March

I was quite positive about the fishing potential during March for this year, given how well we did in February. With reports of rays few and far between we set our sights on other targets for the month and here's how it went.

Newborough to Llanbadrig

Back and the beginning of March a decent spell of weather stirred hope that sea temperatures were on the increase, and bass might start running the beaches of Anglesey in numbers. With a big tide uncovering a lot of ground and a bit of surf forecast myself and Paul opted for Newborough beach over low tide. We spotted some gullies to the left which should be good fish holding spots, and after a bit of wading found that the gullies continued beyond the reach of the tide. Out went some big lug baits and we waited... until the turn of the tide which is when things got interesting. Unfortunately the "fishy" looking area behind us flooded quicker than we anticipated. At one point I moved both our boxes back up to a dry patch of sand, went back to help Paul with the tripods only to return and find 3 inch deep water surrounding our boxes! 

Knowing that we were fighting a losing battle with the tide we stuck to our plan and headed up to Llanbadrig for high tide in darkness in the hope of something toothy. The swell was a little bigger than forecast but we picked a safe ledge high out of reach. Despite all manner of rigs, bait, casting distances, basically anything that could be change to get a bite we tried, the final score was three doggies between us! A disappointing night all round but at the same time valuable experience gained.

Llandonna

An unexpected day off meant I decided to have a few hours at a new mark to me. I've only visited this beach a couple of times but it has always looked fishy, lots of lug on the beach and there is always razor clams and cockle shells washing up, plenty of food for any opportunistic fish! I took mackerel, sandeel and razor clams for bait, and while I was there I dug a few lug out for the session. Typically fishing a flat beach with little surf in daylight results in flatfish, with the main target being turbot. As I was in waders my distance was only really limited by the amount of line on the reel. In the past, flattie bashing usually means barely flicking baits out into shallow water, however I found myself trying as far out as I possibly could. This resulted in what I think was the only bite of the session, I turned around to see a single pull down and that was it. As the tide started to flood I found myself in the familiar situation of being chased up the beach by the water quicker than I could move my gear so I called it quits and went to the gym.

Menai Bridge

Decided on a quick session Sunday after work with Paul to try for a bogey fish of mine recently that is the huss and maybe a conger. Originally we had planned to fish from the supports under Menai Suspension bridge but the tide did not drop low enough for us to be able to get out there. We setup at our back up mark nearby, a spot where I've hooked huss previously and it looks like the ground that conger will explore at night time. I decided I wasn't messing around and used 8/0's and big mackerel and squid baits on both rods, Paul opted for a heavy setup up and a more general approach. A couple of tentative bites early on never materialized and from then on the time dragged. Alot. The only thing feeding it seemed was the crabs. We were about to call time when my ratchet bounced into life, not a consistent scream but short sharp pulls. I left it out for a couple of minutes hoping whatever it was would get the giant bait in its mouth. I picked my moment, struck... and it went slack, missed it! Another blank but again it is something new learned. After not catching at a mark that is usually so reliable it gives me more incentive to try and find new places.

Dinas Dinlle

The last session of March took me and Paul to Dinas Dinlle, again in search of bass. First stop was to dig some lugworm which would be our main bait. As it was a big tide I also saw an opportunity to get some razor clams as well. The lug digging went as smoothly as it could and we soon had enough for both of us for the session so I went looking for my razors. Eventually I found the tell tale keyholes I was looking for and started digging like a mad man. Unfortunately this way of getting razors is quite demanding on the equipment, and I broke my spade in half. May have to learn the art of salting them out their burrows as I'm going through spades like no tomorrow.

We got to Dinas in darkness but at the perfect time really, the water just reaching the stones, there was a little bit of surf to an otherwise calm evening. Big lug baits were cast out with great optimism. It didn't take long before the first few rattles on both our rods. While nothing came of them at least it was shaping up to be a good session and a slack liner on my rod not long after further increased out optimism. However as high tide approached the wind started to increase and we started getting weed trapped on our lines making it difficult to tell any bites. A fella that had setup to our left had since packed up, we carried on till about an hour after high with just three whiting between us for our efforts. As the tide dropped the breaking waves showed we were effectively fishing on top of a sandbank so it was little wonder that we did so poorly. And to back that up Paul returned a couple of weeks later, getting there in daylight and finding a nice gully to fish into catching 4 doggies, 6 whiting and a schoolie bass.