COASTERS COUNT
Few anglers give any thought to the coaster  reel clamps usually supplied with off-the-shelf beach rods. Even DIY rod  builders tend to just buy any old set of coasters without a thought of  potential problems.

There are basically two types of coaster  clamps, a wide metal band type and the plastic Breakaway pattern. The metal  band types are common on shop bought rods, and the Breakaway pattern more  usually bought by DIY rod builders and as replacements for broken metal band  coasters.

Problems start when rods are built using  just shrink tube to protect the butt. Fit the coasters and the reel, and you’ll  find that when the metal band coasters are tightened down over the reel feet  that the reel feet dig down in to the shrink tube leaving a permanent mark, and  in extreme cases can cause blank damage. If you use both up and down reel  casting techniques you quickly end up with an unsightly rod butt with deep  holes and chips in the shrink tube.

You’ll also find that the reel can actually  slide when under pressure over the slippy shrink tube surface. Not much good if  you’re fighting a big fish at the time. That said the wide metal band coasters  will grip slightly better than the plastic coasters when tightened down over  unprotected shrink tube.

Anglers also complain that plastic coasters  using a tightening nut screwed down over threads soon strip their teeth. The  reason the teeth strip is that the coasters are being over tightened because  the coasters are fitted over that plain slippy shrink tube.

Where some tackle companies and rod  builders have got it wrong is that coasters should only be used over a rubber  sleeve fitted over the shrink tube to firstly protect the shrink tube and the  butt from the pressure of the ring feet, and to give the coaster something to  grip on to eliminate any chance of reel slippage on the butt when under fishing  pressures. The rubber sleeve should also be long enough to accommodate the  upper hand when reeling in to give added grip.

I’ve been using rubber sleeving over my  shrink tube butts for 20-years, and I’ve two sets of Breakaway coasters that  must be 10-years old at least, and still going strong. The reason being they  don’t need to be over tightened to get a proper grip on the reel and butt.  Neither do my reels slip round on the butt in the heat of a fish fight.

Most of you will identify with the above  problems, and to cure it there are different types of thin walled rubber  sleeving suitable for use over shrink tube that can be bought in good cycle  shops sold as handle bar grip or in sports shops for bat and racket handles.  These need to be a tight fit over the shrink tube, and are best applied with a  little lubricant like soapy water to make them slip in to place. 

TIPS AND TRICKS
Anglers tying rigs for use over rough  ground often tie a single blood loop in to the rig and use a loop to loop  connection to attach the hook snood. You want the loop to stand out and the  hook snood to hang out from the rig to give good presentation and you need to  connect the loops as followed to achieve this.

Hold the hook snood loop upright in your  right hand and the rig loop horizontal in your left hand. Pass the rig loop  through the open middle of the snood loop. Bring the hook upwards through the  middle of the rig loop and pull the two loops fully together.

You’ll see that the loops sit correctly  with the rig loop standing outwards and the hook snood falling vertically and  to one side to give good presentation. This is a strong connection providing the  two loops are made from the same strength mono. If you use a lighter hook snood  line, then under pressure the thinner line will cut, cheese wire style, through  the stronger loop.

BEACH SOLE TACTICS
Sole are about to become a target for  anglers on the east coast and south coast beaches, also inside the upper Severn  estuary and a few show along the mid and north Wales coasts too.

Sole tend to be very localized with one  beach producing good numbers, yet another close by rarely seeing any sole  caught. The same applies to the actual beach you fish. Certain little hotspots  continually produce sole, with other areas barren. Look for areas of shallow  sandbanks, patches of mud, and also fish close to small areas of rock, as sole  use these to break the tide when they burrow into the sand.

Unless you’re fishing in coloured water,  night time is best for sole, with the bigger tides, calm seas and little wind  giving the best opportunities. Sole tend to feed around slack water, ideally  pick a tide with slack water occurring in the two hours prior to dawn, a time  when sole can feed ravenously in good numbers.

Sole tend to be in groups of fish all of a  similar size, so if you catch one then there’s a good chance of others. The  smaller fish come within a few feet of dry sand on some deeper beaches, but on  shallower beaches longer casts are needed. If you get sole at a certain  distance then lose them, cast closer in. Bigger sole over 2 lbs tend to be lone  fish or accompanied by one or two other sole of pretty much equal size.

Lugworm is traditionally the top sole bait,  but many anglers swear by ragworm leaving just a little bit of tail hanging  below the hook to wriggle. It’s little known, but tipping rag or lug with  mussel tongues can improve catches.

Good rigs are three boom rigs with short  12lb hook snoods, or three hook flapper rigs, but again using shorter 10-inch  12lb hook snoods. Sole have small mouths, so Aberdeen hooks in size 4 to 8 are best.