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Reading a venue ?

Minstrelblue

Minstrelblue

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You visit an area for the first time, lure rod and lures ready, the weather is fair, tide is flooding, you see a wide sandy bay with a few sand bars causing waves to break prematurely there's a calmer spots indicating deeper pools, the beach is flanked by snaggy rocks either side.. where to start, rocks, beach, surf, the pools, then what !, surface lures, shallow divers, or metals...
so
What's your strategy?
 
Where the waves wash up bait, gulleys, pools also where the gulls are feeding. I would start with surface lures, then shallow; metals. If no good then bait.
 
See..... This is my conundrum at a fishy spot as a visitor.. First I decide rocks, slither over the rocks,I'm soon thinking beach, then 10 mins later in thinking should've stayed where I was.. Then I'm thinking metals... While winding in I'm thinking sub surface.. Then surface....then soft plastics. I'm just suffering an inexorable slide into terminal confliction and then panic resulting in repeated blanks.. It's enuf to drive you nuts.
 
Think current, structure and bait. Follow the ebb out and identify any gullies or deeper areas in the rocks, bass will run into these areas on the flood even during daylight, well they used to, and you can get them in very skinny water, small surface lures, or flies never tried SPs. Headlands with a good rip running in casting range are another good bet and every beach has two headlands, usually. Tobies fished fast and if you see sea trout jumping you are in the right area. Follow the rocks back with the tide, make sure of your escape route, until you hit sand and then go down the pub. Never bothered to lure fish beaches much too many schoolies. I like the last of the ebb and the flood up to about half tide they just seem to disappear at some stages of the tide. Should have worked harder during the ebb but that was peeler picking time. Prospecting with a Bass Bullet on one rod was a method I used a lot to locate fish, never caught anything on one but fish used to whack it. Couple of needlefish lures in your bag should do the job for fishing blind. Then turn to something a little more subtle.
 
As above about the gullies ect and the tidal flow, but one thing that stands out in the discretion on the lures use or sequence of lures used.

I would have used hard lures, surface lures when the water is slack, round the rocks and reefs, the sand bars is soft plastics as the tide is on the move, especially sand eel type lures. Skerries and savage gear sand eels I think would pull the fish in. Metals are ok, but never really been a fan of them.

But without being at the mark we are guessing.
 
I'd start on the uptide side of thbeach, first tight to the rocks and then moving further out to take advantage of any rip moving around the headland as the flood picked up. I'd probably stay this side unless there was a good reason to move like good gullies or patches of rough ground getting covered. Lures dependent on available food. Sg sandeel would be the go to but baby pollack like patterns or mullet can have their day. Mackerel patters as well later in the year. I wouldn't use surface lures unless I could see fish feeding or the ground was very gnarly, the same with metals, they would only come out either for fish feeding at range or to reach a rip or reef.
Chances are though given the conditions I wouldn't fish it in daylight
 
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Minstrelblue said:
See..... This is my conundrum at a fishy spot as a visitor.. First I decide rocks, slither over the rocks,I'm soon thinking beach, then 10 mins later in thinking should've stayed where I was.. Then I'm thinking metals... While winding in I'm thinking sub surface.. Then surface....then soft plastics. I'm just suffering an inexorable slide into terminal confliction and then panic resulting in repeated blanks.. It's enuf to drive you nuts.
Click to expand...
Maybe the chippy or fresh fish shop on the way home. ;)
 
You can only fish where it is possible to do so... if all there is is beach then you can only fish in the surf. If there are nice rocky areas where the waves are stirring up then in there is the best bet for decent sized fish using a big floating lure... a 125 or 140 Asturie would be my choice.
 
wouldn't over complicate things to start with fella just get on a mark that's known to produce(it's fun finding your own marks that's what I do but if not confident yet then just adds to confusion lol)
and use well known lures...depending on the depth and sea conditions . typically heavy swells and bit of depth I do okay on metals but if it's 3foot deep and calm weather then surface lure or shallow diver fished into darkness or very early morning as calm days I don't do very well in daylight usually but each marks different obviously
then all the other things start to piece together and you'll 'read' the mark based on captures at certain tide states etc
 
I would start where there are no rocks first, you don't want loosing your tackle first cast, then work your way around, depends on how serious you are for catching.
Always best looking at low tide.
A beach area i go has a vast wide sandy beach where you would never loose anything, large rocks to one side and an estuary inlet the other side with a shallow flow through middle and smallish rocks covered with mussels to one side that may only end up a metre deep but deadly for bass.
 
Bass are caught in 12 inches deep of water around the menai straightes . Im guessing by that fact that would be surface or very shallow divers used ?
 
Minstrelblue said:
See..... This is my conundrum at a fishy spot as a visitor.. First I decide rocks, slither over the rocks,I'm soon thinking beach, then 10 mins later in thinking should've stayed where I was.. Then I'm thinking metals... While winding in I'm thinking sub surface.. Then surface....then soft plastics. I'm just suffering an inexorable slide into terminal confliction and then panic resulting in repeated blanks.. It's enuf to drive you nuts.
Click to expand...
And the pubs are still shut ;):(
 
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