Changes to this blog and my main site

For the time being at least, all surfcasting will be on my main site www.johnholden.co.uk This is the last posting here for the foreseeable future. And for those of you who read my stuff elsewhere, as of now I am not writing for any angling publications in the UK.

There are a number of reasons for these changes, one being that I plan to concentrate on producing in-depth information on surfcasting techniques and tackle.

From my own observations. borne out by what so many of you are telling me, there is a lack of detailed, well researched and relevant coverage in the press or online. Casting seems to have fallen completely off the radar so far as most publications are concerned. That’s stupid, surely? Between them cod and casting account for the lion’s share of UK beach sport.

Tackle reviews are something of a bad joke with many of you. Good rods cost a fortune. The majority are quite specialised in their design and performance. A decent review is a huge help in making the right decision. How else to avoid making an expensive and disastrous mistake? The same applies to reels and many of the high-tech accessories we use.

Here’s a typical email that fell into my inbox: “John, I’m sick and tired of reading flippant, dumbed-down tackle “tests” by people who don’t know what they’re talking about. What is the point of rod reviews by people who can’t even cast properly? What the heck does three-and-half stars mean? And it really, really p####s me off to find out that some of these tests are done by fishermen who work for the tackle companies. Can you believe anything that you read? The whole set-up stinks.”

Accurate information aside, many other areas of beach fishing and casting could do with better coverage. I don’t know whether I can add anything useful to the situation, but I think it’s worth a try. But please bear with me. It takes time to do the research and the testing, to track down the right people, and to do the words and photos. And I regret to say that being a one-man band I simply can’t afford to do it all for free. The only option would be to saturate the site with advertising, and I’m certainly not having that.

I’d love to hear what you think.

The basis of successful fishing

If I could persuade you to do just one thing to improve your beach fishing, it would be to pay more attention to watercraft, and far less to rods, reels and the thousand-and-one bits and pieces we carry around in our tackle boxes. I don't mean that tackle, casting and other basic skills are unimportant. They often make or break your chances of hooking more fish, or in extreme cases any fish at all. But over the months and years, skills that fall under the general banner of watercraft are the key to doing well. It's obvious really: if you go fishing when there's nothing around, the best tackle in the world won't make a bit of difference. On the other hand, even a dodgy bait heaved out on rubbish tackle stands some chance of being grabbed when the sea is full of fish.

Time, place, conditions and bait are the framework that underpin successful beach fishing. Top anglers devote a great deal of time and effort to pinpointing exactly where to go and which tides to concentrate upon. Weather and water conditions are factored into the equation. Experience has taught them which beaches do best in calm, clear conditions and which draw the fish when the sea is cloudy and rough.

If you do nothing else to prepare for the coming cod season (it's underway already in some parts), at least get hold of a tide table and underline the days and nights that should be most productive. I say should be productive rather than will be, because there is no such thing as certainty in this game. You're always be playing the odds to some degree. The difference between good and bad tides is rarely as clean-cut as fish or no fish. Sometimes the best tides are sparse, while tides which should be a washout produce decent bags. On the whole, though, certain sets of tides always produce more fish. It makes sense to concentrate on them, especially if your fishing time is limited.

When are these best tides? That's where doing your homework comes in. As a general rule of thumb the bigger (spring) tides outdo the neaps, and the hours towards the top of the flood and on the early ebb outfish the low water periods. But there are hundreds of beaches where those rules don't apply. The pattern can vary wildly along just a few miles of coastline. The answer? Ask around, starting with the local tackle dealer. Keep your eyes and ears open. Watch the match fixtures - which tides do the organisers choose? Best of all, go fishing with a good angler. And be prepared to leave your nice warm bed at some ungodly hour.

Time to get ready....

I don't fish the East Coast beaches much at this time of year. The popular spots are alive with tourists. The sea is full of crabs, eels and other assorted bits and pieces that rip baits to shreds within minutes. The occasional session for soles and bass is all I'm tempted to do right now. Like the majority of fishermen, I'm waiting for the new cod season.

Tradition says that serious codding begins in late autumn. Not these days. Codling are being hooked now; in fact, they've become almost a permanent summer feature along the North Sea coast. Most fish are undersize, though during a day's fishing you can be pretty confident of hooking a few big enough to keep. The message is clear: don't wait until the first frosts before you get down to the beach. The Essex piers were producing fair catches in July. I expect the trend to accelerate in August, especially if the winds are strong enough to colour the water. Early September could produce some top sport, as it has done for a few years now. It's a shame that so many anglers miss out by sticking to the old codding calendar.

On the casting front, cod turning up early also means that it's unwise to leave it too long before you brush up your casting. And if you're planning to get a new rod for the winter, now might be the time to visit the tackle shop. Practice isn't just for beginners. I don't know one good caster who doesn't make a point of getting down to the field before he heads for the beach. It's the best way to get the rust out of your system.

I also like to get my gear sorted out well ahead of time. There are leads to be moulded, rigs to tie, stuff to fix, reels to clean, rings to replace. This maintenance and DIY side of fishing is prompting plenty of questions from you at the moment. The recession is one aspect of it. But it's more than a question of cash. I get the strong impression that anglers are keen to be more self-reliant, and there seems to be a growing interest in rod building, rig making and tackle making in general. Over the coming weeks I'll put a few bits of information together for you and post them here and maybe on YouTube as well.

Getting a grip

A friend of mine who casts exceptionally well bought a beach rod with a great reputation. He was more than disappointed. "It's gutless," he complained. "Feels as dead as a kipper. Do you want to have a thrash before I put in on eBay?"

He was right. Here was a premium rod that felt and performed like something off the £19.99 rack. As it happens, I had tested the same rod a couple of weeks earlier and would have no hesitation in awarding it five stars in any review. So why the huge difference? Quality control? Had the manufacturer changed the blank specs? No.

Being the owner of a pair of gigantic hands, my mate can't cope with super-slim blanks, which this one certainly is. My paws are nothing like as big, but even I struggle with blanks much less than about 30mm diameter. This new rod was frankly anorexic at more like 25mm.

As a result, the day he bought the rod he'd slapped on a pair of fat grips. They were the problem, because the layer of soft foam acted as a nasty mixture of cushion and deadener. As soon as we'd hacked them off the rod burst into life, instantly producing an extra 50m. The only drawback was that pencil-thin blank.

We wrapped on rubber strips (bicycle inner tube or pond liner works fine) as temporary handgrips. Being hard, the rubber transmits full power to the rod. The system works in reverse as well, giving excellent feedback from the rod. Six weeks later, those DIY grips have become a permanent fixture. They've completely transformed my mate's opinion of his new rod, and they don't look too bad either.

Why don't you....
Lots of you write in suggesting that I do interviews with top beach anglers, tackle makers and casters; tackle reviews and technical articles; information and news about tactics and popular beaches... loads of different stuff related to beach fishing. I'd love to. I have the contacts ready and waiting. But the reason I don't can be summed up in one word: money.

Writing a few paragraphs now and again and putting in the occasional photo are as far as I can stretch. Anything more becomes a full-scale journalistic exercise. Material is expensive and time consuming to collect. Writing up the story takes time. Maintaining a website is expensive, and that's without taking bandwidth and traffic charges into account. Host a few popular videos on your site, and you'll soon get a fat bill. (No, YouTube isn't the real answer to that one in my view.)

It is a fact of digital life that people are not prepared to pay for web content. Which means that any "magazine" project must be supported by advertising. Now that's a tricky road to go down - look what happens with traditional magazines. Tell me this: how impressed are you when you discover that the glowing rod test you've just read was written by a bloke who works for the rod company? Thought so. This bending of the rules - some call it a straightforward con - destroys both editorial independence and reader confidence. If you can't believe what you read, why bother reading it?

So, logic says that worthwhile, independent information must be paid for by, say, subscription in the case of an internet publication. But the track record of such ventures suggests that nobody wants to pay. Ergo, nobody gets the depth and width of coverage they would like.

On the personal side, I'm not bothered one way or the other. Unless, that is, somebody comes up with a formula that not only works in the business sense but also taps into the huge benefits that the web allows. How about this. Your mobile phone buzzes. The message says something like, "Big cod catches at Dungeness. Log on for latest news." So you key in your username and password, and there's a video clip of what's happening on Kent's most famous cod mark. The fish are hitting the baits RIGHT NOW. You can see exactly what's going on - tackle, tactics, baits. The complete picture in real time. Want to ask a question? No problem: hit the email link, type in what you want to know, and the guys on the beach will get back to you. Maybe there's a phone number to call instead. I don't know about you, but I'd happily sign up for a deal like that.