OTHER BAITS

More Baits

We have talked of the main baits to be had from your friendly tackle shop or by collecting your self but there are many more to be had. If you look in rock pools you my find allsorts of goodies from small crabs and fishes shrimps and prawns all of these can be used as bait. Have a look what is hanging around the rocks and boulders if you are luckily you will  find Limpets, Mussels and other shell fish

Shrimps and Prawns

 fished alive simply hooked through the tail and presented on a float rig can be a killer for Bass. These can also be effective used with a flounder spoon for, you guessed it Flounders. Cooked Prawns and be very useful at the right time and as a tip bait

Shellfish

You can find these attached to rocks, sea walls, piles (not those sort) dug from the beach and washed up, these are fantastic baits.

• Mussels  a great bait on its own  or used as a cocktail with other baits great for Cod they can be collected from rocks, sea walls and piles or can be often be found in the supermarket, frozen fresh and cooked are also available and a good standby.
• Cockles  a great bait on its own for flatties or used as a cocktail with other baits . These can be racked or dug from the sand and are often sold in supermarkets.
• Razor Fish these can be dug (if you are fast enough) or collected by using salt pored down its hole in the sand as an irritant and it should pops its head up and you grab it or you can buy them frozen from your friendly tackle shop.
• Limpets  they can be hard to collect but once you get the knack its easy, the best way I have found is to use a blunt knife sliding it fast under the limpet. This a very tough bait that can be very useful
• Slipper limpets these can be found on the beach after storms you find the stuck together in lumps. They are not native to the UK they came to England  with ousters being imported from the US in the 1800s and were found mainly off the Essex coast

Please only take what you need

Fish

Apart from Mackerel and Herring all fish can be used as bait oily fish seem to be better than white fish, tide pools can be a source of small bait fish which can be used on a float rig. Fresh water caught eels have been used for boat fishing for Tope but this is becoming unpopular as the eel population has become endangered not from this practice I must add.  

Sand Eels

A fantastic bait live or frozen, the live sand eels must be kept in an aerated bucket or tank. They can be raked from the sand with a hooked knife or purchased from your friendly tackle shop but few will have live eels in stock but most will have good quality frozen eels. It is very important that they remain frozen until they go on the hook as they degrade very fast and lose the fish catching appeal very quickly, a good trick is to put them in a vacuum flask with ice when going to the beach on them warm summer evenings. When used live they can hooked through the tail and fished with a float rig this is a real killer for Bass. When fished frozen one of the ways to present them is to top and tail them then thread them on the hook like a worm then binding the lightly with bait elastic. This is great for Ray, Bass, Cod and Doggies   

Evan More Baits

I have found that the common garden earth worm to be good bait in river estuaries, harbours and brackish waters,  I have caught many flounders and eels in the Thames at Rainham near the old Fords plant. 

Maggots  can be good for Mullet in the right situation when there is lots of rotting seaweed on the shore line, you can find the maggots when turning over clumps of seaweed.

Bread is very useful for Mullet and should be presented as you would when fresh water fishing.