BITE BOFFINS
Ever noticed how some anglers can  invariably tell you from the initial bite on the rod tip exactly what species  they’ve just hooked? It’s not rocket science, just experience.

It’s all to do with the shape of the fish.  Take flatties for instance. They swim up to a bait at seabed level, when their  senses locate the bait exactly; they suck the bait in to their mouths, gulp it  down, then try and swim away. On the rod tip you see an initial tiny tap if  you’re fishing at close range to a very tight line, maybe another tap as the  fish gulps in the bait, then a series of slow rattles, which is the fish’s  undulating swimming motion as it tries to swim away with the bait and comes up  against the tightening hook trace.

Smaller round fish like whiting and small  school bass swim up to a bait and try to take it on the move. This bite signals  as a single series of rattles on the rod tip created by the faster swimming  motion of the round fish shape. Then another series of rattles as the fish  realises it’s in trouble and tries to vigorously swim away against the tight  trace.

Bigger round fish are aggressive feeders.  Cod for instance, hit a bait on the run. They have to especially in surf or  fast tide conditions or the bait will be long gone. This is seen as a either a  dramatic and violent slam down of the rod and then slack line, or a couple of  nods on the tip, then a pull down and again the line falling slack as the cod  moves away freeing the lead.

Bass can also hit a bait on the move creating  a savage yank down of the rod tip, but they can also be much more picky. Bass  will literally pick up a bait and shake it like a dog. This creates either a  double tap on the rod tip, or a short series of rattles. As they move away the  rod tip pulls over and the power slams in to your arm if you’re holding the  rod. Bass will also pick up a bait and swim directly in shore creating yards of  slack line, and in calm clear seas can just “tap” a bait once then reject it if  they feel any alien tension from the tackle.

Shore huss are not the brightest spark in  the fire. They feed slowly, but efficiently. They have a mouth big enough to  get a sizeable bait straight in, they then sluggishly just move away. No  surprise their typical bite is a single tap as they pick up the bait, then a  slow drag down and pulsing of the rod tip as the fish keeps trying to swim away  until the tight line stops it dead.

Rays are always confusing when you watch  the rod tip. You often get a series of taps or rattles on the rod tip that  convinces you it’s just a small flattie trying to rip a chunk of bait off. It  might just be that, of course, but often this is the first sign a ray has taken  interest. It’s the ray’s wings flapping on the line as the ray slides and flops  over the bait. When the bait is in the mouth the ray slowly swims away and  you’ll see either a solid continued pull down on the rod tip, or slack line if  the ray swims inshore.

Becoming a bite boffin is just about being  observant. Over a period of time getting the majority of predictions right is  pretty easy

TIPS AND TRICKS
When you visit your Chinese or Tai  takeaways, take a look at the type of containers the takeaway food is supplied  in. Often these are plastic boxes with decent clip on lids and are mostly semi  clear making for easy identification of the contents.

It’s worth saving a few of these, for after  a quick wash out they make ideal bait boxes for sea baits like lug, rag and  white rag, but are also ideal for storing small quantities of mussel and other  tippet baits you’ll need during a short session.

The same boxes also come in for storing  packets of hooks, swivels and other potentially corrodible accessory items  keeping them fully dry to avoid potential contact from salt or rain water, which  can find the smallest hole in the packet and rust up the contents.

BAIT ROBBING SPIDER CRAB TACTICS
On south coast, and now unfortunately even  in Wales,  spider crabs are reaching plague proportions. Cast a bait out from the shore,  and often off the boat, and you’ll find your bait shredded in seconds and more  often than not your hook will be bitten clean off the mono hook trace.

You can stop the spider crabs nipping  through the mono by switching your mono hook snoods for braid. Use 30lb braid  for smaller fish like flatties, whiting, gurnards etc, but switch over to the  heavier 50lb to 80lb braid for general fishing. The braid is way too tough for  the spider crabs claws to sever through, nor can they appreciably damage it.  Try cutting braid with normal scissors and you’ll see what I mean.

Stopping them stripping baits in seconds is  less easy, as their voracious appetites seem happy to consume anything. The  best way is to protect your normal baits with a protective skin of squid.  Literally wrap a lug worm, mackerel strip or shellfish fully around with a flat  section of squid, then bind it up tight with bait elastic. The tighter the  package, the harder it is for the spiders to nip chunks from it. Puncture the  squid with the point of a knife to let the bait juices flow out. Not ideal, but  it holds them at bay for a few minutes longer giving any nearby fish more time  to follow up the scent trail.

Fishing inside estuaries will often find  you plagued by shore crabs stripping baits to the bone too. Again you can wrap  soft baits like lug and rag in envelopes of squid. Crabs mind, are cannibalistic,  but do tend to take much longer to strip away peeler crab flesh than they do  mackerel, sandeel or worm baits. It’s worth bearing this in mind.

You can also employ buoyant beads or even  bottle corks positioned about 8-inches away from the hook bait to give the bait  some lift off the seabed to limit the constant attack of the crab. Think about  how much buoyancy you need though. A couple of typical 8mm float beads might lift  a small ragworm off the seabed, but it can’t lift bigger baits like mackerel  strips, whole small sandeels or small chunks of peeler crab. That’s where  cutting suitable half or longer sections from a bottle cork to get the right  amount of lift can make all the difference.

It’s a true observation though, that when  the crabs are taking your baits, there’s usually no fish around. When the crabs  go off the feed and the baits remain intact, trust me, the fish are moving in  and you can expect a bite.