feathering at chesil beach sat 10 may

fisherben

hi ya,

went to chesil beach (the east end) on saturday evening hoping to catch a mackerel or two, saw the line of rods and beach buddy tents, found a gap between some kids and guy with his son, set up "camp" (picnic rug, bbq, rods, etc...) with my girlfriend, and then started casting. 3 hours later, nothing. half the people around were also hoping for mackerel i think, as they too were casting feathers. didn't catch anything. oh well. next time.

i hope the others who stayed into the night had a better session than we did. what would they be targeting?

but we still had a wonderful evening, having bbq'd burgers and watching the sun set over the coast. very nice.

is there a correct way of casting and retrieving feathers for mackerel, or is it just cast as far as you can , and wind as fast as you can?

cheers

ben

shannock · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject:

i reel in with short jerks ( not the anglers at the next peg lol), to try and make the feathers look a bit more lively instead of casting and retrieving them
also if theres enough room i will aim at the clock hours (9.00 through to 3 .00 ) to cover more area in the sea , aim at 9 o'clock ,then 10 o'clock etc
then i would move 30 or so yards up ordown the beach and start again
i'm sure you would do that but just putting it on here for any begginers to help them
cheers all
ps travel light as you can cover a big area like that and take plenty of plastic carrier bags inside your back pack for all the fish you hope !!

fisherben · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:11 am Post subject:

cheers.

thats bassically how i do it, but it was impossible to do that as there were so many people at chesil that evening. i usually fish light, a 20-40g casting weight 7ft telescopic rod with an okuma cd 30 (i think) loaded with 6lb line. i have a spare spool which i have just found out is deeper, and am planning on loading it with 8lb line, as i am restricting my casts due to not having enough line on the shallow spool. several times i have cast to full distance with only one or two wraps of line left on the spool! the feathering rigs i use are a set of 6 feathers on what looks like size 1 or 2 hooks (not 1/0 or 2/0), cut in half (3 feathers) with a silver spinner on the end with treble hook. i think this makes it look like a small mackerel chasing the feathers, enticing the other mackerel to attack, and if there is a big mack or bass, he might go for the spinner instead. last summer i tried using 4, 5 and 6 feather rigs, but lost too many rigs on the light line.

what do you guys use?

i notice mot of the others used fairly heavy rods with heavy line ( in comparison to mine). but i suppose if you fish to fill the bait freezer, its a good way to go.

whats the best way of preparing the mackerel for freezing (for bait)?

i would normally fillet the fish, salt the flesh and lay them flat on a backing tray in the freezer. some people will wrap the fish layers of cling film. when their solid, you can then place them in a bag and only take out what you need for the next fishing trip. its a bit of work, but it seems to keep the flesh together better.

the fish frames (skeleton, head, guts) can be frozen in onion bags and dipped in the water as burley when on a boat to attract and hold fish behind the boat. works well with mackerel and garfish!

tensenervoushaddock · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:05 am Post subject:

with that setup you would be better to cast a single spinner or wedge...... or even a ball weight 3' trace and a sandeel/mackerel strip. Catch one at a time and enjoy!
I have to disagree about plastic bags.... on a sunny day you will be carrying home a bag of mush. Take a coolbox with some blocks*, fillet the fish on the beach if you must to save weight but throw the guts/head into the sea... the bass clean that up. Take fewer at a time but get them home and frozen in tip-top condition.

* fruit juice/squash frozen in plastic bottles make good cool blocks, as the day goes on you have ice-cold refreshment as they slowly melt.

HAZZA · Member Joined: Jan 14, 2007 Posts: 36 Location: Portland

To get a good chance , fish with a rod of at least 12ft when theres not many about . set of 6 feathers or daylights . daylights work better during the day. 20lb line and 5 0z weight.
i fish chesil east end basically every day and it works for me .
good luck next time big grin

basilbones · Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Wiltshire

Fished abbotsbury today (11.00am - 2.00pm); too many people chucking leads and feathers for any other type of fishing so joined in. Used a trace of 3 pink feathers with a 2oz weight and managed 48 mackeral (most picked up at about 50 yds) before giving in to aching arms.

MJB · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:31 pm Post subject:

I with Haddock on this. I really don't get this whole string of feathers, fill a bin bag mentality. Mackerel are a tremendous fighting fish and use the right gear you'll still catch more than enough for your needs.

shannock · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:49 pm Post subject:

here here
pulling in 6 mackeral on a 12ft rod all the time would get boring

yeah its nice to catch lots,in but i would rather pull one in at time on my spinning rod and let them put up a bit of a fight

if you're on a boat and need a load for bait then pull them in at 6 a go

well we are all different cheers steve
>))))))*>

thebigbassman · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:15 pm Post subject:

fisherben · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 9:15 pm Post subject:

cheers guys. i hope i have better luck next time too. looking forward to the next chance i get to go fishing! what size wedge / lure should i use on my light spinning rod?