How to Start Sea Fishing, Save Money and Catch Fish

Lee, from Boat and Tackle - sea fishing tackle specialist has submitted this post to give beginners to the sport some initial advice and a few handy tips.

For me the cost of fly fishing on the local tarns and lakes in Cumbria was becoming a bit too much. I had a young family and fishing was starting to be put on the back burner, simply due to cost. This lead me to look for more cheaper options to take part in the sport I love. Only living 2 minutes from the cliffs, beaches and piers of Whitehaven I decided to give sea fishing a revisit as it is what I had done when just a boy.
I had a rough idea of equipment needed, I knew it consisted of rod, reel, line and tackle. So with this in mind I headed to my local tackle shop for a quick browse.

I’m always on the look out for a bargain, or always trying to do something on the cheap. With an idea of what I wanted I started browsing on-line, looking at forums and tackle reviews for the best…. but cheapest options. I came across a rod and reel combo on eBay for only £64, I can’t remember the exact model but I remember it was a Shakespeare set up of some sort. I bought some ready made rigs from my local tackle shop with some frozen mackerel and headed off to the west pier in Whitehaven, needless to say I blanked. Blanked but not put off all together.

So your thinking of starting sea fishing? Here’s a head start.

The gear that is a necessity is of course your rod and reel. I would strongly suggest going to your local tackle dealer for help and advice. They may have facilities to test a new rod out. You should wherever possible try to haggle a deal out of them. Try and get some extras thrown in such as line. Don’t spend too much on your first set up, you may not enjoy sea fishing. If you do enjoy sea fishing you can always upgrade later.

As mentioned some line is needed, about 18lb breaking strain is about a happy medium. You’ll also need a length of shock-leader. Basically a shock leader is a length of line that is of higher breaking strain to take the extra forces during your cast. See my sea fishing tackle blog for more info.

For your first trip buy some ready made sea fishing rigs, you can always use these as templates to make your own if you get the sea fishing bug. A good starting rig would be a two hook flapper or a single hooked rig.

Your going to need some weights. Gripper type lead weights are excellent for sea fishing. There are various weights such as 5oz and 6oz. Buy a couple of each to get you going. Try first with the 5oz, if you find your line drifting around to either side of you or making it’s way back in shore then up the weight to 6oz. Namix leads are excellent sea fishing leads and cheap too.

Around your home you will likely have a lot of things that can help you get started. Something to carry all your new gear in such as a rucksack or small toolbox, a knife for cutting bait and something to wipe your hands on such as a old tea towel.

You will need some bait, if you don’t want to dig / collect your own the tackle shop will likely have frozen worm and fish baits such as mackerel, sand eel, lug and rag worm. Do your research on your planned location. The internet is a valuable source to the modern fishermen especially forums. Some sea fishing forums have catch reports with people saying what bait they used to catch fish with. As a guide you wont go far wrong with some black lug and some mackerel.

Now your ready to hit the shore don’t forget about safety during fishing. Take care when casting that their is no one near by to get hurt. Never go to low water alone, fish with a friend or join a sea fishing club, most areas have a sea fishing club ask in the tackle shop.

Don’t forget to take plenty of pictures, the British coast is very scenic… and you may well catch a fish!

Goodluck, and if you need help just ask. Oh and thanks to Linz for the image