DON’T BANK YOUR BAIT!
Fishing alongside another angler recently,  as you do we got to chatting. He was baiting up at the same time and mentioned  he was using up his old frozen bait first, waiting until the fish started to  feed before committing his expensive fresh blow lug and rag to the hook. This  is a common mistake and often false economy.

If you’re fishing a mark alongside other  anglers, then it stands to reason that having fresh bait out there will at the  least put you on a par with, and hopefully give you an edge over your immediate  neighbours. Fish rarely find stale food at sea, it’s usually just died or is  still alive and vulnerable. If you put stale bait out alongside your  neighbouring anglers fresh, then it’s obvious which bait a fish is likely to  head for first.

If you fish venues when you are often the  only angler on the beach, then fresh bait takes on a different significance.  Fish are rarely evenly spread over a whole beach, they are usually concentrated  in small pockets around small food holding areas. If you can’t identify these  areas and are fishing blind, by using fresh bait oozing juices you have more  chance of that scent lane finding the fish and drawing them to you. Once you  start to catch, fish activity and the continued scent trail will lure other  fish in creating your own personal fish holding zone. On a smaller scale it’s  the same principle as a coarse angler ground baiting to attract and hold fish  in his swim. Use stale bait with minimal scent and your chances of drawing fish  to you are limited.

Think about your tides too. Typical hot  feeding periods are either side of low and high water. Unless you’re really  know the mark you are fishing intimately and know for a fact that fish feed at  a specific time, then commit your best bait to these key feeding periods.  Feeding spells can often be short lived, so having good bait in the water when  the bulk of fish are present maximises your catch. Fishing old bait at these  times gives you false information. Poor bait results in a poor catch, so you  read that tide and time as being poor, when in fact there may well have been  plenty of fish in front of you, they just didn’t want a manky old bait.

Bait, especially worm and crab, is getting  expensive and like you I’m looking to economise where I can too. If I do use  old bait up, then I do so by mixing half fresh and half old to create a mixed  bait with some fresh scent. Another way is to have cheap fresh baits like  mussel as a bulk up bait to make the main worm supply go that bit further. Also  use fish baits like mackerel as a tippet bait to bulk out the worm.

The best way to economise is to fish short  sessions over the peak feeding terms with top class bait. This way you enjoy  the best of the fishing without forking out massive wedges of cash for bait  that you might not use.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Most books advocate using saliva to  lubricate a knot to make sure it tucks up nice and neat and to avoid burning  the line through friction as the knot slips to tighten. Saliva though, is not a  great lubricant and on heavier lines above 20lb breaking strain has little real  beneficial effect. This can result in what looks like a well tied knot  continuing to tighten under very heavy fish pressure and eventually slip if the  tag end has been cut too short.

A much better lubricant now being used for  knots used by big game anglers fishing for huge marlin, sharks and tuna is lip  gel, the type used to prevent chapped lips. This is a semi soluble grease that  when applied to the tied but not tightened knot acts as a grease and allows the  knot to close easily under minimal tension virtually eliminating any chance of  friction burn. You will also notice that the knot tightens together much  neater, but is not prone to slippage.

CARP ROD DAB TACTICS
If cold weather puts the carp and pike off  feeding, then consider using your gear for a spot of dab bashing on the  beaches. The next month sees the very best of the winter dab season and  produces the biggest fish.

Your typical carp, pike or barbel rod  around a 2½lb test curve is ideal matched to a fixed spool carrying 200-yards  or so of 12lb line, but add a shock leader of 30lb line to take the strain of  casting. Arm yourself with a few 2oz grip leads and some size 2 and 4 Mustad  Match or Kamasan B940 Aberdeen’s and you’re ready to go.

Top baits are lugworm tipped with small  slivers of mackerel or sandeel, but small strips of frozen squid or mackerel  strips catch just as well and are cheap to buy. Other good baits are sections  of razorfish, cockles, mussels, and for the very biggest dabs a strip of fresh  sprat bound on the hook with bait elastic.

Dabs can be caught on shallow surf beaches,  steep-to beaches, off harbour walls, jetties, piers and breakwaters throughout  the UK.  They like sandy, sometimes muddy ground, also areas of mixed shingle. Avoid  rough ground areas.

They feed eagerly on most tides, though on  the shallower beaches the bigger spring tides produce the most fish. Good times  on the beaches are either side of low water and throughout the full flood tide.  This is when the dabs are working closest to shore and are well within range of  standard carp gear. Off breakwaters, harbours and piers, where the water is  likely to be deeper, then fish can be caught at all states of the tide with  just a gentle cast needed to find them. Night time is best on the beaches, but  dabs feed by day in deeper water.

A good rig for beach fishing is a simple  three hook rig 36-inches long with 10-inch hook traces, the lowest hook trace  tight behind the lead, another in the middle and one at the top. For deep water  of the piers etc, go for a simple sliding ledger rig and a flowing trace with  two hooks snoods formed by tying a 24-inch loop in the end of the hook trace  and cutting one side to leave a short and long end. This keeps the bait tight  to the seabed when you’re virtually fishing in front of the rod tip.