The term scratching refers mainly to the period between late January and mid-April when fish off the shore are in their lowest numbers and generally smaller fish. But it’s equally relevant during the summer months when prolonged settled weather periods produce flat calm seas and gin clear water resulting in fish being semi-comatose and less inclined to feed. It literally means “scratching” around for just the odd fish. This requires a rethink of standard tackle and rigs. You may have already read our previous article on Scratching Tactics here.
Long Range Rods
Casting distance can be crucial. Choosing a rod that can deliver long range casts with minimal effort means you increase your audience of fish. At the same time, you need to maximise bite detection from the smaller fish. A rod with a length of around 14ft to 15ft and rated to cast 6ozs plus three small baits covers all medium to long range options. The addition of a hybrid carbon tip will give the best bite detection. These longer rods give a faster tip and lead speed on release, achieving greater casting distances.
- Tronixpro Competition Performance
- Tronixpro Guerilla Surf GT (coming soon)
Close Range Rods
Smaller fish such as coalies, flounder, turbot etc, can be right on the edge of the tideline. To target these up close, also for longer casts up to 60yds or so, then look to a rod around 14ft 9ins but offering a choice of three interchangeable tips covering a choice of lead weights between 2 and 5.5ozs. These varying tips can be bent under slight pressure and to a tight line to register even the tiniest of bites. They give you a definite edge!
Reels
An 8000 sized fixed spool is the best all-round choice but one with both a shallow and deep Long Cast spool option allows this reel to be fished with the rods mentioned above.
The deep spool needs to take around 500-metres of 0.40mm line. This is the spool for use at long range. This deeper spool will retain a high line profile during the cast, minimising spool lip drag and enabling the line to leave the spool more freely, encouraging maximum casting range.
The shallow spool should hold around 500-metres of 0.32mm line. Again, this Long Cast spool design will retain that all important high line profile for easy distance casting.
Mainline and Leader
Braid lines are ideal for this type of fishing. The braid has a smaller diameter than mono of corresponding size, and equally important the braid has no real stretch unlike mono. The immediate tight nature of the braid contributes enormously to better bite detection, especially at long range, but even when fishing just a few yards out.
For long range load the deep spool with 20 to 30lb braid for general fishing, and the shallow spool with 15lb to 20lb braid. The lighter 20lb (0.17mm) braid will cast further than the 30lb braid and is still heavy enough for most general fishing. Some anglers will drop the line down to 12lbs to get out to extreme distance. Braid of this thin diameter is more prone to wind knots and less abrasion resistance, but has its place when extreme distance is the only option to get a bite. Wetting the braid before casting helps reduce the chance of wind knots.
There is no need to load braid onto the whole spool. Use an appropriate amount of say old 15lb mono backing then add a 300-metre spool of the braid size you want to fish with.
Shock leaders are essential, and scratching anglers will go for two options. On the heavier long-range rod, a braid leader of 80lbs will take the strain of a very powerful cast. This should be wound around the spool 8 times, go up the length of the rod, and have a spare 3ft below the rod tip. This is the leader to aim for the horizon with.
If casting to medium to long range with 20lb braid, a tapered mono leader from 26lbs at the reel line to 80lbs at the heavy end can be used. In shallow clear water, this can give a more camouflaged presentation than coloured braid if fishing in daylight.
For close range fishing, say up to 40-yards, with leads lighter than 3ozs reducing the visual impact of the braid line in front of the fish in clear shallow water can be more crucial. In this case, go for a self-made leader from 20lb Fluorocarbon, again wrapped around the spool 8 times and long enough to have 3ft spare beyond the tip ring. Fluorocarbon has the same refraction as water, so is far less easy for the fish to see.
- Tronixpro X8 Braid
- Tronixpro Xenon Leader
- Tronixpro Xenon Tapered Leaders
- Tronixpro Fluorocarbon Hook Length – Hard
Leads
A plain lead will usually hold in normal scratching seas. Try to use one just heavy enough to hold. That said, it can be an advantage for the lead to occasionally roll and move the baits. Pear leads are good for general fishing and hold reasonably well. Round cannonball weights roll over the sand and create movement if needed.
Are coloured leads an advantage? At night, luminous colours can get more bites, especially the white, green, and yellow painted leads. In daylight, clear shallow water, then be cautious and experiment on the day. Mostly, plain coloured leads outperform coloured in very clear water.
Long Range Leads
- Shorecast Gripaway Leads
- Shorecast Duck Leads
- Shorecast Medium Tailed Beach Bomb
- Shorecast The Star
- Shorecast The Aero
Close Range Leads
- Shorecast Medium Tail Beach Bomb
- Shorecast Pear Leads
- Shorecast Cannonball Leads
Baits
The key to scratching is to use small baits. Only just fill the hook aiming to have bait in the bend of the hook and just enough to hide the shank, no more. Good scratching anglers have the mentality that the chances of big fish are minimal at best. They fish for what is there with appropriately sized baits.
You won’t use much bait in these conditions, but the more variety you have on the day, the more likely you are to find a winner.
Small sections of blow lug or black lug will always catch. Ragworm is good in little chunks. The best worm baits are either maddie (harbour) rag fished in threes and fours with a small hook used and just nicked in the head to leave the bodies to wriggle. Arguably, the very best scratching bait is white or snake rag, again either as small sections or small chunks. Also, try tipping the worm with a tiny bit of white rag to force the fish to take the hook point.
Small chunks of peeler crab or peeler crab legs work well. Little bits of mussel, even just a tongue of the mussel, small bits of cockle, razorfish or sand clam can all work.
Never go without frozen mackerel, sandeel and squid. Tiny strips or squares of these can often take fish when other baits won’t.
Rod Rest
Fishing two rods, one out at range and one close in, is always favourite to get a few bites. A two-rod tripod gives the versatility to do this and lets you fish rods at different angles to maximise bite detection. The long-range rod having the tip up in the air at about a 30-degree angle and the very close in rod set with the tip low and as near horizontal as you can get it and with a slightly slack line to ensure all the baits are fishing close to the seabed.
Seat Box
Bites may be few and far between, so having a seat box means a degree of comfort so you can sit down while watching for bites. It’s also somewhere to store not just tackle and bait, but also food and a flask to keep you going. And at night, the box acts as a location point you can pick up in your headlight if you’ve had to walk out into the surf some distance to cast.
Technique
When fishing at long-range, start by hitting it as far as you can. If this doesn’t produce bites, start dropping the distance back towards yourself, 10-yards at a time. And try to cast a little left and right. Little differences like this can sometimes locate a small pocket of fish.
When fishing very close in, used bait taken off the hook can be dropped in along the tide line. This washes back out and can act as a groundbait trail to lure fish in. This works especially well for flounder and coalies.
As always, pay special attention to any ground features. Literally, just a little gully or depression of sand among otherwise minimal feature can see fish visit it. Casting near to more broken ground is always likely to produce something too. Even run-offs from gullies and depressions on an ebbing tide can hold the odd fish, especially flounder dropping back with the tide.
Generally, the middle-sized to bigger tides will fish best. But if there’s a gentle onshore wind after a period of easterlies, smaller neap tides can fish well for both flounder and dabs.
If you get a bite, and it's obvious a small fish is securely hooked, leave it out there briefly, as one fish can attract another.
Simple Scratching Rigs
There are so many scratching rigs, it is impossible to cover all of them. However, here are two, simple proven rigs that will catch in the toughest of conditions, one for long-range and another for close range.
Long Range Two Hook Rig
- Begin with 40-inches of 65lb clear mono.
- Tie on a Casting Snap with Clip.
- Slide on a rig crimp, 2mm clear round bead, a size 8 rolling swivel, another bead and a crimp. Leave these loose for now.
- Slide on a bait clip.
- Add another rig crimp, 2mm clear round bead, a size 8 rolling swivel, another bead and a crimp. Leave these loose for now.
- To the tag end of the 65lb mono, tie on a size 2 rolling swivel.
- Add a 12-inch 12lb Fluorocarbon hook length to the lower size 8 swivel and tie on a size 6 Aberdeen hook.
- Put the hook in the clip of the casting snap, slide the crimp, bead and swivel up the rig body line until the hook length comes just tight, then crimp the crimps in place.
- Crimp the top crimp. Swivel and bead assembly in place 2-inches below the size 2 swivel.
- Add a 15-inch 12lb Fluorocarbon hook length to the top size 8 swivel and tie on a size 6 Aberdeen hook. Put the hook in the bait clip and slide the bait clip up or down until the hook length comes just tight.
- Above both hooks, add a stop knot using a short length of Rig Gum and a 5-turn Grinner knot. Pull this tight and trim the tag ends to 3mm. Slide this down to just above the hook, then secure in place with a little rig glue. This stops the bait blowing back up the trace during the cast.
Cast to long range the shorter lower hook length fishes on the seabed, with the longer upper hook length having the freedom to move the bait more naturally. It gives you two different presentations from the one rig.
What You Need To Make This Rig
- Tronixpro Xenon Leader – 65lbs
- Tronixpro Rolling Swivels – Size 2 and 6
- Tronixpro Casting Snap with Clip
- Tronixpro Rig Crimps
- Tronixpro Clear Round Bead – 2mm
- Tronixpro Baitclip
- Tronixpro Fluorocarbon Soft – 12lbs
- Tronixpro Aberdeen Hooks
Close Range Three Hook Ghost Rig
This is a unique rig that uses minimal components, has minimal visual impact, and catches fish when all other rigs fail.
- Begin with 60-inches of stiffish 25lb Fluorocarbon.
- Tie on a Continental Clip to take the lead weight.
- Slide on a size 2mm clear round bead, a size 8 rolling swivel and another bead.
- Add two more bead, swivel and bead assemblies.
- To the free tag end of 25lb Fluorocarbon tie on a size 6 rolling swivel.
- Above and below each bead add a stop knot from a short length of clear Rig Gum using a 5-turn Grinner knot pulled tight and cutting the tag ends 3mm in length.
- Position the bead and swivel assemblies just above the continental clip, in the middle of the rig, and just below the top size 6 swivel.
- The hook lengths are 14-inches of 12lb Fluorocarbon with a size 8 Wormer hook or a size 8 Aberdeen.
This rig is designed to have minimal visual impact on fish in clear flat calm seas when casting at close range. The Rig Gum stop knots can be slid up and down on the rig body so you can easily reposition the height of the hook lengths which we’ll come back to shortly. It can fish with leads between 1oz and 3ozs, normally plain leads.
Take note of which hook lengths catch fish. If fish are coming to the bottom hook, slide the middle hook down towards the lower hook just far enough away not to tangle. This puts two baits in the fish feeding zone. Likewise, if the top hook is catching, move both the bottom hook and the middle hook closer to the top hook, again without the chance of tangling.
This rig also allows you to use short, medium and longer hook lengths at the same time. If the longer hook length is catching, extend the middle hook length to match and shorten the lower hook length to avoid tangles. Often shorter hook lengths work better than longer ones. Try shorter 8 to 10-inch hook lengths if you’re not catching on the longer hook lengths. Fish typically want a more static bait and won’t chase baits with more movement, hence the shorter hook lengths being more effective.
At night, it’s always worth adding a 2 or 3mm luminous green or pink bead just above the hook. Charge these with a UV torch or your headlight. They can and typically will make a difference to your catch rate. And try adding say a green luminous bead to the top and bottom hooks, with a pink bead on the middle hook. Rotate this around until you find if it makes a difference. It’s well worth the effort!
Tricks to try if the bites still don’t come are to drop the hook length breaking strain down to 8 or even 6lbs. This gives the baits more natural movement and can be especially effective when fishing in daylight. If you reduce the breaking strain of the hook length, also go for a smaller hook, certainly a 10, but even a size 12 or 14 coarse fishing hook and a correspondingly small bait can make the bait behave more naturally and pull a bite.
Use the three hooks with three different baits until you find one that works. Also, try tiny combination baits as these, too, can sometimes scrounge a bite or two.
Give the rod tip a lift to move the lead weight a few inches occasionally. Slowly inching a bait back can induce a bite.
