when to strike?

ive only been fishing since the start of the summer so fairly new to the game. i started bait fishing a few weeks ago and im having a little trouble knowing when to strike. the tip of my rod is fairly light and if im on a beach with a bit of surf its useless as the waves hitting the line make it tap. i gave up on the beaches and headed for rocks and piers as the waves were smaller and made it easier for me to read the rod. i dont want to buy a new rod for a while as ive spent a nice few bob already.
my problem is when i see it tapping i dont know when to strike it. if something makes a good grab of the bait and i see a proper bend on the rod im ok but cant judge it when its only tapping.

any advise lads???
cheers,
red.

everyone has their own style of fishing, personally if i'm just getting small taps on the rod tip then i leave it to see if it develope's into a stronger pull. if it still stays at slight tapping then i hold the rod with the line in my hand, when i feel a tap i strike. but like i say everyone has their own way of fishing....

I find if I see tapping and not sure if just the waves I reel in a small bit of line and see if any pull on the line,as for striking I don't,I find most fish will hook them self,a friend of mine always strikes hard any time he is fishing with me but I seem to always catch more,maybe by not striking is why I have not caught any flat fish ,will be interested to see what other members have to say on this

cheers lads. every bit helps

after watching dif types of fish feeding lately, they seem to nudge the food a bit before taking it, so now i wait a little after seem the first initial taps,,

you could try a pulley rig as well, let the fish take the bait well and then probably hook themselves...

cheers uvox,
just after making up 4 pulley rigs to take out the next time. i made two with 3/0 and two with 1/0 hooks. i had bought a greys rig last week and just copied them. are these hooks ok or would you suggest different sized? im not really targeting any type of fish in particular but would love a bass.

Any fish I catch (and it wasn't many this year ) hooked themselves and the strike is just to drive the hook home and make sure it didn't come out make sure that the hooks are as sharp as possible this makes everything alot easier.

small taps could be crabs or small fish nibbling at the bait the only way to find out is to put a really small hook on and see if you catch one.
if you are fishing from a pier it could also be your weight being pulled by the tide just bobbing up and down.

its a bit mad but the best way to learn is to catch loads of fish you eventually get a sense of when the fish is hooked and when is a good time to strike.

Flatties I just let them hook themselves you see the one definite nod on the rod and leave it for a few minutes.

doggies a lazy pull more than a crab try and get them before the swallow the hook.
conger can be tentative to start and then just go nuts strike quickly
Bass just go nuts I always strike as quickly as possible.