Questions to russ@reelfoto.demon.co.uk
Playing the odds is something we do all the time when we go fishing and it is true to say that the odds are, that most of the fish will be feeding close to the bottom for most of the time. So it makes a lot of sense to fish our baits as near to the bottom as we can keep them.Many successful boat anglers will change the weight of their sinker several times during the day to cope with the ever increasing force of the flooding tide so that their baits are kept in the fish feeding zone close to the bottom.With a little practice it is easy to tell when the tide is starting to “kite” your baits up and away from the near bottom strike zone. Every now and again, take your thumb off the spool of your reel and feel how long it takes for your sinker to tap the bottom again. If it is quite a long time, then you are fishing your bait a long way from the fish and it is time you put a heavier sinker on.Our shore fishing brothers have undergone something of an end tackle revolution in the past few years, especially those with the technique and ability to cast a bait up to a couple of hundred yards. Some of these clever little bits of bent wire and injection moulded plastic are quite useful to us boat anglers as well.For my own use the Gemini Rig Clip which is made so that the shore angler can change sinkers quickly and easily is a top of the list of useful bits of kit that make the transition into the boat angler bit box. Costing just £1.35 for a packet of 10 they enable a quick and rapid change of sinker and are freely available from most tackle shops and mail-order outlets. Highly recommended.
Questions to russ@reelfoto.demon.co.uk