Hints & Tips

The Bristol Channel can be a strange place to fish for the first time, especially if you have never fished a fast flowing estuary system. This page aims to give some advice on boat & shore methods to help you catch more fish! Take it or leave it the choice is yours, its free to read.

Boat Angling Hints and Tips.

Uptide Method.

On the whole the Bristol Channel is quite shallow, lending itself to this type of technique. The tides are strong with quick flowing water. The ‘scare’ area around a boat in these circumstances reduces the chance of a fish considerably, when using conventional downtiding methods.

For uptiding in the Bristol Channel, a 4 to 10 ounce casting-weight rod is preferable, anything lighter may have difficulty coping with the tide pull. A shockleader of at least 40lb should be attached to mainline of 18 to 22lb. An Abu 7000 sized reel  A simple running ledger is effective, but a paternoster rig is used a lot by local match anglers to good effect, especially on ‘species-hunts’. A ‘pulley-rig’ is also becoming increasingly popular, highly effective for Cod (especially with hooks set up ‘pennel’ style), and also for Ray fishing. The main benefit is that there is no fixed point for tangles to develop around, thus presenting your bait as you wanted it to, not amongst a birds-nest of mono! Spiked leads of 4 to 8 ozs will be required. This method is best suited to depths of up to 80feet.

For those who are not used to this type of fishing, here are some basic tips:-

          A gentle lob is all that is required. Don’t try to beachcast from the boat!

Always watch your sinker when casting. This means you know exactly where it is, hopefully preventing serious injury to your fellow anglers, and an angry skipper shoving a bill at you, for wrecked aerials/radar etc.

Downtide Method.

Huge Conger are rarely caught in the Bristol Channel, and heavy gear would spoil the excellent Tope sport. The beast of the Channel is the strong tide. Even a lowly Dogfish captured mid channel, with a 2 1/2lb sinker to hold bottom can test tackle and muscles at the peak of the ebb and flood.

The ideal set-up would be a 30lb class rod and reel, ably meeting the rigours of these waters, and able to cope with a good Conger, which can turn up in some of the most unexpected places.

Again a simple running ledger is all that is required. Leads to 2 1/2lbs are required to hold bottom at the strongest times of the ebb and flood. Have a good selection of leads from 4oz upwards. The use of the increasingly popular braided lines can help reduce the amount of lead required.
You will need heavy leads, if you are not on the bottom you will not catch much.

To assist in helping you decide what tackle and bait to take with you, have a look at the
 Species page, designed to give you an idea of what to expect at different times of the year.

Shore Angling Hints & Tips

One of the most used rigs along this coast is the Pulley Rig.
It gives the angler the chance to keep the sinker up above the fish out of harms way when playing or landing the fish. This reduces the chance of losing the fish in weed or rocks.
In its clipped form with pennell hooks its good for casting out a larger cod type bait, over a good distance. The double hooks securing the bait and giving a better chance of hooking the fish.

You can use this rig in most situations, and varying the hook size and hook length, will allow you to target a
wide variety of species.
A lead lift can be added for work over rough ground, and a lead with a built in hook release clip can be used,
making the rig a bit more streamlined for extra distance.

The other all rounder is the Two hook paternoster.
This rig is useful for a wide variety of species, and in its clipped down version will allow baits to be cast a good
distance. This rig is an excellent choice for Cod and Whiting.

Pennel hooks in their simplest form. You can add a piece of silicon/vinyl tube to the
shank of the top hook if you want the hook to slide more easily.
This use of hooks provides better bait security and less chance of missing the fish.
A recent development is the TRENNEL, three hooks, very useful for large cod baits.