frozen eels can be bought from any fishing shop, fresh sand eels are a bit harder to find and so I tend to use the frozen packs. Sand eels are tricky to keep on the hook as their skin is very soft and so it can be very frustrating using them as bait, however I have found them to be the number 1 bait for catching Sea Bass and well worth the trouble. To hook them open the mouth and thread the hook through the mouth and out of the gills then thread the hook through the back, finally sinking the hook into the tail section. I often use two hooks and will be trying with trebles to see if they work any better. Hook size is a long shank about 3 inches long with ridged back (Sea Bass & Dog fish have very large mouths!).
During summer these can be caught using feathers or Sand Eel and it can be fun catching these first and then using them for fishing. A good all round bait, easy to hook and stays on! I normally use half a Mackerel, either end will do, use a nice big hook as your not going for small fry and either thread it through the tail or the head dependant on which part you are using.
Watch out they bite! but make an excellent all round bait. You want to use a nice long hook and thread the hook through the worm leaving a small part of the worm to hang free so that it can wriggle in the water.
Soft shelled just after shedding their shell.) - Another good all round bait but only available at certain times of the year when the crab sheds its old shell. I tend to use a hook just bigger then the crab and hook it through the body.
Not my favourite but some people swear by it. As I am not interested in going for small fish, I use a whole baby squid and thread a large hook through the body leaving the head to flap about.
These can be bought from any fishing shop in Ilfracombe, Barnstaple or Combe Martin, I tie a small weight at the bottom of the line and have the feathers strung out above the weight. The weight is just used to give distance on the cast when fishing from the rocks or shore. They work by fooling the Mackerel into thinking that they are chasing sand eels.