THE KIT YOU NEED

There are times when the action will be slow from the shore but with a few slight adjustments to your approach the bites will follow…

Great gear choices for ‘scratching’ tactics.

THE TERM ‘SCRATCHING’ STEMS from the world of match fishing. When fish are playing hard to get, competition anglers resort to scratching around in the edge, close to the shore, trying to winkle out a solitary flatfish or a tiny rockling. By simply replacing powerful rods and speedy multiplier reels with much lighter options and adopting a touchy-feely tactic in terms of rigs, it’s fascinating to learn what is feeding right at your feet.

ROD AND REEL

A light three-piece rod coupled with a smooth fixedspool reel is certainly the way to go. Use a rod that has a sensitive tip for registering those shy bites from tiny fish, but still has enough power to cope with a surprisingly larger fish.

The Sonik Gravity X5 HT three-piece rod is ideal. At 15ft 4in long, it features a hollow tip that maintains that superior bite detection. Coupled with the Sonik AVX 10000 Surf reel that features a slow oscillation, long coned spool and 14 bearings, you have the perfect scratching outfit.

■ SONIK GRAVITY X5 HT ROD: RRP: £349.99

■ SONIK AVX SURF REEL: RRP: £129.99

BAIT

Ideally, if you follow in the footsteps of successful match anglers, by far the best baits to use will be those that have movement. Wriggling maddies (sometimes known as harbour rag) are small and add plenty of movement when packed on to a hook in bunches. Tiny matchstick white ragworms do the same too and, if you can tip-off with a sliver of mackerel, Bluey or squid, you add visual attraction too.

SNOODS AND RIGS

Bait presentation is imperative if you are to trap a shy fish. By using the correct snood line, you certainly give yourself a good chance. Try to avoid using thick mono, instead go for a line that is supple and has zero memory. If your line is heavy and kinks, your bait presentation will be poor.

A lenghty three-hook flapper rig with long snoods enables it to cover more ground. By using a light plain lead weight, it will roll in the tide searching out holes and depressions in the seabed where fish could be waiting for an easy meal.

■ COX & RAWLE RIGGING MONO: RRP: 12lb, 15lb, 22lb in clear or black £5; 33lb, £6 per 100m spool

TRIPOD

Keep your tripod extremely low and close to the surface of the beach. This prevents any wind blowing the rod tip around and showing false bites.

■ IAN GOLDS TELESCOPIC TRIPOD: RRP: £31.99 - £42.99

BUCKET

It’s always a good idea to have large bucket filled with seawater close at hand. You can place a fish into it while you cast out your next baited rig. Simply return your fish back to the sea as soon as you’ve set your next bait and re-fill your bucket with fresh seawater.

The bucket available from Tronixpro is perfect because it is wide and extremely tough. It even has a separate compartment for storing bait.

■ TRONIXPRO BUCKET: RRP: £27.49

COOL BOX

It’s important to keep any delicate baits as fresh as possible, and to ensure frozen baits stay frozen. The best solution is to use a cool box.

Simply add a frozen ice pack wrapped in newspaper and place any frozen baits on top. Then, you can add neatly wrapped worm baits in newspaper, or small containers filled with water stacked on top too.

The Tronixpro five-litre cool box is ideal and will store enough bait to last a scratching session.

■ TRONIXPRO 5-LITRE COOL BOX: £20.89