Information Page.

"Aspects of angling.".

After a recent fishing trip it struck me that the first thing to do if and when you move to or start to fish a new area is get hold of a map. Along most stretches of coast there are a range of bays, headlands, inlets and harbours. Take the shorelines between Poole and Weymouth where I do most of my fishing for example. The prevailing wind is from the south west so any beach that faces in that direction is likely to get its fair share of swell and surf. If the bottom is sandy then the water will frequently be coloured up as the waves stir up the sea bed. If it's rocky and weedy it will often be clear although in the event of gales and/or storms there will be lots of loose weed in the water.

Conversely, east facing shorelines will usually be sheltered but should there be a blow from that direction the water will be just as turbulent or coloured as those facing the opposite way. The other thing you have to consider is how you prefer to plan your fishing. If you're a 'fly fishing or nothing' person then you may prefer to select most the sheltered spots - at least when it's blowing a gale. If you must cast a plug then you will probably be looking for a bit of movement with clearish water free of bits of weed. The died-in-the-wool bait fisherman will very likely prefer a falling sea with plenty of colour following a strong onshore blow.

Perhaps the best approach is simply to be a bit more versatile and to choose the place you think will fish best (according to season, time of day, species of fish, etc. etc.) under the prevailing conditions. Just look at the two pictures below. They were taken on the same morning only a few kilometres apart along the same stretch of coast. In one case it was much too dangerous to venture onto the shore, let alone to fish, and in the other it was easy to use any method. As it happened we didn't get a sniff but there was almost certainly somewhere with conditions 'in between' that might have produced the goods if we'd had time to explore.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you.'get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

INFORMATION SPOT

Rough.

Not rough.

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