Small but beautiful!

Fishing has been slow and infrequent this year due to the truly awful weather conditions. If you, like me seem to have your days off from work  when the worst of the weather hits, then you will understand the frustration.

Well yesterday was my day off and after three days of sunshine I looked at the weather report, the forecast was not good. High SW winds and rain, I was fuming, sod it I thought I am going anyway! I decided to head up to Porth Oer on the Lleyn Peninsula with the lrf gear and my good wife agreed to drop me off up there. The day started very grey but the winds were certainly not as expected and mid afternoon the sun was shining, it wasn't bad at all.

I arrived at my mark and tackled up my Major Craft Solpara with a 0.9g Cultiva Mebaru shot and piece of Power Isome on the business end. I flicked the lure into a gully and allowed to fall, I took in a little line so get the lure just off the bottom and just allowed it to wash about in the current. It was not long at all until I got a good take and landed my first Pollock of the day.

I had another flick and allowed the lure to fall over a rock ledge slightly to my left and had another good take, however the fish slipped the hook, in fact the fish had bent the hook right out! Not good.

I knew by the take it was a Wrasse and therefore tied on a Decoy Rocket Plus head and rigged an ima Trilobite, these lures have caught me a lot of fish this year and I would highly recommend them.

Dropping my lure over the ledge it was not long before I had my first Wrasse of the day, shortly followed by a second.

A close up shot of the first Wrasse.

The Wrasse were not as big as I had hoped for, but welcome all the same and feisty for their size.

I moved along the coast to the west, trying different ledges and gullies along the way and picked up a lot of small Pollock mostly taking the lures on the drop. I did not take pictures of a lot of these as my memory card would have been full of small Pollock, however here is one;

At various marks I did a little rock pool fishing also, hoping for some new species. Although I did not get any new species for the tally, I had fun with the Blennies.

I returned to near my starting point and fished off a small island that becomes accessible at low water, returning also to the Wrasse techniques. As I listened to the distant thunder, I caught another two small Ballans;

Shortly after the heavens opened and it poured down and sadly I noticed the tip on my Solpara had been damaged, which ended my lrf'ing and my catching. I fished for another hour and a half with my heavier Megabass setup, along with some larger lures, but despite one missed take I had no more action. I am miffed my Solpara is out of action, but all in all it was a good days fishing.

The Lleyn peninsula is a stunning place with a stunning array of wildlife, the walking was almost as good as the fishing. I watched Gannets diving, saw Butterflies of all different shades and sizes, the headland was full of different grasses and wild plants, holding a variety of bugs that would excite my youngest daughter no end. Its not uncommon to see the seals close in here and occasionally the odd Basking Shark, but the lrf'ing is so fun and stimulating, I love the place and highly recommend it.