The right choice of angling equipment depends on your target species and your favourite angling technique. If cod or flatfish like flounder, dab and plaice are your target species and you want to try your luck directly from the coast, surfcasting might be your choice. For this fishing method you need a rod holder, a surfcasting reel and a very long (3.60–4.90 m) and resilient fishing rod to get your surfcasting rig with a heavy sinker (about 10–250 g) far out into the Baltic Sea. As bait, usually natural baits like lugworms or fish scraps are used. Always keep an eye on your rods to recognise bites of smaller fish. At night, a small light stick on the rod tip can help you to recognise those bites early. If you want to use lighter equipment but still natural bait, you can search for a spot on one of the piers or sea-bridges around the coastline (be aware that additional regulations for angling in those areas might exist). Here you can use the same rigs with a lighter sinker and a lighter rod (50–100 g casting weight) for ground fishing, or use a float to hold your bait higher in the water column. In spring, fishing from piers and sea-bridges can be very promising to catch garfish and herring (with a herring trace).
A more active way of angling is spin or fly fishing with artificial baits. If you don’t want to depend on piers or sea-bridges, just put on your waders to fish along the coastline. Since some species migrate quite close to the coast, always start casting on the beach before you enter the water. Additionally, for these fishing methods it is often a good idea to wear polarised glasses. As for most angling techniques, it is also advisable to have a landing net made of fish-friendly material like rubber or other knotless netting with you.
For spin fishing you can use a 2.70–3.10 m long rod with a casting weight about 10–40 g and a spinning reel filled with 0.14–0.18 mm braided line. The variety of artificial bait for spin fishing is wide. Wobbler, spoons, spinners and soft lures are available in nearly all sizes, colours and shapes. When choosing from those options, take into account things like your target species, the spot, possible prey, the season, the weather conditions and the turbidity of the water. For sea trout, slim green-brown spoons, looking like sand eel, or black-red ones up to 25 g are often successful. For cod, it’s always a good idea to have soft lures with you. When fishing from the coast, jig heads between 14 and 24 g are a good choice, depending on the depth of the water and the current. If you are fishing in the coastal lagoons and pikeperch is the target species, alternate between natural and striking colours for your baits. Because of remarkable pike populations, it is recommended to use a thick hard mono or a steel leader at the end of the line for fishing in the brackish lagoons around the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. A shorter rod (up to 2.70 m) is the right choice for spin fishing from a boat.
For coastal fly fishing, a #6/7 fly rod, a floating, intermediate or sinking WF fly line, 100 m backing and a 1.5 m long leader with a 0.30 mm fluorocarbon point make a good choice. Along the German Baltic coastline, fly fishers generally use all kind of shrimp, sand eel and borsteorm patterns. Some of the most popular flies are the Pattegrisen, the Tobisen and the Polar Magnus as well as Fyggi and Brenda. If you like it even more active, spin and fly fishing with an angling kayak or a float tube are really great ways to fish in a larger area and farther off the coast.
Concerning coastal fishing from small boats, there are two possibilities: fishing at one spot or trolling. If you drop an anchor or drift anchor, often pilking is a good method to catch great cod (with pilkers between 30 and 100 g, often in a combined rig with a twister). But of course, you can also use other baits to fish for sea trout, flatfish and – according to the season – herring, garfish or even mackerel. Trolling is especially recommended if cod or salmonids are your target species. You need to be aware of special rules and regulations concerning trolling within coastal waters. Read more about the rules and regulations here.
