HTO Mini Shads

Lately, I still haven't been getting out as often as I'd like, hopefully as soon as I've gotten through all the decorating I have to do I shall be able to put the hours in again.

Still its nice to get out on the shore when I can and it makes every fish a little more special just now.

I was to trying to target Turbot the other night and did hook one, yet I lost it at my feet! I was fuming to be fair and despite my best efforts I couldn't get another, for the Weevers were rather liking my Mini Shads.

I literally had tons of the things that evening and a couple of near misses with this venomous fins and Gill plates, I think its high time I bought a mini lip grip!

I managed a couple of hours out today, which was very pleasing. I fished one of my favourite estuary marks and it was a beautiful sunny day with a SW blowing and even though the tides are small there were still plenty of fish about. However, the strange thing was; they were proving bloody hard to catch!

I eventually got one on an Ayu HTO Mini Shad rigged on a 1.5g AquaWave Lockhead, which pleased me no end. Guessing the weight I would say about 3.5lb.

It totally does me in when you can see fish like that yet can't get them to take! I guess it may have been conditions or they may have been transfixed on other food.

Any ways, it was still nice to catch and she felt lovely on my Breaden too.

Tight lines

Fishing with friends.

I've had a little bit of free time lately and as a result I have been able to catch up with some friends, which has been a huge positive.

We've had some pretty good fishing, sunshine and some laughs too. 

Thursday night I was out with Ben and his mate Ed; I've never met Ed but he seems a thoroughly nice chap and clearly a passionate angler. We were fishing a new mark and Ed led the way kicking off with two feisty Bass while myself and Ben were blanking. A little later I dropped a small fish and thought I'd blown it when  literally just before we left, I managed to save the dreaded blank by tempting a Schoolie to take my 5" Skid Stik in Holo Yellow. Nice!

At the time the fish took, I actually had a small audience consisting of a father and his two children. They got incredibly excited to see the fish, which was quite funny and the young girl snapped my picture for me. I gave them a small education on Bass as a predator , they seemed to really like the fact I cut my thumb on the gill raker!

Friday morning I had planned to meet my good friend Ross Johnson as he is over on a holiday from his work in Alderney Angling. Ross also bought his friend Rich along too and we headed up the peninsula.

The fishing started slowly so we made a little move and things kicked off for Ross and Rich as they started catching Wrasse and Pollock, yet I was still to get off the mark. At first I employed the same tactics as the guys without any joy and decided to stick a jig on which worked a treat!

Off the mark!

From that point on we were all getting some pretty good and constant action with fish averaging around the two to two and a half pound mark. I wish I had pictures of the guys as Ross pulled out some Wrasse with some stunning colours and Rich was bagging up on Pollock, Wrasse and Coalies.

Unfortunately you are just going to have to put up with pictures of my fish.

40g "Bad Ass Bob"

My first Coalie in maybe 20 years!

30g Tacklehouse Nebura Deka

4" Ecogear Paramax

40g Tronixpro jig

I lost all my jigs during the action, I got absolutely owned by a really big fish which took me completely by surprise and lodged itself under a deep ledge. Admittedly I am not very experienced with really big Pollock and I was totally overwhelmed, the thing pulled so hard I nearly lost my footing on the rock I was standing on, its something I will never forget and I was gutted to lose it.

I lost another fish this was and another to a really dodgy clip made by Flashmer;

Shit clips!

I'll be throwing the rest of those in the bin for sure! I did also lose another fish and jig due to a bad knot, I have no one else to blame for that except myself!

After losing my Jigs, I changed to a deep spinning carolina type setup and after a little experimenting I found that a rig consisting of; an initial 25lb leader with a 28g drilled bullet weight, a bead, then tied to a swivel. After that; a 2 foot 15lb trace and a 4" orange curl tail at the business end, this put me back in the action along with the boys.

That rig actually landed me the biggest fish of the trip which I was very pleased about! It still didn't even begin to compare with the one I lost, but a nice fish none the less.

4lb 12oz

It was an intensely enjoyable session, but the day wasn't quite finished.

Ross wanted to come down my end to catch some Weever on lures and have a bash at the Turbot, so we headed back and fished with light game gear. Ross out fished me on my own mark and the jammy bugger got a Flounder on his first cast with a Daiwa prisoner jig, literally just as I said to him "I've never had a flattie on a jig"!

We both caught a few weever but failed to land any Turbot, we couldn't really grumble after such an epic day though!

We actually reminisced a bit throughout the day and I felt genuinely privileged to have made such good friends through this awesome sport. I hope that myself, Ross and Scott can get together at some point, we've had some great times in the past. 

Well thats for the future and who know what that'll bring?

Thanks for reading and tight lines all!

Gear I used;

Rods 

Apia Foojin' AD Flow Hunt 89ML 

Sakura Mazzera 742MH

Breaden GRF85- TR85 "PE Secial" Houri-island

Reels  

Shimano Rarenium 4000

'13 Shimano Complex 2500HGS F6

Braids  

Sufix 832 20lb

0.4PE Gosen 240

Fluorocarbons

25lb Sakuma Fluorocarbon

15.4lb Seaguar Hard Ace

0.198mm Toray Premium Protype

Lures  

Fishin' Magician Skid Stick

Tronixpro casting lures

Madfish "Bad Ass Bob" 

Tacklehouse Nebura Deka

Ecogear Paramax

Berkley Gulp Fish Fry

End Tackle

Decoy Rockfish hooks, Home made assists, Decoy Delte Magic SV51 Jigheads

The End is Nigh

Waking up was difficult this morning, the cold air making it a struggle to get out from my warm duvet, signalling winter has arrived.

Upon leaving the house for work, the foothills near my house had a good dusting of snow on the tops, both the Snowdon range and the Rhinogs had the beginnings of a decent covering.

The trouble with this is; the foothills thaw quickly during the day and leak icy water into the estuary systems either side of where I live, this is likely to signal the end of the Bass season for me.

In all fairness things have been getting slow over the first half of November, where before I was catching multiple fish per session, the catches have gone down to sometimes just one fish.

I can't say I am not slightly disappointed, I set out this year wanting to both improve my catch rate on lures and to beat my personal best Bass, the former I have accomplished but the later is not so. That being said I have enjoyed my fishing for the most part this year and managed to catch with reasonable consistency.

In fact until now this is the first time I have continued to catch Bass on lures into November, that in itself is a personal accomplishment and a good reminder that as yet, I am still a relative beginner to Bass fishing with lures!

Admittedly I have been disappointed and a little bit discouraged with the size of the fish I have caught, especially as this time of year is known for the time of monster Bass, but I am learning and that is good!

Here are some photos of some November catches;

All my fish through November have been caught on the 125mm Savage Gear Sandeel and this lure is starting to grow on me a little better.

Sunday last, I fished a mark that has been fairly consistent for me this year, but yet again it threw up just one fish. About three hours before low tide I got a decent take and at first I genuinely thought "This is the fish I have been hoping for". The fish took line against a fairly tight drag, but it was only a few seconds before I realised it was not quite the fish I had been after. Still it was certainly a better size to that which I have become accustomed to this last while and she certainly cheered me up some.

61cm and a spirited fighter;

She put a properly nice bend in my Apia rod and its actually the first nice fish I have caught using it. Anyway, after taking the measurement I released her back to catch another day.

I shall be out again on Thursday and I do hope this is not my last report of 2013, but one thing is for sure - the end of 2013's Bass season is nigh!

Tight lines.

A Break in the Rough.

The weather has been atrocious lately has it not?! Rain pouring down the estuaries and high winds mean my local shore is wild to say the least. I have gotten out twice lately and after blanking the first time I fully expected the same today. 

The shore was strewn with large amounts of rotting weed, some of the deposits were of bail like proportions. The sea was rough and very coloured from both churned up sand and loose weed. I honestly did not expect anything, yet the wind had dropped and the sun did come out to play, so off I went on one of my long walkabouts.

I fished the last four hours of ebb and it was bloody hard going, I was genuinely surprised when I saw a small Bass following my Savage Gear Sandeel at one point, however it raised my hopes of beating the dreaded blank. After a few knocks I eventually got a take after managing to hit a tide rip with my cast, nice!

Believe it or not that is actually the first Bass I have ever landed on a Savage gear Sandeel! I truthfully am not the biggest fan of them. I do not find they suit my fishing; I find the eye on the head is too far back and it often causes the nose to dig into the sand when you pull into it for bouncing over shallow terrain. I also find I have to crank quite fast to keep the things off the bottom, so they rarely see much water time when I have them.

Anyways, I can't complain today as it saved me a blank.

The fishing didn't exactly switch on though and it remained slow. I changed to a 120mm Fiiish Black Minnow and fished a sink and draw type retrieve and caught two more schoolies.

I lost another fish shortly after hooking these two, that was a bit of a bugger, but there was no major size to it, so I wasn't too bothered.

As the sun dropped a very stiff South Easterly blew up and killed my chances of any more fish.

So I am not going to make a specimen hunter any time soon it would seem, yet I was genuinely pleased to have caught anything given the conditions.

I made my arduous journey back home being sandblasted in the process, on reflection it was a nice way to spend a few hours on my day off work.

Still searching.....

Today was a day of mixed blessings I guess you could say. On checking the weather forecast during the week things were not looking great for today, Met office had predicted strong winds and rain arriving midday. I was determined to get out anyway and if I had to battle harsh conditions then so be it.

Met office was characteristically wrong again, yet thankfully this time it worked in my favour. The strong winds had dropped off and although the sea state was rough, it was a cracking day.

I didn't fish the shore though, I had decided to try my new Apia rod on an estuary mark, fishing the last three hours of the ebb. 

Previously I had used the rod with my Shimano Sustain reel, yet today I paired it with my larger Shimano Rarenium 4000 and it actually feels better all round.

Now being that time of year I had gone out planning to catch a lunker, yet prepared to blank. I have not really caught a Bass of note in a couple of years and the constant stream of school Bass is wearing thin.

I fished the water from top down, starting with a Xorus Patchinko and going through a range of lures until I got to my Fiiish Black Minnows. Drifting the lure in the current and then a sink and draw type retrieve, the Black minnows did the business.

The first was a chubby 45cm schoolie and the first fish to be caught on my new rod.

OK, well it wasn't my big girl but it beats a blank.

A couple of casts later resulted in a leaner fish of around the same length.

Things went quiet for a little and a couple of other anglers turned up to fish not so far away, I was actually disappointed because I rarely ever see other anglers at this mark and I rather like solitude. They were no bother though and didn't stick around too long.

Whilst they were there I did catch another greedy little fish.

The fishing remained tough going, I did get the occasional knock but it was maybe half an hour before low water that I got my last fish. It was quite strange actually, the first bite came as the lure was falling from the cast, but it failed to hookup. I left the lure to drift a little, bouncing the sea bed as it went, when all of a sudden my Fiiish Black Minnow started swimming up current!

I set the hook and realised it was a slightly better fish than its predecessors. It actually put up a half decent fight, managing to take a small amount of line even with my drag set for a lunker.

She measured in at 55cm

Well my search for a big fish is still on and I was a tad disappointed not to find one again, but it was nice to get out and catch a few. It was also nice to break in the rod a little and gain a better understanding of how it performs, its starting to grow on me now.

Still time for a decent fish mind and I yet remain hopeful.

Tight lines.

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.