AN EYE FOR FRY
With summer upon us its time to pick up the lure and fly rods for some varied sea sport. If you're new to this type of fishing, then you need to develop what's referred to as an educated eye for fry.

Many of our harbours and estuaries will now be carrying shoals of small fry. The shoals are most prevalent during early morning or later in the evening around high water, especially if the weather is flat calm and warm. Good areas to spot them are inside harbours, especially on the lee side of breakwaters, around marina pontoons, and also the quieter back eddies of estuary channels. Over high tide you'll also see them gather around the ends of wooden jetties and piers.

They reveal themselves by dimpling or rippling on the surface over a tight relatively small area. Watch this activity and you'll notice that occasionally there is a burst of increased activity with small fish leaping clear of the surface. This lasts for just a few seconds, then the activity goes back to just the obvious dimpling on the surface. This sudden scattering of little fish is caused by much bigger predatory fish underneath attacking the shoals. These are typically mackerel, garfish, bass and sometimes pollack.

If you're using spinning tackle, then choose small up to 1oz spinners like the Dexter Wedge or Toby spoon, and aim to cast these well beyond and just slightly to one side of the activity to avoid spooking both the shoal and predators underneath. Bring the lure back through the edge of the shoal at medium pace, but occasionally stop the lure to fall freely for a few seconds. Just as you begin to retrieve again is the most likely time to get a hit.

If you're fly fishing, then choose a fly dressed with white marabou or lama hair and some sparkle flash material with an un weighted head. With fly gear, aim to drop the fly right in amongst the surface action and immediately strip back fast. If this doesn't score, then switch to a similar fly with a weighted dumbbell eye head to get deeper and strip back using short, sharp jerks after letting the fly sink a few seconds. Vary the sink time depth to find the predators underneath. If you can time the cast just as the fry go berserk on the surface, you're pretty much bound to get a take.

As light levels fade towards dusk, this fry activity will dramatically increase. You need to switch both lure and fly to something that is dark in colour, preferably black. These silhouettes better against the sky light for fish that are working deeper.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Most first time rod builders don't realise that you need to modify the ends of the ring feet on intermediate rings to get a slow rising angle for the whipping thread to climb up. Without this angle, the threads can't hide the ends of the feet which will stick out and spoil the looks of the rod.

Initially I'd suggest using a quality small metal file and file down the foot away from you towards the end of the ring foot. You're looking for a slightly domed downward angle, and thin the very end of the ring foot down almost razor blade thin, but not too thin that it ends up so sharp that it will cut the thread as it passes over. You only need work on the front third of the ring foot. Don't go further back than that. This simple trick gives the finished whipping a smooth travel up the ring foot with no sign of the ring foot underneath peeping out between the individual threads.

BOAT RED GURNARD TACTICS

The red gurnard is generally less commonly caught on rod and line than its cousins the grey and tub gurnard, but like them it is a sucker for anything bright and flashy.

Reds are mainly fish eaters. They take launce sandeel fillets, 2-inch strips of thinly cut mackerel white belly strips, sometimes strips of squid.

They are commonest over clean sand or gravel, so for drift fishing a good rig is a sliding boom about 12-inches long with 3 to 4-foot hook length of 20lb line. Add a small silver spoon at the end with a short 9-inch hook trace tied to this with some silver and gold sequins added, or some silver paper from a cigarette packet can be equally as good just wrapped around the line. The best hook is a Mustad 3261BLN Aberdeen size 2 or a Kamasan equivalent.

Gurnards "tap" on the rod tip when taking the bait. Release a little slack line, then let the line come tight until you feel the weight of the fish and let the rod set the hook. You can fish just 6lb class tackle for these, or use a light spinning rod and 8lb main line for maximum fun.

The very biggest fish though, can be taken while fishing shrimp rigs over rocky ground, but bait the hooks with short strips of mackerel or sandeel. You can also catch reds by making short 4-inch 10mm bar pirks and arming them with a single long shank Aberdeen hooks size 2. Bait the hook with a strip of fish again, but bounce the pirk on the seabed to attract the gurnard. This method takes patience, but will reward you with the very biggest reds.

Any red gurnard over a pound is a good one, but a 2lber is pretty much a fish of lifetime. They taste great too.