answer, skippered by Daniel Parker out of Littlehampton, West Sussex.…

JUNE 3-5: SSACN Fish Smart Summer Angling Festival, tag a shark three-day event & boat species hunt, Luce Bay, visit: www.ssacn.org/ events/saf/boat  4: SSACN Fish Smart Summer Angling Festival, shore species hunt, Luce Bay, 8am-5.30pm, David Neil 07831 192717. • 4: Peever pegged open, River Dee, Kirkcudbright, 10.30am-2.30pm, measure & release, no size limit, all eels 30cm, three hooks permitted, register 8am-9am at Royal Hotel, Kirkcudbright, £10 entry, booking advisable, Bob Drennan 07469 184812. • 4: Lincs open, Bohemia Point, 3pm-7pm, measure & release 18cm, book in 12.30pm-2pm, £15 entry, 50 pegs, booking advisable, Gary 07889 271115 or George 07857 550125. • 4: Veals Summer League, Littleton-on-Severn, 6pm-10pm, draw 5pm, pegged, one rod, three hooks, no white rag or maddies, £50 league (best six matches from…

MY NATURE IS NOT OVERLY competitive. I don’t try to out-fish other anglers, having always fished for me and me alone. I set myself goals and go for them. It’s a blinkered approach that has worked for me. I realise I may, at times, be somewhat difficult to fish with. Once ‘in the zone’ I can be single-minded and stick to my personal quest like a leech to a leg. There are scores of people who I enjoy fishing with; they are scattered far and wide in the UK, Ireland and overseas. It’s our geographical location that restricts the number of days we get to wet a line together. Yet, in the back of my mind, I wonder how these people would react if they had to fish with me…