Sea

Fishing from the shore or close inshore is about structure and tide. Along a rocky coast, fish hold where the rocks break the current and where the bottom changes from stone to sand; sea bream, wrasse and bass move along these edges with the tide. Harbour walls, jetties and breakwaters are the best structure of all, with deep water within reach and fish sheltering among the blocks. On sandy beaches the fish follow the gutters and sandbanks: a darker line of water or a break in the surf marks a channel. Estuary mouths bring food and hold predators, and river-fed lagoons hold mullet and eels. Low light is the key: dawn, dusk and the change of tide are when most inshore fish feed.

Ledgering from rocks, walls and beaches with a grip lead and a paternoster or clipped rig covers most bottom fish — bream, flatfish, rays and cod, depending on the coast. Float fishing along walls and rocks, drifting a bait past the structure, takes garfish, bream and mackerel. Spinning is the most exciting method: casting metal jigs, soft plastics and plugs for bass, sea trout, mackerel and barracuda at dawn. Fly fishing on shallow flats and estuary edges works for sea trout and bass. Light jigging from a boat over reefs is the general inshore method.

Spring brings fish inshore as the water warms, with flatfish, sea trout and garfish arriving first. Summer is busiest with mackerel, bream, mullet and bass close to the shore; fish at dawn before the beaches fill. Autumn is the best season of all as the water cools and predators feed hard before winter. In winter cod and whiting move inshore on northern coasts, and rocky, sheltered spots stay fishable elsewhere.

Fish the two hours either side of high tide from a spot that has deep water at your feet — the tide brings the fish to the structure, not the other way round.