Couple of weeks update

Been quite for a couple of weeks but not to worry, I have still definitely managed some fishing.

I had an early trip to a west facing beach to try for a turbot. The weather was glorious, unfortunately the fish didn't bite. With a reasonable surf running I think with worm or crab a bass might have been on the cards but I went all out with the fish baits for the flatties.

I have also been on a couple of plugging missions around work. There have been reports of a few being caught on lures so my optimism is increasing, however its still going to take a bit more effort to get catching consistently. The only bass I've had on a lure was a complete fluke, as it was second cast of a turn up and chance it session. Doing it again is proving a lot harder!

Another aspect I've been working on is LRF fishing. Its been tough going, weather conditions haven't been great for it, with high winds and poor clarity. Trying in the Straits has also made things tricky as well, adding strong currents to the mix of condition. Lastly the water is still a little cold, and while the fish are there, the amount of activity seems to be a lot lower than it would in a couple of months time. The weekend just gone conditions looked better though. Lighter winds, and the water clarity was good, Maybe too good.

I started off at Amlwch Breakwater, Ideal location for a host of mini species. The plan was 1 rod fishing small ragworm baits on a flapper, and the other fishing with small jig heads and lures. It was soon apparent that the winds were still too strong to fish with 1-2 gram jig heads, and eventually I switched to a drop shot setup with a 10 gram weight, fishing live ragworm. Action was slow all round, despite 10 or so rods out along the breakwater I only saw 2 or 3 whiting caught in the 3 hours I was there. On 1 retrieve I felt a little resistance, I thought it might be an octopus at first but turned out to be a small scorpion fish. With no more action I had 30 mins fishing the inner harbour and had 1 bite that came to nothing.

After a bite to eat I headed to the Straits again to fish low tide. I had a heavy plugging rod, and also my LRF rod to drop shot ragworm again. Fishing was equally hard going as the morning, my best guess being the very clear water made all the mini species hide away from any potential predators. My theory was sort of proved right, as when the tide started to flood and the light faded slightly, I started getting bites. First one resulted in a corkwing wrasse, the next almost in total darkness was a small pollack, before I had to pack up. However I'm still pleased to be learning and progressing with this new style.

 Today I had a boat trip out of Holyhead, more on that coming up, and I've got big plans for Saturday coming should the weather hold!