Hound Hunting Pt2

Went after hounds again with Paul after finally pinpointing the right area. While it meant a 5am start to collect enough crab bait for myself, the rest of the day was pretty routine.

Expectations were high with us thinking it would be a busy night, with reports from this area being pretty consistent with people landing several fish in a session. Sport wasn't as hectic as we had predicted, we had to wait till the sun dropped before getting the bites. 

Just before the head-torches came out I had the first run and beached a lovely smoothound of maybe 7lb. It took a while but eventually we had the next bite and it fell to Paul, and he landed a fish of a similar size. He was also next in with a good take, however the fish had other plans and decided to head off to Ireland like a steam train and snapped his mainline! I had two more fish late on, plus we both had at least two runs each where the fish dropped the bait. 

I even managed a bit more hand to fin combat as my last hound shook the hook at the edge so I managed to skip down the rocks and lift it out while it was still cruising the shallows! Just a short entry this time, will leave the pictures to do most of the talking.

There be Monsters

 Saturday night just gone, me and Paul were planning on trying for rays but now the weather seemed to turn for the worst we were undecided whether to go. In the end we settled on Benllech as its normally a banker venue for at least doggies and whiting with a chance of something a bit better. Come the evening, although it was a biting cross wind the rain eased and we were quietly optimistic. After the usual suspects I had a good pull down and a belting huss was at the surface. Unfortunately it did what huss do best and spat the hook. I had a feeling it would be a one good fish session and I saw that as an opportunity gone. I strapped on a whiting and cast it short hoping for another.

It sat out for a while with a few sharp pulls but nothing definite developed so I left it to see if the fish would come back, while I was keeping occupied with another doggie. Nothing happen for about 10 mins so I decided to bring it in. Initially I thought I was snagged but then the snag started to fight and move. Soon the head of a conger appeared..... then the rest of its body and christ almighty I've never seen anything like it. It took me on a merry dance around the rocks, lunging into the gulleys and around the rock ledges in front, but my 30lb snood was clearly holding so we set about trying to land the beast.

I led the fish around to a ledge that just had a few inches of water on it where I could slide it on and get hold. It was another 5-10 mins before the fish surrendered and I dragged as much as I could onto the ledge. Paul didn't fancy getting to near it (understandably) so I passed him the rod and went down. As i pulled the line it inevitably snapped, instinct took hold and I dived on the fish, wrestling on my hands and knees in a puddle on the ledge! Eventually I managed to turn around and push it up the seaweed to higher ground where we finally could appreciate its size. We didn't weigh it, the flexi-tub wasn't big enough but I did have a body sized measuring stick, I'm 5'10" and the fish almost matched me! After the photoshoot she went back quietly snaking back to the depths.

Once things calmed down we had a visit from a very bold fox looking for a free meal. Paul upped his terminal gear and managed a conger of his own, a nice fish in its own right of around 6-7lb. This added the gloss on a truly memorable night

July Starts with a Scream

After the success at Holyhead the previous week, I decided to end June with an attempt at a shore tope. Unfortunately when me and Paul got to the mark, near Rhoscolyn, we planned to fish, the wind put us off trying to climb down. A quick rethink and we pitched up at an alright looking spot just around the corner. Despite being somewhat prepared for snaggy ground, we weren't prepared for it to be so snaggy. A big rod was put out with half a mackerel, getting stuck both times and losing everything, leader and all on the second. I did have slightly more success fishing close in with bits of rag, catching a few small wrasse before the last fish being species 15 for the year, a poor cod.


Fast forward nearly two weeks to Tuesday just gone, with the big tides I decided to have a crack at some bigger smoothounds. After spending the day getting all my gear sorted I made the drive up to penrhos to try and collect some crab for the session. This is when my optimism started to drop as even after two hours searching I barely had 10 crinkly crabs, but with a couple of squid for back up I thought I would just manage for the session.

Had a little explore around a couple of beaches just outside Valley before picking my spot, however I got "the feeling" that it could be a difficult night. The couple of hours in daylight went by with no action so I set up just away from the rocks where at least I wouldn't lose any gear. Out went one of the softer crabs I had managed to collect, along with squid on the other rod, and I sat down considering an early finish get get to bed before midnight. I decided to leave everything out and tuck into my last buttie to lighten the rucksack for the walk back. At the point when I was mid bite the ratchet on the crab rod screams and just keeps going. I lift into the fish, and after a few minutes when it makes 2 more runs I see the leader, then a nice smoothound in the shallows. A quick dash down and my prize was I my hands. It wasn't big, maybe 6lbs at most, but I was over the moon and glad to get one bigger than a pup this year.

This obviously lifted my spirit no end and I decided on one more cast to try and prove it wasn't a fluke. It took a while, maybe 30 mins, when the line dropped slack and I was in again. Unfortunately this fish decided it didn't want a photo and dropped the bait about 15 metres out. With no bait left I had to call it a day there but I was happy to land one and know that it wasn't a fluke so will be back again on the next big tides.

Hound Quest

So the last two and a half weeks I have occupied myself targeting smoothounds on Anglesey. Apologies for the lack of photos on this post, there was a lot of hard fishing and a sprinkling of bad weather made it difficult to know when to get the camera out.

First session was Saturday 4th, myself, Paul and Arwyn headed over to Llanddwyn Island. This is the only place I've ever caught a smoothound and with good numbers now being caught on the boats I thought this would be as good a place as any to start. A hot day made the walk to the end difficult, and I got there a bit early, to try for some mullet. With very few signs of fish I cracked on to the end to be joined by the other two a bit later on, they just made it onto the rock before it got surrounded by the tide. With the big tide I thought weed might be the biggest problem, but that turned out the number of boats parked up in the bay, casting range was quite restricted for the three of us.

The fishing was a none event until it got dark, up to high we managed a few doggies and a single pollack between us. As the tide picked up I had a good take on half a bluey, resulting in a huss, however it spat the hook right at the surface. Next cast same thing happened, then Paul had the same thing happen with two huss himself and it wasn't looking to be our night. By now the current was picking up and I was starting to get a bit of trouble with weed on the line. I was looking at packing up when Arwyn, who hadn't managed anything at this point, shouts he's into a fish and a nice one too. Lo and behold another huss is at the surface and with a bit of careful manoeuvring we were able to land it, one fish certainly making the session before the long walk back.

The following Monday we made plans to try a mark nearer Holyhead, and having seen pictures of some good hounds from that area the previous couple of days we felt like we were onto a winner. However the session was interrupted, just as the tide reached the supposed ideal time, by a giant black cloud heading our way, reminiscent of Independence Day when the space ships first appear. It brought with it thunder and lightning, and being stood next to a 13ft conductor stick was not where we wanted to be. We scrambled to the nearest building until the worst of the rain and lightning had passed before making our way back to the rods in the cars. It seemed that the storm went either side of us but it was a good while before we felt safe to return to our gear, and look for a clean pair of boxers. Once fishing I had a session to forget, needlessly losing three sets of end gear and after the last time couldn't be bothered setting up again.

The Wednesday after that, with a little bit of bait leftover I went out to Lillypond. I decided to take a walk and see if I could fish a different ledge but I wasn't too happy getting down there on my own, so ended up at the regular ledge, getting distracted by taking a few nature photos on the way. On the drive down a hare bounced along the road before a buzzard flew out of a field onto a rock ledge. On the coast there was a seal lazing around in the bay and a couple of rock climbing goats halfway down a cliff, some sights that made up for the poor fishing. After finding snags on the first couple of casts I moved further to the right. The fishing was pants, I only had one doggie, two other fellas did a bit better catching dabs and a couple of plaice.

Fast forward to Saturday just gone, after a 10 day break I decided to head to a mark that me and Paul tried a couple of times last year, and ended up getting an absolute soaking. Conditions were looking pretty good, slightly overcast, minimal swell and light breeze on my back, however the sky cleared up slightly and I thought that might put the fish off a bit. It started slowly with just a couple of doggies, then as the sun went down I had two tiny smoothound pups in two casts. Despite them being small I was chuffed with getting my target. With high tide still to come I was optimistic that the adults would be around but it started to look like it wasn't to be. As I started packing up I give the leftover crabs a drink I happened to glance up and the rods and notice the squid rod was bent double. After a bit of a tussle with the fish taking line I thought I had the specimen I came for. There was a brief hairy moment when the fish got stuck under a ledge right in front of me but a bit of patience and it came out. I was more than slightly shocked when a decent thornback broke the surface. A quick weigh and she was 8lb 2oz, and biggest of the year. At this point I packed up making sure the session ended on a high.

Monday night came so me and Paul decided to use up the last of our crab at Sandy Beach. We felt that the conditions were favourable and got set up pretty well in the middle of the beach. It was such a nice evening and a cracking sunset, however that meant that it didn't get fully dark until about 11pm. Despite throwing everything into it we only managed a couple of doggies between us. It was a slightly frustrating end to the hunt, especially knowing that good fish had been caught throughout the two weekends I fished, however the next set of big tides I'll be back out after the big one, hopeully with a few more pictures as well!