Innehållsförteckning för Issue 542 från Sea Angler

OCCASIONALLY, SOMETHING occurs in fishing where a combination of different factors comes into play that turns a pleasant day on the coast into a truly memorable one. If we were to believe half of the stories regarding the decline of fish stocks that we read in the newspapers or see on the television, chances are that we would begin to lose our love of angling and all it brings us. Sure, a lot of the information we receive through the media is based on scientific fact, but occasionally, something happens that is beyond explanation, in angling terms anyway. Magical red-letter days with rod and line are regarded as memories to treasure by those who have been in the fishing game for decades, but amid this popular modern-day portrayal of doom…

SOME OF THE MOST MAGNIFICENT beaches in the United Kingdom are located within the broad expanse of Carmarthen Bay, in South Wales. Two of these, Pendine and Cefn Sidan, stretch for many miles and are well known to Welsh shore anglers, with both being noted for bass and flounders. A few miles west of Pendine you’ll find a third beach, one that is equal in both beauty and fishing potential, called Amroth. The picturesque village of Amroth is located between Wiseman’s Bridge and Marros, and if you visit over high water you will find a short, steep shingle and boulder beach backed by a concrete flood protection wall. However, if you wait for the tide to start to ebb, a sandy beach, which begins just 50 yards from the road,…

Tying the rig is very simple. I use a long-shank hook pattern for worm-type lures from size 6 to size 8, and favour a slim-wire offset worm hook. Using a 4ft fluorocarbon leader, tie your hook using a palomar knot about 1ft from the bottom of the trace, and then clip on a drop shot lead. Keep the weight of the lead within the casting range of the rod; I use anywhere from 3.5g to 7g, depending on conditions. A purpose-made dropshot lead will allow you to change the length of the drop, which means you can fish the lure at various distances from the seabed. A dropshot lead comes loose in the event of a snag and allows you to retrieve your rig with the hook still in place.…

MOST of us buy hooks in packets or boxes, and apart from perhaps a little thought on patterns and sizes for types of fish, many anglers don’t consider the most important thing...the sharpness. I have always spent time honing my saltwater hooks, because even the best chemically-sharpened brands do not always cut it, often lacking real sharpness across the whole point, with many being point sharp, but not honed down enough over the full length of the point to aid easy, deep penetration. So, here’s what you need to do to sharpen up... TOOLS The simplest form of sharpening tool is a honing stone, which come in different grades of roughness. The 600 to 400 grade is a good choice for smaller hooks, such as Aberdeens and the like, below…

KNOWN as the dropper loop, dropper knot or blood loop knot, this is a useful addition to your skills, and is often used to make multiple hookbait rigs, or to attach lures above a jig. The loops can be used to attach hook snoods or, if made large enough, can be cut to create hook snoods – removing the need to secure a swivel and beads with crimps or stop knots on your main rig body. HOW TO TIE THE KNOT... A Make a loop in your line and take the lower end over the other piece and through the loop. B Open up the two pieces of line, taking the top piece over and through the loop. C Take the bottom of the original loop through the central gap…

Each month we’ll select a winning question from each of our shore/LRF, boat/kayak and lure questions. Three lucky readers will get great gear prizes from sponsors Tronixpro. The sponsors reserve the right to send an alternative prize to an equal value. • BEACH: Guerilla Beach rod and Envoy Tournament Mag reel, worth £140. • LURE: HTO Lure Game rod, Lure Game 4000 reel and Lure Game 16lb braid, worth £123. • BOAT: Guerilla 20lb-class rod, Envoy Wave reel, 20lb Axia line, beaded spreaders, triple spreader, lumo hokkai and multiplier wrap, worth £123. 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…

THERE IS BOAT FISHING ALL YEAR round from Liverpool, with the charter trips departing from either the Coburg or Brunswick docks. Both are serviced by a lock system, which allows easy exit to the estuary. These are among eight docks along the River Mersey, the others being the Albert, Canning, Salthouse, Wapping, Duke’s, Queen’s docks. Most anglers flock to Liverpool during the winter to sample the superb cod and whiting fishing available within the confines of the River Mersey. It’s a five-minute steam from the lock gates to reach the best fishing grounds, so you get much more time for fishing with very little travelling involved. This area is also well protected from the wind, so you can often get out fishing when other ports get blown off. During the…

THE REALITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE is a hotly debated topic, but sea anglers can’t fail to notice some strange things are happening with our weather every year. My patch, in the Bristol Channel, is no exception, with seemingly stronger winds, heavier rainfall and temperatures reaching wider limits. This, in turn, could well be the reason for our apparent change of seasonal activities, as far as sea angling is concerned. These days, no one can guess what even the next day’s weather will bring, whereas years ago, we could expect our summers to be long and hot, and weather forecasts were fairly predictable; tope, smoothhounds, pollack, mackerel and bass would feature in everyday angling charter trips, with their arrival almost set by the clock. Autumn would herald the start of the…

Q UINTREX CAN TRACE its origins in manufacturing aluminium fishing boats back to 1945, when the first models were produced in a back yard in Sans Souci, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Over the years, this workmanlike and hugely practical range of boats has gone from strength to strength. Today, the Quintrex range includes a huge array of different models of all sizes, many of which have been designed primarily with the needs of the angler in mind. A good example is the Quintrex Trident 650 Hard Top. Manufactured from high-grade aluminium, this version is based on the result of a decade of research, namely the Blade Hull. In its brochure, Quintrex describes the Blade Hull as having “a sharper, sleeker shape, increased deadrise, and…

IT GOES AGAINST MOST OF THE ADVICE that you will find online – where kayak fishing in a group, or in pairs, is highly recommended. The health and safety zealots won’t be in favour of hearing this – but sometimes, fishing alone is unavoidable. Going solo is not something that should be encouraged, particularly for newcomers, but not everybody lives in an area where it is easy to meet other kayak anglers. It can be difficult to arrange time on the water that fits in with somebody else’s availability. Kayak fishing can be dangerous, but so can crossing the road – it all depends on how you approach it. With a measured and methodical approach, and sticking to times and conditions that are within your comfort zone, there should never…

IMAX FR WAIST BAG SSP: £34.99 Whether you’re a lure angler or simply prefer to stay mobile while fishing, this is for you. Tough and lightweight, it enables you to have everything close at hand and easily accessible. Plenty of storage space, carry strap, with comfy and adjustable padded waistband so you can move around freely while fishing. IMAX FR BASIC QUIVER SSP: £24.99 Measuring 140cm x 15cm x 8cm, this lightweight, slim quiver accommodates two rods internally. The outside features pockets and straps for storing a tripod, along with other essential items. It has a fully adjustable carry strap, plus dual carry handles that help to maintain perfect balance. There are three other holdalls in the range for more storage options that include a Competition Quiver, Day Quiver (pictured…

SHORT CASTS Stories from the world of angling • Dave Mead, who lives in Hythe, Southampton, took a trip to Chesil Beach, Dorset, on January 23 and caught his first ever plaice, which weighed 4lb 8oz. The fish took a frozen black lug bait. • This 19lb 13oz spurdog was caught and released by Jamie Logan, of Largs, North Ayrshire. He was small-boat fishing on Loch Etive and used a squid bait. • • Leading UK-based sea angling brand, Tronixpro is backing 11 anglers who make up the Arctic Sea Team in a bid to strengthen its name in Northern Europe. The anglers, who fish throughout Germany and Norway, have designed tackle, also help travel agents to develop angling camps, and regularly undertake guided angling tours, as well as fishing…

• Osain Alun Rumbold proudly displays a 10lb 8oz pollack that he caught during a boat fishing trip close to Holyhead, Anglesey. The eight-year-old, from nearby Gaerwen, was using a Savage Gear shrimp lure baited with squid when the fish struck. • Oscar Harvey, who lives in Horsham, West Sussex, recently won the Littlehampton RNLI Flounder Festival with a bag of five fish totalling 4lb 8oz. He’s pictured here holding one of the fish that helped him to victory. • On his maiden shore fishing trip, Charlie Dennis fished at Lowestoft, Suffolk, to bag his first ever whiting. The lad, from Huntingdon, Cambs, used lug and squid bait mounted on a single hook flapper rig. • This fine brace of flounders weighing in at 2lb 2oz and 2lb 6oz fell…

MARCH • 11: Southern League & open, Highcliffe/Frairs, 6pm-11pm, £15 entry, £5 optional pools, Darren 07919 073232, Nick 07870 922216, Mike 07983 579596, Ian 07736 004714 or Ant 07775 691916. • 11: Ollie’s Winter League & open, Tynemouth pier to Snook Point, Newton, 7pm-11pm, register an hour before match at General Havelock, East Sleekburn, NE22 7AT, £10 entry, 07928 749649. • 12: Hornsea SAC Anyfish Anywhere open, 10am-4pm, John 07968 215565. • 12: Kent Flounder League rnd 3, All Hallows, 10.15am-2.45pm, register from 8am at car park ME3 9QD, measure & return, book only, Ian 07791 234318. • 12: East Anglian Teams of Five, Clacton, 10am-3pm, Rob Tuck 07855 848967. • 12: Yorkshire Federation open, Hornsea, noon-6pm, meet 11am at North Beach, Harry 01977 734890 or 07768 187823. • 12:…

THE BIGGER WORLD OF ANGLING offers some great knowledge, transferable between disciplines, but there’s one thing that rarely changes wherever you go and whatever you fish for, and that’s watercraft. Take away knots, rigs and tackle – techniques that are, in reality, just different approaches, and what you are left with is a bunch of variable, yet consistent (they will always be there in some degree) natural factors, the understanding of which is the bread and butter of catching fish with any form of regularity or consistency. I fish from boat and shore, mostly modern lure fishing these days, but I’m just as happy to turn my hand to bait fishing, carp, pike, salmon or any other type of angling, for that matter. What actually catches me fish is the…

HAVING BEGAN AS A SMALL FISHING port, Abersoch is now a watersports venue and major tourist town. The port sits at the mouth of the Afon Soch (River Soch), with the main beach running from the river mouth west past Morfa Gors to Penrhyn Du Head. The beach faces more to the south quarter, so is protected to some extent from the worst of the south-west and westerly winds, but can still take on a big surf and good swell. These marks are productive throughout the year, though the best fishing is from mid-May through to December. In July and August, the beaches can be packed with tourists, so fish at dawn or dusk. You can fish these beaches by setting up a main camp and dropping slowly back up…

“You are looking for likely windows of bass activity” WHERE SHOULD I GO fishing, and when should I fish there? This whole ‘where and when’ thing seems to be the most important question in saltwater fishing, but there are so many factors involved in any kind of answer. If you’re incredibly lucky, you could turn up at a random fishing mark at any time, and in any sort of conditions, and clean up with some outstanding fishing, but the chances of this happening are slim to zero. The ‘where and when’ matters with all kinds of fishing, all around the world. The big difference we have in saltwater fishing is the tide, and one could argue that we are also somewhat more reliant on weather conditions than, say, an angler…

BREAKAWAY Facebook page has grown into a regular bi-weekly, live Q&A chat, with some excellent advice from well-known and respected sea anglers. A recent session had the likes of top match anglers George Smith and Rob Tuck, plus tackle dealers Dave Brown and Richard Holgate, as well as the magazine’s Paul Fenech and Dave Barham answering questions, live on Facebook. Here’s a selection of the best Q&As from recent sessions… Q: Do you alter snood lengths dependent on the state of the tide? If so, do you go longer or shorter as the tide weakens? Stuart Walsh ANSWERS… Dave Barham: From the boat, I always vary my trace length. As a rule, the faster the tide, the shorter the hooklength. Paul Fenech: I always use shorter snoods on the bigger…

OVER THE PAST DECADE, OVERALL stocks of spurdogs have increased in the seas around North Wales as the species recovers from a fall in numbers caused by commercial long-lining during the late 1980s and early ’90s. Once alive with huge packs of this species, the area has seen them replenish their numbers on the old stamping grounds. Perfectly placed to make the most of this second coming is charter skipper Gethyn Owen and his 32ft Aquastar My Way, based in Holyhead Marina, Anglesey. Just a few miles out to the west are the Holyhead Deeps, a patch of stone and boulders falling on to cleaner ground and varying in depth from about 200-300ft or more, depending on where you fish. ‘Geth’, as he’s known to his regulars, has built a…

STRONG SWIVEL A heavy-duty swivel connects the rubbing trace to the hooklength. HOOKLENGTH The hooklength is 12-15in of 250lb mono. RUNNING BOOM A piece of plastic pipe used to create running boom for the weight. RUBBING TRACE The boom runs on a 10-12ft rubbing trace made of 250lb mono. LEAD CHOICE You may need lead weights of more than 2lb. The common skate is one of the largest species of fish that sea anglers can successfully target around the coast of the British Isles, with specimens in excess of 100lb frequent in some areas. Common skate were assessed as being endangered globally, and critically endangered in shelf and enclosed seas in the 2000 IUCN Red List, and in 2006 this classification was increased to critically endangered globally. Clearly, all skate…

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 reward the winning operator with a special Sea Angler plaque that the skipper can display with pride on their vessel. Alternatively, enter by email, with the subject line Top Skipper, with the details listed on the coupon…

SUZUKI OUTBOARDS The new DF150AP and DF175AP, costing £13,899 and £15,499, are the latest addition to Suzuki’s line-up of four-stroke outboards. They deliver outstanding power and exciting performance, together with superior fuel efficiency – all from a compact, lightweight and stylish unit. Boasting a 2.9-litre ‘Big Block’ in-line four-cylinder DOHC engine, these new models also use a high 10.2:1 compression ratio, which provides impressive low-end torque and acceleration.They also feature one of the Suzuki core technologies, selective rotation - the world’s first technology that enables switching of gearshift mode of regular rotation and direction of propeller rotation into counter rotation. Upon installing two or more outboards on a boat, the outboard can be switched into a counter rotation model just by changing gearshift mode and installing counter rotation propeller. Visit:…

CENTURY ELIMINATOR T700 SGT RRP: £499.99 Century, the Washington, Tyne and Wear, rod company has recently launched a new model in the Eliminator range to run alongside the T800, T900 and T1000 SGT models. The Eliminator T700SGT is a two-piece 15ft outfit with SGT glass tip, that is designed for easy casting loads of up to 6oz over clean ground. You can expect the company’s exceptional build-quality as standard, plus Fuji KWAG guides, Japanese shrink rubber, marine-grade stainless steel bands at the join and a partitioned rod bag is included. Watch out for our full and exclusive review in issue 543. • For your nearest Century dealer, tel: 0191 4168200. Web: www.century.gb.com IMAX OCEAN THERMO SMOCK PRICE: £54.99 The popular Ocean Thermo Smock from Imax has been given a cool…

TEN YEARS AGO, GEORGE Cunningham spent his weekdays busily working as a local plumber in his native West Sussex, with his weekends dedicated to sea angling for pleasure or competitively. Fast-forward a decade, and George is no longer plying his trade as a plumber. Instead, he finds himself at the head of one of the largest sea angling and lure fishing distributions businesses in the UK. For George is the founder and brains behind the fast-moving and innovative tackle company TronixFishing. A common denominator across the angling world is that fishing-based businesses are often stumbled into rather than created with a long-term vision. A glance across famous angling brands and their back stories often tells of a person in love with angling using their business acumen, trade, skill or a…

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. Neil Burrow, Southampton, Hants. Fish: 2lb 5oz flounder. Bait: Ragworms on a running leger rig. Venue: Poole harbour, Dorset. Date: Dec…

✰ STAR LETTER ✰ LESS IS MORE I have discovered that it pays not to let first impressions about tackle get the better of you. I usually fish with a Century Formula that is more than 20 years old.I like it, especially during rough weather on the beach; it is heavy and rated to cast 8oz. I pair it with a Penn Surfblaster 8000 reel, and this combination casts well with 18lb mono with 60lb leader or 60lb braid straight through. I recently won a Sonik Gravity Surf 15.4, which is a three-piece, very light and rated for 8oz, and I paired it with the Surfblaster. At first I was going to get rid of the Sonik because I was used to my old rod, but decided to give it…

WHEN HEADING TO A NEW venue, I always get a buzz, but when you add some rocky ledges into the equation, my expectations are multiplied many times over. My adrenalin was flowing freely as a team from Sea Angler made its way to Barry’s Point, only a 15-minute drive down Irish country lanes from our week’s base at Courtmacsherry, County Cork. We had been given the nod about the potential of this venue by several locals, including charter boat skipper Jim O’Donnell, who knows this part of Ireland like the back of his hand. Like many of Ireland’s narrow, winding lanes heading towards a headland, it petered out well before the fishing area. There was just enough room to get two cars parked off the track, after which it was…

SEA TEMPERATURES ARE AT THEIR lowest at the start of March but then begin to climb as the month progresses, which, combined with an increase in light levels, certainly improves the fishing. At this time of year I tend to vary my chosen venues from deep-water rock marks to fishing in harbours. The rock marks are the ones that offer the best chance of a big pollack or cod. However, many are only really fishable in calm weather, but the rewards are there if the weather plays ball. The harbours are tough at the moment, too, but there is one early spring arrival that I really look forward too, and that is the flounder. With even mini-species, such as blennies and scorpions, thin on the ground in the harbours, it…

WHEN I FIRST STARTED fishing for bass from the shore, most of them used to be caught on baits of various kinds. Since the 1980s, there has been a huge growth in lure and fly-fishing by specialist bass anglers that traditional bait fishing for this popular species has taken a bit of a back seat. Despite this shift in approach by those specialist bass anglers, there is no doubt, in my mind, that if you want to catch big fish consistently, bait, either live or dead, is still the thing to use. As I see it, the big question for any bass angler intent on using ‘the natural’ for tempting his or her quarry is…“How should I offer my bait to the fish?” What’s apparent, is that it all depends…

WE ALL like to be well prepared for our fishing. Some of us take mountains of gear to the beach in a bid to cover every eventuality. Others might start preparing their tackle weeks in advance of a big trip or a competition, but there are always the odd times you get caught out. Maybe you forgot the heavy weights, ran out of shockleader, or left your waterproofs at home. There is nothing more frustrating. There is one scenario that catches out many anglers on multiple occasions, and it is quite possibly one of the worst. Watching other people pull in fish while you struggle because you don’t have quite the right rigs is really disheartening. No matter how hard you try, the fish don’t want to come near your…

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 love shore fishing and have recently suffered a back injury. Would a modern, lighter telescopic rod do the same job as my rough ground beachcaster?…

COME LATE MARCH AND EARLY April , the south coast begins to come alive with flatfish, and it’s during this period when you can have some real big hits, with good numbers of these species. Plaice, especially, can put in a mass appearance early in the season, with some days producing in excess of 50 fish per boat out of ports such as Eastbourne, Brighton, Weymouth and Dartmouth. If you want to catch big numbers of flatties, have a try early in the year. However, if it’s big, juicy-eating fish that you’re after, then best time to concentrate your efforts is from late August right through October. This is the time when the flatties are at their best, having gorged themselves throughout the bountiful summer months, fattening themselves up for…

TACKLE SHOPS AND THE INTERNET are awash with quality lure rods of all lengths and strengths. There are carbon-coloured ones, red too, and if you look hard enough, even yellow rods. There are short ones and long ones, and everything in between. Some cast 200g poppers, and others 2g LRF jigs. There are so many rods out there that making the right choice can be more of a lottery than a pleasure. As is often the case in life, the best shortcut to finding the right tool is to seek the advice of those who do a lot of what you want to do. If it’s lure casting from a boat for bass, pollack and wrasse, among others, that you want, then I am probably your man. The rods I…

ELECTRONICS COMPANY Raymarine has just released a new version of its popular Wi-Fish mobile app for use with Dragonfly-PRO and Wi-Fish CHIRP Sonar systems. This app has been expanded and now includes Augmented Reality viewing of your saved waypoints and fishing hotspots, bringing navigation into the 21st Century. It works with the GPS, compass and camera built into in your smartphone or tablet to show precisely where you are in relation to your saved waypoints. The name, symbol, bearing and range to each waypoint are displayed as an overlay on a real-time view of the waterway in front of you. 360° COVERAGE Simply pan your smartphone or tablet 360° across the horizon, and the precise positions of your waypoints are shown on the live camera feed. This makes it easier…

WITH AN EXCESS AMOUNT OF overtime, horrendous conditions, a lack of fish locally and a new house to make home, I was approaching the end of my tether – so a little retail therapy was in order. Having already decided that this year I needed to update my base layering and replace my PFD, I discovered that all of my outerwear had been replaced with newer designs by Palm, for whom I’m an ambassador...so my bank account was going to take a hammering if I was going to stick to my original plan. Here’s the lowdown on what paddle clothing I looked at to cover all bases, with kayak fishing, sea kayaking and kayak surfing all covered, though some of this equipment will be handy for swimming, diving and shore…

NOW that winter is finally disappearing into the distance, it’s time for shore anglers to turn their attentions to spring. Species like plaice, bass, thornback rays and, hopefully, codling, will soon hit the beaches after spawning and be ready for a good feed. So, why not kick-off your spring campaign and enjoy the action with a brand new shore set-up and save a heap of cash too? This month’s offer is one that is not to be missed, and includes a quality beach rod, fixed-spool reel and spool of braid. Star of the deal is the Shakespeare Agility MX Surf beachcaster. It’s a three-piece, 14ft carbon outfit with a sliding winch fitting, designed to be used over clean or mixed-ground. Rated to cast 4-8oz, it possesses a powerful mid-section to…

IT IS NOW UNDERSTOOD THAT BASS WILL migrate in a search of consistent water temperatures in order to spawn – but what if the water temperatures in the English Channel remained consistent, would the bass remain closer to our shores throughout colder months? If so, could they be caught on lures? When I was a young, inexperienced angler, I read everything I could get my hands on about the how, where and when of catching bass from the shore, particularly if it involved catching them on lures. One of the many things that struck me was the consistent message that the bass was a summer species that could only be targeted successfully between April and October. Granted, small, undersize bass have remained present, and always will, in and around many…

BLACKDOWN SAC OPEN Blue Anchor slipway to Minehead town beach, Somerset, 72 anglers Roland Broomfield caught two codling to win this catch and release event with 59 points. The second and third placed anglers, Brad Lock and Chris Equeall, both had one codling. • Result: 1 Roland Broomfield, Lymington, 2 fish, 59pts (7pts); 2 Brad Lock, Taunton, 1 fish, 51 (6); 3 Chris Equeall, Cardiff, 1, 48 (5). CHESIL LEAGUE & OPEN Masonic, Portland, Dorset, 40 anglers Smoothhounds weighing into double figures are very rare at Portland, but a 113cm fish, which converted to 12lb, helped Rob Marshall to a winning 24-8-0 from his peg in zone A. Second and third were filled by anglers in the same zone, with Julian Shambrook recording 10 fish for 18-2-0 and Mike Brown…

“I was getting a good hiding and it was really embarassing” WHAT MANY OF US TAKE FOR granted now was not always so obvious to anglers of the past, whose approach to the sport was, to be frank, far less subtle. For instance, many years ago I was on a filming trip to Denmark and it involved fishing with the local anglers. It gave me an insight into the best tackle to use. We fished out of a little harbour town called Kertiminde, and on the boat with us were about 40 other people. Yes, 40, it was one of those big ‘party’ boats. Not many people in Denmark fish for the sport, but for the table. Whole families, including babies, were on board and anyone capable of holding a…