Herring species guide • Sea fish • Very easy (3/10)

Herring junior fishing guide

Clupea harengus

A clear, plain-English guide to herring for parents, coaches and juniors. See where they live, the best starter tackle, simple bait choices and a three-step plan to help young anglers catch their first one safely.

🎣 View starter tackle setups 📋 Log a Herring catch
Junior-first & welfare-aware • 3-step beginner plan • UK venues & seasons
Skill & size • Seasons • Beginner baits

Skill level

Very easy (3/10)

Perfect for first-ever fishing trips with young juniors.

Best time

Spring–Autumn

Pick mild, settled days for junior sessions.

Typical size

8–14 inches common.

Always match hooks, nets & lines to expected fish size.

🐟

Beginner baits

Maggots, worms, bread

Keep it simple — small hook baits, little-and-often feeding.

Typical venues: Deeper inshore waters, estuary mouths and offshore banks.
Scroll down for detailed tackle setups, methods and parent-friendly guidance.
Catch your first herring with confidence

Catch your first Herring in 3 steps

A simple, repeatable plan juniors can follow with help from a parent, coach or older angler.

  1. Step 1

    Highlight as classic shoal fish

    Herring shoals are mostly targeted by boats and commercial fisheries. Juniors will more often learn about them from shore or educational material.

  2. Step 2

    Use as demonstration for pelagic rigs

    Show how feather rigs and simple jigging methods work for shoal species, even if you are targeting mackerel or Scad instead.

  3. Step 3

    Discuss sustainability and quotas

    Use Herring to talk about fishery management, quotas and why some stocks need careful monitoring.

Tackle setups that work

Designed with juniors and fish welfare in mind. Start with an IDEAL or GOOD setup for easier casting and safe unhooking.

👉 Swipe sideways to view different setups.

Spinning Rod

Beginner tip: Perfect for mackerel and mullet sessions. Let the lure sink for a few seconds, then retrieve steadily. Always fish with an adult from piers and rocks and never stand too close to the edge.

IDEAL

Rod: 8–9 ft spinning rod rated 10–30 g.

Reel: 3000–4000 size fixed spool reel.

Line: 8–12 lb mono or 15–20 lb braid with 10–12 lb fluorocarbon leader.

Terminal tackle

  • ["Small metal lures or spinners"
  • "Feather / sabiki rigs for shoals"
  • "Slim float rig with size 4–8 hook and a small strip of fish or sandeel"]

Extras

  • ["Polarised glasses"
  • "Long-handled landing net"
  • "Barbless or de-barbed hooks"
  • "Fish-safe unhooking mat or wet towel for piers"]

Light spinning or float setup for midwater and surface-feeding sea fish.

About the Herring

Herring are classic silver shoal fish that move in vast schools. They are an important prey and commercial species around the UK.

Junior tip

Use Herring as a teaching example of food chains and commercial fishing. Where legal and safe, small feather rigs can catch them from piers.

Logged a Herring recently?

Add a catch report so juniors can see where they’re being caught, which baits work and how your tackle was set up.

Submit a catch report

Want to discover more species? Browse the full species guide.

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