Emerging from Winter.

Well I don't need to tell anyone in the UK what a truly bad winter it has been, in fact not only bad but plain weird!

Thunder and lightning in December and January, hurricane like winds throughout February, I've never known a winter like it, we haven't even had a hard frost!

Of course this has meant for me, no fishing, major cabin fever setting in and only a little retail therapy to keep me half way sane.

I managed to get out with young Ben Edwards Sunday last, the weather was good but landslides and the rainfall run off meant the water clarity on the North Llyn was dire, there was literally 4-6 inches of subsurface visibility, hardly great for lure fishing! 

However, it was nice to be out on the coast and also good to check out some new potential ground, there wasn't a hope of catching much without resorting to stinky bait. I must confess to wishing I had've taken some, it seems so damn long since I caught a fish its unreal!

I did manage to pluck out a couple of tiny Long Spined Sea Scorpions, but it was hardly worth the journey. In saying that though, I did have a smile on my face which Ben commented "was much bigger than the fish".

I went out today just seeing if any Bass were starting to show. There was some lovely movement in the water and some nice rip tides, but it just feels a tad too early yet. Perhaps when the tide builds a bit some schoolies at least may start to show.

At least today gave me the chance to try a few new lures, and it allowed me to try my new reel.

Shimano Complex Ci4+ 2500HGS F6

I bought it after selling the Shimano Sustain 2500FG, I have to say I was not very happy with that reel, it felt a little grindy and even though I sent it to Felindre Servicing centre to be sorted, it came back the same (apparently there was nothing wrong with it).

Anyway on first use, the Complex feels lovely and has a real feel of quality about it. The stock knob was a bit naff so I have fitted an aftermarket ZPI Anchorfin, which make things feel and look a whole lot better. She's spooled with 0.8 PE Duel X-Wire just now, I believe its a discontinued line and thats probably why I bought it so cheap.

I have made a few other new purchases, but to be honest I am not all that keen on blogging about tackle. I may do a little show and tell at some point, but I'd rather post catch reports, sadly the lack of those has meant my blog hasn't been updated for some time. I sincerely hope that changes very soon!

Til then, tight lines.