Another dumb Question!!!! Strike??

Well here i am again with another dumb question that i hope you guys can help me with!!

when fishing i notice i keep getting bites. at this stage i do one of two things

1/ strike and miss
2/ wait and the bites seem to dissapear and often my bait with them.
I'm getting more and more confussed. is there a time to strike or do i wait for the rod to go mental?? Am i presenting the bait wrong? Wrong hook size? Wrong rod?

Toatlly lost. Sorry to bother ya with such a silly question but am going mad.

Thanks,
steve

I guess what you have nibbling on your bait are just crabs not fish at all or small ones that don't take the entire bait with the hook. You'd get better replies if you provide more details like what hook number you use and also bait type / size.

Cheers!

WABS

Thanks mate

Am using Kashman (Spelling not my best area) hooks size 2 or 3 depending and using 3 hook ledger rig or else pulley rigs.

For bait its mackeral strip or lug and crab cocktail.
hope this helps,

Steve

Hi Steve

I concur sounds like Crab bites.

Ever consider using Anti Crab rigs when you at that venue? I always have a few in my Tackle Bag just in case you get plagued by them.

I use :

http://www.pentagondirect.com/p/wsb-tac ... i-crab-rig

id say your best bet would be to try and get 1 of the lads down in kerry to let you tag along with them and prob give you some advice if your doing something wrong.
but id say the reason your not hooking the fish when you strike is cos its crabs pulling at your bait, you will no when its a fish.

Exellent stuff
Thanks lads for the advice

The anti crab rig looks fairly deadly. Will try and get my hands on a few and try em out.

Thanks again,

Steve

you can also get little floating beads that keep the bait slightly off the bottom. their expensive tho. a few euro for a pack of 5. might be worth it in the long run tho.

a handy one that doesnt cost the earth is a cork from a wine bottle - chop to size and put it on your snood

Thanks mate

Am using Kashman (Spelling not my best area) hooks size 2 or 3 depending and using 3 hook ledger rig or else pulley rigs.

For bait its mackeral strip or lug and crab cocktail.
hope this helps,

Steve

hi mate, i gonna guess, that your size 2 and 3 hooks are infact 2/0 and 3/0 kamasans, these are quite bigs unless your targetting big bass, codling, etc scale em down a bit, a size 2 or 1 kamasan b940 is perfect for most shore fishing scenarios, however it does sound like crabs are stripping your bait.
now my next piece of advice is totally dependent on the ground you fish. lets take an estuary for example here lies the problem of hoards of crabs your baits just don't seem to last 5 minutes out there, firstly use crab as bait, A. because its an abundand source of food for the fish and B. because crabs arnt as fond of cannibalism as they of fish and worm baits (that is not to say they wont eat it, youl simply get a longer soak time). if its really bad and your crab is getting savaged, try keeping the bait moving, fish into the channels and stay away from static water, flounder love a moving bait so keep twitching it every few minutes.
popping your bait of the bottom with gaudy bits of cork is taking the bait away from the feeding zone and ruining the presentation,
if you could give me a few of the marks you fish and species your after i will be able to help you further.

Some great advice there lads.

I usually fish around the Tralee, Barrow, SPA and Fenit Pier as well as beaches such as Banna and that general area.

An excellent point raised about hook size. I have to admit im totally lost!!!!
Is there a general rule of thumb for hook size???

Don't really target any species just happy to catch anything!!!!!

im still a novice too and just like eric said, i found that i was using hooks that were too big. mainly 2/0s.
when i switched to 1's and 2's i really did notice the difference. just make sure the hooks stay sharp. i usually change them after 3 sessions.

Thanks red will try that

Is there any brand off hooks that have advantages over other? or types. I've noticed there are long shank, short shank etc etc.

that i cant answer. the size 2's i have at the moment are Mustad Aberdeens. pack of 25 for E4. it says 3261BLN on the box. i had a good sized Bass earlier in the week on one and it held up fine.

My 5 cents...


I only use 4/0 - 6/0 hooks.
Only one hook.
Short snood.
Always hold the rod. (cant stress this enough)

Ok I dont catch "tiddlers" but to be honest Im not after em.
Too many people target smaller fish with smaller hooks. Each to their own but I'd rather leave em well alone.
Anything decent hits the rod is usually hooked correctly as I am holding it.
If you do miss a good bite you know to retrieve and fix your bait presentation as you are not hoping the other 2 flappers are still untouched.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the above but far more advantages if you ask me.

Some great advice there lads.

I usually fish around the Tralee, Barrow, SPA and Fenit Pier as well as beaches such as Banna and that general area.

An excellent point raised about hook size. I have to admit im totally lost!!!!
Is there a general rule of thumb for hook size???

Don't really target any species just happy to catch anything!!!!!

having done absolutley no fishing down that way, i cant really help to much, from what i uderstand, the likes of banna are clean open surf beaches?? shouldnt be too many crabs here, try getting some info on tralee bac sac, they are an active club in the area, some excellent anglers of international standard in it. learning first hand is country miles ahead of reading off an internet site. try sending a pm to hugh cronin off the site, hel give you a helping hand

Regards hooks, I always use Mustad vikings 2/0 or 3/0. Have caught everything from pin whiting to 8lb bass on these.

One very important point not yet mentioned, make sure you are not masking the point of the hook in order that it gets a chance to set in a biting fish. A covered point will result in the fish spitting the bait if it feels resistance.