Mike's Diary Archive 2006
Mike's Diary 13th September 2006
SQUARING UP TO SQUIDI was recently in the Orkney Islands and during a couple of days boat fishing I re learnt just how effective squid ... Full story
Mike's Diary 27th September 2006
MAKE A WISHWishbone rigs get their name from the chicken bone you make a wish with. They are designed to present two hooks on separate ... Full story
Mike's Diary 4th October 2006
THE POWER OF PIRKSPirk fishing is often referred to as being a brutal way to catch fish, and personally it’s not my favourite technique, but ... Full story
Mike's Diary 18th October 2006
THE EVIL HOURSMost of my shore fishing is at night, but over the years I’ve noticed that the fishing drops right off after 1am through ... Full story
Mike's Diary 25th October 2006
COD BAIT BASICSLots of anglers tend to skimp on bait for cod fishing, and if there’s one fish that likes a big mouthful of food, ... Full story
Mike's Diary 1st November 2006
LOOKING AT DEEP DROP BOAT LEADSAny old boat lead will do attitude is commonplace, but you’re making life difficult for yourselves by not adhering to ... Full story
Mike's Diary 15th November 2006
TALKING T BARSCharter skippers and anglers hunting bigger fish like conger and huss nowadays invariably carry a T bar for unhooking fish. The typical T ... Full story
Mike's Diary 22nd November 2006
METAL MICKIESSince the advent of plastic the popularity of metal booms for shore rigs has declined rapidly, but they still have their uses, especially when ... Full story
Mike's Diary 29th November 2006
THE STORAGE STORYOn a trip to Ireland recently, after a full weeks fishing at sea, I was complimented on how neat my tackle box still ... Full story
Mike's Diary 3rd December 2006
WHEN TO UPTIDE OR DOWNTIDE?I’ve had a few e-mails lately from anglers fairly new to boat fishing asking how to make the decision to uptide ... Full story
Mike's Diary 5th July 2006
MANNERS MAKETH THE CHARTER BOAT MANGood manners are essential when a party of anglers are boarding and fishing from a charter boat, and even more ... Full story
Mike's Diary 12th July 2006
CAN YOU CUT IT?As anglers we give little thought to the type of knife we buy. Most go for the typical thin blade commercial filleting ... Full story
Mike's Diary 19th July 2006
RAISE YOUR GLASSESSunglasses are worn more for eye protection when fly fishing in saltwater than for practical fishing reasons by most sea anglers, but they ... Full story
Mike's Diary 26th July 2006
LOOSING LINE TWISTThe way you load new line on to your reels, if done incorrectly, can dramatically increase line twist and memory, yet this supposedly ... Full story
Mike's Diary 2nd August 2006
ON THE RUNYou don’t see many sea anglers using Baitrunner reels. We tend to rely on putting multipliers in free spool with the line release ... Full story
Mike's Diary 9th August 2006
FIND YOUR DEPTHFloat fishing is very effective at this time of year for mullet, garfish, pollack and mackerel. All these are fish that will rise ... Full story
Mike's Diary 16th August 2006
THINK LIGHT, THINK LURESAugust through October is a great time forboat anglers targeting inshore pollack. The pollack numbers peak in September with fish well in ... Full story
Mike's Diary 23rd August 2006
YOU CAN STICK IT!Rough ground bass and cod marks tend to fish best either in very coloured water or at night. Wading this type of ... Full story
Mike's Diary 30th August 2006
LIGHTING UP TIMEI’ve targeted most of my bass with the fly rod this year, and I’ve experimented far more with flies, some of which I’ll ... Full story
Mike's Diary 6th September 2006
HAIR RIGS FOR SEA FISH?Chatting to some lads about carp the other day, one asked why hair rigs had never caught on in sea fishing? I’ve ... Full story
Mike's Diary 26th April
TALKING POINT: THE FUTURE IS FISHINGNegative news seems to be the norm these days. With fishing it's declining fish stocks due to commercial over fishing, ... Full story
Mike's Diary 3rd May 2006
FRY FLY FOR BASSI promised you a few more bass fly patterns. Here's one for the May and June period when there are sandeels and ... Full story
Mike's Diary 10th May 2006
There's something very special about your first bass trip of the year. For me it signifies that the tough times of early spring are gone, ... Full story
Mike's Diary 17th May 2006
ROCK POLLACK FLOAT FISHING TACTICSPollack are just getting re-established inshore now, with the rock ledges under cliffs giving access to deeper water being the prime ... Full story
Mike's Diary 25th May 2006
HERMIT CRABS ARE A HOT BAITHermit crab are one of our least used, but most effective baits. Least used because they aren't that easy to ... Full story
Mike's Diary 31st May 2006
BAG 'EM ON A BUBBLEBubble flats are popular for tackling harbour mullet, garfish, mackerel and bass throughout the summer months, and are a top seller ... Full story
Mike's Diary 7th June 2006
AN EYE FOR FRYWith summer upon us its time to pick up the lure and fly rods for some varied sea sport. If you're new ... Full story
Mike's Diary 14th June 2006
CRAB KEBAB FOR BASSGiven the choice all my rough ground bass fishing with bait is at night or in coloured water with a good onshore ... Full story
Mike's Diary 21st June 2006
COASTERS COUNTFew anglers give any thought to the coaster reel clamps usually supplied with off-the-shelf beach rods. Even DIY rod builders tend to just buy ... Full story
Mike's Diary 28th June 2006
FISH A FLYERThere’s a trick you can use through the summer that can add extra fish and probably different species to what you’d normally have ... Full story
Mike's Diary 15th February
TIE YOURSELF A BASS FLYOne of the commonest questions asked about fly fishing for bass is to name a good fly pattern. Here's one of ... Full story
Mike's Diary 22nd February
ACCESSORISE YOUR ROD RESTMost anglers take rod rests for granted, but these are essential items that potentially can contribute a great deal to your fishing ... Full story
Mike's Diary 1st March
RIG IT RIGHT!I'm getting e-mails asking how you choose the right rig at the start of a fishing session. A good question and the honest ... Full story
Mike's Diary 8th March
VINGLING FOR SANDEEL You don't need a net to catch sandeels. You can vingle for them. A vingler is a long blade, often fashion from an ... Full story
Mike's Diary 15th March
TRIPPING AN ANCHORI still hear moans on the slipway from dinghy anglers, albeit those fairly new to owning their own boat, that they've got their ... Full story
Mike's Diary 22nd March
DIY BAIT CLIPSThere are some good commercially produced bait clips on the market, but they tend to be small, are often plastic and bend under ... Full story
Mike's Diary 29th March
DROP 'EM RIGHT IN ITIf you're intent on fishing piers, maybe breakwaters, jetties and the like, then you'll need to sort out a drop net, ... Full story
Mike's Diary 5th April 06
BREAD BAIT BREAKTHROUGHSea anglers might have missed the recent introduction of plastic bread from Partridge of Redditch and other sources, or maybe have dismissed it ... Full story
Mike's Diary 12th April
YOU'RE SLIPPINGShock leader line from different manufacturers for powerful casting can vary. Even the same make of leader, but in different colours, can differ due ... Full story
Mike's Diary 19th April
TALKING POINT: FISHERMAN'S TALESI'm not bad at judging the weights of fish just by looking at them. That doesn't mean to the ounce, but I ... Full story
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J Knot: Braid to Mono
This is the best knot we’ve found for joining a mono leader to main braid reel line. We first came across it when fishing for ... Full story