IS UPTIDING BEST IN THE SOLENT?

[povs]

Can you all give me your views on uptiding in the Solent please.
i have been out on a couple of boat trips recently and the people who are catching the most fish on the boat are uptiding,is this a must ?or do you think its luck.
all views will be gratefully received
cheers
povs

[RichardB]

Hi povs. I've used uptiding in the Solent and it is effective. What you must remember though, in many places the tide runs pretty hard at times and in Summer especially, there can be a lot of weed - which can make this difficult. In those circumstances - may be better to stick with downtiding, preferably with braid.
Others on here are much more frequent boat fishers than I at the moment, and I'm sure will give their opinions and advice.

[slippery]

uptiding works really well in the solent, top method for smoothound, rays and bass. I aim to cast at least twice the depth of water I am fishing in, I dont bother in water over 80ft deep I stick to the down tiders with the braid.

[reelbargains]

A few additional points - uptiding is great on a charter boat as it fishes equally well no matter where you are sitting on the boat (unlike downtide fishing) - it also gets your line away from the other anglers lines and those nasty tangles that eat up your fishing time.
Uptiding is particularly good for rays. I catch far more uptiding than downtiding. I don't think this is anything to do with the traditional view point of the 'scare zone' downtide of the boat, I think it is more likely that it gives the ray longer to lay over the bait and take it into their mouth - uptiding you only know about the bite when the ray takes off with the bait. I reckon when downtiding I strike far too early in the bite thinking it's a round fish and scare any rays off. If you're fishing for rays this could be a valid strategy.

[reelbargains]

In answer to your question, I don't think uptiding is specifically good in the Solent. Same applies in most areas (except rough ground). The Solent fishes particularly well for Black Bream say, and I can't think of a worse technique for Black Bream than uptiding.

[povs]

thankyou for your valid input
cheers
povs ;D

[monkeynuts]

as said above its great for cod, bass, smuts and rays in the solent. the only problem iv found with it is the weed can balls it up, i also dont bother to use uptiders in more than 60-70 foot of water as the wieght wont hold against the drag on the line
good luck and give it ago before the weed arives