Scratching

I hear a lot of u boys talking about using this technique could somebody tell me what it is. Is it some sort of rig or something?

its basically chucking it no more than 30 yards infront of you - using smaller hooks and lighter snoods and picking on tiddlers - when nothing bigger is interested or about

exactly, scratching is where you aim to pick up the tiddlers that you normally wouldnt bother targeting, it is a technique mainly used in match fishing especially off of poor venues (like the east coast :lol: ). its not really something i would usually bother with when pleasure fishing, if the venue is poor enough to need to scratch dont bother fishing it is my attitude.

is it not all pleasure fishing paul? :lol:

Some people have no choice but to scratch(like myself :) ) With usually having to fish east coast venues that are on the dart line because of lack of transport...but hey i'd rather be fishing for tiddlers than not fishing at all! :)

But why do that? So its a means of targeting adolescent fish! So much for the conservation of fish stocks. Thats sad if your not catching decent fish you resort to the tiddlers. No harm lads but thats a disgrace!! :evil:

Some people have no choice but to scratch(like myself :) ) With usually having to fish east coast venues that are on the dart line because of lack of transport...but hey i'd rather be fishing for tiddlers than not fishing at all! :)

It beats blanking al. Like you i'd rather be catching any size fish rather than be watching crap on the box.

Scratching is more of a match term, its a changing of tactics to catch fish when there are little or no fish feeding. This could also be shy feeding fish ie calm sunny days on beachs with crystal clear water. You lower the your hook sizes, line strenghts, and smaller worm baits to try and "scratch" out one or two fish. It doesn't really mean going after tiddlers as in competetions fish have to be over 20cm. Most scratching would be after flats ie flounder and dabs.

As Bigstyle says, i too would prefer to be catching fish rather than nothing at all

But why do that? So its a means of targeting adolescent fish! So much for the conservation of fish stocks. Thats sad if your not catching decent fish you resort to the tiddlers. No harm lads but thats a disgrace!! :evil:

Sorry to offend you, but i didn't mean targeting 2-3inch fish i was having a joke at the bad fishing on the east coast(well dublin area) i myself if scratching usually do it to pick out fish that might be a bit weary of a big hooks and heavy lines not to pick up tiddlers although with the likes of whiting its a bit hard to avoid small fish sometimes...sorry i thought the smilies might have explained it but i'll make myself clearer in future. No disrespect intended in this post by the way just explaining myself!

Alastair,

You started this thread by asking what scratching meant, I think you should start another asking what "Disgrace" means.

Dont forget guys who catch small undersize fish and release them are doing less harm than the guys catching big fish and killing them.

Tom.

Alastair,


Dont forget guys who catch small undersize fish and release them are doing less harm than the guys catching big fish and killing them.

Spot on.