The knife is a shellfish that can be found on the beaches on the low water mark and around the bay, or at the retailer, as well as at the fishmonger. It is a bait very appreciated by the small dogfish.
If most of the fishes go back to the open sea in winter, a handful of winter species go the opposite way and get closer to the beaches with the cold. This is the case for whiting, but also for the lesser known dogfish. Here is an adapted montage!
The two long stack assembly
The assembly consists of two long stacks presenting fresh knife. I advise a fine iron hook and very sharp in order to penetrate easily in the tough mouth of the dogfish. The hook is size n°2 to 1/0 and the stack has a minimum diameter of 0.35 to 0.40 mm in order to resist the small teeth and the rough skin of the dogfish. A fish that often tends to wriggle around the line when reeling in.
- swivel
- line body : nylon 0.50 to 0.60 mm
- leader : nylon 0.35 to 0.40 mm
- round beads
- fixation : tube or bead glued to cyanolite
- glow-in-the-dark beads
- hooks with long shank, eyelet, size n° 1/0 to 3/0
- fresh knife
- swivel with staple
- grapple lead
Use of the assembly
The line is propelled at great distance. The dogfish being a fighting fish, it is necessary to block well the rods in the spikes of surfcasting. Then it is enough to bring up the lines every 30 minutes to check the baits.
The equipment to fish for dogfish in surfcasting
The rod from 4.20 to 5 m has a weight of 100 to 300 grams. The reel of size 5 000 to 20 000 (depending on the brand) is in the range of 500 to 900 grams and contains at least 200 meters of fine nylon in 0.28 to 0.40 mm. Before the assembly, we use a thick nylon (called "ripped") of the length of the rod in 0.50 to 0.60 mm in order to be able to make strong casts.
A tip for successful surfcasting
If you are fishing with several rods, the knife can be replaced by a strip of mackerel. Both of these baits become firmer and have a better hold on the hook when salted. This is a good way to increase results when targeting small dogfish.
