July Guided Fishing Sessions

So its the end of the month so that means its blog time! This month I've decided to split the write up for the guided sessions and my own, to try and lighten the load on the readers!

This month I had three guests along. At the start of the month Steve and Mark came along to a session on Holyhead Breakwater. Both were wanting a similar level of fishing tuition so I covered all the basics; casting, baiting up different baits, basic rig set ups. In order to keep things simple I suggested that the kind of rigs they should start with are 2 or 3 hook flappers and pulley rigs which would cover 90% of their fishing in future. Holyhead Breakwater was the ideal venue to cover a beginners tuition session, I could spread all the gear out, take time explaining various rigs and items, no chance of getting wet and importantly, a very good chance of catching!

The action wasn't as hectic as I thought it might be, however bites were pretty steady. once the bigger rods were put out onto the clean ground in search of a few doggies and whiting, I set the guys up with scratching rods to fish close to the wall. After landing his first doggie, Mark pulled in a steady stream of small wrasse, quickly gaining confidence in baiting up and handling the fish. Despite being just 5 yards apart Steve struggled for bites and was hitting some solid snags.

However, pretty well on high tide he shouted over that he had something on. Watching his line in the water it, whatever he had hooked was taking him for a walk. A quick adjustment to the reel drag and he was able to put more pressure on the fish, guiding to the surface the biggest wrasse I've ever seen. It was a donkey around 4lb. As it tired we walked it over to the steps where I would be able to grab hold of the fish. As it came close I could appreciate the size of the thing, but disaster stuck! The line seemed to catch on the barnacles and before I could get a hold the fish slipped out of sight. I was absolutely gutted for Steve so it was a quick re-rig and off we go again. After a couple of missed bites, he finally had a wrasse, and on last cast got his doggie as well. A successful introduction for both of them to the sport.

My next guest was Tyson from Australia, over visiting his partners family. A mad keen fisher, Tyson said he fishes pretty much everyday back home and was clearly itching to wet a line while over here. He had two targets, bass and pike. While I couldn't help with the pike, I could offer some Anglesey bass guiding. Despite the previous month of glorious weather, the heavens opened by the time we started, and never really let up.

I took Tyson out to a mark I visited a couple of times last year, and while I'd never had more than small pollock here, the ground is so inviting and with it getting dark there's always a chance of a bass. Tyson had managed to pack a few lures that he would usually use for barramundi back home, some of them actually being a Scandinavian brand which are used, I guess, for either pike, pollack, coalies or cod. Rigged on a weighty jig head we heading to promising looking outcrops, fanning casts out to sea and across the little bays formed, working all the gulleys in between.

As we made our way across the terrain, there were some inviting deep holes in the rocks, so I set up a Dolive stick. On dropping into one of these holes I was certain I'd seen a small pollock dart out to investigate. As I was distracted with this I thought I heard Tyson say "fish on" or something to that effect. It took a couple of seconds to register, as it came out of nothing, but the bend in the rod, followed by the splashing on the surface indicated it was indeed bass on! After a spirited scrap I was able to lift the fish out and Tyson had what he came for, and for your first bass on foreign soil it was a fish to be proud of. It was long and lean so I estimated it at 6-7lb, some people fish for 30 years or more and never catch one like that.

Adrenaline now pumping we were keen for more. Unfortunately the dropping tide meant little depth off the end of the rocks, and darkness made it harder to identify potential bass holding points, and we only saw the one fish.

Tyson was back for round two the Monday following. This guided session in the Menai Strait I held a lot more optimism for than before the Friday evening session. It was a promising start, as we arrived down to the mark two other fellas were plugging away, one landed a sea trout, bait fish were shoaling close in and Tyson had an early follow on a deep diving plug. However that was the last of the action we saw. In hindsight, moving down out of the strongest current was the mistake. This moved us away from the bait fish and if there's no prey, there's no predators. A disappointing end to Tysons Anglesey angling sessions but that first fish will live long in my memory.

A couple of guided fishing sessions around Anglesey in the next couple of weeks, but plenty of spaces available for anyone interested in arranging a session.

June Update

As just over a month has gone by, I feel it is time to write up another blog. I don't feel like I've fished anymore than usual, however there have been so many sessions this month its all gone a bit hazy. There has been a few guided fishing sessions for customers, and also I have increased my effort on the species hunting, resisting the temptation to get the lures out for bass at every chance in this fine weather.

Rolling back towards the end of May, myself and Paul looked at having the first serious attempt at getting a tope from the beach. I felt fresh bait would make the difference, and with mackerel being unreliable at the time, I decided on trying to get a garfish as tope bait the day before. It took time, and I'd almost given up of them, but I happened to look up and see the beak of a garfish thrashing the surface. Winding down the slack I was relieved the fish was still there. It came in fairly easily, water temperatures were still down so the fish was quite lethargic but as I lifted it out it was quite clearly something special. I didn't have scales with me but this garfish was as thick as my wrist and close to 3ft long. Eventually back home it weighed in at 1lb 13oz which, as it turned out, is about 4oz off the Welsh record! If only I had scales at the mark! I added another smaller garfish, meaning I had more than enough for bait, and dinner.

Three of us hit the tope mark, myself and Paul were joined by Richard who I've met at Cymyran a couple of times. We fished long into the night, wading, casting then retrieving pretty well until we could take no more. Spider crabs were an absolute nuisance, if fact we were wading through hoards of them that were stationed in 2-3ft of water. A couple of doggies troubled us, before I managed to find a couple of huss on low tide. Unfortunately the piercing sound of a screaming ratchet wasn't heard on this occasion.

The tope quest has taken us to the end of the Llyn Penninsula. On the day we fished conditions started perfect, my flimsy wire was bitten through on the second cast and we were full of optimism. However, apart from doggies we couldn't buy a bite from any pollack or mackerel, before conditions rapidly deteriorated. 20mph+ crosswinds and a steadily increasing swell made things very uncomfortable so we sacked it off a bit earlier than planned. A few small wrasse close in provided the only variety.

A month to the tide almost, myself and Paul tried the beach for them again. This was summer solstice night, and with the clear sky it never got truly dark. It was a similar pattern to the previous session here, except the life that we saw while wading back and forth was incredible. We saw bass, mullet, smelt, weavers, doggies, thornback ray, hermit crabs, spider crabs and a squid all in about 3ft or less of water. Fishing wise we had a couple of doggies and Paul had a small bass on some fresh dug lug. I missed a good run, due to being distracted chasing weavers and smelt for my species tally!

The guided sessions I have had this month have been very tough going. At the beginning of the month I had Kenneth and Dan for some guidance on lure fishing. Despite admiral persistence on what should have been an ideal tide no fish showed to them, or indeed any of the other anglers further up the coast. While frustrating to draw a blank, it was slightly reassuring that the lack of fish wasn't solely down to our methods.

Next up for some guided fishing was Danny, who after trying beach casting had turned to LRF fishing and had some success, though wanted to know if there was anything he could improve to catch more consistently. I admitted that I was still on the learning curve for "pure LRF" but I hoped that with enough different lures or methods I could get him into a few fish. The tides weren't ideal, but the chopping and changing worked and on a dropshotted sandeel section, Danny landed his first pollack. I was disappointed with the lack of action, so I invited Danny out a week later when I would be fishing myself and I could show him how I approach light fishing close in. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas with the wind picking up to the point you could barely stand. All in an effort for 3 wrasse and a pollack over 3-4 hours.

Phew!.. Still with me? There's more..! In between all that I had a few sessions targeting individual species and managed to dink out a cuckoo wrasse, goldsinney wrasse, a tidy flounder to name a few. Oh and on lets say an emotional night, three of us crammed on a rock where there's barely space for one; tripods were kicked, rods dropped, lines tangled, tackle snagged and words sworn
, but the fishing came good. 12 smoothounds between us and a handful of doggies made another late night well worth it!

Bass Guiding and Species Hunting

After my last blog I had an email from Carl asking for some guidance for himself and mate Glyn on fishing for bass. Neither had caught one before but after success a couple of weeks before I was pretty confident of getting them into some fish. We got down to the mark and set up in plenty of time, although not quite where I first hoped to be. I wasn't expecting much for the first hour or so but that gave me enough time to go through different rigs, preparing baits and approaching different marks for bass, as although they turn up anywhere, almost every mark requires different tactics.

Once the guys were happy preparing crab baits themselves, and negotiating the pincers of some lively ragworm we were able to fish hard, in the hope that with more bait fish around, the bigger fish would start to move through the channel.

Glyn broke his duck early on and followed it up with the first doggie I've seen at this mark, while Carl was having a bit of a harder time, finding snags on more than one occasion, fish coming off in the weed, and bites not developing past the initial rattle. We weren't going to leave until he had one though, so we swapped a big pennel rig for a 3 hook flapper. The change of tactics did the trick and Carl's first bass was landed. Despite steady knocks for the next couple of casts no more fish came and with it getting very late the guys decided it was time to call it a day. Although my own expectations for the session weren't met with the bigger fish again failing to show, the guys were incredibly chuffed to get their first bass a piece, and now they've broke the ice I'm sure more will follow for them.

A couple of days later I decided to revisit the mark, this time using lures to try and tease out a bigger fish. I covered a lot more ground than usual, with the smaller tide the fish wouldn't be as concentrated in the channels so I would have to go looking for them. The improvised patch over my waders just holding the water at bay I was out waist deep, fanning casts out from several spots. It was one of those perfect still, silent nights until a fish broke the surface with a mighty swirl off to my left. I speed retrieved my lure to hit the same spot, only to realise that fish had probably already made an attempt on my lure! Safe to say it didn't return! There was another couple of swirls but I was starting to get frustrated with the lack of hook ups so made my way back the way I came. A change to a more flashy lure did the trick after a few casts I had a hook up. There wasn't much fight but I took it steady until a schoolie about 3/4lb, not much bigger than the lure was on the bank. This was followed by two more the same size. With the feeling that the bigger bass weren't going to show again I made a move, but happy to get my first on a lure this year.

Monster tides at the beginning all this week made planning a bit tricky, but on Monday me and Paul headed out early doors, starting out after bass on the lures before trying for garfish. The water was perfect at our fish mark, just a bit more swell than I would have liked but clarity was good and I was optimistic to say the least. I fished hard as the sun rose, chopping and changing lures but nothing seemed to be happening. As Paul arrived I saw a follow from a fish 1-2lb size and Paul had a follow not long after but still nothing positive. I swapped over to fish a crab bait for a couple of casts and instantly had a series of short rattles. The culprits were confirmed as mirco schoolies again with one hanging off a 2/0 hook and bait nearly as big as it!

We decided to make a move, trying to catch the best part of the tide for garfish. Unfortunately were were already a little late in the tide and no amount of ground bait, lures or bubble floated mackerel strips could tempt them out of the deeper water. The persistent wind in our faces adding chop on the water I feel definitely didn't help. Paul moved to the Straits while I went home for a while and met up with him again later on, but I found myself leaving at what would have been the best time to be fishing.

The next day was another early start, this time back on the rocks trying to get into the rays again and have a little species bash close in. A gnarly swell pushed me away from the ledge I wanted to be on but the higher ledges were safe and I could still fish close without losing too much gear. Action on the big rods was none existent, with just a single doggie. I put this down to the water being so clear and also the May bloom of algae choking the water of oxygen.

With the action far out so slow, I concentrated on bumping up my species count. A couple of ballan wrasse were the first to come, followed by the biggest tompot blenny I've ever seen. Even the action close in was steady so I moved position over a gulley in an effort to tempt further bites. One drop I thought I was snagged on some seaweed so pulled up slightly. There was a bit of weight on I pulled up and there was a fish on. At first glance below I thought it was another ballan but as I lifted it out I was gobsmacked that I had a tadpole fish hanging from the line. Its a fish I've wanted to catch, but had like idea where to start tracking one down, to be effectively handed one like that was a definite bonus! I added a couple of shannies, but I was still riding the high of the tadpole fish.

I made a quick visit to Holyhead Breakwater that day as well, but very clear water and the algal bloom seemed to have put off most of the fish. 3 corkwing wrasse for my efforts saw me return to the rocks, I felt like there was a ray or two out there but time was not on my side and I had to leave before the potentially best time. However theres plenty of time for rays this year, I'll probably never see another tadpole.

At the beginning of the week I had an email from Chris who was keen on some bass lure fishing guidance. After speaking on the phone I felt Chris had plenty of experience lure fishing, and had even fished the mark I was going to take him during the week with some success, but was after a little more local knowledge. We met Friday morning and what a morning it was! Barely a breath of wind, clear skies, sunshine, and the bass were feeding! Most were the seemingly ever present schoolies but he did manage a better fish of 3-4lb which looked great fun on the light trout rod. It was a pleasure to fish that morning with Chris, sharing ideas, techniques, marks, and a few fish; all before most people leave for work in the morning. What its all about and why I started this venture!

It been a little while...

So I haven't blogged in a couple of months, partly because of a lack of time, partly because there hasn't been much to write about. In those months we've had the beast from the east, which seemed to kill the fishing at the usual marks for this time of year. Post beast I was looking forward to a bonanza but the water temperatures have been slow to pick up, but there has been some excellent ray fishing for those that have been able to time it right and get on the marks when the wind and swell have allowed. 

I managed 1 thornback in that time, but most of my sessions recently have been geared towards bagging an early spotted ray, bass on the lures or finding suitable conger marks. Needless to say those missions have been pretty fruitless though I feel I have learnt a great deal about marks I thought I already knew.

I took a couple of weeks off to tie rigs and prepare for a client session at the weekend just gone. Kyle and Ben were after bass and I was confident I would be able to get them amongst the fish, the question was whether they would be the size I was hoping for. The week before I spent several tides out looking for precious peeler, eventually getting around 20, though most were softies that I froze down to keep them in the best condition. We arrived at the mark in good time, the plan to target flatfish for the first hour and a half before going hard for the bass on the flood. Surprisingly Kyle had a decent bite on his second cast and a schoolie was soon on the beach. Things went pretty quiet for the next couple of hours so I covered a few marks near to where the guys stay on the island. Frustratingly the time I thought we would get the bigger bass came and went
with no interest but as the tide pushed the smaller schoolies came back on the feed. While nothing was over 1/2 lb the guys had plenty of bites for the last hour and by which point were used to baiting up crab, the key bait as we move towards summer.

Tuesday just gone there was a little break in the wind so it was time to make the most of it and get back on the rays. I was sceptical how many would be around but it was a case of get out, catch and get home again, size and number didn't really matter. It was a long day, covering two marks. the first of which bites were hard to come by but changing up the rigs, baits and distance I managed to tempt a few whiting before a dab and a bonus plaice added variety.




Onto mark number two! I got there early enough to secure a decent ledge but I took it steady to begin with, fishing just one rod in an effort to conserve my limited sandeel bait supply. The flapper rigs were bringing in double and trebles of whiting and doggies, and after having a whiting savaged on the hook it went straight back out, resulting in a decent bull huss. As night fell I switched up a gear going two rods out for rays at the best time of the tide. Two guys came and set up above me and just as they did I had a good slack liner. I could feel the "kite like" resistance of a ray and sure enough with not too much fuss a small thornback popped out of the swell.

The doggies were causing a nuisance by this point, and I though it was another one, only staying deep. As it turned out it was a bonus spotted ray. I though I might get one at my first mark but to get it on the species count early was a big plus. I missed a couple of decent slack liners which it unusual for me but happy with getting my targets and kicking off the species hunt competition I packed in. The forecast wind had started to increase and while the swell was manageable white caps on the waves were beginning to form. Not a manic days fishing but good variety and happy to be back amongst the fish!