I spend a lot of spring mornings standing on low, wind-scoured sandbanks, watching the tide line for rolling bass and trying to place a lure where the fish will meet it. For several seasons I’ve relied on a Daiwa Saltiga 5500 to turn those long, precise casts into consistent hookups. This reel...
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How-To Guides
I fish harbours at night more than I admit to my smartphone’s location...
How-To Guides
There are mornings when the estuary mouth looks like someone flipped a coin and...
How-To Guides
Winter cod sessions around Wales mean cold fingers, early high tides and kelp...
How-To Guides
There’s a particular hush that falls over a tidal ledge just before first...
Winter cod sessions around Wales mean cold fingers, early high tides and kelp that seems determined to eat every rig you send out. Over the years I’ve lost more than my share of rigs to sharp kelp blades — especially when casting heavy leads...
There’s a particular hush that falls over a tidal ledge just before first light — wind down to a whisper, water tucking around the rocks, and the promise that a double-figure ray could be cruising somewhere in the incoming. Over the years I’ve...
One of my favourite night sessions in an estuary involves watching a bank of streetlights smear across the water and waiting for the telltale slashes of pollack cruising the lit edges. Over the years I’ve learned that the right glow-stick...
I’ve lost count of the number of times a promising session in a rocky Welsh cove was spoiled by marauding mackerel taking my bait clean off the hook. They’re fast, curious and relentless — and if you don’t set your gear up to deal with them,...
I’d been battling Southerndown’s long, wide beach for years. Some days I’d put out 140–150g leads and feel like I’d sent the bait into the sea, only to reel back line that had piled up in the spool or tangled at the swivel. Other days my...
I like winter cod in shallow kelp bays because everything about the session feels deliberate: timing, bait, and a careful read of the water. Over the years I’ve learned that you don’t just “turn up and hope” on these spots — you pick a...
Late-summer bass sessions along the Welsh coast are some of my favourite days: the water is warming, bait fish move inshore and the shoreline comes alive with subtle signs that don’t shout at you — they whisper. Learning to read birds and foam...
I’ve had a soft spot for rays since my first double-figure thornback took my peeler crab off a rough, kelpy ledge at dusk. Getting a big ray from a rocky cove on a light surf setup is all about matching subtlety with brute respect for their size...
I’ve had a few sleepless nights and one very wet kitbag when I misjudged the exit line on a ledge fish. Since then I’ve made spotting the exact cliff edge exit my pre-cast ritual. On Wales’ ledges the tide can run faster than you expect and...
I love a low-tide microsession on sandy flats near estuaries — short, focused, and often deadly for flatfish if you pick the right slot. These sessions are the kind I plan around a coffee, a quick check of the tide app, and the knowledge that...