How to fish your tackle
The hands-on side of the sport: tying, winding, casting, reading water and looking after what you catch. Each guide is numbered steps, what to get wrong, and how you'll know it's right.
Last reviewed 26 September 2026 · Editorial policy
Set up
The hands-on work that happens before a line enters the water.
Spool a spinning reel
Put fresh line on a spinning reel so it lies firm and even, sits at the right depth, and casts without looping.
Spool a baitcasting reel
Load a baitcasting spool evenly and to the right depth so it turns freely without burying line into the layers below.
Set your reel drag
Dial the drag in below your line's rating and prove it with a pull test, so a strong fish takes line instead of snapping it.
Build a basic rig
Assemble the five parts almost every rig uses — line, swivel, leader, weight, hook — and understand what each one is for.
Join two lines
Tie main line to a leader so the join is strong, slim, and passes through the rod guides without a hitch.
Rig a soft-plastic worm
Thread a worm so it sits straight, catches weed rather than stone, and still sets cleanly — the weedless presentation that lets you fish cover.
Rig a drop shot
Hang a bait above the weight so it drifts in open water — the rig for fish that will follow a bait but refuse one on the bottom.
Tie a hair rig
Present a bait away from the hook so a carp takes bait and hook together — the rig that changed how coarse fish are fished for bait.
Cast & land
Putting a bait where you want it, and bringing a fish back without losing either.
Cast a spinning reel
A smooth overhead cast that puts the lure where you aimed it, with the bail closed and the line under tension.
Stop backlash
Set spool tension and brake so the spool stops when the lure does, and learn the thumb that finishes the cast.
Set the hook
Turn a bite into a hooked fish with a firm sweep — enough pressure to seat the point, not enough to tear it out.
Play and land a fish
Keep the rod loaded, let the drag do the work, and bring a fish over the net without a fight or a broken line.
Use a landing net
Set the net in the water and let the fish come to it, so landing is one calm lift instead of a chase.
Work a lure
Control depth and retrieve speed — the two dials that decide whether a lure looks like food or like nothing at all.
Fish a jig
Hop it off the bottom and let it fall. A jig is fished by feel, and most of the bites happen on the drop.
Fish a crankbait
Let the bill do the work: pick the depth, pick the speed, and let the bait knock into things.
Work a topwater lure
Surface lures are fished with pauses, not speed. The strike is the most visible thing in angling — and the easiest to miss by striking too early.
Work a jerkbait
A sharp snap, a long pause, repeat. The jerkbait's action comes from what the rod does, not the reel handle.
Cast a fly
The fly line does the throwing, not the fly. A fly cast is a timed pause, and everything else follows from getting that one moment right.
Fish a method feeder
Groundbait and hookbait arrive in the same square foot every time you cast. Accuracy is the whole method.
Fish a deadbait
A deadbait works on scent and freshness, not movement — so the tackle is about holding still in one place.
Troll a lure
Cover water by moving the bait past the fish. Depth, speed and spacing are the three settings that decide whether it works.
Fish from the surf
The useful water moves with the swell. Read the beach, cast beyond the break, and keep the bait on the bottom where the fish feed.
Fish the surface
When fish are taking at the top, nothing else matters but getting a bait to sit on the surface in front of them.
Fish a bottom bait
A weighted bait resting on the bottom, reported by the rod tip — the plainest and most dependable way to catch fish holding deep.
Read the water
Deciding where and how to fish by looking at the water in front of you.
Read the water from the bank
Find the features where food, oxygen and cover meet — and skip the empty-looking water that never held a fish.
Read a river
Locate the seams, pools and lies that hold fish in moving water, and present a bait that drifts naturally.
Check water temperature
Take a reading at the depth you're actually fishing, and use the trend through the day to decide how to present.
Fish clear and coloured water
Change line, distance and presentation to match how far a fish can see you — and how much you can rely on scent and vibration.
Bait & prep
Getting bait on a hook and keeping it worth fishing with.
Care & keep
Looking after the outfit so it works next season.
Clean and store your outfit
Rinse off salt and silt, dry the guides, and store rods and reels so they still work next season.
Tell when line needs changing
Read the three signs that line is spent — a curl that won't come out, a rough feel, and lost distance — before it takes a fish with it.
Check and sharpen a hook
Test a hook against your thumbnail, revive a blunt point with a file, and retire hooks that have had too much.
Fish care
Handling fish so they're fit to fight another day.