Little Update

So due to a few reasons I haven't been able to fish or indeed write as much as I would like but I have had a couple of trips out.

Towards the end of September I hit the beach I took Dan and Chris to, hoping again for rays. Conditions weren't ideal but at least they were fishable. An easterly wind had knocked the swell right down and the water was looking very clear. I didn't expect much action with the flat sea, not least from any small eyed rays, and if there were any around it was unlikely they would find the bait with the presence of doggies.

However when its calm there's always a chance of a thornback so I stuck it out a bit longer than usual. As the tide was dropping fast I was wading as far as I could, and sticking to single sandeel to maximise casting distance. I noticed a small rattle which after 10 minutes or so developed into a slack liner. On reeling in though everything went light, and I found I had caught a whiting which had a couple of 'chew' marks on its side. One more cast it was, again at maximum range. The same thing happened, this time a good pull down and I could feel a bit of weight this time. It felt like ages reeling in due to the distance, I don't know how people can fish at 150+ metres every cast in a session - spend more time reeling in than anything else! - but eventually the eyes appeared in the torch light and a reasonable thorny was flapping in the shallows.


After running up and down the beach to get my camera I got a quick photo with it before wading out to release it into deeper water. I packed up satisfied that it wasn't a wasted journey.











Nearly two weeks ago now I returned to the same beach. I was very time limited, planning on 3 hours fishing max over what should be the most productive time. Despite being busy the lull in wind between the two storms was too good an opportunity to miss. On arriving to the beach I found a familiar face set up, it was Richard Butcher who I had seen here a few times over the last couple of years. After a catch up he said the weed had been especially bad, and that he was only casting occasionally to see if it had passed. Not the news I was hoping for but it was great to see him again and having made the effort I set up and got cast out.


Fortunately the weed had eased up by now, though the side currents and undertow made holding bottom a little tricky, even with 7oz weights. With the surf raging I thought there would be a chance of a bass before the rays came on the feed, but everything for the first couple of hours came back untouched. I carried on unfazed as "the window" was fast approaching and sure enough I saw what looked to be a bite, a stronger pull down followed by slack line. Striking in I felt the weight pull out of the sand and that horrible light feeling when there is no fish on the end. I cursed my luck before getting another bait out. Same again, only this time the line is lying virtually on the sand in front of me. I thought it could be the waves pulling the lead out but that would be a much more gradual easing of tension on the line.

I had just cast out a massive sandeel and squid wrap, that soon attracted another slack liner. I wound in as much slack as possible before ripping the rod back as hard as I dared so as not to miss another opportunity. It seemed to work, I could feel a good weight heading off to my right, using the undertow to take a few yards of line. Without rushing I soon had what I had gone for, a decent small eyed ray was on the beach. As my camera had ran out of battery Richard kindly took the photo and sent it over. I had hoped for more, but after two more casts the weed came back with a vengeance. On his last cast Richard also managed a ray. Both of us were happy to catch but given the timing of the session just after the first storm we thought we might have been in for a much more productive evening.

Since then I've had a couple of short lure session but nothing producing. I committed the sin of keeping my head torch on, looking out for signs of bass in the clear water but despite loads of bait fish, and some distant splashes there was nothing going nearby to raise the adrenaline. Thanks for reading, won't be long till I can get out regularly again!

Species spotlight - Rays

To continue the species spotlight is another popular target, the rays. One of my more regular targets on conventional beachcasting gear, they can be caught almost year round on the island of conditions allow. For the purpose of the article I've lumped them all together, there are 4 realistically catchable species and 2 that turn up very occasionally that I'm yet to encounter.

Thornback rays are by far the most common species found and encountered around Anglesey and North Wales. They are found close to the shore somewhere almost right through the year, however they turn up in biggest numbers from February to May, then again around September and October. The early part of the year I am usually fishing deeper rock marks around rhosneigr. Finding a gap in the weather can often yield several fish in a single session, one memorable session I had 8 fish to 8 and a half pound, although the fella who beat me to the mark had 20! I believe that the fish are so concentrated this time of year to either breed or lay their eggs. Once over they start to spread out and can be caught almost anywhere on the island that you are casting onto open clean ground. I have seen reports of them caught from the beaches in April and May but so far I haven't been able to establish a pattern through my own attempts. Summer months catches seem to be almost accidental but they are around, seemingly at shallower rock marks, again casting onto open sand. The later run sees fish caught from both deep marks and beaches. While not the numbers as in the early part of the  year, catches are pretty reliable. November to February catches become occasional again but possible in the right conditions. My preferred conditions for thornies are calmer the better, certainly off the beaches. At deep water marks a bit of chop or swell doesn't hurt but 3-4ft + swells and murky water seem to put the rays off. Through my catches of the last couple of years, I actually feel more confident fishing clear water for thornbacks. When I target them is entirely mark dependent, certain places fish better on neap tides, others springs but I definitely would try for them at night rather than daytime.

A tough call for the next most common, but I think it is arguably the spotted ray. Not the biggest of rays, a 2lb fish is good for this area, but from certain marks they are a reliable catch through late spring and summer. The odd one is caught in amongst the thornbacks early on, but mid April onwards to late August seems to see better numbers caught. While they do venture into shallow water I'm yet to encounter one in the intertidal like the thornbacks, so I tend to focus on deeper marks in the Trearddur bay and Rhosneigr areas. Like thornbacks I feel confident catching spotties in calmer conditions. I tend to target them in daylight as they seem to feed quite happily, and though I'm sure they would feed at night, the marks I find them tend to be crawling with dogfish at night, and I'd rather wait 3 hours for 1 ray bite than have doggies robbing the baits every ten minutes. The best point in the tide seems to be as the current is picking up or slowing down to about half full strength, so around 1.5 and 4.5 hours into the flood or ebb, but again it is mark dependent.

Small eyed rays are the next most abundant, while they are around there can be big numbers of them, but this is often for fairly short periods of the year. The most reliable time I've found for them is from September to early November they run the west coast beaches. I'm convinced they also run the beaches early in the year in April and May, but despite Paul catching one in April a couple of years ago, attempts since have been thwarted mostly by the weather. They can be a bit picky with the conditions. Too calm or too rough seems to put them off, if you turn up at the beach and there white water as far as the eye can see I would forget it. There is a chance but the conditions make fishing difficult and uncomfortable so I would save my bait for when the swells are between 1 and 3ft high. As usual on shallow beaches night fishing is more reliable but they are caught in the daytime also. I have also caught the odd small eyed from deeper rock marks but not regular enough to say for definite when and where to target them. As their name suggests their eyes are smaller, about half the size, of those on other ray species, and the wing markings are difficult to confuse with anything else.

Blonde rays are the most uncommon of the realistically target-able ray species around​ Anglesey. Realistic because they are there, and a handful are caught, or at least reported each year and this year I was fortunate enough to catch one myself, however small it was! I have been fishing mostly around Trearddur bay, but I have seen and heard off the occasional capture further south at Rhosneigr. It's hard to try and advise on the back of one catch but the information I have read and been told suggests that bigger tides are better and night fishing may produce better fish. I imagine calmer conditions are better also, if only from a safety point of view at least. Small ones are distinguishable from spotted rays by having numerous small eye spots on the wings, and the black spots run to the very edge of the wing while on spotties the spots stop a little short of the very edge.

The other two species are cuckoo ray and stingray. I can think of one example of each being caught on Anglesey since I started fishing, which was a while ago! With a lot of planning and preparation stingrays may be a viable target for someone willing to travel, on or two are caught around Pwllheli and Llanbedrog each year, however I think visiting Barmouth and Fairbourne (where a one time UK shore record was caught) in mid Wales would further enhance a keen anglers chances. Certainly one of my future missions, it didn't quite happen this year. Cuckoo rays tend to be found in deeper water than most of our accessible rock marks give way to. According to studies they do venture inshore for short periods of the year, and the presence of their empty egg cases washed up on beaches confirms this. However it would take many hours to find when and where they appear. One thing for sure if I do happen across one accidentally I'll be writing everything down to see if it happens again!

My usual ray fishing gear is 4-8 oz beachcasters with medium size multiplier or fixed spool reels. 15 to 18lb line with a shockleader for casting up to 7oz is ample, with the weights on the heavy side to gain distance and combat the tide. I have caught rays on my bass rod and flapper rigs but in general I'll use long pulley rigs (3ft hooklength) or up and over rigs around 3-5 ft hooklength to make sure the bait is nailed to the seabed where the rays are most likely to find it. Hooklength I'll use 30lb amnesia usually if theres a chance of bass, occasionally using 60lb as instead of teeth rays have bony sandpaper like pads for crushing prey, and they make short work of light hooklengths. Bait wise I would never go ray fishing without sandeel or squid. Usually double sandeel or sandeel squid wrap does the trick but if bites aren't coming whole squid on its own can catch the odd fish. Mackerel and bluey also have produced for me and I usually find myself alternating baits until I find what's working on the day. Rays also love whiting so I might be worth catching a few on a flapper and filleting them ready for the session. Better still, if you see a whiting bite on your carefully prepared sandeel bait leave it out there, if not a ray, Huss and congers also have a taste for whiting. Just resist the temptation to retrieve too soon as you may rip the whiting away from the bigger fish before it gets hooked.

Hope this gives an insight into Anglesey ray fishing for those wanting to catch their first, or trust them more regularly. They are slow growing and reproducing so it would be great to see as many as possible returned. Cheers for reading!

Species spotlight - Bass

While my fishing time will be slightly limited over the next few weeks, I will be writing species guides to many of us fish encountered around Anglesey and North Wales. It didn't take much thinking which would be the first fish under he spotlight - the mighty bass.

When beginning the adventure into guiding I knew bass would be a very popular target. There is a great fasination with them, and they tick all of the boxes; on the right gear they give a great fight, they look good and taste pretty good too if you like to keep the odd one. They also pose a challenge, many anglers including myself have spent hours stood in the surf holding the rod waiting for that telltale thump as a bass takes the bait. To the inexperienced fisherman catching one can feeling impossible task, and those more experienced may turn up at a productive mark in ideal conditions only to draw a blank and be scratching their heads. In this (fairly) brief guide I'll cover as many aspects of bass fishing as I can by drawing on my own experience, going through the methods tend to use at different types of marks, baits and when to fish. Anyone looking for specific marks I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed but my aim is to give you the knowledge to scout and try marks out for yourself.

Thinking back to sessions this year where I've caught bass, either targeted or accidentally there is one common factor - water movement. This means anything from a big spring tide, the incoming (or outgoing) tide through a narrow channel or round a headland, or waves breaking making the water 'fizz'. The amount and type of movement along with the location are linked to other factors such as water clarity and with the weather conditions usually dictate the methods I would use.

It's often written that the period of high tides two days either side of a big spring tide is best for bass. This is true at some marks, as sufficient water covers areas normally inaccessible for the fish to hunt over. Boulder fields, beaches with gulley's close to the high tide mark and narrow creeks and estuaries suddenly become fishable. At shallow rocky areas of open coast the fish will be mooching around boulders and along the margins of rock pools ambushing crabs, shrimps and small fish. Often bass will actually wait in the gulley and deeper pools for the tide and waves to wash a meal towards them. If the water is clear, a lure imitating the natural prey could work a treat while being able to fish a greater area, as there won't be bass in every pool. Otherwise in a rough, dirty sea, a big crab, worm or squid bait would be my preferred approach. The sheltered expansive sand/mudflats at the Bangor end of the Menai Strait also tend to fish better on a bigger tide as you get more time fishing when the water reaches the shingle - wading onto the mud is a definite no no as the water comes in faster than you can move.

Headland marks can range from shallow points at the end of a beach to rock marks that plunge into 30ft or more depth basically at your feet. In strong currents bass will position themselves in pockets of water close to the shore out of the lateral current. If the current is moving right to left it's a sure bet that the bass will sit and wait for a meal on the left side of the headland. With less tide run headlands can still be a great place to target as the fish will pass as they move along the coast, almost acting like a bottleneck. What time is very mark dependent and reliant on doing a bit of homework to find the fish holding features and the best state and size of tide to fish. On the shallower marks light ledgering a worm or crab bait that rolls around a bit can be effective, though if the ground is rough and water clear I would prefer shallow diving lures to reduce tackle losses. Deeper marks I have had results float fishing or deep spinning a sandeel very close to any rock structure. Don't be afraid to try for bass at any mark, if they are caught on beaches a mile either side of a deep rock mark they have to pass there at somepoint.

A host of marks on Anglesey come under the 'narrow channel' category. Parts of the Menai Strait have very narrow shallow channels at low tide, and there are many estuaries that virtually dry out at low tide. These are my favourite areas to fish as they pose a bit of a challenge. The window when the marks are fishable is often short and the window to catch is often shorter, before weed and strong currents make presenting a lure or a bait in a natural way difficult. They all fish slightly differently but I feel most confident fishing the first 2 hours of the flood on medium to neap tides. However in some Menai straits marks I will be persisting later in the tide, as I'm sure that another wave of bass would arrive further into the flood.

Standing in the surf with water lapping over the top of my wellies was where my sea fishing career began. On the mid Wales beaches holding the rod was the way to go, with a tripod more bites were missed than hooked. I find on Anglesey I'm waiting longer for bass bites fishing this way, and when there is a big surf on I'm fishing heavier and further out to find the fish than I would have done previously. I would go as far to say the rougher the sea and dirtier the water the better,certainly if you are fishing daytime. As well as fishing straight off a beach it would always be worth trying rocks adjacent to the beach that are accessible throughout the tide. Often the fish run close to the rocks looking for food washed out, and you aren't moving your gear every 15 minutes. Anglesey usually needs a few days of strong winds to whip up a decent surf and fishing in the middle of the weather can be very productive, but if that's not possible i would aim to fish the first sign that the wind is dropping or changing direction. State of tide depends on the mark but to give myself the best chance of catching at somewhere new I'd start fishing either side of low or high tide. That's usually gives away whether the mark would fish best on the flood or ebb.

So how do I set up for bass? Where possible I use a stiff 9ft plugging rod with 20lb braid for almost everything. I can plug away and if that's not working a quick rummage for a couple of crab and I can be ledgering with 1 or 2 ounce weight. I think I am almost too reliant on this gear when sometimes a light beachcaster and the need for a heavier weight would help hold bottom for longer. Rough weather and pounding surf usually dictates the need for heavier gear and despite feeling a bit overkill would go for 5-7oz capable beachcasters. Rigs are always made simple, either a running ledger with the weight simply slid into the line, or a pulley rig with pennelled hooks up to 4/0 size, even a small bass has no trouble with hooks that big. I have caught bass on all manner of different rigs but these are the two I would use when targeting bass. I can present a reasonable size bait at distance and if I'm going for bass, I'm not usually trying to catch small ones!

Lure fishing is still quite new to me but I've put a lot of hours into it this year. I carry a range of surface sliders and poppers, sub surface and deep divers as well as soft plastics. The ground I've had most success on so far has been shallow so naturally I am slightly biased towards using shallow diving lures. I've also narrowed down the lures I take out to mostly ones that look like natural prey items; mackerel and sandeel patterns are a favourite but also darker lures that look like small Pollack or blennies.

Successful bass fishing is all about being in the right place at the right time. The only way to do that consistently is to do your research on a mark, scout it in the daytime before fishing a range of conditions to find the most productive. Taking notes, both the blanks and catches, will help build a pattern, and I feel this is one reason I've had more success this year than previously. I hope this article has helped inspire a few people to give bass fishing a serious crack. Let them show their muscle on light gear, then give them the respect they deserve by letting them swim off again. Can never fail to bring a smile to your face.

Cheers for reading

Recent Sessions

After Dan and Chris's guided session last weekend there was little chance to rest as I had Barry booked in for a guided lure session on the Tuesday. Faced with the same issue of the weather forecast making things tricky to predict, I spent much of Monday and Tuesday morning getting out with the lures at some new marks where hopefully there would be a decent level of water clarity.

During my preparation sessions I came across marks that were full of bait fish, initially I thought the water was dirty before realising it was fish, with mackerel of a range of sizes relentlessly smashing into them. This gave me a fair bit of optimism, and reading a few recent reports suggested that there were bass in amongst the mackerel. I tried a host of lures, different marks and techniques but unfortunately no bass showed for me.

I decided to take Barry into the Swellies, an area of fast currents and rocky pinnacles, situated between the two bridges that span the Menai Strait. We were starting around low tide and the current had yet to get going properly. We had some nice areas of slack water and eddies in front of us so I instructed Barry to go for casts around these regions. The thinking being that the bass would be sitting out of the main flow waiting for the current to bring them their meal.

Looking in the water it was obvious there was a lot of bait fish around even here, and not long after starting fishing the water in front of us erupted as they made a desperate attempt to reach freedom. While Barry carried on with the surface and shallow diving lures, I stuck on a long silver bar spinner to see what was causing the commotion. As expected it was a mackerel, and a really small one at that, perfect live bait size and I was hopeful that the bass would be following up the shoal. In between using his own lures I gave Barry a couple of mine to try, the main ones being the IMA Narbarone and Maria Angel kiss sandeel due to their action and likeness to potential prey at the time.

Despite walking up and down the bank there was no sign of any bass, and as the current got stronger the areas of slack water were severely reduced. With my confidence in the mark fading we made a move up towards Penmon where hopefully the water would still be clear and over high tide we could fish shallow diving lures over the rocky ground without too much risk of snagging.

In short, nothing happened. The water looked good but it was a case of being in the right place right time and sadly we weren't. I was determined to find Barry a fish, however with a long drive back he, quite sensibly called it a night. I'm certain that the fish would have turned up at some point but that could have been long into the night.

With the frustration of not being able to provide Barry a fish I got back on the lures over this weekend. I revisited Penmon, but faced with completely different, very murky conditions I decided not to waste much time there, heading back to the Swellies just on the turn of the tide. I lost faith in the lures pretty quickly and after a quick rummage I found a few late season peeler crabs. These were lashed on and just lobbed out, again aiming for calmer areas of water. It wasn't to be though, as either wrasse or blennies were stripping the baits in seconds, thats if I managed to get the gear back at all.

After stopping in Menai Kayak Angling for a bit of up to date information and a couple of new lures I was back in the Swellies for the slack water again. Admittedly I wasn't particularly confident again and as expected I drew a blank. It is, however all learning, it has taken people years to master fishing within even this short stretch of water and it will be the same for me and hopefully the hard work will pay off in the long run. In addition it has apparently been hard going for many fishers in the area. Dave in Menai Kayak Angling suggested that the abundance of baitfish and small mackerel mean that the bass have simply gorged until full up, and a bass that isn't hungry is less likely to make an instinctive strike at a lure. Lastly the rain that fell early in the week may have had an impact, as all that freshwater would now have worked its way into the Straits, and that might partly explain why the water clarity was slightly reduced on Monday compared with Saturday.

I may be completely wrong with these thoughts but persistence will definitely pay!

2/9/17 - Guiding

Saturday just gone I had a couple of guests, Dan and Chris, who had booked in a session a few weeks ago. In an effort to give them as much preparation time as possible I was keeping close watch on the weather forecast which would likely have the deciding factor where we would fish. Unfortunately due to the storm activity in the Atlantic, the weekend forecast was changing pretty much by the hour. There were several possibilities but in the end I opted for Cymyran, as the building wind and waves would possibly bring us a few schoolies and an early ray. Both guys were experienced all round fishermen, however with sea fishing they had fished mostly the same places and caught mostly the same species. The plan here being to take them to a new mark, and try for a different species.

We met at the beach late afternoon. I was still unsure about fishing here until popping my head over the top I could see a decent area of breaking waves, but not so far out that they would have trouble casting. As an added bonus the wind was coming straight onto the beach and was definitely not as bad as expected. Once suited and booted we headed off down the beach.

Both were well prepared for the session, having tied up plenty of pulley and up and over rigs which are my preference to use when fishing for rays. To start with they fished one each for rays, and I recommended having one flapper out to try and tempt any schoolies or flatties which given the surf should have been running close inshore. As darkness came on we would swap to fishing big sandeel or crab baits for rays, bass and occasional smoothound that run the beach.

It wasn't long after first casts were made and Chris was scrambling back to his rod. Waiting a few seconds before striking it was clear that the fish had made good its escape with a chunk of squid. A few minutes into the next cast and he had another obvious bite that we all saw. It was slightly tense on reeling in, the fish didn't appear to be on again, the only sensation being the grip lead bouncing along the sand ripples. As his leader knot appeared it was a relief to see small splashing in the shallows, and he lifted up a little schoolie bass. With neither of the guys having caught a bass before I was chuffed that was the first fish of the evening.

With that I thought there would have been a few more schoolies out there, so keep the guys using flapper rigs a bit longer but no more fish obliged. As night fell, if we were going to get a ray this would be the window, so both Dan and Chris swapped both rods back onto pulley and up and over rigs using mostly double sandeel, and using the occasional softie crab to maximise our chances.

Sadly no more fish showed. The wind increased and started coming across us which might have hampered casting distance and we simply weren't able to reach the fish, or they simply weren't there. I think it was a case of the latter, as with the range of baits and rigs cast out they had covered almost all bases, and wading out certainly helped gain valuable yards on the cast. With no obvious signs of movement and the weather now uncomfortable the guys made the decision of making last casts before the long drive back for them. They had a great time, the aim was always to take them to a new mark and try a different way of fishing but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that no more fish turned up. However they can take the knowledge away, and if they fish the same mark the same way in a couple of weeks they might bag up on rays.

The evening conditions were a complete contrast to the morning, I finished a night shift at 8am and with the lures already in the car I set off to explore a new area of the coast. While chucking the lures around I spotted a decent wrasse swimming around the boulders almost at my feet. The only option I had was to freeline a couple of limpets into a hole and it didn't take long before the line tightened. It was a good fish, and clearly the water was a reasonable depth under the boulder but after 3 or 4 dives it was under control and posing for a photo.

Next up is another guest tomorrow for some lure fishing this time, so plenty of exploring today and tomorrow morning, the weather again making things tricky

!

26/8/17 - Guiding

The previous week I had a message from Tim Stratton, wanting to book a session for himself and three others with the aim of catching bass. A bit tricky to call the best location but I decided to take them to a channel near Holyhead where schoolies often congregate. While I couldn't guarantee any sizeable fish, I felt at this location they would be able to use the tactics that I would use 90% of the time for bass, and see them working.

I met Tim, Tom, Mike and Tony at the car park where we had a quick look at their gear to see what was suitable to use. Their rods ranged between light spinning rods to standard beach casting gear so all more than capable of doing the job here. I think its better that guests use as much of their own equipment as possible, as it gives confidence that they are able to head out on their own and still catch. To begin with I rigged everyone up with a simple pennel sliding ledger, using up to 3oz weights. Despite the current being initially quite strong, the plain weights bounced along nicely until settling in little dips in the sea bed. The thought being that in the clear shallow water, the fish would be working these depressions looking for their next meal. Baits were lug and rag, with a few crab and razor to see what works, and enough of each bait to last the four hours.

 All four of the guys had been fishing before so I was able to leave them to the casting, while I set about modifying a couple of rigs for later use. I wasn't expecting much action in daylight with conditions being so calm and bright but Tom was retrieving and there was a bit of splashing on the surface. Evidently he was into something so I dashed over with the camera. It was a small bass, maybe 1/2lb, the expected size but mission accomplished. Next cast Tom was in again with another schoolie, so I gradually moved everyone further down the beach to see if the fish were holding out of the main channel.

While never hectic, bites came steady throughout the evening with a slight lull at slack water. I swapped Tim onto a 2-hook flapper with long snoods to try a mix of baits at the same time and maybe pick up a bonus better fish. He had a small flatties early on but into the flood he had a bite and this was clearly a better fish. It went off downstream causing quite a splash in the shallows. I thought he had got a decent bass but as it came alongside me I could see it was a smoothound. A bit of a surprise this late in the year, and on lugworm as well. A quick photo and it was back in the water, lovely fish which really added the gloss on the session.

By now we were being pushed back by the rapidly flooding tide and soon to be calling it a day, but not before Mike managed a plaice, with Tony and Tim adding a dogfish each to the growing species tally. By the end the guys had 6 bass, 2 flatfish, 2 dogfish and the smoothound between them. A very good return and a great laugh with a great bunch of guys on an almost perfect evening. Hopefully this session will help them for when they are fishing on their own and they can get into some better fish.

22/08/17 - Mission Blonde

Been very busy lately so this is the first chance I've had to update the blog.

Last Friday, on the 19th myself and Paul had a crack at a tope on the north coast of Anglesey. It was fairly uninspiring, just a single dogfish for myself, but Paul managed a number of mackerel and pollack after I had left for work.

Tuesday just gone though, I set out on my now regular quest to a blonde ray. The plan being to fish over high on a big tide and he mark, and while the big rods were out I wouldn't want between float fish for pollack and feathering for mackerel.

The forecast was ideal, however on arriving at my fishing mark the swell was slightly larger than anticipated, most likely left over from the Atlantic storms. Pretty soon I had double sandeel baits in the water, all the while watching the swells closely as there was still 2 hours till high tide. I was moving my gear out of the spray hen one of the ratchets sang and there was a couple of pull downs. On lifting in I could feel a fish, and the little resistance it offered suggested that it was a small ray. Sure enough the obvious diamond shape emerged from the deep, but being small I imagined it to be a spotted ray. However on lifting it out I noticed the different pattern of spots on its back and identified it as a blonde ray. Only small, maybe 2lb in weight at most but what a relief, and around 2 years of hard work putting in the hours in the area.

Unfortunately at the time I wasn't able to enjoy the catch too much, with the ray back in the water my focus went back to concentrating on not getting wet. In fact I packed up for three quarters of an hour, waiting and watching the water to see how much higher it would rise. While the swell was splashing up onto the lower part of the ledge, I had a dry spot where the overhang deflected the swells back out to sea. Feeling confident that the water was not rising anymore, I slowly set up and continued fishing. As the tide ebbed away, so did the swells, and with it any fish action. I should have packed up sooner but with so much bait left I decided to use up what had already defrosted. Just pollack showed on the float, and even they were a bit finicky with the takes. Most were around 1/2lb but one better one was probably over 1lb, and have a good account of itself on the braid.

Now that I have finally managed to catch a blonde ray, next mission is to get a decent one in the 10lb+ kind of size. The rest of the week was spent planning and organising trip for a group of four clients on Saturday, details of which are coming up shortly.

Return to fishing teaching and guiding

12/08/17

With a camping and surfing trip to Abersoch with a few mates planned, I didn't have much hope of getting any fishing in. However. when one of the lads was keen and asked if I could bring a bit of gear down I figured it would be a good bit of practise for future tuition sessions.

I spied a decent looking mark online that might produce some mackerel and pollack, as one of the aims was to get a few for the BBQ. As is often the case there were slight time constraints, so after a bit of advice from Abersoch Angling, we opted to try Gimblet rock in Pwllheli. This offered a chance of mackerel, but we could fish in comfort, close to the car and cook on the beach as well.

With a heavy rod cast out looking for any bream or dogfish for a bit of variety, I set up some feathers on a spinning rod to get the guys used to casting. I give all of them a demonstration, talking through what I was doing, before handing them the rod and talking them through the cast. None of them had ever held a fishing rod before so I was having to think carefully how to explain things so it would make sense to them. Fortunately everything went without drama. They were all able to put the weight in the sea. The distance varied as they got used to timing the release of the line but for complete beginners it couldn't have been much better.

As we fished on it was clear there weren't many fish about. Crabs were hammering all of the larger baits being cast out, and I was slightly unprepared not bringing any pop up rigs. Gradually the light began to fade and baitfish activity started to increase. This usually means one thing, the mackerel are on the hunt! We missed a few opportunities, mainly as the guys were concentrating on getting the cast right but Joe managed to plop the feathers in the sea just as the baitfish broke the surface again. After a couple of turns on the retrieve there was a shout of excitement as a mackerel had taken one of the feathers.

Keeping a nice steady retrieve the fish was soon on the sand, only a small mackerel but it was a fish and a bonus it was for the bbq! As you can tell from his face, Joe was over the moon with it, and had the added satisfaction of being able to tuck into a fish he had just caught. They don't get much fresher than that and it tasted amazing!

I hoped we would be able to get a few more but it didn't happen, the shoal seemed to move further along the beach and out of our range. There was one more surprise in store though, as I was going through casting with Luke a small bass launched itself at the feathers not two metres out from where we were stood. After a quick photo it was released, being far too small to be kept for the bbq. That was the last of the fish action, the light faded completely and the mackerel went of the feed as well, but very satisfying to be able to get complete beginners to experience catching a fish at the first attempt.

15/8/17

Had a call mid day yesterday from guest, Amanda asking if I could fit in a lesson for her son Reece (aged 7), before they were due to leave later in the week. A quick dash back along the A55 via Pensarn bait and tackle for some quality ragworm, I threw the gear in the car at met them at Holyhead Breakwater. It wasn't an ideal time with the tide dropping, but Reece was super keen to do as much as possible I was hoping we would still get a few bites. I dropped the first rod down the side as a demonstration, and set up a second for Reece to use much by himself.

With a bit of guidance, and supervision from Mum, he was able to swing the baits out just away from the wall. It wasn't long before a shake of the rod tip indicated a bite, and up the wall came a corkwing wrasse, resulting in big smiles all round! He was able to add a second wrasse before bites dried up so we filled the time discussing which sea creatures would win if they were fighting each other, and doing a little overhead casting practise. Overall a great way to spend a couple of hours and thank you to Amanda for the positive feedback on the session.

16/8/17

Having some ragworm left over from the previous days lesson I had a couple of hours scratching around off the ledges at the back of my work place near Penmon. Bites came steady, but never frantic and in a couple of hours I managed a mix of shannies, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and the smallest pollack I've ever seen. Most of the fish were small but two of the better ballans were pushing towards 1lb. Not a bad way to finish off a pack of rag. Gear was the usual 2-hook flapper with size 6/8 hooks keeping things tight to the rock ledges. I hoped to get a few mackerel out as well but a shoal had appeared and passed through before I had chance to get the feathers rigged up.

Frustratingly the weather is playing havoc with plans at the moment, a session after tope Thursday night has been postponed. Hopefully will have a chance and find some shelter during a couple of hours tomorrow morning before work.

8/8/17 - If Carlsberg did session savers...

After an unsuccessful little mission Monday night with the lures I headed out with the heavy gear in search of a so far elusive Anglesey blonde ray. I was optimistic about getting a fairly decent session, with the tides a similar height and time as a couple of weeks ago when I landed 4 small rays. In fact, with the cloud hanging round I thought my chances would be even better this day.

As usual it was up and over, and pulley rigs the main plan of attack, and I took a spinning rod to try a few different things with. First casts on the bait were quiet so I gave them about 45 minutes before retrieving. Even though there was no indication of a bite, one felt a little heavy and I was hopeful of a small ray. Unfortunately it wasn't, the fish popped up on the surface far out, a sure sign of a doggie though I've done well to avoid them for nearly a couple of months now. 

With the heavy rods remaining very quiet I rigged up the float on my spinning rod to see if there was any pollack or mackerel around. I was targeting the pollack letting the float drift mid-water around the rocky ledges, and from past experience mackerel can be caught near the bottom in bright daylight. Casting the float away for the ledges didn't bring any luck so I concentrated on fishing close in. Very quickly I was into a nice pollack, the best of the day at about 1.5lb but it appears this one was related to Harry Houdini. I thought it was safe on the rocks until, as I went to get the camera it managed to throw the hook, side down the rock face, down a crevice and out the bottom, landing in a rockpool before making its way out to sea!

Fortunately I need not have worried about the missed photo opportunity, as throughout the session the pollack fed at a steady pace. The best action seeming to be after high tide as the change in currents helped to push the float near and around some submerged kelp beds.

For an hour or so I put the float rod down for a short while, fishing hard with the heavy rods during the time I'd been told would be best for a blonde ray. I saw a couple of bites, and had a couple of mashed baits, but with no hook up or big pull downs I put the rattles down to crabs or small dabs pulling at the sandeels but not being able to swallow them. I picked up the float rod again, content with the bit of sport the pollack were providing, casting close in to the ledges. Not a rod length out the float disappeared again. This time it was clearly a better fish, stronger thumps and a longer first run had me frantically adjusting the drag to make sure the fish could take line if it bolted again.

The fish made for a kelp lined gully, so I had a scramble around the rocks to get myself in a better position to land in. I could see a dark back and convinced myself it was a decent pollack so took my time making sure the fish wasn't going to steam off again. It was near the surface a couple of times before diving back down but only the last time it popped up did I realise it was actually a bass, and a decent one as well. Taking extra care, and using the swell to land it rather than lifting it out the fish was plonked at my feet. Easily my biggest bait caught bass of the year, and the most unexpected; definitely the best session saver I could have hoped for. A couple of photos and like them all it was back in the water, didn't take any measurements but I put it in the 3-4lb size, compared with the ones I've had earlier in the year.

After the excitement of the bass a decent ray would be the icing on the cake. However the longer I went without a bite the less hope I had. After getting a few more pollack on the float I decided that it wasn't my day for the rays and retrieved the heavy rods. There was a bit of weight on one and as it came closer I saw a gurnard had taken a fancy to the double sandeel, and it was a nice sized one, bigger than the ones I had last year anyway! Still not what I was after but another welcome bonus. 

I was off the rocks and a quick refresh before heading out for my planned evening session. Target was tope again from the beach. As well as frozen mackerel I took a couple of pollack from earlier in the day for fresh bait. First casts were made as the sun went down and although there was a bit of swell I was confident there would be tope passing through. Sadly, it wasn't to be. I had one bite almost right on high tide which took some line and a single pull down of the rod but whatever it was didn't come back. I put it down to dogfish, but if doggies were present I'd have expected a few more bites from them. I'll never know, but the mystery is what drives me to keep trying these places. If you've enjoyed the post and would like notifying of the next update, its free to subscribe with the button at the top right of the page. Cheers!

4/8/17

Last Friday I had a few daylight hours spare, but the weather forecast made choosing a productive mark a bit tricky. In the end I decided on heading to the north of the island to try and get out of the worst of the wind. This particular mark has fished well for me in the past at night, so would be interesting what would turn up in daylight.

With it being a relatively short session, fishing 3 hours down to low, and being a fairly long walk from the car I went for a slightly lighter approach, taking a spinning rod for some lures, float and feathering, and one heavy rod to fish big baits for possible tope or huss perhaps. Despite the strong current I was able to keep the terminal gear away from the snags, save for a couple of feathers. 

Yet again as I've found recently was a lack of mackerel. Fortunately a few pollack were obliging, though mostly small they were ideal fresh bait, as I've often heard tope have a particular taste for them. I also managed a solitary launce, or greater sandeel, on the feathers which unbelievably is the first one I've ever caught. Sensing a chance for a bigger pollack I fished the launce live under a float, letting it drift around. It had plenty of energy left, but it seemed the bigger pollack weren't around.

Acton on the heavy rod was much harder to come by. I had two bites all session, both were pretty good pull downs mind, but both times the fish dropped the bait. Interestingly both bites came to a fresh pollack bait, frozen mackerel not getting a sniff. 

Will be exploring this area much more in future. So much potential, and I've rarely seen anyone even out for a walk, never mind fishing. I feel starting light is the way to go, cover more ground and find the productive ledges, before bringing the heavy gear along.

01/08/17 - Going for Gold

Yesterday I made a plan to have two short sessions, the main one would be to target an elusive North Wales gilthead bream, a species distinguished by a gold band running between its eyes. They have become increasingly common around the South and South West coasts of England and Wales, and slowly they seem to be visiting us as far North on Anglesey. There has been a fair few reports of them popping up around the Island, and with reliable information I headed to a mark where one had been caught earlier in the year.

The wind was quite strong, but on my back, meaning I could chuck a 2-hook flapper a reasonable distance with the spinning rod. After reading the fish baits weren't as preferable, I took some frozen crab and dug a few lugworm at the mark, using size 2 hooks I would also pick up anything else that would be feeling hungry.

Not completely confident in the conditions the first bite took me a bit by surprise. I lifted in after a series of short rattles and there was a fish on! It wasn't big, but I had a hope that it would be my target for the day. Sadly it wasn't, it was a tiny fingerling bass about 6 inch long. After a photo and bit of surgery to remove the deep hook it was back in the water to hopefully become that magical double figure fish. 

Another tiny schoolie later and I decided to move to try and locate a bream without fishing through the entire shoal. Unfortunately this second spot didn't fill me with confidence either, the water was shallow and clear, with the only sign of life being what looked like a mackerel leaping out of the water a couple of times. I moved back to the first spot and it was clear the schoolie bass were still around, missing a couple of bites before landing another.

A short drive later I was at mark 2 for the day. I fish this area quite a lot, mostly heavy ledgering for big fish. This time light ledgering crab and spinning in the gulleys was the order of the day, having been told that with a bit of white water pushing around the rocks, wrasse, bass and pollack would be lurking, waiting for an easy meal. I threw everything out there but it wasn't my day, instead of the water pushing through gently it was more like a washing machine. A tompot blenny managed to wriggle onto a big 2/0 hook, I had another missed bite on the crab and a couple of light taps on an IMA Narbarone diving plug, which I put down to small pollack.

Certainly not the results I was hoping for but can see the potential for both marks, an I have a good idea what to do differently next time to improve my chances. Looking at another session Friday, still tricky to decide on location with the unpredictable weather.

27/7/17 - Mullet

An unusual work shift meant that I got an unexpected most of the day off yesterday, and instead of dawdling on where to go I had already made up my mind. To be able to offer clients the best service and fishing options available I am making sure I have experience of catching as many species and using as big a range of techniques as possible. I decided that I was going to try for a mullet, a species I've caught a few times in the past by accident but targeted sessions have only ended in frustration.

Another benefit of a mullet session was that I would be fishing close to home and raiding the reduced bread section at the supermarket meant the session would be cheap on bait. I dug out some smaller floats and split shots from the pile of gear I've got at home, and off I went down to Felinheli. Here there is a small marina that goes direct to the sea and another boat park area that is separated from the sea by a lock gate. After a bit of walking and driving around I decided on fishing the marina, though with the tide on its way out I thought my chances were a bit limited.

I set up with a 3lb hooklength ending in a size 10 barbless hook, pretty standard affair if you're coarse fishing, set at 5ft depth under a self cocking float. Saving half a loaf for hook bait, the rest of the bread and a whole mackerel was mashed up with a bit of water to make a sloppy groundbait mix which I would spoon in at regular intervals. The groundbait soon worked its magic, as about half an hour in I could see shoals of fry, sandeels and smelt coming up in the water column, and soon I spotted the first mullet cruise past just a bit out of reach.

Over the next hour or so I continued to see mullet appear at the surface, but frustratingly either they were too far away, or were already swimming away from the baited area. They obviously weren't very confident of coming too near the bait, and I thought perhaps prebaiting the area for a few days in advance would encourage them to try the bread.

I was repositioning my float closer to a pontoon as all the floating groundbait started drifting that way, when two mullet appeared at the surface, closer than they had done before. One swam away, but the other inhaled a big piece of floating crust right under my feet. Immediately I lifted the line so my breadflake bait was now dangling just under the surface, the mullet took one look and sucked in my bait. I waited a split second to see if it would spit it back out. It didn't so I struck, the rod bent over and I was hooked into a mullet!

With the hard part of getting them to feed over, I just had the relatively easy task of landing the fish. Not having a landing net meant I had too beach it on a slipway, get my feet a bit wet and grab it, hoping that the 3lb hooklength held on. I took my time playing the fish, although it didn't make the runs I expected there was a lot of head shaking and if it did make a short burst I had to let it go due to the light line. Eventually the fish tired and I eased it onto the slipway. I was able to push it out of the water slightly and get my feet behind it so it didn't roll back in. There it was, a mullet I had targeted I had also now landed. Fortunately there were a few passers by, keen to see the fish and one of them was able to take a picture for me.

The fish was exhausted so I gently held it in the water a few minutes before it was strong enough to swim away. As I expected, the commotion spooked the rest of the fish and there was no sign of anymore mullet around me for the next hour, despite heavy groundbaiting.

Overall though I was ecstatic with even hooking never mind landing one and I rate it up with the shore tope and 9lb bass as best catches of the year so far. This gives me more confidence in taking clients out in future who wish to specifically fish for mullet. A little break now and depending on the weather, next up will be another try for a tope on home soil.

25/7/17

So this is a lot shorter report than the others from the last week. Originally I had planned another double session for the Tuesday, but in the end the tides weren't favourable for my target species. After completing a load of jobs at home I eventually got out of the house, deciding to try again for pollack on the float, seeing if they feed on the ebb as well as the flood.

I rigged up the same way as last time. On the first cast with a bit of sink and draw a fish took the sandeel bait. It put up a spirited fight, initially I thought I had hooked a reasonable pollack but the fight wasn't how I expected it to be. The puzzle was solved when I saw a shimmering silver flank in the water as a mackerel was making darting runs around the place. It was a chunky one, probably the biggest I've caught for a couple of years now, and it made a perfect size for dinner the following night by itself.

I continued casting, varying the depth of the float in an effort to pick up more mackerel if the pollack weren't showing. As it turned out neither were showing anymore so I made a move around the headland to try straight out to sea for half an hour. While there I bumped into Steve who was on holiday in the area, who I'd met last week while fishing for cuckoo wrasse. After a friendly chat I left him with a couple of rigs and tips of when and where best to use them, hopefully will catch up when he's next in the area and we can get into some decent pollack or rays.

24/7/17 -All the rays!

One of my goals this year, as it was last year, was to latch into a blonde ray. They are frequently caught from a mark that I regularly visit, however as yet I haven't seen one, never mind hooked one.

Armed with fresh information, I revisited the same mark on Monday. I wasn't convinced about the conditions, it was bright sunshine, and personally I've found the rays prefer it slightly more overcast. Still the tides were favourable, and with the current forecast this might be my only shot at them for a while.

My plan was to rig up as usual, 6oz beachcasters to combat the tide switching between pulley and up and over rigs. Bait was Sandeel, squid and bluey, either individually or presented as cocktails. These were chucked out as far from the rocks as possible. The first couple of casts I also sent out a 3 hook flapping rig, just to see if I could pick up a bonus flattie or gurnard.

The first ray bait was sent out and I had not even run the line through the rings on the second when the first ratchet started going. I thought it could be the sideways tidal current, but the pulls were too strong for that. I lifted in and it was fish on! Almost straight away I could tell it was a ray, as the fish stayed deep until quite close in, however it didn't have the weight behind it I expected from a blonde ray. My suspicions were confirmed when a spotted ray broke the surface, not the species I was looking for but welcome nonetheless. Unfortunately I had left my camera memory card in my computer so I had to make do with getting the pictures on my phone so the pictures aren't great quality. 

I recast the ray bait, this time having chance to set up and cast the second rod. While dealing with a dab on the flapper I noticed the ray bait had moved quite a way to the left. Again I left it a little while thinking it was the tide but it kept moving. On lifting in it felt similar to the first fish, staying deep until quite close in. Up popped another small ray, and it was a bit of a surprise that it was a small eyed ray, only little but nice to get the first one of the year. 

I was surprised to get two rays so quickly and relatively late into the flood, but they didn't stop there. The next two casts also bought another spotted and small eyed ray, also another dab to the flapper, all in the space of about an hour and a quarter. Expecting the action to continue I began fixing up a few rigs to make them usable this session and pre-baiting a few to make sure I was ready. Despite high hopes the rest of the session failed to match the beginning, in fact I never saw another bite on either rod.

Not taking any ragworm I didn't have any options for scratching around for wrasse so I was relying on the fish coming back on the feed as the ebb picked up. With all my best efforts nothing happened, the time I had been told would be best for a blonde ray had been and gone so I decided to make a move. I was disappointed not to get a blonde ray, but picking up four rays in arguably less than ideal conditions is a good session in anyone's book. 

22/7/17

So it was a busy weekend and start to this week, got a fair bit of fishing in, unfortunately that hasn't left me with a lot of time to write up the reports until now.

Starting with Saturday I planned two sessions, beginning with a short trip to a regular mark to try and rediscover my lure mojo by catching a bass or two. I arrived as the tide was dropping, as this mark has produced more for me around the mid tide and lure choices were the trusty Maria Angel Kiss and a sunslicker paddle up gibbon with a small spro weight to help casting. Conditions perhaps weren't ideal; sunny and slightly cloudy water, but I felt optimistic that there might be the odd schoolie around at least. To cut nearly two hours of fishing down very quickly there was no takes at all, and as I was leaving dark cloud loomed on the horizon. The only sign of activity I saw was a splash of panic as I seemed to land a cast right on top of a fish. Safe to say it didn't come back!

After a detour to Ronald's hamburger place it was onto mark number 2 for the day. I was told about a mark by John Mottram, a member of world sea fishing forums who I met a few weeks ago and recommended this area for decent Pollack. I set about as he suggested, using float fished sandeel. It took a bit of trial and error but eventually I was comfortably working the sandeel hovering just above the kelp.

I thought I saw a couple of bites as the float drifted around but nothing came of them. After about an hour and a half of fishing I was getting slightly frustrated that there was no more action, though I have read before that bright sunshine isn't the best for Pollack. Eventually when the tide was noticeably flooding I got the first definite bite and small Pollack maybe 1lb in weight came in rather easily on the spinning rod. A couple of casts later I was trying to keep the float away from a now underwater ledge and as I moved it, I felt something pulling back. Turned out to be another pollack of a similar size. From this point I decided to fish more 'sink and draw' to cover more ground in front of me and hopefully the bait would now imitate an injured sandeel.

This resulted in two bites in quick succession. The first one missed; the second hooked! This fish made several strong dives towards the seabed, indicating a decent size. As I drew the fish closer I could see my float appearing in the deep and I was eager to see what size this fish would be. Before I caught a glimpse it made one last dive, during which I tightened the drag,as I saw my line head towards a kelp bed. Unfortunately that was my mistake, as I'd dropped to 10lb hooklength in the clear water it was almost inevitable that a good fish would break free under moderate pressure. Still, it gives me hope that I can find a decent Pollack in future now!

By now I was being pushed off my fishing ledge, so I relocated to another where I could still fish over the same ground. Before leaving I had another bite, resulting in another pollack, this one a bit bigger than the first two, pushing towards 2lb weight. So that was Saturday done with, work took up Sunday but in the meantime I made plans for decent sessions Monday and Tuesday, write ups of those one their way!

18/7/17 - so near!

So after 3 unsuccessful lure sessions in the past week, I planned a change of tactics yesterday. The aim was two fold - starting in the day time I was hoping for a cuckoo wrasse, followed by a late beach session with Paul for a tope.

The daylight session was at a new mark for me near Trearddur Bay, but one I'd seen a lot of decent reports from. All I took down was my spinning rod, a pack of ragworm and plenty of small weights as I expected a few losses. Rig was a short 2 hook flapper with size six hooks, so I had a chance at catching a variety of other mini species that might be lurking around the rocks.

Being a very bright day I thought that most of the fish would be lurking in some shade, so started out casting into a gulley between my ledge and another rock. Initially it was difficult to hold bottom with such a small weight but eventually I got the rig to settle and started getting bites. As expected, the major culprits were going to be Ballan Wrasse of various sizes, and three came in steady succession. Unfortunately bites slowed right down in the gulley, and despite repeatedly casting and re-positioning the baits all I could manage further was a tompot blenny.

With the tide rising I moved a bit further around the ledge, dropping baits right down the side onto a submerged ledge. This must have been where the fish were hiding fishing around this ledge was bite after bite, sometimes not even needing to drop the weight right to the seabed. I was still reasonably confident of getting my target, even if I had to fish through every Ballan or Corkwing Wrasse in front of me.

Around high tide another fella joined me on the ledge, as he would casting further out we wouldn't get in each others way. We chatted away and while doing so we both had a Ballan Wrasse each. As I was describing what I was hoping to catch the guy had another bite and on lifting it out I saw the unmistakable blue tinge of a male Cuckoo Wrasse. In double quick time I rung the changes and lobed my baits a little further out. As it would happen my first bite after casting out a bit turned out to be my target, a striking blue cuckoo wrasse...success! Two casts later I landed a female of the same species so it was a short but productive session.

For the night session it was myself and Paul, looking for a tope from the beach. After such a long period of settled weather it was expected that the weather would turn, unfortunately it would happen throughout Tuesday. By the time we were fishing strong winds were now pushing on our backs but we thought it would just hold out while fishing.

Big mackerel baits were cast out as far as possible and we settled down for the long wait. We were discussing how long to fish for when there was a distinct zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, as Paul's ratchet went. He lifted in and it was fish on! The way the rod was bending suggested it was what we came for. However coming on the first cast I think we were a bit unaware and no sooner was it hooked there was a ping as the line snapped. Gutted nearly described the feeling, but incredible for Paul to experience his first tope run. We hoped that was a signal for things to come, but no more bites came, just crabs, shrimps and other scavengers munching the baits to pieces.

Our nerves were on edge for the last hour or so, as over the horizon lightning was showing. It certainly felt like the storm was coming, but while the skies were clear we fished on with a watchful eye. Eventually it got a bit too much, though the lightning had stopped, it was now cloudy above us, the wind had dropped and it had started raining. Not wanting to be caught out by the storm appearing above us we cut the session short, eager to get back for a longer session and hopefully we can land our target.