One further problem is discovering the actual bite time, this may only last thirty minutes, and more importantly, what triggers it?

I have tide times I like to fish, usually two hours before and two hours after the high. I have no idea why that should be so, perhaps it's because I usually catch fish at those times. Just recently we had a really nice day and it was impossible to ignore the desire to go fishing. I checked the tides, they were all wrong, but decided to go anyhow. The result was plenty of action and a mixed bag of assorted odds and ends. By any standard a really enjoyable session.

A trout angler will often carry a long marrow spoon to examine the stomach of a trout to see what it has been feeding on. Just recently, when I have cleaned a fish on the beach, I have been surprised at the high number of tiny fish in the gut cavity. I cannot name the specie of small fish but accept they were the likely cause the bite time.

I honestly believe the most prominent foods on a fish menu is likely to be shellfish and small crabs. I am so pleased with this new method of opening and presenting mussels as bait, I will always be carrying a few with me in future. Will this help? I don't know but there is only one way of finding out, mussels are present in reasonable numbers on the rocks near where I fish.