Complete beginner getting started beach fishing for Mackerel

[simon geering]

Hi All completely new to fishing so please excuse any dumb questions .

As i live just a couple of houndred yards from the beach along the coast from brighton I'm looking to get into beach fishing for mackerel.

I remember doing this once with my father when i was a lad, so know that mackerel can be cought from the beach with feathers and recall the dragging action used to move the feathers through the water but other than that it'll all be new to me

Any advice on equipment, costs, other websites, books, videos etc or any other advice that might help me get an understanding of whats involved and how to get started would be much apreciated.

Kind regards,
Simon G

[devonutopia]

I don't have the best equipment but seem to catch nicely. I actually use a boat rod for spinning - a 10ft Daiwa uptider. Seems to be the easiest rod to use. For a reel there's little in them, but try for one with a decent "bulk" to it. Having said that, I've seen people fishing recently on coase fishing equipment essentially....

For the action, lots of people pull to the side, then retrieve whilst straightening back out again. Personally I pull straight up, or up & slightly to one side. I like to think the steeper angle of the line makes the lures move up & down a little more. I also do quite progressive pulls, and short retrieves - trying to keep the lures moving slower, but also varying. The pulling obviously makes them come up, and dropping the rod whilst reeling in the slack makes them fall again.

[Drew]

Hi Simon,

Do you want quantity or excitement?

If it's quantity then do as Jason has stated using any rod capable of casting a weight of a maximum 5ozs coupled with a string of MACKEREL feathers. I would use a fixed spool reel E.G. Daiwa Regal or similar.

If you want excitement, then use a very light spinning rod capable of casting a maximum of 3ozs. Again a Daiwa Regal reel would be ideal, but instead of mackerel feathers use a Dexter Wedge or Toby lure.

If you are thinking about buying a rod, then I suggest that you follow Jasons example and buy an uptide rod. These rods are the most versitile of all the sea fishing rods on the market. As well as uptiding with them from a boat, they can also be used for for downtiding, beachcasting, pier fishing, spinning etc. You can also use this rod with a Toby or Dexter Wedge.

I trust this helps.

Regards

Drew

[simon geering]

Hi all thanks for your advice.

To add some detail to the above i'm looking to go for quantity as oposed to spoort. Or to be more specific i'm interested in catching food for the table as althought i like cooking and eating fish i've not untill this point considered getting it in any for than ready cleaned by my fishmounger so the whole process of killing and gutting it is a bit of a mystery too!

In terms of buying kit what is the minimum i need to get started?

There is a small local outfit round the corner from me selling a basic range of equipment:

http://www.seaford-fishing.co.uk/sho.../2?shop_param=

I've no idea if they are any good or if i should be maybe looking for a larger retailer with a bigger range?

I've been reading some more about the ins and outs and found this websire:
http://www.torbayfishing.com/help-gu...ng-p1.htm#line
to be honest though i now have more questions than when i started!

Whats the difference in number of hooks / feathers, and the lengths of hooks? It cant be as simple as more hooks = more fish or else why sell sets of less hooks / feathers?

Based on what others have said above it looks like i want to be using feathes as bait. I see you can get these in a pack ready rigged, but i assume you then need to attach hooks to them?

I've also seen some sites sugesting about spinning silver devices attached with free rotating spindle things, what is the advantage / dissadvantage of these compared with the feathers and how would you go about using them anyway?

As regard to weights, what i've read so far seems to come down in favor of torpedo shaped ones, which apparently go further, with sugested weights for beach casting of anything between two and four oz which seems a very wide range how do you chose which weight to go for, and what is the point of the ones with the wirey spikes coming off at oposit diagonal corners?

I knew there was different strengths of line and understand that 15lb would be ok for mackrel but there also seems there is different types, one site recomending that you should only use "Shockleader" line for spinning, which i assume applies to feathers and the metal spinny things? What does that term mean, i sea its more expensive so assume theres is a reason for it?

Please excuse my ignorence of the propper names for stuff i'm sure i'll pick it up in time! I'm grateful for having found a nice welcoming forum that has been so helpful.

Regards,
Simon

[Lman]

I had a great time with a carp rod and a set of feathers when i was a lad fishing chesil
6 mackeral can put a bend in a carp rod, had 49 in an hour.

[Gremlin]

This is a list I give to clients who are starting out ....

if it helps ...

[Sir Catch Not alot]

Search for objects to use instead of weights such as old spark plugs, large union nuts etc to minimise cost of losing leads.

Catchalot

[geffski]

if its quantity your arfter why not just hit the marina at hight tide,