smoothie tips

alot of lads will be targeting smoothies for the first time or missing alot of fish ,so here are a few tips that might help,if anyone has any more please add them below (we all have little tricks we dont even realize sometimes)
1) make sure both your hookpoints are well clear of your bait(this is prob the most important)
2)set the drag on your reel to give line but not too freely ,you want the hook to penetrate.
3)if you get wolloped but miss the fish ,dont reel in! hold your rod for at least a few minutes in most cases you will have another hit on the same bait and this time you wont miss striking it
4)crab is the no1 bait but they love squid and rag also, cocktails of crab and rag or crab and squid can work better sometimes than crab on its own
5)pulley pennels work a treat but if its rough and they are tangling in the surf a two hook clipped down rig can work just as well
6)on a calm beach i have taken smoothies in close (20 feet)so dont take it for granted they are 120yards out like all fish they are where the foods at!

some sound advice there rodger

2 or 3 large lug work well for me! especially fishing over the lug beds where i normally dig!
A hungry fish will rarely refuse any nice offering!

Cheers roger

Nice 1 rodger will bear the tips in mind this week

Cheers for the tips rodge

good advice roger. what hook size do you use i usually go for a 3/0 or 4/0 so i can use a full crab.

Not really a tip but very very important, always support the fish under it,s belly do not hold up by the tail. The water supports the internal organs and once out of it you need to.

This ensures the fish will return in the best possible state.

When unhooking a lively fish tuck it under your arm this way you can support and control the fish and still use both hands.
Always use grip leads smoothies hit the bait hard and grip leads will improve hookup %.

Personally I use large baits/hooks as I like to give my bait a good soak time, given that hounds run up and down the beach you may not be getting regular bites so I favour leaving a big bait out there a while without the fear that it will get washed out to quickly or devoured by crabs/small fish.

My standard rig is a pennel with either a 3/0 & 5/0 or 2 x 5/0 sakuma mantra extras, they have a wide gape which is ideal for crab or king rag baits or a combo of both.

Others will undoubtably disagree or have alternative thoughts, but thats just what works for me

Crab oil - Havent used it myself, but have witnessed 1st hand that it works

http://www.onlinebaitsuk.co.uk/Exclusiv ... -Oil**-281

good advice roger. what hook size do you use i usually go for a 3/0 or 4/0 so i can use a full crab.

ive different setups depending on whats about from 2/0-2/0 pennels to 6/0 -4/0 i also use 3/0 two hook clipped down with an imp and cascade swivel and 18 inch snoods for half crab baits

when the hounds are on hard. give the crab a squeeze and send it out again. i have caught 3 hounds on the same crab bait.

the biggest thing that i have found with crab bait even in general fishing terms.. make sure there is no shell left on the crab

in my own personal experience. up and over rigs will destroy hounds and rays. A 5ft snood down from the lead, it has to lift the full contact of a 6oz gripper.

in my personal experience where i have fished for hounds you will need distance. so slim-line your rigs.. up and overs are great casting rigs as well.

when the hounds are on hard. give the crab a squeeze and send it out again. i have caught 3 hounds on the same crab bait.

the biggest thing that i have found with crab bait even in general fishing terms.. make sure there is no shell left on the crabin my own personal experience. up and over rigs will destroy hounds and rays. A 5ft snood down from the lead, it has to lift the full contact of a 6oz gripper.

in my personal experience where i have fished for hounds you will need distance. so slim-line your rigs.. up and overs are great casting rigs as well.

to be honest i,m not that fussy removing all the shell i think they like a bit of crunch in their crab ,but it is better for keeping your bait streamline the more you pick off
also the up and over is good but i find the dogs will not even register a bite and just sit their with you not even knowing where as the pully will show a doggie bite and let you know your bait is mangled

I have found removing all the shell ur catch rate will increase alot this is true with all the fishing i do.

i have never missed a bite with an up and over rig. A dog will not sit and a munch bait they will try and move the bait. crabs on the other hand will pick away. in this instance i would check my bait more regularly

I always start fishing with a pulley rig (not pennel style as for hounds I don't find the second hook very useful) and half a good peeler or a whole small one.

Depending on what's happening next (bites without hook up or starting getting or foul hooking small ones) I will undersize my hook to 1 or 1/0 and a quater of a big crab or half a small one.

Hounds as well can be picky (maybe depends on where you fish) and just munch the baits and not really taking it.

As well depending of the average size of the hounds in the pack, with big hooks and big baits you can miss a lot of smaller fish or foul hook them.

Recently I got a lot of bites on 3/0, but didn't hook up. Downsized to 1 and a small piece of crab and hook up everytime.

For the crabs, I don't think peelers with all he shell chirurgically removed is best. I use peelers, softies and "crunchies" and got the same results. I have even found that "crunchies" are sometimes best because I think hounds will really got them to break the shell instead of sometimes just sucking all the juice of a peeler and just leave it.

I also try different distances until I found them. If I don't get bites at "long" (well it looks far for me ) distance I reduce it every cast until I find them.

This works well for me last year and so far still working very well this year.

"For the crabs, I don't think peelers with all he shell chirurgically removed is best. I use peelers, softies and "crunchies" and got the same results"( quote)

i wonder if "crunchies " work better on fridays ive often got more fish on softies or leatherbacks as some lads call them when the lad next to me was using peelers the last smooth hound i got in dublin had a big softie halfway down its neck (it wasnt sure what way to go when it looked out at me )

Actually they work better on Saturdays

And the only way to really find out, is to go fishing

Actually they work better on Saturdays

This is very true:

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Are these crunchy's fresh or frozen?

[quote="roger de dodger"]alot of lads will be targeting smoothies for the first time or missing alot of fish ,so here are a few tips that might help,if anyone has any more please add them below 8) (we all have little tricks we dont even realize sometimes)
1) make sure both your hookpoints are well clear of your bait(this is prob the most important)
2)set the drag on your reel to give line but not too freely ,you want the hook to penetrate.
3)if you get wolloped but miss the fish ,dont reel in! hold your rod for at least a few minutes in most cases you will have another hit on the same bait and this time you wont miss striking it :D
4)crab is the no1 bait but they love squid and rag also, cocktails of crab and rag or crab and squid can work better sometimes than crab on its own
5)pulley pennels work a treat but if its rough and they are tangling in the surf a two hook clipped down rig can work just as well
6)on a calm beach i have taken smoothies in close (20 feet)so dont take it for granted they are 120yards out like all fish they are where the foods at![/quote]




Thanks for for the tips.