Autumn Silvery Seas.

As much as I would have summer stick around a lot longer, Autumn is a special time of year. There are many species now close to shore, many of which I have never caught, there are also larger fish about.

I love the light and colour of the sea this time of year, it always looks kind of silvery  and somewhat secretive.

Now as much as I think I really should be trying to beat my personal best Bass, I can't help being attracted, or distracted by the multiple species available and just the sheer fun of fishing lures on ultralight tackle.

My wife has also been quite ill lately and the attraction of just catching quite easily when I do manage to get out is quite appealing.

I have to say though, the fishing hasn't been quite as easy as last year on my local patch. I cannot seem to catch the Turbot as readily as this time last year and I am finding that most peculiar!

Mackerel and Lesser Weever seem to be around in greater numbers though and I have been finding short flurries of Mackerel turning up along the shore line, the odd Weever mixed in too. 

With the sea temperature still being quite high they are still also readily taking jigs.

6g Apia Seiryu jig with the assist tipped with isome.

This Weever was 16cm and a PB

Today I have been out again after managing to free up a couple of hours and caught four species including one I have neglected to target this year until now.

More Mackerel caught on the Apia Seiryu Jig, this time un-tipped;

Bass on Marukyu Power Isome rigged on a 2.5g Decoy Delta Magic Jig head.

The Bass actually fought like a brute despite being only 43cm, they are so much fun on light game gear!

A new PB Lesser Weever on the above method;

I also caught a Flounder on Marukyu Isome. Although looking at some of the other pictures I have, it is quite possible its a hybrid because it had plaice like characteristics, such as; a clear herringbone underside and a pronounced boney part behind the "top" eye. Either way I'm still happy!

I still hope to get another couple of species before the year is out and I may try to get out again tomorrow. I haven't decided on the style of fishing, but I'll hopefully bring another report.

Tight lines.

Swanage Pier, Day 2

After a pretty decent nights sleep in Rivendell Hotel, Swanage, Scott and I headed down to the beach around 7ish. Scott wanted to see if he could tempt some curious looking fish that we spotted the night before. I think it was the fact it was dark that made the difference though as there was not much biting, I managed a tiny Pollock but that was it.

With that, we headed to the pier for a mini species foray again. The fishing was a little slower than the Tuesday and I started off fishing like a nob again, losing my first fish as it reefed me. To be fair I was fishing ultra light and I am pretty sure what I hooked was a large Ballan. I started off fishing on the drop too see if I could tempt the specie that I lost the day before, but soon gave in and targeted the mini's once more.

Corkwing and Pouting were ten to the penny and provided a good deal of fun. Scott was of course catching tons of fish and his bait rigs often yielded double hook ups, in fact at one point when I got busted up, Scott caught six fish in the time it took me to tie a new leader and rig! There really are just so many fish around that structure and I am just not quite used to that kind of fishing, well except from  when I used to coarse fish in my youth. I guess that is what it reminded me of, it was just rocking up for some chilled out fishing with plenty caught, proper nice!

We added a few more species to the mix too, I think being a sunnier day bought a few more out to play.

Scott caught the only Goldsinny Wrasse.

The Goldsinny is another specie that continues to elude me, I really love Wrasse and I want to catch them all!

I caught my first ever Dragonet with the Angleworm rigged on a 1.8 gram Decoy Rocket Plus Jig head #10 hook.

Beautifully posed by Scott.

Scott also caught some Dragonet and his first one spiked him in the finger, he made a bit of a song and dance about it and to be fair I did feel bad for telling him to man up while he was bleeding to death. The word of that day was "anti coagulant" I think ;-) 

The Dragonets were quite strange in the respect that I hadn't caught one before despite fishing places where they frequent, yet once I had caught that first one, I caught a few more. Here's another;

Long Spined Sea Scorpions were caught both by myself;

and Scott;

Scott had a number of Ballan Wrasse over the couple of days, sadly I only caught one, good job it was a monster.

Scott also added a Bass to his 2013 species tally.

Proper Bass angler pose!

Although a slower day than the day before, we still had countless fish and just reflecting on it makes me want to go back!

Before we headed home, we popped over to Weymouth for an hour or so to see if I could get that Goldsinney I so desperately wanted. The fishing in Weymouth was also unreal and I kid you not, we must have caught 30-40 outing each in the very short time we here there. In the Mix were also Pollock, Whiting, Black Goby, Ballan Wrasse and Tompot Blennies. The only thing is, I am still after a Goldsinny Wrasse!

My first ever lure caught Whiting.

Scott loves his Gobies and this Black Goby brings a beaming smile.

Pouting aren't a bad looking fish!

An unexpected Ballan Wrasse.

After a KFC we reluctantly headed off for the long journey back to my house. Scotts insane driving got us back in an impressive time ready for a celebratory Doom Bar.

I can't thank Scott enough for both taking me on one of his fishing adventures and putting me on to a ton of fish, some of which were firsts for me. It was a good laugh and a very memorable time, cheers Scott.

Oh and when Scott got home, I thought I had better inquire as to how his finger was after it was savagely attacked by that Dragonet and he graciously assured me" it's fine".

Thanks for reading and tight lines.

Swanage Pier Day 1.

Scott has been to Swanage Pier a number of times in the past and I have been curious of his antics there. A short while ago, Scott commented on how I should go and I replied "perhaps I shall join you on one of your adventures." Literally a couple of days after that conversation Scott text me to ask if I could get a couple of days off of work to go down and to cut a long story short, I managed to negotiate the time off of work and we headed down to Swanage on Monday the 16th Sept, with the view to fish the Tuesday and Wednesday. We knew from the off that we were going to be predominantly targeting Mini species, this I was keen to do as there are a few species I have been wanting to catch for a while and they have consistently eluded me. There was also one particularly interesting specie at Swanage which was a must have for me; The Baillon's Wrasse. I was quite prepared to use bait if it meant catching one.

Full of anticipation, myself and Scott rocked up at the pier ready for opening at 8:00am, we paid our dues and fished the lower decks. From the off I was using a dropshot rig with Berkley Gulp Angleworms for a lure, these things are just excellent for targeting mini's!

Scott was using scaled down bait rigs on ultra light gear and was catching straight away, it took me a minute to get in on the action, but I was soon catching consistently along with Scott.

My first fish was a Pouting, it was also the first one I have caught this year so quite welcome.

The fish came thick and fast and I couldn't believe the amount of Corkwing Wrasse present!

Scott was out fishing me with his baited rigs but it really didn't matter, we were both catching a lot of fish and having a lot of fun, heres a couple of Scotts Corkwing;

Wading through the multitudes of Pouting and Corkwing Wrasse, I eventually landed my hoped for fish, again to a Berkley Gulp Angleworm.

My first ever Baillon's Wrasse!

I was pretty stoked to catch a Baillon's Wrasse, they aren't common at all in UK waters, albeit there are plenty to be caught at Swanage!

After some time catching Mini's on the inner pier I decided to have a go fishing on the drop on the outer pier, to see what was about, I was using a Yoshikawa Paddletail rigged on a Decoy Delta Magic jig head.

It was quite fun and I caught a succession of Pollock to around the 1 pound mark probably. 

No photo's of the larger ones :/

I did at one stage hook a fish that I didn't recognise and it took my lure close to the surface, I have to admit I was being a fanny and lost it! I think It may have been a Scad and I was a bit gutted, I have never caught one before. I'll never know exactly what it was though and I just have to put it down to one of those things.

After a while trying for another I rejoined Scott on the inner pier and rigged up my dropshot again. The place just fishes non stop and I can't get over how easy the anglers down south have it, you just can't go wrong! We were catching just tons of fish and it was as I said to Scott "I can't believe neither of us have had a Tompot yet" that I bought one to the surface! Again this is a first for me and I am always pleased with new species and the chance to get a monkey off of my back.

Possibly one of the coolest looking mini species?

Scott swung in a Tompot too at one point and seemed to lose it somewhere.

We were getting quite alot of attention from the anglers fishing the upper pier at one point and they told us that they had only had a single Mackerel and a Garfish to their names. Upon realising there were Gar about, Scotts species hunting brain kicked in and we headed off to the shops for some shirvy ingredients, Scott has yet to catch a Garfish. Scott set up a float rig and baited the swim with his concoction and a Garfish approached, the mental thing was it didn't take Scotts bait. However Scott did catch a succession of Pollock, this one being the largest;

I was pretty surprised to see how the garfish was behaving, it was just milling around and casually eating bits of the shirvy. Every time I have encountered them on my local marks, they have been feeding quite aggressively on baitfish and in shoals.

The afternoon got pretty wet and windy, the conditions saw us taking shelter on the inner pier again.

The weather didn't bother the fish one bit though and we continued catching.

More Baillon's for me

Among a myriad of other things, a Rock Goby for Scott.

With the weather worsening we decided to go and check in at our hotel and then get some grub. Originally we had planned to go to Weymouth that night but with the forecast saying it was to be dire, we knocked that on the head. However, after dinner we soon realised that the weather was not to bad at all so we headed along the front at Swanage to see what was about. I actually had a pretty crap time of it as I kept getting wind knots in my Sunline small game. Scott on the other hand pulled out a few fish using a reins Palpuntin jig, the first being a bit of a shocker.

A Sand Smelt, hooked fair and square! I never realised they would take a metal.

Later n Scott also caught two Turbot with his jig, which pleased him no end and I too was pleased for him as I know how hard he has tried in the past for them on lure.

Well, that was a pleasant way to end a very fishy day! 

I must admit I did fish like a fanny at certain times during that day and I lost a specie I have never seen before, I also got smashed up a few times by fish running under the pier, but you live and learn (I hope).

Top Water Bassing

With some nice tides on the cards today, but with only a couple of hours spare I decided to fish a high tide mark. The mark itself is shallow and rough. You can really only fish it for a couple of hours, after that the ground just becomes too snaggy and difficult.

On arrival I clipped on my Heddon Super Spook Jnr in Chartreuse and cast out. Tap, pause, tap tap, pause on the retrieve. I was about three casts in and the lure was nearly at my feet, when my lure was engulfed with an almighty splash, it was like someone just threw a boulder in the water. It took me totally by surprise and my heart raced.

The fish made a straight beeline for this rock;

I tried to pull it away knowing this was the fish I had been looking for like all year, yet under it went and like that my braid was severed on the submerged barnacles! Adrenaline turned to bewilderment and then a sickness in my stomach that I cannot even describe, I had lost a cracking fish and left my one and only Heddon lure in its mouth, I was totally gutted!

With a sullied feeling and shaky hands I tied another leader and clipped on my Zipbaits Fakie Dog. I worked the lure in a similar fashion to the way I was working the Super Spook Jnr and before long I had a take and a feisty fish of around 3lb was landed.

I was getting lots of boils and a couple of them sizeable, but as the tide receded I knew I had lost my only chance of a decent fish, I did manage a couple more schoolies.

My walk home was filled with mixed feelings; relief that I didn't blank, disappointment on losing the biggest lunker I've ever hooked and guilt for leaving a fish swimming with a lure attached. I had thoughts of "what could I have done differently", "did I do something wrong" etc. I think I just have to put it down as one of those things and continue searching for my girl.

Yet I do know this; it makes it difficult to feel content with saying "all my fish were released".

Tight lines all!

Chilling on the Llyn Peninsula.

With the very small tides this weekend I just could not be bothered fishing for Bass, they are about but they are few and far between in this area. To be honest I've had a challenging run with the Bass of late and couldn't be bothered anyway. Perhaps when all the holiday makers and pleasure craft owners go home, things will pick up again.

I therefore decided to head up the peninsula today, I originally wanted to fish the deep water at the very end, but the wind and swell prevented me.

I opted for the shelter of a nice little spit on he North for some light rock antics, I wanted nothing too serious, just some fun.

Arriving on an ebbing tide things were hard going to be honest, I saw some mini species swimming around a stone breakwater and realised I had left my small hooks at home. Rummaging around my gear I did find one and rigged a dropshot rig with a piece of Gulp! Sandworm as a lure/bait.

I had a short succession of tiny Pollock.

They are a bit boring to be fair and it would have been nice to get some small Wrasse species or something,  I guess you just have to catch whats there.

I decided on a short move and on my way I found a critter basking on the path, I do like finding beasties on my jaunts!

Climbing on to an outcrop I changed my lure to an ima Trilobite rigged on a weedless jighead and fished "on the drop".  The occasional Pollock was landed.

I then tried some Yoshikawa Paddle-tails  I bought off of eBay for 99p, I wasn't expecting much, but they are excellent! Fishing OTD again, I had plenty of little Pollock.

As the tide turned I caught a Ballan Wrasse on one too. Wrasse are quite possibly my favourite species, full of character and colour !

A shoal of Mackerel fry swam into the cove I was fishing in and they were getting smashed by the Pollock. Mackerel fry are just amazing to look at and they have a really superb colouration.

These Mackerel fry were darting about, trying to escape the feisty Pollock that had them corralled in the cove. I matched the fry as near as I could with a Tict dart jighead and the smallest ima Trilobites. Twitching the lure to make it dart near the surface three or four times before letting it fall proved absolutely deadly and I was getting near a Pollock per cast!

I picked up another Wrasse on the same technique too.

I finished my session with a few more Pollock and a few Blennies whilst on the way back to the car. Catching Blennies is just sheer childish fun yet strangely addictive, I have Scott to blame for this!

The session turned out just the way I wanted it to; fun and fish filled!

Till next time, tight lines.