The octopus has eight tentacles all the same length. A quick way to separate prawns from shrimps is to check the outer antennae. On the prawns the antennae will be about one and a half times the length of the body. The antennae on the shrimps is only as long as the body, or less. By Mike Thrussell Cockles are one of our most underrated baits like mussel, and are good used individually, in bunches, or as a tippet with lug, mackerel and white rag.
Most people recognize the mackerel from the fishmonger's slab.
A sleek, slender bodied fish with an average weight between 6 and 10ozs, but growing to over 6lbs. The shell is a rounded oval shape and varies in colour depending on the type of ground the clam is living in. The first four varieties are all common right around the British Isles and Northern Europe as far as Iceland. The Shore Crab is the commonest variety of crab found around the UK shoreline. The shell is wide at the front with a series of bony serration's along the forward edge.