Fishing method
Spinning
Spinning is our favourite method to recommend to beginners, and for good reason. With just a rod, a reel and a single lure, you can travel light and fish actively, casting out and winding back to tempt bass, mackerel and pollock. It's hands-on, exciting fishing where every cast feels full of possibility, and there's no better feeling than a fish hitting a lure you've worked yourself.
The essentials
You cast a lure that imitates a small fish or prey and retrieve it so a predator thinks it's an easy meal — movement, depth and speed are everything.
Best for
Active anglers chasing mackerel, bass and pollack with lures from rocks, beaches, harbours and headlands.
How it fishes
Mobile and visual: you keep moving, casting and varying the retrieve until you find feeding fish.
Tackle
A 7-9ft spinning rod rated around 10-40g, a 2500-4000 fixed-spool reel, braid or mono with a leader, and a small selection of metals and soft lures.
Safety
Watch your back-cast for people, mind treble hooks, and take real care over wet rock and rising swell when chasing fish along the shore.
Confidence tip · Travel light and keep moving — a mobile angler with a handful of lures usually out-fishes one weighed down by a full tackle box.
Stay safe
Watch your back-cast for people, mind treble hooks, and take real care over wet rock and rising swell when chasing fish along the shore.
Beginners Guide to Sea Fishing Gear...
This is our recommended fishing method for the beginner as all you need is a rod, reel and a lure and you can start to fish!
Sample Species to target using Spinning
WHAT IS SPINNING?
Spinning is a hands on, active fishing method that involves casting and retrieving the line in constant anticipation that you will imminently catch a fish!
A lure, feathers or a spinner is attached to the line which is then cast out and wound back in to make the lure imitate a swimming fish that your target species will hopefully want to eat!
The speed you retrieve the spinner will determine where it travels through the water. The faster you reel the line in, the higher the spinner or lure will be in the water allowing you to target individual species, depending on where they are likely to be found.
Sink and Draw
If using a single lure or spinner, sink and draw is the method to slowly raise and lower the rod while retrieving as this makes the bait fish look like it is dying and therefore an easier target for the predator.
Free Lining
Free Lining is similar to spinning as you cast and retrieve in the same way but instead of using a lure, you simply use a hook and bait it with, for example, sand eel, lugworm, mackerel strip or sprat.
Cast the line out gently and let the line out gradually as the bait sinks. When you think it has hit the bottom wind it in very slowly.
This is not a conventional rig but is very effective, especially in the evenings when the fish move in closer to the shore as large bass will venture in close to shore.
Many mackerel, plaice, bass, trigger fish and large pollack have personally been caught using this method.
TYPES OF LURE
A lure is a man made bait that is designed to resemble a small fish or other marine animal. When lures are pulled through the water they look like a small fish swimming and attract predatory fish like bass, mackerel and pollock. Lures come in different forms....