Heres one for ya's lads............

[carver20]

:When your fishing rock marks, how long do ya's leave ya bait in the water before checking even if you aint had a bite?
Coz when your only getting about two hours either side of low water, you dont really wanna be waisting any time if you know what i mean

cheers

CARVER

[Iva-Cod-on]

Personally 15 to 20 mins so by the time you've baited your second rig to hang on the tripod not long don't know if you do the second rig thing but saves alot of time and gets you back in water quick even if a fish comes in.

[tonynufc]

same here 15-20 minutes does the trick.

[The Great Wallsendo]

15-20 as said - double patting as Ivan has said

[tonyfromalnwick]

Personally 15 to 20 mins so by the time you've baited your second rig to hang on the tripod not long don't know if you do the second rig thing but saves alot of time and gets you back in water quick even if a fish comes in.

Same here.

[eddie t]

Well if there's crabs about only 10 miuntes but if not i am with the lads on this one 15 to 20 mins.

[dave craig]

match or comp 25 max, pleasure angling sometimes up to about 40 mins if I think there are definitely fish there. Personal preference has a lot of influence on times etc.

[Stewart 1971]

Most worm and crab baits will be pretty much washed out after 15 - 20 minutes - no scent trail means far less likely to attract a fish unless it swims directly in to your bait. As above I always double pat and fish to 20 minutes so by the time I've reeled in and cast out again the bait is probably in the water 15 - 18 minutes.

[bozjc]

when fishing a comp, i tend to start off with 20mins, if i dont get anything after the first couple of chucks, i start to reduce the time to 15mins, vary the distance and directions of casts until i find fish.
i tend to have a couple of rigs pre baited to save on time ;D
every little helps.

pleasure fishing, i tend to leave it out longer as im too busy gassing lol

[mick dunn]

same here. The comps are much more intense. Much better fun pleasure fishing. Can leave out a bit longer and sit with your feet up.

[Stewart 1971]

same here. The comps are much more intense. Much better fun pleasure fishing. Can leave out a bit longer and sit with your feet up.

Fair enough Mick but if you want to catch fish then rebaiting every 20 minutes is imperative. There are a lot of tricksfrom match fishing that can be carried over to pleasure fishing that make a real difference to catch rates and therefore enjoyment - double patting is the most obvious one but there are others.

As for match fishing last match I fished on the south coast was a measure and release whiting fest and I had four baited traces on the go for one rod, the fishing was that intense and time between casts that short

[jamiebrennan]

Max 20mins, also dependent on what size and type of bait im using so sometimes less. I was fishing last winter at 4am in -8 to -10 and a windchill lashing across the fields behind so left it out for at least 30 mins cos it was too cold to get me hands owt of me pockets! Also depends on what the sea state is like i suppose

[The Great Wallsendo]

once you 've got your basic match drills weighed off the leisure sessions become all the better because they run smoother

had a mare start to the season because my admin'/prep' was all out of kilter following on from the boat season

I wouldn't have dreamt of getting on the boat not knowing what state my tackle box was in - but I did with my shore gear this year

all changed now though and all sorted

attention to detail make things run sooo much better

[doj]

good mate mine when he fishes the heavy ground marks uses crab/mussel cocktails and big baits and leaves it for up to an hour. he's had a lot of fish +45 min in the water. fish can pick up bait that is washed out and its a total myth to think fish only eat fresh bait. i saw this first hand with him getting 2 fish 6 pound and 7 pound at hartley last year on a sunday afternoon, the first fish the took a bait an hour in the water.

[parker]

first cast 20/25 mins, time it, if hook comes back clean 15/20 mins still clean 10/15 mins. alot depends on the venue and how long crabs strip bait, no bait on hook, no fish. thats my way of thinking anyway