Posts tagged: paternoster

Dabbling at Seaford

By , 21 May, 2012 11:42

Picture of calm seaAlthough conditions haven’t been too good of late, with flat sea and may rot. Anyway, I decided to have a play at Seaford last night to see what was around. No point in trying for bass looking at the forecast and having seen the flat sea, so I opted for a one rod and worm bait policy.

Shot down to Brighton Marina during the day and got some really good quality black lugworm from ‘The Tackle Box’ which would do the job and produce two baits from one worm.

I wanted to fish from low up to high water, so arrived at Seaford beach around 6pm to find a millpond like sea which was pretty clear apart from some huge patches of rot that stained the water and made it look like ‘orrible weak tea that you would get from a staff canteen. You can just about make it out in the photo (click on it for a bigger picture).

Not to be deterred, I set up the one rod with a size 2, two hook flapper baited with the fine blacks I’d got and shot it out at distance and settled down to wait.

It was quite a pleasant evening to be out with just a bit of a chilly breeze coming in from the back of the beach. Now I normally where floaty trousers whenever I’m out – not for any safety reason but purely because it keeps my jeans clean and has loads of pockets to keep stuff. I have to say though, that last night they nearly came off because it was so warm – the old man vegetables were certainly roasting in their cosy nest.

First fish arrived at one hour after low water and was a small micro dab that had wolfed down the worm. Release, re-cast and fifteen minutes later the rod tip went and another small dab hit the beach. This went on pretty much for the next couple of hours or so; a dab every fifteen minutes with a couplf double shots in there too – just a pity they weren’t keepers!

Once darkness fell, the dab went off the feed and were replaced with a sprinkling of pin whiting and pout. I started kicking myself for not bringing the bass rod and not being able to put out a live bait as well.

By about 11pm, I’d really had enough, my back was screaming for horizontal rest and all I was getting was damn pin whiting; there was just no point in wasting time and quality bait on them. at least I’ve got a few left over and so I may well have a dabble tonight as well to use them up.

First 2012 Session

By , 3 January, 2012 12:31

After a lay off for a couple of weeks or so, I’ve been eager to get back out on to the beach. Normally around this time of year, the fishing on open beaches can be best described as …err crap and so with little hope of anything decent, I headed off to Seaford beach yesterday evening. It was a bit of a last minute decision, so I didn’t get there until just on high water at 5.30pm or so. Bait wise, I had to rely on some ragworm that had been languishing in my bait fridge for a while, which were surprisingly still active (just) and some frozen party squid obtained from a local shop, ‘Tools & Tackle‘ in Newhaven.

I used just the one rod, set up with a simple size 2 two hook flapper and baited with ragworm. The sea was a tad rough with a brisk South Westerly blowing straight into my face but undeterred, I cast out over the breakers and waited. Due to the strong wind I kept one hand on the rod to prevent the possibility of it being toppled over in the tripod,

It wasn’t long before the first fish of the year was brought ashore and it just had to be a bloody slug (rockling) which infest the waters at this time of year, so it was no real surprise there. I re-baited, cast out and waited again.

In a brief lull in the wind, I left the rod in the tripod and grabbed myself a cup of very welcome coffee. On turning back to the rod, I was just in time to see the whole lot starting to topple over; I was in time to save it from crashing into the shingle. I initially thought it was huge breaker or maybe weed that had caused it but that thought left my mind as I felt something unknown tugging from the other end. Codling perhaps?… bass?… It was certainly pulling back, whatever it was. I brought the creature through the breakers and onto the shingle – an eel but a biggun though. Luckily it was neatly hooked through the lower jaw and so was easy to release without too much damage to the rig. On holding it, I would say that it went at least 2½, maybe even 3lbs and certainly, if the law didn’t forbid keeping of eels, it would have been going home with me. Alas though, they have to be returned, so that was what I did and watched it slither back into the waves.

Next up was a brace of whiting but unlike the good sized keepers we’ve had recently, they were just pins. It was a mixed double of whiting and another slug shortly after – again, the whiting was a pin.

The wind speed started to increase and as the tide dropped, it became more perilous to get near the waters edge for casting. Very large breakers started to sweep, making the fine shingle/sand more unstable under foot.

With the tide dropping quickly and the sea getting lumpier by the second as the wind increased, I decided it wasn’t really worth staying any longer and so packed everything up and was back on my way home by about 8 pm. It had been a very short session but I had at least kicked off my 2012 season with three species unfortunately they won’t count in the species hunt competition on a fishing site I frequent because I didn’t bother taking any pictures.

A Few Rigs

By , 8 August, 2010 20:48

Have just spent a bit of time while not being able to fish, doing some diagrams and writing a few words on some of the rigs I use. I’m hoping to add to them at some stage and include some of the more obscure ones out there. This isn’t and wasn’t meant to be a definitive guide to rigs and rig building and I realise that there are many variants of these rigs  – but the ones shown here are just the ones that I use.

Click and be taken to the wonderful world of rigs.

Flapper

By , 6 August, 2010 20:34

The flapper paternoster is probably the most popular rig for all general types of bottom fishing and it will take most bottom feeders. It’s known as a flapper as that’s what the baits do when being cast out, because of this, it’s not really suitable for long distance casting. If distance is the aim, then a clipped paternoster rig is the better option.

The one illustrated is a two hook adjustable but you can make up a three hook or how ever many you want. It’s adjustable in that the trapped swivels that connect to the hook lengths are held in place by sliding stops; this means that they can have their positions altered on the rig body by sliding either up or down.  It can be made as a fixed position rig by using crimps instead of sliding stops. I have made the hook lengths at 12 inches but they can be longer or shorter – just make sure that the hook length does not hit the hook length above it or below it, so adjust the distance between the trapped swivels accordingly.

The guide is for an adjustable flapper. If you want to make it fixed, just replace the stops with crimps.

1. Take a 4 foot (or however long you want) length of of 60 -80lbs shock leader for the rig body and tie a swivel to one end which will be the top.

2. For the adjustable stops, you can use either 4m lengths of 1mm silicon tubing or use stop knots. I prefer to use the silicon tubing and will describe here how to do them.

3. Slide a 4mm section on to the end of the line and then form a loop with the free end and pass the line back through the tubing without knotting it and pull. You should now have what looks like a silicon knot. Do this another two times.

4. Slide the ‘stops’ up the line until they are twelve inches from the swivel.

5. Slide on a bead, then a swivel followed by another bead.

6. Repeat step three and make another 4-5 stops. You may need more depending on the type of line and diameter, make enough until there is enough resistance to prevent the swivel being moved easily.

7. Repeat step three and make three stops and move them up the line until they are 12 inches from the second set of stops.

8. Repeat step 5 and then step 7.

9. Tie a lead clip or split ring to the free end of the rig body.

10. Tie your hook lengths (no more than twelve inches) to the two trapped swivels

11. Tie hooks to hook lengths.

You could replace the lower of the trapped swivels with a cascade swivel to allow changing this into a clipped down rig along with using an impact weight that has the built in bait clip (as shown) or bait shield.

Print This Post Print This Post

Clipped Paternoster

Basically, a flapper that has the hooks clipped down to make the rig more aerodynamic for casting. Constructed the same way except for the use of cascade swivels in place of the lower normal swivels. A hook length clips onto the cascade swivel below it. The lowest hook clips into either the built in clip of an impact lead (as illustrated), or an impact shield, whatever your preference is. I have made the hook lengths at 12 inches but they can be longer or shorter – just make sure that the hook length does not hit the hook length above it or below it, so adjust the distance between the trapped swivels accordingly.

Print This Post Print This Post

Theme adapted from: Panorama theme by Themocracy