every time i go fishing it costs a fortune

when i go fishing i loose loads of gear, if i get am area that i dont snag on i dont get any bites , first thing i am asking is , do fish only hang around in weedy or rocky ground and how can i stop loosing so much gear.
also i am heading around the co. down coast this weekend not sure where, if anyone has any ideas please advise, i have only caught dogfish and i am busting to catch something else.

Hi mate if your fishing off the bottom on rough areas you will loose tackle everyone does, you could try using a rotten botton rig or a float set up to try and save some tackle there are some good clean beaches up round the antrim coast that i fish glenarm, waterfoot etc .

hi dave. it all depends on what species you want to connect into man. if you really do'nt want to loose any gear you only have 2 options available. one would be to only fish clean sandy beaches. but this will restrict the species you'll catch to flatties coalies, pollock, doggies and such like. other species that like the safety of vegetation like conger, wrasse, bigger pollock, huss and all the smaller species are unavoidably in the rough stuff. you can still target some of them from a float set up and that will keep the tackle losses to a minimum. but if you want to target bottom feeding species (demersal) in the rough stuff there is no option but to get a bait out there. yet again you can keep the losses down to a finincial minimum by using a simple 1 hook rig from a 3 way swivel down to a lead. 3 way swivels and hooks are far cheaper bought by the 100. up in belfast angling centre there are bulk box packs from £6.99 per 100. loads of lads who fish rough ground marks even replace leads with substitutes such as spark plugs or cement in tubes to keep costs down. (i think there is a section about it in the tips and tricks section). i've seen guys chuck a bought rig and lead into the rough stuff with little chance of ever seeing it again. very expensive at around £3.50 a cast . obviously there are other species that i have'nt mentioned as this is just a rough guide and species will differ from different parts of the country and what i have mentioned only partains to bait fishing. if you are fishing a rough rock mark for example you could do no worse than chucking a spinner out too as this will get you all the pelagic species available from an area too. hope this helps man and happy hunting

there are plenty or beach marks that produce the fish also get some floats if your mainly fishing rough ground also rotton bottom link and this will cut down on your tackle snags. If you let us know what kind of fishing your into spin/lures or bait etc.

For fishing that will help tackle loss in co down try places like portaferry pier or the dee always something about. but loads of lads that fish these spots I am sure they advice you on time and bait

Ye im a novice fisher even do ive fished for years butnever improved much over them years:-/..... I have the same problem and the places where great are the places where i lose lots of tackle. I still buy my rigs from the shop but i think ill start making my own from now on.

At one mark I fish you may as well just chuck all your leads in the water as soon as you get there cos you'll never them back!

As someone said above, I make up a simple 1 hook setup using a 3 way swivel and then tie some lighter line to one of the handy large stones that are all around me there, to use as a weight - mostly always get my hook, swivel and lighter line back, sometimes with a fish too, keeps the losses right down

when i go fishing i loose loads of gear, if i get am area that i dont snag on i dont get any bites , first thing i am asking is , do fish only hang around in weedy or rocky ground and how can i stop loosing so much gear.

I do a lot of freediving and spearing as well as fishing with a rod and line and I have a bit of a formula based on what I see underwater... about 10% of fish on sandy area's, about 30% of fish in weedy / rocky area's and about 60% of fish at one meter either side of a juncture of two area's (sand meets rock, or gulley's through rocks or sand patches in weed etc.)
The reason for the above is obvious as this causes a natural trap for food, and also a hunting ground close to shelter / cover.

Basically if you are fishing over rocky ground or sandy ground you can take your chances but hit the area they meet for the most success. If you can take a photo when the vis is good and try to aim your casts there.

Obviously it depends on the species, tide or feeding cycle, but its just a rule of thumb that suits me

hey doggy, i dont know if this is any use but i get bags of wheel nuts from a breakers yard close to me for free, clean them up a bit and they are great weights. So basically i only loose a few hooks and some home made bait clips. Recession man, gotts look after the pennies.

Great info there doggy dave, often wondered what the rough ratio of where the fish hang out is.

rotten botton rig and good strong line and if u have time and live close enough check out how it looks at low water