Ultimate Beginner's Guide

A work in progress

Contents

Introduction

The easiest way to start fishing is to keep everything simple.
First of all, you need to decide what species of fish you want to catch.
Different fish require different tactics to catch - so starting out by targeting huge Eels is probably not the best idea.
Some feed on the bottom, others in the middle and on the top.

The first fish I would recommend targeting are Wrasse:

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  • Extremely easy to catch in the summer - requiring only a light rod, reel and line.
  • Provide a huge amount of fun to catch (great fighters!) and teach the basics of fishing.
  • Live all over Brixham, and there's some decent sized ones too!

    • Wrasse

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    Please do NOT eat these fish!!

    If you're looking for fish to catch and eat - please see my mackerel guide!
    The reason is that Wrasse take a very long time to reach old age, if you kill and eat a big Wrasse, it could be 30 years old!
    This means that their population takes a long time to recover.
    They're not great for eating anyway - don't taste great and are bony. Best to stick to Mackerel.

    Behaviour

    They swim around mainly near the bottom, in and out of kelp and rocky ravines - out of sight from sea-birds and other predators.
    Wrasse mainly feed on Shellfish: Crabs, Shrimp, Limpets and anything they can get their teeth on - even small fish!

    They're highly territorial - feeding in and round their hidey-holes
    Often, you can see small Wrasse swimming in and around weed and rocks. This is where they live...
    At night time, they stop feeding - you'll notice the bites stop as soon as it gets dark.
    This is because they probably retreat to their lairs and hide away from bigger predators that come out at night, such as Conger Eels.

    Habitat

    They live in extremely rough ground, boulders, crevices, reefs, weed beds - anywhere they can hide and ambush prey.
    Ideally when looking for a Wrasse mark - you need the end of a very rocky cliff, that goes down steeply into deep water. The Quarry is the perfect place for this as it's the deepest fishing spot in Brixham.

    Berry Head Quarry The (Berry Head) Quarry - ideal location for Wrasse

    Tackle

    Rod

    Keep it simple here - just a rod around ~8ft with a casting weight of around 10-30g is enough.
    Not only can you use this rod for Wrasse, but for many other species via spinning; Mackerel, Bass, Pollock etc.
    This is one of my favourite rods of all time, cheap and cheerful too: https://amzn.eu/d/a3zCc1w

    Reel

    A 3000-5000 size reel is also ideal.

    Line

    In terms of line - 12-20lb line is enough. Braid (rather than mono) is highly recommended for much better bite detection.
    But don't worry about this - you can still get on fine to start with by using a cheap rod, reel and line combo.

    Rig

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