Tackle, make your own rigs from your tackle, whilst pre made rigs are easier you do not know from where they came or the qualities so don’t use them.

Shock leader, when ledger fishing from shore USE SHOCK LEADER.  You will generally be fishing 15-20lb line with a 4-6oz weight, the weight being slung out in some cases under full strength and full rod compression a line can snap and go up for a long way, more worryingly it will come down at 33ft per second and may sting a bit if it lands on you.  If your ever fishing and hear a snap off duck and cover your head, if possible hold some one else you may not like above you!!  Therefore it is advised a shock leader 10x the weight is used i.e. a 6 oz weight uses a 60lb shock leader.  To be honest I use 60lb all the time and usually go for approx 18ft of leader (3 arm lengths in my case) this will run up the length o f my rod with room for a drop before my rig and ensure I have AT LEAST 6 full turns on my reel.

Line, there are 2 types, monofilament, and braid, braid is favoured as the diameter is thinner so casting improves, is non stretch like mono so a more direct contact to the fish is established,  a 30 lb braided line has similar diameter to 8lb mono.  For spinning/plugging I use 30lb Braided line, with 8lb leader.  For ledgering I use 18b line and rigs and shock leader of 60lb.

Trace, trace is the line on the business end where your hook is attached it is generally of a lower breaking strain than that of your main line, if your hook gets snagged or a fish snags you up the line can be pulled so it snaps and you only loose your hook and trace, not your float, weights, rigs etc.

Knots, usually for joining line to an eye (hook/Swivel etc) I personally use a uni knot or Grinner, for main line to leader an overhand/granny knot in the leader combined with a blood knot to the main line, stop knots for float fishing a stop knot with 8lb powergum which is a red stretchy line (or just std line will suffice), braid to mono Albright knot.  All can be found here

http://www.animatedknots.com stop knot here http://www.pacgb.co.uk/tips/stopknot.html

Remember to lubricate (spit) on line before tightening or line will be weakened through heat/abrasion.

Think where fish will be!!!  Start of by thinking of the natural food around for fish are you near rocks?  Prawns will be at edges of rocks in the kelp, smaller fish will be in pools and reefs.  On the beach? Fish will run up along the surf where breakers crash causing bait to be kicked up, rule of thumb is no need to cast past the third breaker.  On a river/estuary? Fish will wait the other side of a sand bank for bait to come over/around and attack.

As for bait, a friendly tackle dealer will point you in the right direction.  In a survival situation of if your bait less, look around, are there worms/snails at the waters edge if so use them, are there trees with berries overhanging the water if so they will fall in the water, what are in rock pools? Small fish/prawns/mussels/limpets all can be used as bait.  Again think, if you were hungry and a burger fell into your hands would you ignore it and walk to the local Sainsburys?

Fish feed at first and last light; also more fish are generally caught at night.  They are attracted to smell so change that stinky bait every 20 minutes or so or it’ll wash out and be useless.  Fish also are attracted to movement they detect by sight and their lateral line, so work the spinners/plugs hard.  Also flick you floated bait occasionally.

Float fishing.

This is a popular starting point for many an angler as it is relatively easy to catch the abundance of Mackerel we have in the UK (South West anyway).

You will need.

Rod, spinning or float rod, small fixed spool reel, line, trace, beads, swivel, hook, weight.

Bait up your hook with slivers of mackerel, Squid, or Live Prawn around rocks or live Sand eel around sandy areas.

Make your set up like this.

Ensure that you vary the depth you are fishing at by adjusting the position of your stop knot, start approx 8 ft and lengthen or shorten as necessary.  Watch other anglers who are catching and see how deep they fish and adjust accordingly.

Bottom/Ledger fishing.

Just about all fish can be caught by bottom fishing, and there are many many different variations of Rigs (setups), which vary generally from one to 3 hooks Pennel, The basic Running Ledger, Pulley, 1 up 1 down, paternosters are examples and can be found on many fishing websites, try a Google search “sea fishing rigs” for plenty.  Bait clips can be used to increase aerodynamics and keep your bait on the hook/s, shearing/baiting elastic is also ideal for keeping softer baits on the hook.

I personally use a 2 – 3 hook paternoster when general fishing switching to a pulley rig for larger species.

I use a cheapo beach caster of about £20 and a fixed spool reel costing about £30.  I have had a rod and reel combination in the past costing jointly £500 and whist it felt good and cast great distances I caught less fish than the cheapo!!  As I am again getting into beach fishing I will upgrade to a better rod costing approx £100 and I have a nice multiplier I will dig out.  So don’t go and buy the fancy gear until you are sure you will like it, or it will be tomorrow’s ebay bargain.  Also where you live you may only need to cast 20yds to be in the fish holding areas.

One hook baited with Peeler crab (when available) another with worm tipped with mackerel, and if using 3 another of any bait or bait combination I have.

General bait in my personal order of preference are Peeler, Ragworm, Lug worm, , Sandeel, Squid/Mackerel, try different combinations on  hooks and see what the fish are going for then switch about, no point in putting out costly peeler if the fish are only interested in cheapo Mackerel!!

Top Tip – You do not have to cast miles to catch fish; you would be surprised what can be caught 10 feet from the shore.

A few bits for your tackle arsenal are crimps to make a stop/trap for hooklengths (snoods), bait clips, lead links (quick changing of leads), weights of various styles some have prongs to grip the sea bed, others are designed to roll about the sea bed and find gulleys/sandbars which are fish holding areas.

Here are a couple of rigs for info

Plugging/Spinning.

Spinning and plugging is the act of using an artificial lure/spinner/plug to catch predatory fish.  The object is to cast and retrieve your lure to ensnare a fish.  If you are not catching vary retrieval speeds, this will alter depth, also try combinations of quick and slow retrieving, jerking your rod can also make the lure jerk in a fishy way.

In all instances walk/stalk up and down a beach/rocky area to enhance your catch.  If unable to walk stalk cast about in a semi circle to find fish holding areas.

There are many many different types of lure on the market, beware some are designed to catch anglers over fish!!!!!

Rubber eels.

These are sandeel type lures of varying sizes/lengths and are cast with the aid of a weight and retrieved.  Use white for Bass.