Uptiding is a method of boat fishing which was developed in the early 1970’s ideally suited for the Bristol Channel due to it’s success in shallow waters. Due to the strong tides in the area a 9′6″ 6-10oz rated rod coupled with a 7000 or 7500 size multiplier loaded with either 30lb mono straight through or 18lb mono with a 60lb shockleader .
Braid is also starting to become popular but the drag setting needs to be lowered as due to it’s no stretch quality there is nothing to absorb any dives made by the fish resulting in the hook pulling free.
Weights need to be 7-10 oz grip leads, ideally the fixed wire type as they have the best hold on the sea bed due to the actual weight being behind the wires. The strength of fixed wire needs to suit the ground you are fishing over and ranges from fixed grip wires that don’t move for clean ground [Gemini Yellow's] Springy fixed wire that will pull out of the bed easily [Gemini Red] to soft wire that can be pulled free of any snags [Gemini Blue's]
Before casting it’s a good idea to hang the baited hooks on the grip wires making the cast safer, or to keep the entire cast outside of the boat which is safer still. The cast itself should be uptide from the boat at an angle of around 45 degree’s and a distance of 20-60 meters, getting the bait out of the scare area, the stronger the tide the further you’ll need to cast or if there are several of you up tiding from the same side of the boat the closer to the back you are the further out you need to cast to avoid tangles. Once the weight has hit the seabed keep on letting out line until it’s pointing roughly 45 degree’s downtide, this creates a “belly” of line that absorbs the tide, wave and boat movement allowing your weight to grip and stay on the seabed. Once the reel is in gear the rod’s tip should bend over in the tide.
There are two types of bites on an uptide rod the normal rattle of the rod tip and the more common type when uptiding which is when the fish has taken the bait and had broken the grip wire’s out causing the rod tip to straighten. In either case due to the amount of line in the water striking the bite is pointless, the fish itself has normally set the hook due to the resistance of the weight when it has tried to swim off or broken the grip wires out of the seabed , instead reel in pointing the rod tip at the line until you can feel the weight then simply lift into the fish .
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