LONG AND SHORT OF IT
There’s been a lot of media hype about how  the introduction of the new breed of 14 to 17-foot European style beachcasters  will change the way we fish here in the UK. These rods are used in France, Portugal,  Spain, Italy, Holland etc, and are in the UK mainly due to a few UK matchmen  having to adopt European techniques when fishing abroad in order to be  competitive, and then bringing these basically “fine and far off “ techniques  back here. Their popularity abroad and input from European consultants has also  seen a few companies here to try them as a fresh marketing tool.

Where these rods excel is with fixed spool  reels and light 10lb to 15lb line. Due to their increased length you can gain  extra distance if you only use a basic overhead thump type casting style, or an  off-the-ground cast. This is due to the longer rod giving a greater tip speed  for the same amount of arm power used. They work especially well with 3 to 5oz  leads for average build anglers.

Problems arise though through increased  leverage the further the tip is away from the body. When casting heavier leads  of 5 to 6ozs, these sizes being by far the most commonly needed by sea anglers,  many average sized casters struggle to bring the rod round as the weight of the  lead and bait is exaggerated through increased leverage when using these long  rods. Another problem is that off-the-ground casting when fishing is really  only consistent off clean flat sand when using wired leads unless you use a  launch tube, which is cumbersome and which many find difficult to use.

Rods over 15ft in length also catch the  wind to a much greater degree when fishing in rough weather. In a really strong  wind, the rod gets buffeted far more than a normal rod does when reeling in. If  you’re fishing consistently at long range, then this can be a real chore.

If you target bigger fish like cod, bass,  rays and conger, then hook a decent fish and again the extra length, especially  with 15ft rods and above, starts to work hard against you. The leverage factor  makes your arms and lower back work overtime, and if a fish goes to ground, as  conger do, the long rods make it that much more difficult to sustain real rod  pressure for any amount of time. The same applies when playing big fish for  long periods.

Bite detection on rods over 14-feet can  also be a problem. You obviously have that much more tip stuck up above the rod  rest making the tip more prone to moving due to wind and surf action, though  the extra height can be an advantage when there is heavy weed tight inshore  keeping the line that bit further out.

I’m not saying that these rods don’t have a  place here in the UK,  but I do feel that we’re overstating their practicality. These rods are not  revolutionary, just another option to how you might fish. If you favour match  tactics with smaller fish in mind, then they work extremely well in some  conditions, and are a definite consideration if you prefer to fish with simple  casting styles and fixed spool reels using light leads and line as they can  increase your casting range appreciably for no extra effort on your own part.

Will they replace typical 12ft to 13ft  pendulum rods…no chance!

TIPS AND TRICKS
I don’t like braid for any form of casting,  but some anglers do like the extra sensitivity it offers when fishing with  lures. On multipliers though, light braid is nightmare and will dig deeply in  to the coils of braid already on the spool due to the direct in line style of  retrieve when putting line back on to the spool under tension, such as when  playing a decent fish. This is a common mistake with bass anglers trying to use  finer diameter braids on small American style baitcasting multipliers and rods  to cast plugs for bass.

If you really do feel the need to use light  braided lines, then switch to a fixed spool reel. Because the oscillating style  of line retrieval is via the rotating bale arm running around the spool as it  rises and falls when you turn the handle, you can see that the line is laid across  the spool, not in parallel form across it. This cross over retrieval of the  line eliminates the braid from digging in to itself as the direct line pressure  is minimal.

SPRING FLOUNDER TACTICS
Right about now the first spent flounder  are back inshore and making their way in to our estuary systems. They stay  around the estuary mouths at first taking up station along the edges of the  deeper channels, especially around the edges of mussel beds, moving in to the  edges and the surf line to feed as the tide floods in.

They quickly filter further inland and are  soon to be seen inside the shallow drainage creeks. Here they choose to lay  either inside the deeper pools created as a channel changes direction, but  often in shallow water just a few inches deep right at the edge where they bury  themselves in the sand and can take in the warmth of the sun’s rays during the day. They move back out in to  middle of the channel at night as the temperature falls.

Fish can be caught by day, especially  around the estuary mouths fishing in amongst the surf tables, but its at night that the seem to do  the bulk of the feeding in the creeks choosing a flooding tide that brings food  washing down to them with the current. The fish at the estuary mouths start to  feed at low water, but in the creek channels they ate triggered by the actual  first movement of flooding water as it pushes up the channel.

Being spent after spawning, they are  ravenously hungry. Top baits are peeler crab or soft crab that are just  starting to peel in numbers as the days warm up, but also razorfish, lug worm,  ragworm and mussel.

Stick to light tackle, just a spinning rod  or light carp rod casting a 1 to 2oz weight with a fixed spool reel and just  12lb line is ample. Use a hook snood about 20-inches long on a simple sliding ledger  rig. Let the bait and lead roll around in the surf tables or down the middle of  the creek towards a bend in the channel until the fish are found. If the fish  are not in the deeper holes, try working the bait rolling down the side of the  channels.