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Features on a beach - important or not?

Kine262

Kine262

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I do a lot of river fishing and I spend a fair bit of time looking for features to fish to, over or near, such as overhanging trees, bends, depth changes etc, but when I get to the beach I just pick a spot that looks comfy and stick my tripod up ready to fish. I never really consider the beach in front of me, despite there being patches of mud, sand bars, areas of small stones and obvious (but shallow) gullies.

Should I be considering these features a lot more than I do? I know they change almost on a daily basis with some tides but as I tend to arrive when the tide is well out, I still have plenty of time to survey the beach before fishing, but rarely do. I just tend to go back to a spot where I have caught before.
 
Just had another thought, river (or lake) fish probably stay near features that provide food or where they feel safe, but on beaches that dry out during low tide the fish don't have that luxury so will they return to an area?
 
It's very important to take note of these features, the gullies, pebbles and seaweed and Rock piles to clay , all play an important part of the feeding fish.

Also how does the tide run over these marks when it's on the flood and on the ebb,

Another thing to look out for is the beach itself, what's being pushed up onto the beach , say after a storm, as that gives you and indecation of what's under the water if low doesn't go that far.

The last time I went to Chezel, this proved useful as I don't know the beach, only ever fish it three times.

one thing I noticed was the bigger bloulders on the top of the beach, more shells and kelp. So in theory that's what I would be fishing as that's where there is a good source of food
 
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Watercraft is probably one of the most important things about angling.
Being able to 'read' a venue puts you 75% of the way to a great session Vs a poor/average session.
 
Very important to use water craft, makes alot of difference to your catch rates or what species your targeting (y)
 
As youve all said, watercraft is very important when your beach fishing, no doubt about it, if you can read a beach and say to yourself" That's the place to have a dangle"it will give you that bit more confidence to relax and possibly enjoy yourself more.
But one thing that a lot of people don't in my humble opinion pay enough attention to is bait.
I've seen people that have the best rods, reels etc. Yet there bait has been in and out pf the freezer3 or 4 times. They wonder why there only catching doggies when others around are doing better.
In my head i think that a fresh bait smell wafting in the tide will give anyone a better chance of a few fish, rather than a stale bait that attracts dogs.
I always look for places on a beach that holds broken shells and bits of dead crab and that sort of thing.
Generally these areas are often a little deeper than the rest of the beach, therefore a form of gulley, Good luck mate i hope you catch your dream fish.?
 
Silverback said:
As youve all said, watercraft is very important when your beach fishing, no doubt about it, if you can read a beach and say to yourself" That's the place to have a dangle"it will give you that bit more confidence to relax and possibly enjoy yourself more.
But one thing that a lot of people don't in my humble opinion pay enough attention to is bait.
I've seen people that have the best rods, reels etc. Yet there bait has been in and out pf the freezer3 or 4 times. They wonder why there only catching doggies when others around are doing better.
In my head i think that a fresh bait smell wafting in the tide will give anyone a better chance of a few fish, rather than a stale bait that attracts dogs.
I always look for places on a beach that holds broken shells and bits of dead crab and that sort of thing.
Generally these areas are often a little deeper than the rest of the beach, therefore a form of gulley, Good luck mate i hope you catch your dream fish.?
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Yep do agree with that. Place, time, conditions and bait are the key ingredients for a session imo.

I too have seen those sorts of people and as you say, they have the gear and basically know what they’re doing and then you see their manky lump of mackerel on the hook and think ‘what?!’

Usually though they’re the sort that don’t listen either. I’ve had occasions where I’ve been catching and they’ve been struggling, and I’ll go over and say you’d do better with peeler/worm/whatever here, would you like a couple.
Then you usually get a long defensive tirade about how they/their mates always use manky frozen mackerel and only last week had a double figure cod/bass etc etc here.
After which I’ll consign them to the box marked ‘idiot’ and ignore them.

Some people are genuinely keen to learn and will come over and ask questions, but some just won’t learn.
 
Mr Fish said:
Yep do agree with that. Place, time, conditions and bait are the key ingredients for a session imo.

I too have seen those sorts of people and as you say, they have the gear and basically know what they’re doing and then you see their manky lump of mackerel on the hook and think ‘what?!’

Usually though they’re the sort that don’t listen either. I’ve had occasions where I’ve been catching and they’ve been struggling, and I’ll go over and say you’d do better with peeler/worm/whatever here, would you like a couple.
Then you usually get a long defensive tirade about how they/their mates always use manky frozen mackerel and only last week had a double figure cod/bass etc etc here.
After which I’ll consign them to the box marked ‘idiot’ and ignore them.

Some people are genuinely keen to learn and will come over and ask questions, but some just won’t learn.
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I can't understand those people that won't listen to advice, especially when someone is offering a bit of bait too!

I am always happy to listen, even when the one giving the advice seems like the local loony! I learnt my lesson in the best way possible about this once when I was fishing by the old pillbox on Porlock weir. A scruffy old chap with a hat that looked like it was about to fall apart and a jumper that I wouldn't have kept for the dog to lie on came over and told me I was using the wrong bait and casting much too far. He gave me a couple of sandeels that he then showed me how to bait up with, then told me to lower the whole lot into the water less than three feet out! I thought I would humour him and did so, despite feeling a bit silly, but just fifteen minutes later I had to thank him profusely after catching my best ever bass!
 
I like this forum, i feel like i can discuss things without prejudice.
I've been thinking about watercraft today and it's not only about the look of the beach.
It's also whete you perceive whete the fish will be when you can't see the sand.
An example of a lesson i learnt was a few years ago on Dinas dinnlle beach. I set up 2 rods, baited up and wanged the baits out as far as i could.
2 hours later i hadnt caugjt a thing, looking up and down the beach, i could see people catching bass quite often.
A chap walked past and said, hope you don't mind me saying mate but your casting a hundred yards too far, you need to be 20 or 30 yards out, cast too far , you get dogfish.
This was a lightbulb moment for me because you see these casters doing 200+yards and you think that they must catch all the fish.
The reality is that when youve got a knowledge of watercraft, you know where the fish will be, cast 30 yards youll catch bass, cast 100 yards and that's where more fish might be .
I tend to fish1 rod short and one long, trying to remember where the gulleys and broken ground will be.
Sorry for the boring text, but thought it might help someone not make the same mistake.?
 
Kine262 said:
I can't understand those people that won't listen to advice, especially when someone is offering a bit of bait too!

I am always happy to listen, even when the one giving the advice seems like the local loony! I learnt my lesson in the best way possible about this once when I was fishing by the old pillbox on Porlock weir. A scruffy old chap with a hat that looked like it was about to fall apart and a jumper that I wouldn't have kept for the dog to lie on came over and told me I was using the wrong bait and casting much too far. He gave me a couple of sandeels that he then showed me how to bait up with, then told me to lower the whole lot into the water less than three feet out! I thought I would humour him and did so, despite feeling a bit silly, but just fifteen minutes later I had to thank him profusely after catching my best ever bass!
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Yep, there’s always something to learn, even from what at first appears to be unlikely sources.

I will listen to anything others suggest, unless my own experience at that mark tells me they’re talking bollix. I think some do just like spinning sh1te to see if you’ll believe them - some people do seem to get a kick out of that sort of thing, why I have no idea.

However, when someone is clearly doing well on one bait or method and the evidence is under your nose, it seems crazy that people will still ignore advice.
 
Silverback said:
I like this forum, i feel like i can discuss things without prejudice.
I've been thinking about watercraft today and it's not only about the look of the beach.
It's also whete you perceive whete the fish will be when you can't see the sand.
An example of a lesson i learnt was a few years ago on Dinas dinnlle beach. I set up 2 rods, baited up and wanged the baits out as far as i could.
2 hours later i hadnt caugjt a thing, looking up and down the beach, i could see people catching bass quite often.
A chap walked past and said, hope you don't mind me saying mate but your casting a hundred yards too far, you need to be 20 or 30 yards out, cast too far , you get dogfish.
This was a lightbulb moment for me because you see these casters doing 200+yards and you think that they must catch all the fish.
The reality is that when youve got a knowledge of watercraft, you know where the fish will be, cast 30 yards youll catch bass, cast 100 yards and that's where more fish might be .
I tend to fish1 rod short and one long, trying to remember where the gulleys and broken ground will be.
Sorry for the boring text, but thought it might help someone not make the same mistake.?
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Yep, most surf beaches, if you’re casting past 40 yards at the most, you’re casting over the bass every time.

Of course if you want to try for dogs, rays etc, it can be worth going a bit further.
That said, I’ve had plenty of rays on close in bass baits too.
I guess if you think about it, the surf zone is where the food is being churned up, so bass won’t necessarily be the only fish taking advantage of that.

For that matter, certain North Somerset beaches i fish for sole, we fish over the lug beds at 10-40 yards and pick up all fish there - sole, bass, codling, eels, ting, pretty much everything.
 
Strange thing, after what i said is that on 1 beach i fish in north llyn, if you don't cast a hundred yards plus you don't catch.
It's mad, even bass, I've seen them closer, but never caught close in.
 
Silverback said:
Strange thing, after what i said is that on 1 beach i fish in north llyn, if you don't cast a hundred yards plus you don't catch.
It's mad, even bass, I've seen them closer, but never caught close in.
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Yes there are exceptions. I have one flat surf beach where the larger bass can be well out, retreating back from the tide and paying out the best part of 200 yards of line.
 
Silverback said:
It's mad, even bass, I've seen them closer, but never caught close in.
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This bit interested me greatly. I read a post by Murtha a while ago about mackerel in Loch Long that refused to be tempted by any method. I used to take the kids there camping many times thirty years or so ago and had many similar experiences. Vast shoals that often came within yards of the shore, boiling the surface - but I couldn't get a take. I'm just glad that others have experienced this - I thought it was just me! :)
 
hullcitytilidie said:
This bit interested me greatly. I read a post by Murtha a while ago about mackerel in Loch Long that refused to be tempted by any method. I used to take the kids there camping many times thirty years or so ago and had many similar experiences. Vast shoals that often came within yards of the shore, boiling the surface - but I couldn't get a take. I'm just glad that others have experienced this - I thought it was just me! :)
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Ive been on Skye when the mackerel have been making the surface boil but refusing to take anything at all
 
hullcitytilidie said:
This bit interested me greatly. I read a post by Murtha a while ago about mackerel in Loch Long that refused to be tempted by any method. I used to take the kids there camping many times thirty years or so ago and had many similar experiences. Vast shoals that often came within yards of the shore, boiling the surface - but I couldn't get a take. I'm just glad that others have experienced this - I thought it was just me! :)
Click to expand...
Tory mackerel ???
 
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