bait being eaten in seconds

englisheddie · Member Joined: Jul 21, 2008 Posts: 13

hello just to say hi as i am a newbie. quick couple of questions. has anybody fished down by lougour bridge, tried this morning and the bait was eaten in seconds any ideas why?
its the first time i have fished down there normally go to port talbot mainly because i dont know fully what i am doing and it quiet down there lol.
also i tried fishing under the bridge and the current was pulling my rig back into the bank tried both grab weights and normal ones but to no avail
any ideas would be welcome.
thanks from a clueless newbie worried

sniggle · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject:

Hi eddie , when fishing with a grip lead it is important to leave a bit of slack in the line to form a `belly' which pulls the grip wires into the bottom so cast uptide of where you are fishing (if nobodys in the way). If you fish too tight especially at short range the lead will point strait towards you the wires cannot grip and the lead will drag. Also if the bottom is soft sand or mud the wires will pull through so slide some plastic sleeving stripped from electric cable onto the wires this gives a better grip in the soft stuff. Hope this makes sense.....sniggle

englisheddie · Member Joined: Jul 21, 2008 Posts: 13

thanks for the quick responses. by breakaway lead you mean the legers with the wires on right (told you i was a complete novice lol).
the bit about the crabs would make sense as my son found a few along the bank and thinking about it the hooks i had on were red coloured but were scratched to hell.
will try that with the wire cover too it all helps.
many thanks all tips greatly appreciated.
have found alot of good advice on here as did not where to start . whew!

chrisandboys · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:32 pm Post subject:

If you are fishing soft ground in a strong current you should really be using the gripper leads that Sniggle said - they have long wires sticking out the bottom - that you should bend at right angles - a breakaway is different (the ones where you swivel the two wires up to hold on to the lead while casting) and not much use for getting a grip in these conditions. Use the breakaways for rough/mixed ground where you want the lead to stay put where it lands rather than rolling off into a snag.

coadys4 · Joined: Jul 10, 2008 Posts: 1

hi englisheddie,im from loughor and have fished there 4 many years,the problem u got is definatley crab activity murder this time of year,to be honest i wouldnt entertain fishing worm baits on the bottom in loughor this time of year your only feeding the crabs,i would fish between the bridges with flying c spinners red and white r best for bass,or try fishing float with mud rag 4 mullet off the bridges or if u do want to fish bottom use peeler crabs for bass,silver eels and flatties with your problem with your weight not holding bottom is your proberly fishing to big a tide,best time to fish loughor this time of year 4 bass and mullet is 2-3hrs b4 low water or 2-3hrs b4 the flood on smaller tides.Hope this helps you mate tight lines and let me know how u get on.

theblanker · Joined: Jul 16, 2008 Posts: 1

Coadys4 advice is right on the mark but you could also try floating beads on the snood, which will keep the hook of the floor and also act as attracter. With the weight problem, as you do not need to cast far try watch weights.

englisheddie · Member Joined: Jul 21, 2008 Posts: 13

thank you will look for those grippers next time in tacklsmart. as i am new, is tacklesmart any good? seems pretty good to me as i am trying to keep spending to a minimum for now and see how i go. so far though am enjoying it just would like to catch a few more of anything. lol . have been to a few smaller shops around my area and they seem dearer but then again there are small shops trying to make a living. so i suppose thats why.
will try loughor again as i pass it most days on the train and it always looks inviting.

AH · Regular Joined: Oct 14, 2005 Posts: 316 Location: Holyhead

Shrimp and Crab are known bait thieves. Try float fishing a live shrimp.