SURF BEACH COD TACTICS
Successful beach cod fishing is all about timing. The bulk numbers of cod come closest inshore during the big spring tides just after strong winds when a rough sea has stirred up the seabed and released large amounts of food like lugworms and shellfish.

Always check out the beach during a daylight low water and pinpoint areas where the beach shelves deeper, where sand gullies occur, and especially where there are patches of rough ground. These are the food holding areas and casting here will dramatically increase your chances of fish.

Low tide and the first two hours can often be good on these beaches, with a short feeding flurry in the hour to high water. The middle hours of the flood produce fish too, but can be inconsistent. The last hour before high water is another hot period. Rarely are cod taken in the early hours of the ebb, but some beaches produce good catches in the last three hours down to low water. The key to these beaches is if they have rocky ground towards the low water line. This terrain will hold large amounts of food and concentrate the fish, which continue to feed.

Casting distance will always be an advantage for cod. If your casting ability still needs some work stick only to the deeper beaches where the cod come in close. Good casters can take fish from the shallowest of sand surf beaches, though the bigger fish tend to be in deeper water.

Use 3/0 to 4/0 hooks and big baits of lugworm tipped with shellfish. Cod have big mouths and big baits give off more scent for the fish to locate it in dirty water. Ungutted black lug is excellent, but if you use gutted black, then add a few juicy blow lug below the black to increase the scent trail.

The top tip is to always fish at night, though when the water is well coloured after storms fish can be caught by day.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Reducer or extension tubes on beach rods are easily lost or trodden on at night when they are removed for casting. I take the butt cap of the reducer, heat up a length of 16 gauge stainless steel wire with a lighter and melt a small hole in the middle of the base of the butt cap. I then cut about 10-inches of heavy 100lb mono, pass the two cut ends through the hole from the outside, and tie in two overhand granny knots to close the loose ends. Now pull the knot down in the inner base of the butt cap to leave a loop of line on the outside. You can now slip the loop over the head of your rod rest to secure the extension tube while casting.

SAVE THE DAY!
A simple repair kit is essential for both boat and shore anglers. Without one, a relatively simple problem can mean the loss of a whole fishing session and an expensive wasted journey.

The obvious spare to carry is a tip ring for each rod you use frequently. I fill the tip ring tube with hot melt glue at home and always carry a cigarette lighter in my gear. If a tip ring breaks it's simply a matter of removing the old one, heating up the glue in the new one and slipping it on to the rod tip. Once inline a quick dunk in seawater solidifies the glue and you can continue to fish.

I also carry a small, medium and large intermediate ring. Armed with a roll of PVC insulation tape if an intermediate ring gets broken, its off with the whipping thread and old ring and tape on a new one to continue fishing until I can rewhip properly at home.

I also carry a spare rubber butt cap too. These can quickly degrade, fall off and be lost. Have you ever tried fishing without one? It's a nightmare and hurts if you have to play a big fish!

A couple of Lucas male and female electrical connections are handy for repairing headlight leads that are prone to pulling apart. Spare bulbs for the headlight and fuses are another must. I also carry a small bottle of 20/50 oil for re-oiling bearings and spool spindles if need be.

Not much to carry then, but each item is a potential day saver. Like the Boy Scouts, be prepared!