Last Chance on the Tope?

So Saturday just gone I felt like it might be the last chance to get a tope this year. After scanning over a map and reports I decided Point Lynas would probably be the best bet, certainly in the conditions of the day, with deep(ish) and a decent flow of water.

The plan was to fish over low slack to avoid our gear getting taken away in the current. Due to other arrangements I was getting there a little later than Paul and eventually I was fishing about 1/2 an hour before low. First casts were pretty uninspiring, as I found a rogue lobster pot buoy had appeared in front of us and sure enough I had found the pot as well. After pulling for breaks both times I set up again I adjusted my casting angle to avoid the pot, and now the tide had also taken the buoy out of the way.

I was set up as I usually have the last few sessions, big half mackerel baits on 8/0 hooks, minimum 60lb snoods, preferably with a short piece of wire to stop anything toothy biting through. I had a reasonable weighted fish bump off on an underwater ledge before I landed my first fish and it was a small but nicely spotted little huss. Not long after I had a slightly bigger one on the rocks. Where we were fishing we had a couple of deep rockpools behind us which meant we could drop the fish in there to recover before a quick photo and releasing. Paul had a couple of doggies before swapping to a bigger bait resulted a nice conger eel. The last fish landed was a doggie to me before a series of good bites resulted in bumping a couple more fish off, including a bigger huss right at the edge.


With the tide filling gulleys between the rocks behind us we decided to make a move and found a ledge a little further round to use up the last of our bait. I had both rods out and had indications of bites on both, before one rod set off on a continuous run. For a brief moment I thought I had what we came for but after 5-10 metres it stopped taking line with just the occasion solid nod of the rod tip following. There was a bit of a game as the weight got snagged, so after leaving it out there 10 minutes to fish was free and being pumped to the surface. Another good huss was coming in but as soon as it got to the edge of the rocks it did a quick spin, out came the hook and it slowly made its way back to deeper water. Back to the bite on the other rod which had developed into a really good knock. This one went to ground as well but unfortunately the fish appeared to have come off and I was left to pull for a break. A slight anti-climax but a useful fact finding mission and I'm sure we will land more next time out.

Weekender

So the weekend just gone I was in two minds what to go out for, either bass or rays. Happy with the success of the rays on Tuesday I decided it was time to try and beat my long standing bass personal best. With our east coast mark not producing anything like it has done the last couple of years, I opted to go to Dinas, with a favourable tide and forecast.

I dug my lug and took a couple of launce as well and was setting up on the beach about 2 and a half hours before high just as it was getting fully dark, perfect! Unfortunately I find fishing at Dinas is never simple, the weather is never quite how it is forecast, large quantities of weed turn up out of nowhere, the sandbanks move and the list goes on. A combination of all these factors came on Friday night along with occasional bursts of rain, making everything a bit uncomfortable. I started around the first bend but moved back towards the car slightly after getting nothing but weed. From first cast I had one each of a schoolie, doggie, whiting and codling in a quick 30 mins of action, before everything went quiet... and it stayed quiet. 3 fellas were set up nearer the car park and they left at high water, and I followed shortly after as I could see I was actually casting into a shallower area of the beach, getting to bed earlier than expected.

Saturday I headed straight out from work up to Lillypond to try for my 4th ray species of the year and complete the set. Fishing the tide up there was a strong right to left pull and for a while the grip leads were struggling to hold. I wasn't expecting much until night started to fall, and first bite was predictably a doggie. I got the feeling no rays were going to come out and play so switched focus on one rod to tempt a huss or conger. Started out by catching a bait sized whiting and lashing that to a 6/0, and eventually changed the other rod over to a massive squid bait. Lobbed them out and left them, tidied everything up ready to go and waited...and waited... and waited... After about 45 mins it was clear that nothing was around to have a go at the baits and the whiting rig got tangled so wasn't fishing properly. These two sessions brought everything back down to earth after the previous two sessions exceeded expectations. On we go, and weather depending it will be last chance saloon on the tope this weekend.