Fish baits for sea angling

This is a very wide question that I have been asked – What fish baits should I use for UK sea angling.

The answer is just about anything depending on what you are hoping for.

Bass like – Mackerel, Sand Eel, Fresh water eel, live pouting and others.

Soul like – Smelly baits including pilchard and herring.

Conger like – Mackerel flapper baits

Shark like – Whole Mackerel and Pollock

Dog fish like – Mackerel.

Cod like – Pouting, Mackerel

In summary almost any fish bait will catch fish in the UK shores, but each location seems to have a bait that out fishes anything else so you need to find local knowledge and then trial and error to find what fishes best where you are and for which species.

The common factor is that oily fish seems to work best as bait – Mackerel, sprat, herring etc. This may be because they create a stronger scent trail then other fish baits.

What do you think?