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Four top midge flies

By Sean McSeveny On April 1, 2021 · Add Comment · In fly fishing, Reviews, Tips
It’s been a long winter for anglers, especially those who have practically missed a season due to lockdowns and predicaments. Trapped worse than the fish in some cases. Now though, things are looking up and it’s possible to visit lakes and rivers again for some angling. But what are the best flies and lures to [...]
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How to choose a spinning reel – a beginner’s guide

By Sean McSeveny On March 5, 2021 · Add Comment · In Reels, Reviews, Tips
Every lure angler has gone through the struggle of choosing the right spinning reel. Some learn from their mentors, others from mistakes. But if you don’t have a personal mentor that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make mistakes to learn. Not in this era! I have designed this guide on how to choose a [...]
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How to fish responsibly

By Sean McSeveny On March 3, 2021 · Add Comment · In Tips
If you’re new to fishing, you need to be prepared to fish and act responsibly. Responsible fishing keeps fish healthy and ensures you’re not causing unnecessary damage to the wildlife, water, and environment in general. Here are 10 things every new angler should know about responsibility. Make Sure You’re Allowed To Fish First of all, [...]
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An Intro To LRF (Light Rock Fishing)

By Ben Bassett On February 19, 2021 · Add Comment · In Lure, Tips
LRF has been a part of the UK saltwater lure fishing scene for over a decade now. For most though, it’s still either a curiosity or a mystery – why are these LRF anglers so excited to spend their days catching tiny fish? I guess the quick answer to that is: it really isn’t just [...]
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How to Grill Fish

By Sean McSeveny On December 22, 2020 · Add Comment · In Recipies, Tips
Whether using an indoor grill or an outdoor grill, the art of cooking fish on a grill takes time and practice to perfect. Unlike chops or burgers, grilling fish can be a notoriously difficult task as fish is typically thinner and much more fragile so it lends itself easier to breakage whilst cooking, while it [...]
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Micro Jigging, a Mackerel Killer?

By Mohammed Assi On July 21, 2020 · Add Comment · In Lure, Lure, Reviews, Species
Mackerel are always fun to catch. They are a true pelagic fish in that they are continuously swimming and feeding. They hit just about any lure or bait presented to them, however some techniques are more fun and productive than others. Micro jigging is a technique that is very productive and can prove very successful [...]
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Baitcaster Vs Spinning reel

By Sean McSeveny On May 6, 2020 · Add Comment · In Lure, Reels, Reports, Rods
Baitcasting set ups are slowly becoming more popular with UK lure anglers, but they are nowhere near as widely used, as they are in other countries. This article looks at the reasons why you would want to choose a baitcaster over a traditional spinning or fixed spool set up and if its the right choice [...]
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How and where to dig Lugworm

By Hazel Tipping On May 5, 2020 · 19 Comments · In Bait, Reports, The Solent, Tips
Lugworm, in my opinion, is one of the most under-rated baits there is. When you think about what we all think fish prefer to eat, we think of blood, guts, smell etc and Lugworm is one of the best baits which fit all of these criteria. Couple that with the fact that Lugworm is one [...]
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How and where to catch Smoothound

By Darren Mills On May 3, 2020 · 1 Comment · In Bait, Reports
Smoothound’s are a shallow water species and so being either on the South Coast or the West of the UK, having lots of shallow coastlines, we are lucky enough to be in the most common areas where they are caught. However with more and more anglers catching and releasing these shark like fish, their range [...]
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Desperate Poppers

By Gavin Tyte On April 29, 2020 · 7 Comments · In Fishing Abroad, Lure, Lure, Reports
What do you do when you’re living by one of the best rock fishing marks in the world, you are literally thousands of miles away from the nearest tackle shop, and you have no lures? This is the situation I find myself in as I pen this article. A few weeks ago I moved to [...]
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How to make a Pulley Pennel Rig

By Sean McSeveny On April 24, 2020 · Add Comment · In Rigs, Tips
Pulley rigs are one of my go to rigs for fishing at distance. You can either use them with a single hook or add an additional hook to make it a Pulley Pennel Rig. The second hook helps to present a larger or longer bait at range, It can also help to increase the number [...]
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LRF Profile – The Giant Goby

By Ben Bassett On February 15, 2017 · 3 Comments · In Reports, Tips
With the continued popularity of Light Rock Fishing, it perplexed me that there are not more detailed guides on mini-fish species. Having spent all of 2016 species hunting, I wanted to put my own mini-guides out there for the intrepid LRF angler, starting with one of the biggest and, in most places, rarest rockpool predator. [...]
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Garfish – The LRF Acrobat

By Ben Bassett On November 24, 2016 · 1 Comment · In Lure, Plymouth, Reports, Tips
Bizarre, aggressive and athletic – there are few more entertaining fish than the gar. A streamlined pelagic predator, they become a regular catch to shore anglers from late summer to winter’s beginning. Following the baitfish shoals along with the mackerel; fisherfolk all around the country can quite realistically go out and catch one. But why [...]
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aww, a little fluffy duckling….. how cute!

By Corsican Dave On July 27, 2016 · Add Comment · In Freshwater Fishing, Lure, Lure, Reports, Tips
Ever wondered why there’s always a few less ducklings every time you wander past your local pond? Well, I did; so I designed a fly to catch the culprits! In this article I will show you  step by step, how to make a duckling fly. Firstly, let me apologise for both the photos and the [...]
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The Mackerel Rush – The Good, The Great & The Ugly

By Ben Bassett On July 24, 2016 · 7 Comments · In Cornwall, Reports, Tips
In the 1800’s the Californians had the great Rush in shades of Gold, this week in the South West we’ve had our own in shades of blue, silver and black… Yes, the Mackerel are here, and they are here in huge numbers. With the combined help of social media, word of mouth and good ol’ [...]
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War Pigs – Putting The ‘Rock’ into Heavy Rock Fishing

By Ben Bassett On June 29, 2016 · 5 Comments · In Cornwall, Lure, Lure Fishing, Plymouth, Tips
If you’re looking for true ‘heavy metal’ fishing, there is one form of fishing in the UK that guarantees arm-wrenching fights, scrambling over jagged rocks and battered lures – and that’s lure fishing for Ballan Wrasse. There are a million and one articles and how-to’s on this technique but I absolutely love it and can’t [...]
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How to make a Wishbone Rig

By Sean McSeveny On May 17, 2016 · 2 Comments · In Rigs, Tips
The Wishbone rig is a firm favourite amongst anglers targeting flat fish, especially Plaice, Flounder and Dabs. The main advantage of the wishbone rig, is it allows two hooks to be fished on the sea bed. It is normally used with small to medium sized baits, otherwise everything become too bulky, making casting difficult. When I make [...]
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Which Lure Next?

By Paul Bassman Gordon On February 2, 2016 · 1 Comment · In Lure, Plymouth, Reports
It’s been a tough few weeks recently with the miserable weather conditions and the water clarity of mud it’s all too easy to go a bit stir crazy stuck in the house. So let me try and bring some knowledge and inspiration to you from my new friend and LRF fishing expert Age Lundstrom.  Age is [...]
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Up and Over Rig

By Sean McSeveny On January 27, 2016 · 14 Comments · In Rigs, Tips
What’s the best fishing rig? At fishingtails we are constantly asked to recommend the rigs we use and show how we make them. In this, the first of our rig articles, I want to show you how to make an Up and Over Rig. The Up and Over Rig is used to target larger fish, [...]
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Barbless Bass FIshing

By Paul Bassman Gordon On January 12, 2016 · 3 Comments · In Bait, Tips
BARBLESS BASS FISHING…. Here’s my latest Video focusing on Bass welfare in an effort to  stay within the law and do my bit for the Bass society and minimise the wasteful, no doubt about it, discard factor!, by that tI mean it’s currently mandatory to put back Bass,alive or dead!, which I personally disagree with [...]
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A very small but welcome flounder

By Leo Toms On November 24, 2015 · 4 Comments · In Bait, Poole Harbour, Reports, Tips
For years now I have been looking to get the best out of my fishing catching the odd big fish obviously helps but I grew tired of skull dragging a 3oz pout in with 6oz of weight with a 13ft beachcaster, that’s just no fun! So to have more sport I wanted to scale down some [...]
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The Art of Squid Fishing (Eging)

By Sean McSeveny On November 19, 2015 · 6 Comments · In Lure, Tips
What is Eging? Basically its fishing for squid with special jigs made to look like prawns or in Japanese “egi”. In its most simple form it’s jigging for squid  with a selection of different lures but like most things if you are prepared to dig a bit deeper into the subtleties of the technique the rewards [...]
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Squid fishing from Bournemouth Pier

By Leo Toms On October 1, 2015 · Add Comment · In Lure, Poole Harbour, Reports, Tips
I was recently invited out on a squid fishing trip by an old fishingtails pal Marlon and having never really specifically fished for squid before I thought it would be fun to try for a new species. I had heard that some good catches had been made in the last week with ten or fifteen squid [...]
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Mackerel fishing on Roker Pier, Sunderland

By Anth Constable On June 23, 2015 · 1 Comment · In Marks, Reports, Tips, Tyne & Wear
Roker Pier is situated on the coast of the beautiful city of Sunderland and is a brilliant venue which can offer outstanding fishing for anglers throughout the year.  At the beginning of the year rumors started among anglers that the pier would be closed to carry out construction work in the summer of 2015. Thankfully the [...]
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How to find and collect Peeler Crabs

By Sean McSeveny On April 30, 2015 · 3 Comments · In Bait, Tips
What is a Peeler Crab, and how do I collect them? These are two of the most common questions I get asked. and hopefully I will be able to answer those questions in this article. In my mind there are very few baits that are better than Peeler Crabs. All manner of fish love them, [...]
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The underwater world of fishing

By Gavin Parsons On April 1, 2015 · 5 Comments · In Tips
There is one thing fishermen and scuba divers have in common – fish. We are both fascinated by them. Experienced fishermen know where and when to hunt certain species, but us divers know what they are like underwater, and that trumps everything else. I’m sorry but it does. Fishermen have no idea that a sole covers [...]
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How important is the choice of colour when Lure fishing?

By Sean McSeveny On March 10, 2015 · 3 Comments · In Lure, Tips
What is the best colour lure  for Bass fishing, or does it even matter? I recently read an article written by Steve Starling, which I have had permission to  include in this post. I will let you read it, then you can read my observations at the end of it. Steve ‘Starlo’ is Australia’s most [...]
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How to rebuild your rod on a budget.

By Leo Toms On February 26, 2015 · 3 Comments · In Tips
Over the winter period my beach casting rod has been used and abused. As a result some of the rings have become damaged or broken. I decided that the rod needed a thorough overhaul and replace all the rings completely. I shopped around for some prices to have the rings professionally repaired and was shocked [...]
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Wading into it – how to pick the perfect pair of waders

By Sean McSeveny On February 12, 2015 · Add Comment · In Clothing, Reviews, Tips
There was a time when waders were normally only worn by fly fishermen on rivers, but these days I see anglers using them in lots of different situations. They are pretty common amongst fishermen in the North East, targeting the Cod from the rock ledges, and I spend more than half my fishing time in [...]
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Cod Fishing

By Sean McSeveny On October 23, 2014 · 9 Comments · In Bait, Tips
Cod fishing holds a certain magic for many sea anglers, and all the signs are in place that this year is going to be one of the best Cod seasons we have had for a very long time.  ALthough this article is written around Chesil beach marks, the techniques can be applied for any mark [...]
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How to fish for Mullet

By Sean McSeveny On September 23, 2014 · 6 Comments · In Bait, Tips
Mullet have a reputation for being very difficult to catch; how many times have you wandered around a harbour and spotted loads of Mullet? Do you think to yourself, how can I catch one of those? In this article written by Darren Herbert, owner of the tackle box in Lyme Regis he goes through the [...]
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Fishing Photography: Mobile fishing photography

By Sean McSeveny On June 24, 2014 · 1 Comment · In Photography, Tips
You can’t really expect too much from a mobile phone picture is the current held belief? Well a few years ago I did a test. I took a picture on a £2500 camera and another on a pretty old Blackberry. I then showed them in a talk on how to improve your photography and asked [...]
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Fishing Photography: Photographing your catch

By Sean McSeveny On March 25, 2014 · Add Comment · In Photography, Tips
Why do my fish pictures look rubbish? It’s a question many a fisherman has asked me. Because with trembling hands they hold up their best catch of the week, month or even year and smile at their friend holding the camera or phone and there’s a click and then disappointment. Their best fish looks like [...]
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Fishing Photography: Photographing fishermen creatively

By Sean McSeveny On February 12, 2014 · Add Comment · In Photography, Tips
I am delighted that we are going to run a number of features written By Gavin Parsons on photography. Gavin is a professional photographer, and approached me last year to see if we could work together on a couple of projects. Having spent a lot of time with Gavin, we have now become good friends. I [...]
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My First Taste of Match Fishing

By Sean McSeveny On December 15, 2013 · 1 Comment · In Bait, Tips
I attended my first sea fishing match last weekend. I was excited but also nervous. What would it be like? How much space will I have? Would my casting be awful? Will I catch any fish at all? These are just some of the questions and worries that went through my head in the run [...]
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Cod on Chesil special

By Sean McSeveny On September 26, 2013 · 3 Comments · In Bait, Tips
Is there any Cod on Chesil yet? You better believe it! Cod fever is already sweeping the angling community on the South coast. For the past 3 weeks I have been hearing of a few Codling coming in here and there. I had played t down as a few early or misplaced fish, or some [...]
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How to rig and hook a Sandeel

By Sean McSeveny On May 4, 2013 · 4 Comments · In Bait, Tips
Sandeel’s are the mainstay diet for many UK fish species including Bass, Cod, Whiting, Turbot and Rays to name but a few. Bass and Rays are particularly fond of them. Without a doubt live Sandeels are an exceptional bait, and could arguably be classed as the best live bait you can use. However obtaining, keeping, presenting and [...]
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Lure fishing for Thin Lipped Mullet

By Sean McSeveny On April 23, 2013 · 14 Comments · In Lure, Tips
I was really excited when I heard that the Mullet had finally come back into Weymouth Harbour, after what seems to me to be the longest winter I can remember. I had a trip down to the harbour on Sunday and I can tell you the Mullet were around in large numbers. I spotted at [...]
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How to hook and rig Peeler Crabs

By Sean McSeveny On April 16, 2013 · 5 Comments · In Bait, Tips
Peeler Crab is arguably the best shore fishing bait available. It is also the most expensive bait, unless you collect your own. I was surprised at the number of anglers that don’t use it simply because they don’t know how to hook and rig it.  I guess at a £1 a crab  I can understand [...]
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How to rig a lure with a weedless hook

By Sean McSeveny On February 1, 2013 · 2 Comments · In Lure, Tips
I will be totally honest here and say that most of this article is not my own work. I was about to do a post on rigging weedless lures when I noticed that Steve Butler, a fellow Scotsman and friend of mine now living in Cornwall had created just what I needed. So with his [...]
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Mussels, the wonder bait!

By Sean McSeveny On April 19, 2012 · 3 Comments · In Bait, Tips
Perhaps not the wonder bait, but certainly one of the most over looked and under used cheap bait sources that we have. Mussels are a good alternative to peeler crab and a lot cheaper. In this article I am going to show you how to prepare and use them. Mussels are available from Cornwall to [...]
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