DROP 'EM RIGHT IN IT
If you're intent on fishing piers, maybe breakwaters, jetties and the like, then you'll need to sort out a drop net, because many of these types of venue give you no direct access to the sea, and you'll need to net and lift fish anything up to 30-feet below you.

A drop net can be made from an old 30" bicycle wheel and some net mesh. You can adapt net mesh from a landing net, or if you walk enough beaches you'll find loads of commercial netting that gets washed up, which in its finer gauge, is perfect. You need a net depth of about three-feet to give enough depth for you to land a big cod or bass. It's simply a case of folding the net over the rim and using nylon cord to knot it securely together. You'll also need to tie in around 8ozs of lead in the base of the net to get it to sink immediately.

Next step is to tie three four-foot lengths of rope with loops on to the wheel at equal spacings, then tie or plat loops in the other ends of the rope. The loops take a 30-foot length of rope, which is enough for most venues.

Using a drop net properly is almost an art. Slowly lower the drop net until it reaches the sea, watch to make sure the net sinks cleanly and directly below the frame. Release enough rope to sink the frame about two-feet deep. Hold the net as it is while the angler draws the fish to the net and steers it in through one of the gaps between the three frame ropes, then the nets man can lift the net and raw the fish upwards. Never try to steer the net to the fish. The angler has much more control and can work the rod to guide the fish in.

In a fast tide run, obviously the net will lift at an angle and face towards you rather than be directly below. This requires the angler to pull the fish in front of the net and let it drop back in to it. I often find this an easier task to perform than the when the net is directly below you, as the tidal current will hold the net steady and the fish just falls back in to it.

There are some incredible drop nets made in the US. I have one that is made from a tough plastic rim that folds down to the size of a dinner plate, but unfolded is 32" diameter. The frame deliberately collapses inwards with the weight of a fish to avoid any chance of the fish jumping out. I got it off the Internet.

A drop net isn't perfect. Tackle can get snagged on the net and result in lost fish, but they do give you an opportunity to take on difficult venues with the means to land big fish if they happen along.

COCKTAIL CORNER - Crab tipped with mackerel
This is one of my banker cocktail baits. You use the peeled crab either in small chunks on small size 2 or 4 hooks with a small sliver of mackerel added to the hook point to take flounder, eels, dabs and pout.

This dynamic bait duo in bigger form really comes in to their own for thornback rays early in the season from April through to June. You'll need a single 4/0 hook, either a Varivas Big Mouth or a Mustad Viking hook. Peel a crab and cut the body in to two halves. A 2-inch diameter dog crab is ideal for this. Push one half of the crab up on to shank, bind it with bait elastic securely, but as you bind it squeeze down the end nearest the hook point to a slimmer taper. Now add a 2-inch by half an inch strip of mackerel by putting the hook through one end, but make sure there is enough length to reach just over the tapered end of the crab, then bind the mackerel in place. This keeps the hook point clear for hooking the fish. This bait will also take bass, huss and conger.

EARLY SEASON BASS TACTICS

The first real crab peel is just getting underway and this will bring the first big bass back inshore along the English Channel, Devon, Cornwall and throughout Wales. It'll be about another month though, from the Thames Estuary northwards before the crabs start to peel in the required numbers to create the same conditions.

The rough ground beaches produce the best fishing, and always during the bigger spring tides. These large areas of rough ground offer the crab their much needed hidey holes within which they can crawl to shed their old brittle shells and harden their initial soft skin in to a new hard shell. The crabs are vulnerable to a bass attack while moving over this ground looking for these hiding places, but also get washed out of their holes by surf action in rougher weather as juicy peelers and softies.

The bass are most likely to feed just as the flood tide kicks in right along the low water line. Most of the crabs will be in this immediate ground adjacent to the low tide line where they get the protective insulation from the water and avoid exposure to the still very cold night air. Bass know this. Stick to the hour before low and the first two hours after. The fishing is inconsistent after that due to few crabs having yet ventured on to the ground much above the low tide mark.

A good time to fish is a late afternoon tide just before dusk. Pick a mark well away from any land drainage or freshwater streams as this cold water will over cool the surrounding sea and keep bass away. A steady surf action stirred up by a warm wind from the south or southwest is also an advantage.

Form your crab baits to fill a Mustad Bass hook size 3/0, no bigger. Huge baits are not as effective early in the season as they are in the autumn. Look to put the bait in to gutters, gullies and deeper depressions in the ground feature as these are always hotspots for hunting bass.