Be a Detective and improve your results !

Be a Detective and improve your results !

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All Sea Anglers (And most Freshwater Anglers too) have done it, as much as none of like to admit it.

The dreaded "Blank" is enough to make you sob in your beer, but how can we try to avoid it ?

You know the story, wind blowing, pouring of rain, you are there to fish the "Up" tide and "Down" tide, back out again. Despite trying every selection of baits and rigs, your total number of bites is "ZERO".

So what can we do to try to keep the number of these embarrassing episodes down ?

Play detective and track down your prey !

Play detective and build up your facts !

Playing detective may sound strange, but knowing the inside out of your venue can defiantly provide results

Firstly we need to remember that fish, like humans, do not feed twenty four hours a day seven days a week. They will feed when triggered a variety of things, namely, tide, temperature, access to food, ambient light and atmospheric conditions.So it's simple isn't it.

If we study all these factors, work out the best time when all these factors come together, that's the time to go fishing !

But, you can bet your bottom dollar, that will be at 8:30 am Tuesday morning, just at the exact time you are to have that crucial meeting with your boss, or if not then, at some other totally inconvenient time. So what can we do.

The answer is simple "Make the best of it !".

If you could always fish the best venue, knowing the best spots, the best bait to use and the best tatics, then you would always catch fish. But likewise if you are fishing a poor venue, at the wrong time, with the wrong bait, you will simply "Blank".

The key too success is to know your venue, the only way you will know a venue properly is to identify the positive points and know the negative points.

Before you set out, do some homework, look at reports and see how a venue is fishing. Check out the local tackle shops, they are always a good source of information. Don't just ask "Much been caught lately", use you detective skills. For example if they tell you "A 6lb Codling was caught on the pier last night", press them for a little bit more. "What side of the pier" or "Where about on the pier" could narrow your target spot down by a few hundred yards. (1/2 mile if it was Southend Pier !). Ask if they know what bait was producing the results and try to find out what time was fishing well, then check the tide tables and see if it was on the "Up" or "Down" tide. Once you know a time, check out the local papers etc, find which direction the wind was blowing.

A good source of information on the beach can be the people taking the dog for walk. Have a chat and find out if they have been talking to other fisherman, if so what stories have they heard. Ask them"...were they were down here last night", if they were, ask was it a rough sea ?

Build up a complete picture, of where, when & how. Once you know this information this will give you a far better in sight into how an when a venue fishes at it's best.

Make note and diagrams and then keep them in your tackle box.

Identify which venues require distance casts to get depth and which don't. Then before you set out check the weather. If a Force 6 gale is blowing head on into the venue, you won't be able to get any distance in your cast, so if a venue needs distance to get into deep water, you will know not to fish there when the wind is blowing from a particular direction.

When conditions are really rough, aim for the deep water venues, you won't need to distance cast and the deep in shore waters often provide good refuges for fish trying to get shelter away from the stormy waters.

Once you have decided you venue, you need to decide exactly where. I personally like to avoid crowded venues, but some times you don't get a choice. A vacant beach can allow you to experiment with your casts. You can try to the left or the right of your base without worrying about cross lines etc. Like this you can really work the spot to try and pick out the "Hotspots".

Another good time to play detective, is when a match is on. Walk the whole of the beach, watch where the fish are being caught, how far out etc. Watch the weigh in and see when the best fish were caught, on the Up tide ? or the Down tide ?. Again build up a complete picture. This can provide you with valuable information for when you fish that same venue on a outing of your own.

Visit each of your venues a low tide, identify the gullies and potholes, fish love to forage in the food that accumulates in these features. Pace out the distance an keep a note. I find a good way of doing this is to work out the centre of two groynes and as far up the beach as you can go. Use this as your reference. Pace out the distance and note the direction from you reference point. Then note it down as "150 yards - Ten O'clock", using the time reference to give you the angle from your reference.

When you fish the venue at High Tide, you can then visualise the spots and know what distance you need to cast.

It sounds complicated but I can assure you it works. A few hours of playing detective, can make the many hours you spend fishing a much more rewarding time.