This is a small post about small fish.
The realities of work recently have limited my fishing greatly so I don't have a huge amount to report. Though that doesn't mean there hasn't been some progress in the challenge for myself and others.
With the dreaded 'May Bloom' in full effect (the algal bloom we tend to get in the sea around May time), inspiration for chasing a late spring Bass or Wrasse has been thin on the ground. The algal bloom making the sea more resemble a rich Pea Soup than clear water recently. This led to myself & Olly keeping it very local with a short walk down to Mutton Cove in Mount Wise, fishing light with chopped Black Lugworm & the ever reliable Isome. I was confident of fish even though the water was green and murky. Keeping tackle light and hooks small I was soon into a fish, a Goldsinny Wrasse, my first ever of the species and what turned out to be the first of many for the evening. Olly took a while to get going but had a good sized Ballan on his Pen Rod which gave a fantastic account of itself. Fishing close to the harbour walls at high tide we got plenty of response to our baits, mainly Goldsinny for me and mainly Ballan for Olly. The highlights of this fishing being the surprise when a Ballan takes your bait after being plagued by the frustratingly small mouthed Goldsinny, the difference in fight couldn't be more obvious. With Wrasse seemingly the only fish interested in our baits we finished up after a couple of hours with a respectable amount of fish to our name, Olly's Ballan of well over a pound winning best fish.
A couple of days later I was itching to try something different. Flounder really fascinate me and I was thinking of how to catch one. A bit of advice from fellow Plymouth LRF'er Andy Smith on Facebook led me trying to lure one out around Millbay with the incoming tide. The tide was already half in by the time I got down there and it made the fishing more difficult, I had hoped to fish in shallower water and perhaps even sight fish for them. Time and Tide wait for no man though and it just means I'll have to try again. What probably didn't help was that there were Shannys (or Common Blenny if you prefer their less humourous name) splashing around all along the wall beneath me, I couldn't resist them and it was very enjoyable watching them vertically chase the lure up and down the Harbour wall. After catching three I realised I had let myself get distracted and I had to pick Ellie up from town so it was time to go. Flounder 1 Ben Nil.
Olly and Shane had plans to fish into the night at Devil's Point on the same evening. They had no luck on their Legered or Float Fished Mackerel strips but, to keep themselves entertained, they brought along their Pen Rods, this proved to be a masterstroke as they both caught a couple of Shore Rockling each plus Olly had a Ballan & two Shannys. Rockling aren't usually a target for most anglers but can be fantastic blank savers. They also fight quite hard on light tackle. It certainly made both of them a lot happier with their evening's fishing, even if the larger species avoided them.
Ellie hadn't caught a Ballan, Goldsinny or Shanny so was eager to get out and catch them. I obviously was very happy to escort her on this endeavour. I decided to try Devil's Point since it had fished quite well for Olly a couple of days before. Having finished work I quickly picked up a small amount of Ragworm, grabbed the rods and headed out with Ellie. It was a beautifully warm day and the place was full of people taking in the sunshine. Ellie had the first fish, the Ballan she had been looking for, not massive but a good start. I then followed that up with a Goldsinny (obviously can't get away from them now!), all the while a young couple were watching on as I explained the merits of LRF & LBF fishing to them. The chap was so impressed by the amount of bites we were getting, he told me he would be investing in some ultralight fishing gear soon, I should be on commission! All was going well until a particularly chatty woman came down to fish about 15 minutes after we had arrived. I am all for social fishing but she was too much, not to mention rude at times and after putting up with her for half an hour, whilst also catching some lovely Ballan & Corkwring, we decided to move over to the rocks. Finally in peace we carried on catching, I couldn't stop tempting Corkwrings out, not that I minded, I truly believe that they are the prettiest fish we have in the UK, whilst Ellie had some nice Ballans. Together we had caught nearly twenty fish, all of them Wrasse species except for a tiny lonely Shanny. Hungry and pretty satisfied with our humble (but very colourful) haul we headed home.
Totals so far are:
Ben - 18 Species - Perch, Roach, Bream/Roach hybrid, Mirror Carp, Pike, Rainbow Trout, Common Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Tompot Blenny, Ballan Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Pollock & Goldsinny Wrasse
Ellie - 14 Species - Golden Rudd, Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Perch, Pike, Corkwring Wrasse, Pollock, Mirror Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Tompot Blenny, Long Spined Sea Scorpion & Ballan Wrasse.
Will - 11 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Dogfish
Olly - 11 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny & Shore Rockling
Robbie - 9 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp & Common Carp
Zoe - 5 Species - Pike, Goldsinny Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Long Spined Sea Scorpion
Shane - 5 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock & Shore Rockling
Grant - 2 Species - Ballan Wrasse & Tompot Blenny
As always, thanks for reading.
The realities of work recently have limited my fishing greatly so I don't have a huge amount to report. Though that doesn't mean there hasn't been some progress in the challenge for myself and others.
With the dreaded 'May Bloom' in full effect (the algal bloom we tend to get in the sea around May time), inspiration for chasing a late spring Bass or Wrasse has been thin on the ground. The algal bloom making the sea more resemble a rich Pea Soup than clear water recently. This led to myself & Olly keeping it very local with a short walk down to Mutton Cove in Mount Wise, fishing light with chopped Black Lugworm & the ever reliable Isome. I was confident of fish even though the water was green and murky. Keeping tackle light and hooks small I was soon into a fish, a Goldsinny Wrasse, my first ever of the species and what turned out to be the first of many for the evening. Olly took a while to get going but had a good sized Ballan on his Pen Rod which gave a fantastic account of itself. Fishing close to the harbour walls at high tide we got plenty of response to our baits, mainly Goldsinny for me and mainly Ballan for Olly. The highlights of this fishing being the surprise when a Ballan takes your bait after being plagued by the frustratingly small mouthed Goldsinny, the difference in fight couldn't be more obvious. With Wrasse seemingly the only fish interested in our baits we finished up after a couple of hours with a respectable amount of fish to our name, Olly's Ballan of well over a pound winning best fish.
A couple of days later I was itching to try something different. Flounder really fascinate me and I was thinking of how to catch one. A bit of advice from fellow Plymouth LRF'er Andy Smith on Facebook led me trying to lure one out around Millbay with the incoming tide. The tide was already half in by the time I got down there and it made the fishing more difficult, I had hoped to fish in shallower water and perhaps even sight fish for them. Time and Tide wait for no man though and it just means I'll have to try again. What probably didn't help was that there were Shannys (or Common Blenny if you prefer their less humourous name) splashing around all along the wall beneath me, I couldn't resist them and it was very enjoyable watching them vertically chase the lure up and down the Harbour wall. After catching three I realised I had let myself get distracted and I had to pick Ellie up from town so it was time to go. Flounder 1 Ben Nil.
Olly and Shane had plans to fish into the night at Devil's Point on the same evening. They had no luck on their Legered or Float Fished Mackerel strips but, to keep themselves entertained, they brought along their Pen Rods, this proved to be a masterstroke as they both caught a couple of Shore Rockling each plus Olly had a Ballan & two Shannys. Rockling aren't usually a target for most anglers but can be fantastic blank savers. They also fight quite hard on light tackle. It certainly made both of them a lot happier with their evening's fishing, even if the larger species avoided them.
Ellie hadn't caught a Ballan, Goldsinny or Shanny so was eager to get out and catch them. I obviously was very happy to escort her on this endeavour. I decided to try Devil's Point since it had fished quite well for Olly a couple of days before. Having finished work I quickly picked up a small amount of Ragworm, grabbed the rods and headed out with Ellie. It was a beautifully warm day and the place was full of people taking in the sunshine. Ellie had the first fish, the Ballan she had been looking for, not massive but a good start. I then followed that up with a Goldsinny (obviously can't get away from them now!), all the while a young couple were watching on as I explained the merits of LRF & LBF fishing to them. The chap was so impressed by the amount of bites we were getting, he told me he would be investing in some ultralight fishing gear soon, I should be on commission! All was going well until a particularly chatty woman came down to fish about 15 minutes after we had arrived. I am all for social fishing but she was too much, not to mention rude at times and after putting up with her for half an hour, whilst also catching some lovely Ballan & Corkwring, we decided to move over to the rocks. Finally in peace we carried on catching, I couldn't stop tempting Corkwrings out, not that I minded, I truly believe that they are the prettiest fish we have in the UK, whilst Ellie had some nice Ballans. Together we had caught nearly twenty fish, all of them Wrasse species except for a tiny lonely Shanny. Hungry and pretty satisfied with our humble (but very colourful) haul we headed home.
Totals so far are:
Ben - 18 Species - Perch, Roach, Bream/Roach hybrid, Mirror Carp, Pike, Rainbow Trout, Common Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Tompot Blenny, Ballan Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Pollock & Goldsinny Wrasse
Ellie - 14 Species - Golden Rudd, Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Perch, Pike, Corkwring Wrasse, Pollock, Mirror Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Tompot Blenny, Long Spined Sea Scorpion & Ballan Wrasse.
Will - 11 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Dogfish
Olly - 11 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny & Shore Rockling
Robbie - 9 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp & Common Carp
Zoe - 5 Species - Pike, Goldsinny Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Long Spined Sea Scorpion
Shane - 5 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock & Shore Rockling
Grant - 2 Species - Ballan Wrasse & Tompot Blenny
As always, thanks for reading.
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