08/7/17

So since my previous session I had received information which would help bring my mission to catch a blonde ray a little bit easier. I put it to use Saturday just gone and despite conditions probably being not quite right, I arrived at the mark with a bit of optimism.

First up the heavy rods were set up and cast out with double sandeel, or squid/sandeel wraps. I waited in anticipation but unfortunately bites were slow to come by. This was the theme throughout the day, just the occasional nibble, the odd doggie landed and a couple of snoods snipped by spider crabs. One bite got me a little bit excited as whatever I had hooked stayed deep right to the edge. Unfortunately it turned out to be a doggie and a foul hooked dab that provided resistance in the tide.

To keep myself interested I had took along a pack of ragworm and a spinning rod with the intention of fishing small hooks close in. Thankfully the rock dwellers were happy to bite and I caught Leopard Spot Gobies, Tompot Blennies and Shannies mixed in between a steady stream of Ballan Wrasse up to about 1.5lb.

In the end there were 4 people fishing from the ledges and there wasn't much else being caught. I saw a small ray caught as I got there, and a fella who arrived later got a decent smoothound to the edge. I went down to grab it for him, unfortunately deciding on the wrong ledge to land it from. I slid about 2ft down into the water, and as I did the hook pulled from the smoothound. A soaking and a lost fish wasn't the plan, but I was thankful I didn't go any further into the water.

Ultimately not the day I had planned but good fun fishing close in anyway, and I'll get another chance at the blonde rays in better conditions before long!

Morning Ray

After the disappointment a couple of weeks ago of losing what felt like a ray I headed back to the mark this morning to try and make amends. The forecast was for the wind to increase throughout the day, but I though it would be manageable during my planned fishing time. 

It was tricky for almost all the time I fished, the strong cross wind making it difficult to keep in contact with the weight and detect bites. I didn't expect much in the first hour or so after low tide and sure enough, nothing happened! Baits came back untouched, but I kept putting fresh on to maximise the scent trail left in the water.

After having a snood snipped by a spider crab, I watched the other rod as it seemed to be moving in the current. However there was a lot of movement in the rod tip outside what I was used to by now with the wind. I reeled down tight and lifted into the resistance. It was light, but not like a doggie, so my suspicion was that it was a small ray. This was confirmed as it stayed deep until right next to the rocks, and I could see the distinctive diamond shape emerging from the very blue sea.

It was tiny, maybe only a pound in weight, however it was target achieved. I didn't have another bite but it rounded off the 2 sessions quite nicely, catching targets both today and last night. I was off the rocks just both the weather turned and I was cut off by the tide.

Back on the Lures

It was exactly a month ago that I had that epic night landing the 9lb bass, but since then I've not had a proper session throwing the plastic around, instead just an hour here and there trying new places. That all changed last night though, with the tide size within my comfort and the weather looking favourable I headed out to my so far reliable night lure mark.

I arrived with a bit of daylight left, starting downtide of where I normally fish, having a few casts into a channel as the tide was slack. Nothing happened, as expected, but I did notice that the patches of Japanese knotweed that was just sprouting a few weeks ago, were now a full length two to three metre rafts waving around in the water. Having long strands of floating weed about is far from ideal, treble hooks soon get caught up in it then its goodbye expensive lure.

With no sign of fish activity and the current yet to get moving I had a mooch around for some crab. While there were some monstrous male crabs around peelers and softies were few and far between, however a check of the pockets afterwards and I had nine to bulk out the numbers in the freezer.

By now the small tide had started to creep in, and the water had reached the point where the mark was now properly fishable. I began casting "the" lure, the Maria Angel Kiss, my go to lure and always the first one out of the box. I fished as I normally would, letting the lure drift most casts, occasionally straight retrieving from uptide or way downtide. Gradually the lure snagged less and less on the bottom, and my hopes rose as the tide reached the height at which my previous successes had come.

Despite hearing one fish jump off to the side of me early in the tide, the "hot" time I expected to catch came and went. Facing a possible blank I began to think what was different tonight than previous nights. It was flat calm, the wind was on my back and was decreasing throughout the session, and the current was sweeping to my left, but wasn't a raging torrent. I shone my torch at my feet, checking the water visibility. Curiously it was now down to a maximum of 2ft, while at slack tide there was around 3-4ft clarity when previously the water had cleared as the tide was running.

As my light was on I noticed a small silvery fish travelling with the current. Thinking this would be the typical prey of any bass around, I watched its movements so I could try and imitate them with the lure. While trying this for a couple of casts I heard a commotion in the water behind me. Shining my light in that direction I caught a glimpse of a dark grey/silver back as it moved out of the shallows. Even though I was fast being pushed back knowing there was bass around it was lights off and continue working the water.

It didn't take long after these latest signs of activity that as I worked the lure parallel to the shore, the rod hooped round. I felt the tell tale head shaking followed by a long first run as a bass took off downtide with the lure. Wanting to keep the fish away from the long strings of weed I lifted the rod high and pumped the fish up till it was on the surface. It made several more spirited runs but I was soon on top and slid the fish alongside me to land. It wasn't massive, but at around 3lb it gave a good account of itself. Once photographed it was back in the water. as usual I held it steady before it swam off strongly. All thoughts of an early bed were now gone as I went back out to the point.

Not two casts later the rod bent round and my reel was screaming again. This time the fish continued its long first run and made several attempts at darting between the shallows and deeper channel, also swimming uptide right towards me. It was trying every trick possible but the hook held and the fish was finally subdued. Now all I had to do was bring an evidently decent fish towards me against the current. I took my time and got my prize fish, and it was another clonker. A quick photograph and measure, at 66cm gives a weight of approximately 7lb, before it was back in the water swimming off as strong as it was on the way in.

I gave it another 30 minutes but was being pushed further back all the time. I also think that the fight from the last fish may have spooked any other fish in the area. Once again though, I was more than happy with my nights work and began thinking about my session the next morning

.

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.

.