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All the books can contain miles of information, but the best place for those little tips that the books don't tell, is to get them from other anglers.... |
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Tip Light batteries are very
expensive,nearly the cost of a new light!
Take the numbers off the back of the
battery and run an internet search. |
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Do you have a problem with finding
leaks in your wellies or waders?
With wellingtons and waders it is never easy to find out where the water is getting in especially if the hole is very small. A good tip is to wash the boot on the outside, dry it and then fill it with water to see where the water is coming through. Then mark the spot with a felt tip pen, empty the boots, dry them and repair them. |
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Going home after a fishing trip carry a continer of cold water soap and towel and a fresh lemon . Wash hands rub with lemon juice .clean fresh hands .as recommended by chefs. |
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When feathering 4 mackeral from the shore i have found most of the fish are down deep during the day. i have often outfished everyone by just leaving the feathers after they have been cast and just tightening the slack. the waves must jig the feathers 4 u! everytime the line goes slack just tighten them back up. remember that with this method u must strike the fish onto the hook. |
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When bottom fishing and getting hassled by crabs, use short hooklenghts and move them up the trace. after casting in position your rod tip up high in the air to keep the hooks up off the bottom. has worked extremely well for me in the past off many venues. |
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place a large black bead above bait when float fishing for pollack. The pollack will see this silhuette against the sky. anyone who lure fishes for pollack will know how successfultry black lures can be. has improved my catch rate on occasions and can be worth a try. |
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Instead of using leadlifts try flattening your leads. This helps them rise up quickly from the bottom. this is useful not only for rough ground fishing but also 4 piers. they can also be used to trundle the bait in the tide, there flat shape slowing their movement along the bottom. |
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When you build a pulley rig Try using a length of red electrical casing from 2.5 twin and earth. slide the sleeve onto the line before you tie the hook snood and swivel placing a bead on each end, when it's pulled tight like a normal pulley the sleave acts like a boom against the pulley swivel keeping the hook snood free. |
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Clip up your Coleman Put a small (stainless steel preferably)hose clip,around the filler cap on Coleman lamps and stoves. This makes them easier to undo. Especially with cold hands. Have your bait ready... When fishing from the shore, while you have one rig in the water, hang another one from your tripod and bait it up, when you reel in just clip on the new rig. This will insure your bait presentation is good and will keep your baited line in the water for the maximum amount of time. Good "Alternative" Baits Cockles, clams and hermit crabs also make good baits, especially after rough seas also if you can get it octopus is as good as any squid and is a hell of allot larger providing frozen 'squid bait' for a long time. Stop your Worm being sucked off ! When fishing for flounder, dabs, sole or plaice if using worms, cut a small piece of elastic band and attach it to your hook point. This will prevent the worm being sucked off the hook and guarantee the hook is taken every time. For Safety's Sake... For all those anglers who like to fish alone on rocks, open breakwaters etc in the dark, invest in a small personal strobe light from a yachting supply shop. If you don't want to splash out all of about £10, get a red 12hr cyalume, tie a bit of string to it and tie it to your clothes. If the worst happens and you end up in the water at least you have a marker to help the coasties find you. Insulated Hooks... When preparing for your fishing trip, cut
up small squares of dense insulation material, or polystyrene, and put
onto your hook tips. Thats Dried, not Fried Rice ! Keep dried rice or barley in hook packet, it absorbs moisture and helps stop hooks going rusty. Slightly rusted hooks can be etched clean with a 48 hr soak in vinegar, dip in vegetable oil afterwards. Hook manufacturers dip hooks in 50%+50% mix varnish+white spirit to rustproof hooks. PARTRIDGE hook process. Fisherman in Tights ! In winter wear woman's tights, pajama bottoms under trousers. Better than long johns. Frozen Starlights If you use star lights on your rod tip for bite indication on a night, and normally chuck it away at the end of your fishing trip, Try putting them in the freezer as soon as u get home. This slows down the chemical reaction that gives of the glow. Next fishing trip simply just re-snap the star light and you will get at least another fishing trip from it and may be more if u repeat the freezing procedure. Bobber With A Brain It's a new concept off fishing a foot from the bottom automatically.
This bobber is the only stationary bobber in the world and performs 10
functions no other bobber can attempt. Check it out. Target those Divers When targeting a particular rock mark take a look at your local diving club web-site they usually contain detailed reports of structures, gullies, water depth, and type of bottom. Vaseline and WD40.... Once your fishing trip is over and you remove the left over bait from
your hook/hooks you have been using and your about to return your rig to
your rig wallet. Coat your hooks with Vaseline or alternatively spray
the hook and inside the wallet with WD40. This prevents the hooks from
rusting, and so long as the hooks are still sharp, can be used again. Brake Pads If you loose multiplier centrifuge brake pads, tiny aerobeads rig makers fit. Trim thick or thin end for heavy or light braking. Thick bead end gives greater breaking and visa-versa. Fill your Thermos..... If you have DIY aerosol expanding foam, use it to shatter proof your Thermos Flask. Drill two opposite holes in base. Inject foam one hole, full up when foam exits second hole. Keep the weight down, When sorting your tackle box for your next trip be ruthless don't take any excess gear. Limit yourself to 6 leads, if you lose 6 sets of gear you'll be that hacked off you'll be ready for home and you`re the one doing the humping. Peg Bells. Old fashioned peg bells are still best for night fishing. Paint them white before fixing a chain of luminous beads or a starlight to peg bell. Avoid Frost Bite ! In winter, standing in frost, snow or ice on a concrete breakwater/promenade can freeze your feet numb. Avoid frostbite with boot sole insert of postal jiffy bag trimmed to shape, packing case bubble plastic also works well. Floating bubble packing has many angling uses. Welly Puncture ! Holes and cracks in waders or Wellingtons are difficult to repair because incompatibility of patch, adhesive and boot material. No vulcanizing possible. Best solution is Evostick impact adhesive and patch of inner tube rubber, Don't look good but keeps water out. Rain pipe Builders plastic rain down pipe makes a perfect rod hold all for car top or aero plane transport, Screw or fixed end caps are available fittings. Make any length, handy for 8ft beach caster rod tips etc.. Sausage Skins Get sausage skins from butchers, chippolata best. Use to keep fragile soft baits on hook. Tie skin tube above hook, put in bait filling seal with condom knot, cut off excess skin. A snot bag is a filling of semi-liquid rotten or un-frozen lugworm used for dabs, a skunk is a filling of rotten squid used for eels. Old Toothbrushes Tape two old toothbrushes together brushes interlocked, Tape next to brushes and cut off excess handles. With see-saw motion clear leader knots of trapped weed. Main line between brushes. Drill both ends of severed handles, add two split rings swivel and treble hook to each handle. Makes two bass lures. Sticking Spigots Sticking spiggot joints on carbon rods is cured by rubbing graphite lead pencil on male spiggot,it also stops wear in the joint. Cable Clips You can do it bait clips very cheap if you use, smallest telephone wire cable clips. Use the panel pin to lock clip, pin head towards sinker. Cutting up Fish When cutting up any fish for bait, cut when still partially frozen. This ensures that it does not get too messy and you get a neater cut, especially for mackerel as it is quite a soft flesh. Cut vertically from back to belly vary your slices for different bait width. Then slice from head to tail touching bone...if you want to get messy then use the entrails to coat your shellfish for added aroma. Bait Hunting On unproductive days have a look around under rocks etc. see what bait you can find. Harbour rag , mussels , snails, try it you never know it might just be what the fish are feeding on Nail Varnish Use women's nail varnish to lock leader or difficult whipping knots, it dries in seconds and more versatile than superglue. Freeze your Bait Use plumbers freeze spray to freeze hard soft fragile baits just before you cast. DIY Drop Net Use old lobster pot toddlers play pen. Remove bottom, tie net together. Rope on pot side supports, Best weather forecast For shore anglers is INSHORE WATERS,///TELETEXT 158 channel 3. Gives tide times also. Gange Hooks To keep fragile soft baits on hooks when long casting it is best to gange hooks. Ganged hooks are a chain of hooks made by passing the point of one hook through the eye of another. It works like a pennel snood, but three hooks ganged is a stewart snood. Very effective for Garfish where beak avoids single hook. Expendable rough ground sinkers. Fill egg shells with cement, throw in old nuts bolts if you like, Old hook inserted eye out to tie line to, stuff galvanised garden wire underneath to make grip anchor. Rig wallet or file Use sealable sandwich bags, pinned together. Pier Railings Rod rest safety support, Screw back to back two horseshoe shaped terry clips. One large, one small. Bait Pump To stop bait pump sucking itself under sand. Use hose clip to attach plumbers rubber sink/bog plunger to outside bait pump tube, Remove centre rubber to fit tube. Night Fishing Night anglers who suspend their lamp from
tripod can attach pram babyview mirror to tripod leg, angle it to
reflect light at rod tip. Available baby shops. ALSO Dried spaghetti
strands burn, use one as long probe to ignite lantern needing long flame
probe. Fishing Fans... Dealing with extreme fixed spool line twist. Buy cheap electric mini battery face fan £1. Snap off both fan blades. Screw net curtain eye into fan nose, attach line and switch on fan to untwist line. Turn batteries around to reverse direction of spin. Rod Rings All rod rings should go on the inside of the spline curve (the soft side) because this is the only place which minimises the blank twisting under casting pressure. Twisting is a serious threat to fixed spool rods casting pendulum style. The compression factor is neither here or there. Static spline test suggest that a rod will react more softly under casting pressure if compressed towards the "soft" side, but in practice this makes little or no difference. If you can't compress a rod properly and lock the blank, learn to cast better, change down the rod, or both. It is pointless struggling with an overpowered rod. Your casting can only become worse. Clean Flask To remove stains from inside stainless steel flask use STERIDENT denture tablets, fill flask boiling water and leave overnight. Reflective Rod Tips To get rod tip reflection a night use:-
Pier or Seawall Dropnets. At night tie a cheap long electric torch upside down 6ft above net. You can't net a fish, if you can't see it. Lead Lifts Use old credit cards, small baby food tin lids etc. Make hole each end, put rig leader line through at sinker end then knot at sinker. Lead rises like kite over rocks the faster you retrieve wind. Expendable, cost nothing at tackle graveyard snags. Crab Robbers Beating peeler crab bait robbers,use squid body shell to encase peeler, perforate squid body. Re-usable STARLITES. Put Starlights in freezer after use and they can be used again and again. Go for the Treble Garfish experts use small treble hook, to get more hook ups. Garfish beaks avoid single hooks. Competitions showed trebles gave 4 to 1 advantage. Rough Huss Before sandpaper was invented, carpenters use dogfish Huss skin. A knife or hook can be sharpened rubbing it tail to head on Huss skin. Deep Hooked Cod If keeping large fish like Cod for table, don't make a pigs ear trying to unhook the deeply hooked fish. Cut through the lower jaw skin V membrane and pull back the flap. Remove hook from inside jaw flap. Use rose secateurs to snap lower jawbone each side of congers etc, remove hook same way. Floating on Water Oil floats on water!!. Pour some pilchard or cod liver oil over reel spool if light line float fishing for mullet etc, it stops line sinking below surface and gives better strike. Also smear it on swivels etc in tackle boxes to stop rust. Party Time Used party poppers are ideal casting bait sheilds No digging for Ragworm... The bigger rag worms are scavenging shore vultures. Save old bait and rotting fish in onion bag, Near pea mussel muddy bed where rag worms are. Throw bag into waters edge, big rag worms come up to feed. Thumb and forefinger, wear gloves. Easy collection of beaches giant rag worm, no digging. Livebait Floats . Kids toy mini water balloons,50p packet are best floats around. You can also blow seawater in them to use as bubble float. Blow up to egg size, attach to oval split ring. Use as sliding float, with stop knot. Glow in the Dark Clams.... Piddock clams are bio luminous and glow in dark.In chalky rocks where they burrow, best night bait for Bass etc. The Mint with the Hole... Beach or boat. To prevent extra long trace, tangling with main line. Casting or boat tackle drop. Coil trace and use POLO MINT HOLE to secure. Mint melts 1 minute and releases trace. Left or Right handed... Fixed spool reels evolved design for the game fly angler originally. Because the rod was worked by right hand, the handle of reel was put on left. Same as today with fly anglers centre pin. When f/s mass produced left hand handle persisted because spinning then freshwater strut pegging may use rod worked by hand all day. If a rod is not worked and is put in a holder, there is no reason for right handed person to have f/s handle on left. Most beach casting f/s anglers follow wrong convention of left hand wind f/s reels from bad example of freshwater evolution uses. Getting into Hot Water.. Kinks
in mono snoods/traces/rigs and jigs.Plastic lures and end-tackle ect.can
be straighted by dunking kinks in boiling water,then pulling out kinks. Pressure Lantern Tips for Night Anglers Always line third of glass globe with aluminum foil, thick layers. Besides being a reflector, turning globe and foil towards a mantle flare, prevents globes shattering or cracking. Mini-Oven Baby milk food tins are mostly same diameter as top of pressure lantern. Remove both ends of can with can-opener, perforate one lid.
Paraffin Pressure Lamps Many anglers prefer these to petrol, they are brighter and burn longer than petrol. Meths preburn is avoided by using small gas blowlamp aimed at tube below mantle. In cold windy wet weather, only way to light them. Danger of Petrol Lamps Never release pressure in enclosed space
by unscrewing filler cap with lamp still hot. I badly burnt my hand
doing this. The whole lamp exploded in flames as tank ignited. A bit of Old Lighter.. Penn and other multpliers handle anti-reverse and clutch spring, can be replaced with bit of flint spring from disposable lighter. SAME SIZE. Big Hooks for Cod When I first started sea angling 40yrs ago, there were a lot more cod lunkers about. At first, I lost 70% of hooked cod. I would feel them shake their heads and drop off the hook, anytime from hook-up the same could happen. I found the giant mouth of a cod is also very soft flesh. Hooks simply rip out, tearing mouth flesh. The solution was to use larger and thicker gauge hooks. I never use Aberdeen's or high carbon hooks for cod, I would loose the big lunkers.6/0 or 8/0. I use O'shaughnnesays offset with pliers at the bend. Because of soft mouth, this thick wire hook finds entry into flesh. When boat wrecking, I use a 11/0 hook for coda 25lb cod has a bigger mouth than a 100lb conger. The 11/0 is lost in a mouth that can swallow a football. Magnets .... Tired of pricking your finger whilst trying to grab one hook out of that plastic box ? Put a magnet UNDERNEATH the box of hooks. This will make all the hooks in the box stand on end. Easy to grab just one. Simple ! Fresh Worms Always use compost with worms and just moisten it a little bit because otherwise you will drown the worms in the pot or whatever you're keeping them in Fishy Fingers ? To get the smell of fish from your hands (to stop her / him, in doors moaning) spray some Gillette Shaving Foam on your hands and use as soap then wash as normal. It works as well !!! Get a Grip on worms... On a cold wet day its hard to handle a worm with freezing hands. Dip your hands in some sand to get a good grip or handle on worms Top Ten Beach Fishing Tips.
Cheap & Cheerful.... If your going fishing over snaggy ground and don't want to lose a lot of leads. Use spark plugs or something cheap and cheerful instead of using expensive weights. Pretend you have a fish on the line... When using feathers use a lead which is heavier than you'd like to use and reel in as if you have a fish on the line but a bit slower Cut up the King ... When using king ragworm cut it into 3 pieces and only put 2 on the hook. Targeting Bass
When targeting bass with lures always have
imagination when your reeling in. Shine a light for those Pollack When fishing for Pollack from a harbour wall using worm always put a starlight above the hook. I don't know why but it improves the catch rate especially as it just starts to get dark. Tempt the predators... When using live Sandeel for bass and Pollack pass the hook through the lip of the eel . This keeps the eel on the hook and allows it to swim naturally, tempting any predators into an easy meal. Stop flying ! Ever
fell over your rod butts when fishing with a tripod in the dark ? Two Rigs are faster than one ... When rigging up try using two rigs and bait one while one is in the water. this will ensure that each time you cast your bait out it will be well presented. this method works a treat when using glow in the dark beads as you can leave one on your lantern to 'power up' while the other rig is in the water! Give it some padding
To protect your rod and to stop it rattling around when in a tripod such as Ian Golds Match Tripod simply obtain some of the high density foam used to lag water pipes. Cut the foam along its length and measure a piece to fit snuggly into each tripod cup. Secure with glue. Keep your bait cool In hot weather put a chemical ice pack, of the kind used in picnics, in the worm bucket to keep them cool, otherwise they will die and go off. Keep it fresh. For best results, treat frozen bait like you would your own food. Never re-freeze bait. Ice Lollies for the Bass ! To use Peeler for a good
distance cast, pre-hook them at home and freeze them in an Ice cube
tray so you have the eye of the hooks sticking out of the cubes and
take them in an ice box, when you cast to water will melt the
ice giving a good steady scent trail and the bait will stay on the
hook, |
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