Sunday Morning LRF

I had nearly a full pack of ragworm leftover after Fridays session, and with it needing using I headed into Menai Bridge this morning with the light gear to search out some mini species. Having tried this a few times before with little success I wasn't overly optimistic, but at least it would get the worms used.

Starting off by the bridge, I fished off a high rock casting out into the areas of calm water. It took a bit of patience, the rapidly changing currents and snaggy ground making it difficult to hold bottom. It took me by surprise when I had a fish bite second cast and up came a first for the year, a tompot blenny. Bites on the next two casts resulted in another tompot blenny and a snag, after which the quickly rising water forced me off my perch.

Not wanting to move too far away I opted to fish from a mark called "the green" on the other side of the bridge. Due to the initially shallow depth I expected it to take an hour or so before there was any action. However on dropping the first baits in I could see small fish circling and ripping at the baits. After a couple of misses I dropped down to a size 10 hook and soon I had landed the culprit, a small corkwing wrasse.

From then on the bites continued for the two hours I fished. Positioning the baits in an area just out of the main flow kept the fish interested and I ended up with 4 corkwings, a small ballan wrasse and at least 5 shanny to add to the tompots caught earlier.

Despite the occasional shower it was a productive little session before heading to work at midday, and more learnt about a mark that I've often overlooked in the past.

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Isle of Man Road Trip.

The weekend just gone I spent in the Isle of Man. I had booked onto a shark tagging training course with the Manx Wildlife Trust. Tagging sharks is something I've been interested in for a long time but opportunities to actually learn the skill had been hard to come by so I was looking forward to this.

Once I had booked into the hotel, my first port of call was the nearest tackle shop just around the corner. Initial reports weren't promising, only one run from a tope had been reported from the shore so far, and the boat skipper felt that we were still a little early for sharks, both tope and spurdogs. The guys in the shop were very helpful though, giving a bit of all round advice to get started on fishing around the island. I taking a pack of sandeels I resisted having a few casts on the first evening, instead choosing to rest and get my gear ready for the days ahead.

With the theory part of the course out of the way Friday evening, the boat was leaving Saturday afternoon from Port St Mary in the South of the island. I decided to get there early and fish off the breakwater that you can park on. It screamed wrasse and mini species with a good depth of clear water, lots of kelp and rocks for them to hide in. If I had ragworm I would have been very confident, but without it I had to get inventive with the LRF gear and make the best of what I had with me. It took a few casts with a pink grub before out of the shadows I saw a nice ballan wrasse come into the mid water to investigate its plastic potential prey. 

Suddenly now that my eye was in I could make out the shape of wrasse moving all around near the base of the breakwater. I had a few more follows from wrasse and a pollack but try as I might I couldn't get a take. I think it was the clear water making the fish very wary. It was a trade-off between fishing light to tempt the fish, but not too light that I couldn't get them up the wall. The frustration carried on for a couple of hours when back on the pink grub now a small wrasse, possibly a rock cook, shot out of the kelp and latched on. The little 7 gram rod was bent over well but unfortunately as it reached the surface the fish made good its escape, possibly by evading the hook as it attacked the lure. Out came a whole heap of rigs as I tried everything to tempt a couple of fish before getting on the boat but I just couldn't tempt a fish. The closest I got was the Isome ragworm getting a few nibbles on the dropshot, however the fish still didn't take the hook. I think once they realised it was plastic and not edible they left it alone.

After a quick walk to town to get some food it was time to head out on the boat. A half hour steam out off the southern tip of the island and the first drops were made. Gear couldn't have been simpler, running ledger, 150lb mono hooklength finishing with a 8/0 bronze hook, the plan being to drift over some sandbanks touching the fresh mackerel flappers on the bottom. We expected it to take a bit of time for the sharks to pick up the scent trail and sure enough the first hour was very slow, a dogfish for myself and a couple of spurdogs had come up. We re-positioned for the second drift and dropped down again. The skipper expected action to pick up with the increased tide run and sure enough it did. A couple more spurs had come in around the boat and before long it was my turn. I could feel the weight of the fish and the head shaking but was surprised by the relative lack of fight. It made a few short runs but the most difficult part of the fight was bringing it up through around 150 feet of water. Finally it was on the surface, it was quickly measured and tagged, I had a quick photo before she was released. On this trip I managed another smaller one later in the day but it came off as it was lifted on board. Overall it was a successful day for the tagging, 18 spurdogs were tagged on the boat in the 4 hours, plus a couple more that were too small and everyone who came out caught at least 1. not bad considering it was supposedly too early.

It was an early start the next days boat trip, and we stopped inshore to get a few more fresh mackerel for bait. It was a slow start again waiting for the tide to pick up. Several drifts and moves around and we were eventually into spurdogs again in the last 1/2 hour of the trip, with the guys doing the tagging kept busy with one fish after another. Another 10 spurdogs and a couple of small tope were caught as well so another successful tagging day which hopefully brings some useful data for the tagging program. 

I had already dedicated Sunday afternoon to targeting tope from the beaches on the north of the island. The 32 mile journey from the Southern tip to the most northerly point took well over an hour not including a stop for food and a massive accidental detour through the valley outside Douglas. I arrived at the Point of Ayre with around 2 hours till high tide. A quick chat with the first person I came to on the beach indicated there was a match just about to start. He told me I was best walking a few hundred metres own the beach for the best chance of a tope, and that 2 had been caught the previous day. Wishing him the best for the competition I made my way down to the area he suggested, pitching up 30 or so metres last the last set of anglers.

Terminal gear was fairly simple, pulley rigs with 6 inches of wire biting trace and 8/0 circle hooks. Not sure what would work best I went for 1/2 mackerel on one rod, and a whole one on the other. I settled down to repair more rigs from last time when there was a pull on the half mackerel. I left it to develop but not much line came off the reel against the ratchet. I reeled down feeling resistance but no fight, and as I suspected a dogfish was soon flapping about at my feet. Just as I was dealing with it, the other ratchet started to go.... And go... And go! Convinced it was a tope I sprinted down the beach to return the doggie before picking up the other rod and setting the hook. 

The fight was on! With the fish easily peeling line from the reel against the drag this co
uld only be a tope. While I couldn't quite believe I had hooked one on my first cast, I tried not to get too excited, taking my time to bring it in and let it run when it wanted to. I was expecting lots of fast runs, however the fish spent more time going side to side across the beach, rather than out to sea. Gradually I had the upper hand, it's runs became shorter and with the leader knot on the reel I was able to bring it into the shallows and make a grab for it. After spending so many hours last year trying for tope I was over the moon to finally get my first one from the shore. 

I managed to attract the attention of the people fishing nearest me to do the honours and photograph the moment. Once done I got her back in the water as soon as possible where she swam off as strong as she came in. 

I could have packed up there and then as that was job done, however with the weather so nice and plenty of bait I decided to continue. In the following casts I hooked and lost one tope, before landing two more, the biggest being 25-30lb size. The third one was very feisty still so I decided instead of faffing about with the camera I'd get it straight back in the water. Over high tide the action slowed right down and I had just one more doggie before calling it a day. On my walk back up chatting with a few other anglers it seemed that the tope had come in for a feast, with around 12 fishers landing at least 2 tope each. Back at the hotel I considered taking the lures out for a few casts but I was so happy with the session I had just had that I sacked all plans off and just admired the pictures of the magnificent fish I had caught, and reflected on a brilliant weekend with fantastic people in an amazing location. Just got to get one on home soil now!

Back on the Hounds

After the successful solo mission last week, myself and Paul headed back out in slightly more comfortable conditions for another crack at them. We were heading towards neap tides and with high being so late we thought a couple of fish each would be a good result.

As we unpacked the cars the water looked a little higher than we thought it would be, so we stomped down to the mark as quick as possible, eager to get the baits in. Rigs and tactics were simple, pulley pennells and crab for bait, there is little point in taking anything else here.

It didn't take long before all four rods were fishing. Expecting a little wait for the first bites, I had set out my gear to repair a few rigs when ZZZZZZ, a ratchet was going and Paul was straight in. A decent fish around 6-7lb was up, photoed and released. No sooner was it back in the water when Pauls other rod was nodding away as well. Another Smoothound was coming in, this one just a pup but two fish in the first two casts was surely a good sign for the evening.

My first casts stayed completely still so it was time to refresh baits and get in on the action. I was considering moving the other side of Paul to see if that made a difference but my ratchet was soon singing. I took my time, making sure to land the fish as I might only get one, bring the fish closer to our fishing point I slid the fish onto dry land, instead of lifting it up by the line like last time. A similar size to Pauls at around 6-7lb. I've mentioned in previous posts that I don't bother weighing fish, as nice as it would be to know I prefer to get these magnificent creatures back in the water as soon as possible. In a similar pattern to Paul, I was in again next cast with smaller pup as well.

The action continued throughout the night, I didn't get chance to repair any rigs as as soon as I sat down a ratchet was singing again. By the time we had packed up an hour after high tide we had reached at least 10 smoothounds between us, a had full of dogfish and a bonus bass for myself. Most of the fish were pups up to 4-5lb, however highlight of a very good session was atoning for losing a good fish last week by catching an absolute beauty which must have been knocking around the double figure mark. While the smoothounds can reach much bigger, a double figure shore caught fish is a very good specimen for North Wales. Got even more rigs to repair now!

All the W's

After a successful trip for the guys on Thursday, my solo mission Friday night was to get into my first smoothound of the year. Conditions were going to be tricky, strong cross winds against the flooding tide would create a bit of chop on the water which isn't ideal. However arriving at the mark I was able to set my tripod up without it falling over and eventually I was able get my casts going mostly with the wind to reach the distance required.

It was a difficult session until high tide, I only saw one bite, which was missed and I experienced all the W's weather wise - wet, windy, wavy. The on off rain had me thinking of sacking of the fishing early but at just gone midnight the ratchet sang on one of my rods as something took the frozen crab bait. I could feel some resistance and after a bit of commotion on the surface I had my target, a little smoothound of 4-5lb. It was a lively one but eventually I managed to get an alright photo in the rain as well. Once returned I seemed to ignore the weather and fished hard, landing another smoothound pup and two dogfish.

There was a slight lull in action when as I was dealing with one rod the other hit the rocks. I picked up thinking it was the wind when something substantial was pulling back. I loosened the drag and played the fish in, letting it swim when it wanted. A decent smoothound in the 8-10lb size was soon in front of me. I guided it round to a landing spot and for some reason decided to lift it out by the line instead of grabbing the fish. Inevitably there was a snap and a splash as the fish lazily swam back out to sea just out of arms reach. A slight disappointment on the night but given the conditions I was more than happy to get the job done and see a couple of smoothies.

Second Guided Session

Thursday night saw three of us seeking both fish and shelter from fairly strong winds. I was joined by Ethan and Billy, both who have been fishing before but were seeking help in order to improve catches in the future. I decided on Penrhos as the venue, as the wind would be on our backs, sport is pretty reliable and there's a chance of a bonus ray or smoothound.

We arrived in daylight so I could see the guys cast and give a few pointers on technique, however they were more than capable of sending the baits out just beyond the rocks. From then we discussed mostly bait presentation, different marks and times that are most likely to produce fish. Rigging up with 2 and 3 hook flappers allowed us to try a variety of baits to find which works best.

I wasn't expecting much in daylight but within about 5 minutes of casting, Billy's rod bounced into life, unsure when to begin reeling I suggested leaving it for a minute or so to let the bite develop. Sure enough the occasional nod became a consistent rattle, and upon reeling there was a noticeable bend in the rod. As I had expected it a dogfish was the culprit and as it broke the surface I went down to the waters edge to land it for Billy. He was over the moon with it, having been over a year since catching a fish he had one within 10 minutes of this session. We planned on being out for about 4 hours so this was a good sign.

It didn't take long before Ethan had a bite too, this time it was a whiting holding onto his sandeel bait. The action continued and while never hectic, bites were coming nearly every cast and most resulted in a fish landed, mostly dogfish and a pouting made an appearance. I had set up 2 rods as well to try and tempt a bonus fish using frozen crab and squid/sandeel wraps, but these just resulted in more doggies.

The 4 hours went by incredibly quickly but we left satisfied with our evenings session and I was chuffed that the guys were able to get into some consistent sport and learn a few new skills, making it worthwhile heading out in the rough conditions.

First Guiding Session

 The sudden turn in weather had me scratching my head where to fish on my day off on Saturday. However the day before two friends, Stuart and Rachel registered an interest in coming fishing, despite having no previous fishing knowledge or experience. I decided on Point Lynas as the mark as it is fairly comfortable, easy access, out of the worst of the weather and more than likely to throw up a few fish.

Once down on the mark I set them up with a light spinning rod each, explaining the basics of what I was doing. The plan was to fish small ragworm baits close to the rocks for wrasse, pollack and mini species, although with the tide heading out for most of the session I had a feeling sport would be a little slow. I talked them through how to use the fixed spool reel to cast, in this case it was just an underarm swing, releasing the weight at the furthest point so the weight dropped just of the edge of the seaweed.

While they were waiting for the first bites I set up a feather rod, and a heavy rod to see if any bigger fish were swimming past. After 20 minutes or so Stuart decided to reel in and check the baits and as soon as he started reeling in he said there was something pulling back. Slow and steady the fish came up to the surface, it was a small ballan wrasse that gave a good account on the light spinning rod. The next bite was a little while coming, and it was Rachel's turn. This time a slightly better wrasse fell for the ragworm baited sabikis. After that Stuart was in again and to my surprise it was a dogfish hanging onto the small ragworm bait. This continued, each time I expected to see a wrasse or pollack but it was only dogfish finding the tiny baits.

Moving around the rocks they had about 8 dogfish between them, and as much as I sometimes detest catching them they are brilliant fish for beginners as they provide a bit of weight and can usually be relied upon for bites. As the day drew to a close Rachel managed to tempt a scorpion fish to give us a bit more variety. Considering neither of them had any experience fishing before they were able to pick it up quickly and were comfortable in swinging out the weight and bring in a fish without assistance. Overall on top of the fishing the weather was good and we witnessed a wide range of local wildlife so it was a pretty successful day all round.


After the session I had a couple of hours spare so made a short move to Bull Bay. Again the fishing was a bit slow but I managed a couple of ballans and a shanny and lost a couple of bigger wrasse that couldn't be stopped. I think it was the clear water making the fish a bit wary of taking the baits, and the bright sunshine almost definitely put the pollack off, but I was happy to be able to provide my first "clients" with some fish.

Tough conditions turn good!

After the schoolie on Friday, I was looking forward to chucking more lures around, as I'm feeling more confident using them with almost every session. However three sessions in and I was getting a bit frustrated, seeing glimpses of fish activity but not being able entice a bite. Its all experience though, now I've got a better idea of a usually reliable mark, and tried out another for a couple of sessions. 

Wednesday evening I was in two minds, whether to get out for rays, or try again with the lures for bass. Still don't know what sold it for me but it was the lures bagged up and off I went. 

I started off walking up an down the Swellies, an area well known for bass, but for the uninitiated finding the fish feeding times can prove a tricky quest. I made my way along to a likely looking point, casting as I went. Even though the water in front of me screamed bass, tide run pushing over several rocky, weedy pinnacles, clear ground between them and slack water off to the side, I couldn't tempt a take. One fish breaking the surface was the only activity I saw. It was a good little fact finding mission though, definitely a mark that is worth trying again to get right as I think the potential is for those big solitary fish.

I left the swellies and headed to a mark that had seen previous success for me, and Wednesday I arrived at the same time to attempt to understand how it would fish on a slightly bigger tide. I began working various lures, primarily my reliable Maria Angel Kiss, but also a Nabarone imaX, chug bug and a Flash J- minnow (i think, packaging now in the bin). As the water was a little further off the mark I intended to fish hard I started casting from a couple of sandbanks on the way down as a nice bit of current was creating tempting eddies close to the shore. The wind made things a little trickier than last time, and while the water was slack the water was thick with plankton. The marine biologist in me was amazed by the microscopic life teeming in front of me, planktonic ragworm like worms, what looked like copepods and crustacean larvae all enjoying a feast. However I was here to catch fish, and with the water like soup I knew my chances weren't as good. I got closer to my intended mark and found someone just packing up. A quick chat about all things fishing, and I now have a few more marks to try in future, the fella definitely knew his stuff. 

Recommencing fishing I wasted no time blasting out the lures, sticking to floating shallow divers as the soft plastics snagged on basically everything on the way in. The bigger tide meant the water was ploughing through now, combining that with the wind made it difficult to control the lure the way I wanted. I persisted through, knowing if I was going to get a take it would be imminent, keeping the head torch off as much as possible now I could see the algae clearing slightly. 

I flung out a cast towards the expected "kill zone" and as I began the retrieve there was an unmistakable pull and line was leaving the reel. Happy days - fish on! The fight began much as I expected, the fish hit the surface before ploughing off down tide taking 15-20 metres of line. This was the point with the 4lber's that I was able to turn them and despite some shorter spirited runs I was able to beach them pretty quickly. However this fish had other ideas. I gained a small amount of line before it tore off again, and kept going... and going some more, leaving me wondering out loud "what have I hooked here". The line was getting down to where I could see the backing so I decided to take drastic action and stop it taking line by sticking my finger on the spool. 

It did the trick, the fish stopped and appeared to hang deep in a channel. Unfortunately with about 60 metres of braid out over mixed ground, inevitably it got wrapped around some unseen snag. After a couple of minutes of stalemate it was time for drastic action again. I prayed for no breaks, and applied some sustained pressure. Before long everything relaxed and I felt the tell tale nodding of the bass but it was free moving again. Now the battle was to bring it to where I was standing. It kept making shorter runs, both in towards the shore, and out to deeper water but I felt now it was out of the snags I was getting the upper hand. As it was coming in caught glimpses of it on the surface and it was clearly in excess of 4lb. It made one last short burst before I was able to bring the fish along side me, and in full view I was astonished by the size of it. I carefully guided it up the rocks ensuring there would be no tales of the one that got away. This was the fish I was after, this is the type of fish that for me makes all the effort and blanks worth while. 

I set the fish down on some damp seaweed to quickly get the essentials - hook out, photo and measure. I haven't tended to bother weighing any fish of late, I find the process takes a bit too long for me and I trust in the BASS length to weight conversion. 73cm nose to fork which on the conversion puts it at around 9lb 8oz, a stonking new best. After a couple of duff self timer photos I managed to capture the moment perfectly before holding the fish in the current. After a couple of minutes it started to kick its tail and it slowly made it way back out to its watery home. 

While on cloud nine I threw my gear back in my bag a sent out a few more casts. By now though I had lost the eddy in front of me and I believe the fish had probably moved on. Not that I was bothered as after just 10 more minutes I decided nothing was going to top what just happened. As you can imagine it took a while for me to get to sleep, and if I didn't have it before I've definitely caught the lure bug now!