Return Of The Mac

Since my last post I've been lucky to experience some incredibly fun fishing, as always it's not all been smooth sailing, but with mackerel here in vast numbers and schoolie bass plentiful, I can't remember when I last blanked, and as all fishermen know, that is a huge weight off your shoulders.

When it comes to blanking and frustration, there is one fish species that comes to mind... Mullet. They are famously difficult to catch and I would love to say I got the better of one this week, but I didn't. Though it did lead to me catching my first few bass of the year.
Thin-lipped are the much more forgiving of our two common mullet species, they don't grow as large as thick-lips but they will take spinners baited with ragworm or isome. I had heard and read that they can be quite forthcoming on this technique so had to give it a try. After asking around Facebook, a fellow angler called Adam Sharp told me there were plenty of them in Kingsbridge, he was also so sure I wouldn't catch one he wagered £100! With money like that on the table it would be rude not to try, so I finished work and drove the 45 minutes to Kingsbridge. Although the harbour looked inviting, I had my eye on a spot around the corner on a different inlet, it was shallow but absolutely stacked with fish. I don't think I've ever seen so many fish in one place, which makes my inability to catch a mullet all the more ridiculous. I was fishing a modified spinner with a 6 inch trace of fluorocarbon, with a size 12 hook, using isome as the trailer bait. Within five minutes I had a thin-lip on! I saw the flash of the fish sideways as it shook the hook, an annoying but promising start. I had numerous follows but couldn't get another. I did have 9 tiny bass though and lost about 10 more too, they were really pre-school bass, but I didn't mind, they saved the blank and were a new species for me. I knew I had to try again though for those frustrating mullet.
A couple of days later myself and Dad had a joint day off, due some Father-Son time we decided to try again in Kingsbridge. The tide was later in the day so we stopped off for some food first at the Crabshell, fully recommend that place, the fish was superb. Full and ready to go we watched the tide come in up the inlet, with fish topping everywhere. Dad was first to catch, the expected toddler bass. He lost a couple more before I got one, we caught another one each as the tide came in fast around us. I had another set-up with bread for the Thick-lips too, though as usual I couldn't get a bite from them! What had started quite promisingly had petered out a bit really, I regretted not buying some ragworm, isome was fine for bass but not for the tricky mullet. Still, as the old saying goes, 'if you're not catching, you're learning' and that couldn't be more true in this case.

My next fishing trip wasn't really a session at all, it was supposed to be my three year anniversary with Ellie. I planned a nice romantic picnic for her and intended to go to Wembury Point. She told me to take the LRF rod just in case (it's very easy to see how we've lasted three years isn't it?). I had a last minute change of mind and went to Saltram instead. After a walk and some delicious food and wine, we walked up to the salt marsh near the top of the estuary. Mullet are known to gather there and that day was no exception. At the mouth of the river there were thousands of fish at the surface, most likely small thick-lipped mullet. I had the same spinner I had used before, this time baited with Fladen Vermz (still not sold on those, even if they did catch a couple of bass). I managed to spook the shoal and unsurprisingly got no feeding reaction from them. Moving further up the tide-flooded river, the water was murkier and with no obvious signs of fish. Two casts later though I had a massive hit on my lure and a fish was on. After a couple of powerful runs it was tamed and revealed itself to be a lovely sized schoolie bass of around 2lb. I was over the moon, I don't make enough of a habit to fish for bass, and this modest fish was a new personal best! All because Ellie told me to take the rod on our date. Unfortunately she couldn't get one too to top off the day, but we headed home in good spirits nonetheless.

All through the week it had been obvious the mackerel were back in large numbers, social media was alive with talk of them. So on Saturday, myself and Robbie went after them on Mount Batten Pier. I can only say it was crazy. Fish surfacing everywhere and sets of feathers being flown in their direction frantically. I have never seen fishing like it, the majority of it was good natured though and I didn't see many people abusing the fish too much. I started off on feathers but found them to be too effective. I only wanted a couple of fish for bait, so catching six at a time on unsportingly huge rods was not my idea of fun. I quickly changed over to my LRF set up though and proceeded to catch a fish a cast on my favourite HTO Shore Jig. They are immense fighters for their size and it was great fun, but with fishing so easy it quickly became a little monotonous, so we left. Ellie was at home and really wanted to catch one too, so I dropped Robbie home and picked her up. We got there to find, with the tide higher, the mackerel were pushing the baitfish up against the pier wall and it was an incredible sight, all it needed was an Attenborough narration to make it perfect. Ellie quickly caught her mackerel and we headed home away from the chaos. It inspired me to write a short article about the good and bad side of the mackerel 'rush' on Fishing Tails, have a look here -

http://www.fishingtails.co.uk/the-mackerel-rush-the-good-the-great-the-ugly/

After all the excitement and fun of the sea fishing, I felt compelled to even it up and catch some freshwater species that were on my list. Bream and tench being my desired targets. I had caught both species before at Trewandra Coarse Fishery near Landrake, Cornwall, but hadn't fished it for over a year, so that was where I headed. It's a lovely little lake, well established now and with a great head of carp to 25lb, it also boasts some huge roach (to over 3lb) and tench (to over 6lb). You pay at an honesty box in the car park and quite often you are the only angler there. This time though there were two others fishing it, a chap who was after the carp and a father with his daughter and son, fishing for the carp too on the other side of the lake. I wasn't interested in the carp. I really desired a decent tench but knew they would be difficult. I had two set ups to try during the day, a simple float rig - plummeted correctly so the bait rested just on the bottom - and a small 'bolt-rig' with luncheon meat on a hair. On the bolt rig I soon had numerous hard fighting roach/bream hybrids, so many in fact that I wondered if I would ever catch a true bream! It was on my float set-up that I eventually had my bream - all weight and zero fight, just what I was looking for. With that one off my list I really wanted that tench, but all I could seem to catch was hybrids, bream and roach, superb fishing to be honest and in a couple of hours I probably caught over 20lb of fish, yet not a single tench. I didn't have a huge amount of time to fish either and soon I had to head home. I will have to return at an earlier time for those tincas.

Olly and Shane managed to get out over the last week too, catching Mackerel, with Shane also getting his first ever Corkwring Wrasse, Shanny and Giant Goby, which boosted his total considerably. Not bad going at all for them.

Totals after that are:

Ben - 35 Species - Perch, Roach, Gudgeon, Rudd, Bream/Roach hybrid, Mirror Carp, Pike, Rainbow Trout, Common Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Tompot Blenny, Ballan Wrasse, Rock Goby, Common Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Pollock, Goldsinny Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Golden Orfe, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Crucian Carp, Sand Smelt, Giant Goby, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Bull Huss, European Eel, Topknot, Common Minnow, Three Spined Stickleback, Sea Bass, Mackerel & Bronze Bream

Olly - 25 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Ballan Wrasse, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny, Shore Rockling, Corkwring Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Sea Bass, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Gudgeon, Crucian Carp, European Eel, Ghost Carp, Poor Cod & Mackerel

Ellie - 24 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, Common Blenny, Golden Tench, Golden Orfe, Bronze Bream, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Three Spined Stickleback & Mackerel

Will - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench & Golden Orfe

Shane - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock, Shore Rockling, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Roach, Bull Huss, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Blenny, Mackerel & Giant Goby

Robbie - 13 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Pollock & Mackerel

Head over to www.fishingtails.co.uk for quality articles and fishing reports.

As always, thanks for reading.

Gotta Catch 'Em All! Only 369 Left To Go!

As the year passes by, I'm constantly reminded how many fantastic fish species there are to catch in the UK. Over 400 species of fish in fresh and saltwater can possibly be caught, obviously some much more easily than others. So after half a year that makes my 28 look very modest. Though it is still an amount to be proud of,  there are so many more to catch. Which leads to this post being about appreciating the smaller (and also slimier) things in life.

Robbie recently wrote a post (in his own irreverent style) about the 'app-eel' of the European Eel, so I won't go too much into that here, I'm writing a full article on this for Fishingtails at the moment. The key moments though from those two nights included: Eels for Me, Robbie and Olly - he also caught Gudgeon, Crucian Carp and a Ghost Carp, boosting his total by four species. Not bad going at all.

We had caught the freshwater equivalent so now we wanted the mighty Conger. We tried a couple of night sessions, one where ridiculous winds forced us into trying the more sheltered Millbay for them. Olly caught a Crab and I had a fish on briefly then lost it, luckily it was only a few hours so didn't feel like a massive waste of time. The next session was more productive for me but not for Conger. With the winds a lot less severe and the water calmer, we tried Mount Batten Pier, knowing it had the potential for being productive for these oversized Eels. Me and Olly also brought along our LRF gear to keep us occupied while we waited. I'm very glad I did as about 30 minutes in I had a take, it then felt like I had hooked a snag, I gave it a bit more pressure and it came loose with a strange fight. I pulled it out of the water to reveal it was a very large Topknot! I'm obviously talking large for a Topknot, it was about 35cm long which is well above average. They are certainly not a pretty fish but fascinating all the same. A rough mottled skin on the top and a smooth, almost sticky underside. They live their lives fastened to rocks and harbour walls hunting prawns and small fish. Unusual for a Flatfish species, making them one of the higher prized LRF Species. Olly was certainly trying to get one of his own but could only land Shannys. He then had what looked a take on his Conger rod, he struck only to find a snag though. At the same time I managed to get another (more average sized) Topknot, much to Olly's frustration. It got truly dark and nothing was biting, we only found the rocks to be particularly 'tackle hungry', which quickly grew annoying. In the dead of night and cold air settling in we headed home. Conger fishing is going to take a lot more practice.

The next trip we decided on was another late night jaunt around the popular marks in Plymouth, starting back at Mount Batten. Pokemon Go had just been released and this made the pier unusually busy, It also led to Olly colliding with a post as he was trying to catch a Horsea! Which completely slayed me with laughter, well it does say 'pay attention to your surroundings when playing the game'! He had the last laugh though with a fish I have been looking forward to catching. I was casting out a Shore Jig in hope of some Mackerel or Gar whilst Olly tried again for a Topknot. The tide was pretty low so he was down amongst the boulders that surround the pier. It was getting dark and the tide was coming in. Nothing was interested in my lure but Olly gave a shout that he had caught a fish, I ran across the boulders to have a look. It was a Poor Cod, a relative to the Pouting and (distantly) Cod. It was the first one I had seen out of the water and it was a beautiful copper red. Very similar looking to a Pouting. Whoever named it though was doing the species a disservice, Olly thought this fish as no 'poor' relation to anything, his first of the species and another new one for him. After returning it we decided to try the Barbican, it was getting much to dark to be on the boulders. With more Pokemon hunters walking past us every few minutes, we tried to tick mini-monsters of our own lists. In Sutton Harbour the tiny Pollock were ravenous, suicidely leaping on to our baits at every opportunity. It's promising to see so many though, they are a key prey fish at that size and also a top predator in their own right once they reach adulthood. I wanted to try the sandy area in front of Mayflower Steps, it was there that another Poor Cod missed my lure three times! I could see it as it followed my bait right to the surface then turned away, leaving it static received no interest. The fish then lost interest and left me casting into the dark with no results. A next move onto the pontoon led to a couple more Mini-Pollock but nothing else of interest. With work in the morning it was time to head home.

Call me crazy, but I have always wanted to catch a Minnow. You know them, those tiny, common fish you find in most streams and rivers. Yet I had never caught one. I knew the Plym River had some, along with Brown Trout and Eels, so I headed there, armed with size 20 hooks and Isome. I'm not sure if you're allowed to fish there, and certainly the many, many dog walkers give you strange looks, but I was hoping I would only need a brief visit, with work later playing on my mind. Plus I figured, who's going to mind me trying to catch Minnows? They're hardly a prized sports fish. I went underneath a bridge where I had seen them before, small Brown Trout were the obvious fish in the water but looking closer I could see the Minnows. I cast out the tiniest piece of Isome, weighed down with an SSG shot, across the river. Immediately I had follows from my target species, but they mostly were trying to eat the weight! I snagged on a rock on my next cast and my light hooklink snapped easily. During the time it took to set up, a big Eel moved into the swim and spooked my precious Minnows. I was ready to go again but a lot of the little buggers had gone. Eventually I found one and he took my Isome greedily, I had him in my hand and felt great satisfaction, even if it was a tiny fish. I know, you probably think I'm mad. After a brief flirtation with the Eel (not such a fan of Isome) I headed home to get ready for work.

Just to completely top off the mad hunt for the miniest of mini-species. A trip to see Ellie's family in North Devon led to an opportunity to catch Sticklebacks. I had seen them in a large ditch near Ellie's Mum's house last time I was there, not knowing of another water with Sticklebacks, I wasn't going to miss the chance. So whilst out walking the dog with Ellie, we came across the ditch. It was absolutely full of them! I've never seen so many Sticklebacks in one place. I was already armed with a simple Splitshot Set-up with a Size 22 Hook, with a tiny piece of red Isome again. I lowered it into the water to an instant reaction, they all dived on the bait but most were too small to take it, then I saw a larger (larger being a very generous word) one take it and lifted it out. It was a little armoured marvel, if they grew to a couple of pound or so they would be a top target for fishermen, alas they only grow to a couple of inches, but I appreciated mine all the same. Ellie wanted to try and quickly had one of her own, slightly smaller but ravenous all the same. We then carried on our walk. The next day we headed to the beach, I obviously took my rod - just in case. Whilst rockpooling I managed to catch a small Scorpion Fish which came out of nowhere to snatch my Isome. I love the way they vibrate in your hand, they would be a decent replacement for a mobile phone if they would ever accept calls! With nothing else biting I spent the rest of the day enjoying the warm weather and good company.

Totals after that are:

Ben - 32 Species - Perch, Roach, Gudgeon, Rudd, Bream/Roach hybrid, Mirror Carp, Pike, Rainbow Trout, Common Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Tompot Blenny, Ballan Wrasse, Rock Goby, Common Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Pollock, Goldsinny Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Golden Orfe, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Crucian Carp, Sand Smelt, Giant Goby, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Dogfish, Bull Huss, European Eel, Topknot, Common Minnow & Three Spined Stickleback

Olly - 24 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Ballan Wrasse, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny, Shore Rockling, Corkwring Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Sea Bass, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Gudgeon, Crucian Carp, European Eel, Ghost Carp & Poor Cod

Ellie - 23 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, Common Blenny, Golden Tench, Golden Orfe, Bronze Bream, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Giant Goby, Bull Huss & Three Spined Stickleback

Will - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench & Golden Orfe

Robbie - 12 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe & Pollock

Shane - 8 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock, Shore Rockling, Common Carp, Mirror Carp & Roach

Zoe - 5 Species - Pike, Goldsinny Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Long Spined Sea Scorpion

Grant - 2 Species - Ballan Wrasse & Tompot Blenny

Head to Fishingtails.co.uk for up to date fishing reports and top articles. 

What's The App-eel? by Robbie Spencer

Firstly a word from Ben - As the Fish Challenge is not just myself competing, I've encouraged others involved to write their thoughts too. Robbie has a wealth of fishing knowledge, with a unique insight into Fishery management too. He's also an incredibly funny guy and one of my best friends. So it's with pleasure I present his first ever blog post, about the slimy business of Eel Fishing.


Why do we hate catching eels?
The freshwater eel, so slimy, so ugly, yet such a good sport. So why do the majority of British anglers baulk at the idea of catching eels? Well as a fishery manager for over 7 years very rarely do I get customers asking ‘which lake is the best for catching eels? ’ personally I enjoy catching them, sure when you get them on the bank trying to unhook them is like trying to get your ex to stay with you after she has just found out you have been fired from your job and will no longer be able to lavish her with some fancy gifts that she needs to achieve multiple instagram likes. But many of the eels I have caught have given me a fight far more superior to that of a bream, who after a half-hearted run will just give up without a battle as if it’s playing for the England football team. Many people claim their dislike is also due to the fact trying to handle them when unhooking leaves you looking like you have just been shooting a scene from the newest ghostbusters film, but let’s face it as fisherman we don’t expect to come back from a day’s fishing looking like we have just come from a job interview at Buckingham palace. Eels are an extremely hardy fish, they travel from halfway across the world only to be labelled a nuisance by an angler who insists on driving to his platform as he doesn’t want to walk because he pulled a calf muscle having a kickabout with Johnny and the lads. Eels are not fast growing, some can take 10 years to get to 1lb but that just makes it all the better catching a 2lb plus eel. So far this year I have only had one but what a fish it was. 4lb 10oz, caught on a jig head a complete surprise catch! On first inspection I thought I had hooked into a sunken branch until this thing starting moving like a drunk bloke at a party doing the worm to impress a girl who’s clearly going to end up going back with his less embarrassing mate. So last night I was in high spirits because I knew a few had been coming out from all the different lakes up to about 4lb. With the bake brigade out in force, and Ben with a rare day off work (!) we opted to fish Dunes, which probably produces the best eel catches. We decided to fish the deep water using one ledgered dead bait and one float fished live bait, feeding maggot to draw the roach to the swim. Within 20 minutes the rod went, one big take and a run. After a good 5 minute fight it came to the net, easily 3 and a half pound and angry as Ronnie Pickering in a traffic jam! Nevertheless a cracking fish! After that we had plenty of big runs on the ledgered deadbait but they were proving extremely hard to hook, much owing to their stiff jaw line which adapts to the environment they reside in. Will had another big take only to find nothing but a tail left on the hook. It started to get dark and soon the leger rod was off again, this time managing to hook into it firmly. Once again proving photo shy this fella at 2 and a half pound would not stay still, a slippery customer indeed. All in all a great evenings fishing, and two spectacular fish. These guys are the R-eel D-eel lol.

Taking The Bull By The Horns

Since Will and I last went out to the rocks on Rame Head in Cornwall, when he caught a Dogfish and I lost a couple, I have been itching to catch one. Luckily Ellie has felt it too, which leads to this story of three days and three new species.

I haven't fished with Dad for far too long. Work commitments and his current indifference to fishing, have meant that my long time angling partner has been strangely absent from my posts. We both decided it was time to get out there and amend this, trying for something different to our usual target of Pike. I recommended Rame as I felt it could throw up a surprise and (hopefully) at least a Dogfish. Ellie was eager to join us too so the three of us met up and headed to the mark. The descent to this mark is grim to say the least - its all thorns, brambles and stinging nettles. Dad was not impressed as he was wearing shorts! Safe to say his legs were torn to shreds once we made to the rocks. I was hoping it was going to be worth it, but as ever when I'm bait fishing in the Sea, confidence was not high, something that will come in time the more successful I become. Using frozen peeler crab on one hook and baby squid and ragworm on the other, we cast the two hook Paternoster rigs out onto the sandy area in front of us. We arrived at the top of the tide and there was a decent depth of water only a few metres out, it looked good. The weather was warm without being truly summery and it was a pleasure to be there, casting out lures whilst waiting for something to take our baits. Dad had bought a new Beach Caster and although it was a bit heavy for our fishing, it was a delight to cast. It also happened to be the first to go after what felt like an eternity. Ellie was closest so picked up the rod and struck, unfortunately the rod was ungainly for her and she struggled to handle it. Passing it over to me I could definitely feel the fish angrily twisting and pulling on the line. It finally came into sight and it looked like a Bull Huss! Something I was not expecting. Our anticipation grew but as it got to the very edge of the rocks it slipped the hook! It had happened again, both me and Ellie were pretty disappointed to put it lightly, we rebaited and waited with renewed optimism that the fish were there. The optimism didn't last for long though as we had nothing on the line for another hour. I had a take from what was almost certainly a Wrasse, it shot off aggressively then buried the hook into a snag. With the football on later it was nearly time to go but I was determined not to blank. I set up my LRF gear and dropped a jighead with red isome into a lovely looking gulley. The tide had really gone down now and it revealed some tempting terrain. I had a small take then I struck into a steady weight, reeling it in to reveal it was that fish I had been longing to catch... The Long Spined Sea Scorpion! Such a small fish but it was rather meaningful and I admired it's spiky multi-coloured beauty. They really are the pride and joy of LRF fishing in my eyes, all mouth and attitude, I was beaming, my Dad congratulated me but I could tell he was thinking 'we came all this way for that tiny fish!?' not that he would ever say it.
Time had ran out with no fish over 4 inches caught. Grudgingly we made our ascent through the jungles of Rame, some of us in higher spirits than others. I did feel sorry for Dad though as again he blanked, he believes he's cursed now! I owe him a really decent fishing session ASAP. 

Ellie had not wanted to leave and I promised to go back on my next day off with her. We arrived back in the same spot two days later. The wind had more strength and the sky was a quintessentially British grey. I set us up a rod each but we both agreed to take in turns if the fish started biting. We didn't have to wait long. The bait was in the water for less than five minutes when there was a strong rattling on the rod tip. I was sure it was a fish and struck firmly. Fish on. A heavy and wriggly fight quickly gave the fish away as a Dogfish. Ellie netted it for me and I had my first ever 'Doggy'. A fish that somehow had escaped my attentions until now. They are incredibly strong and agile out of the water, combined with their sandpaper like skin it makes them an awkward fish to handle. Personally I think it adds to their charm. It also makes them so different to any other fish I have been catching recently. Next it was Ellie's turn.
In what seemed like no time at all the rod started pulling round in that unmistakable way. Ellie picked it up and struck, the trouble is she is 5 foot 2 inches and weighs only slightly more than air, so striking a 12 foot long beachcaster is hard work for her, proven by the fact that the fish came off quite quickly. I was rebaiting when the rod still in the water went round, she struck again, this time her technique was better. I made my way down to the water's edge prepared to net it, whilst also trying to encourage her to keep her line tight and the rod high. She was really struggling, the combined weight of an angry fish, a 3oz lead and a heavy rod nearly beating her. She battled on though and got the fish up in the water, it was much bigger than mine and a lot darker. My heart said Bull Huss but I didn't wish to jump the gun too early. Eventually it was in the net, an angry brown Leopard-like fish, mouth agape and always twisting. Ellie managed to wrangle it in for a few fantastic photos and put it back in the sea. It swam away like nothing had happened, 30 seconds earlier it had been raging like a bull at a Matador. A quick google search helped clarify it was indeed a Bull Huss (though it was clearly obvious in hindsight), the easiest way to tell other than size is the Dogfish has a smooth rounded nose, while the Bull Huss has clear nasal flaps and a fierce reputation. We were both over the moon with the result and we had only been fishing for half an hour. It quietened down for a minute and then I recast onto a fresh sand bank. Almost immediately the rod pulled round and I had another wiry Dogfish in my hands. We were having a great run of form. Ellie's turn next and after another slower spell she had some small bites. She decided to strike and found her opponent to be seriously heavy! So much so that I had to take over mid way, it seemed to get snagged half way but then released itself. It felt strange but very sizable, we both peered through the blue waters in anticipation... Through the waves came the unmistakable orange of a Spider Crab. Ellie netted it out and we both laughed at this unexpected capture. Fantastic to see nonetheless. We had a couple of missed takes and snags after that but then the weather turned significantly cooler. Nearly time to go the rod bounced again. Ellie let me have it and I was so grateful she did, as it was a tiny Bull Huss. My first ever. He was nothing like Ellie's but I was elated all the same. We packed up after that and made our way home, satisfied with a quality couple of hour's fishing. 

One last thing is to say thank you to everyone who has read my Wrasse Article on Fishing Tails, I have had such great feedback on it and it was a pleasure to see it shared by talented fishermen like Nathan Edgell. I appreciate anyone taking time of out their day to read my humble thoughts. Reactions like that make the hours tapping at a computer screen worthwhile. Thanks again.

After that the totals are:

Ben - 28 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, Golden Rudd, Golden Orfe, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Crucian Carp, Sand Smelt, Giant Goby, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Dogfish & Bull Huss

Ellie - 22 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, Common Blenny, Golden Tench, Golden Orfe, Bronze Bream, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Giant Goby & Bull Huss

Olly - 18 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Ballan Wrasse, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny, Shore Rockling, Corkwring Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Sea Bass & Giant Goby

Will - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench & Golden Orfe

Robbie - 12 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe & Pollock

Shane - 8 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock, Shore Rockling, Common Carp, Mirror Carp & Roach

Zoe - 5 Species - Pike, Goldsinny Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Long Spined Sea Scorpion

Grant - 2 Species - Ballan Wrasse & Tompot Blenny

Head to Fishingtails.co.uk for up to date fishing reports and top articles. 

The Lure Of Competition

It's been a little while since my last post, this is mainly because I have been involved in a fishing competition and wanted to detail it all in one post. But due to it being summer and my angling addiction is in full swing, it has left me a lot to cover! I hope you will humour me as I go through a really enjoyable few weeks fishing.

The competition mentioned was the third Osborne & Cragg Tackle Shop Lure Fishing Comp. This one was more focused on the size of fish than a pure species hunt like ones before. With added points for biggest fish of each species and a prize for biggest Wrasse, Bass or Pollock, I was hopeful of using the knowledge I had built up recently to win one of the prizes. I had my eye on largest Wrasse and (obviously) the species prizes.

First trip was out on the South Hams rocks in search of 'Nuclear Sub' sized Wrasse. I love the rocks and gulleys on this coast and have my favourite spots, but with Olly as accomplice we thought it was worth trying somewhere new. Prepared for wet weather we walked out along the coast path much further than we usually go. Making our way, quite awkwardly at times, down to a likely looking gulley it looked like it had potential, with the bonus of crystal clear water. I had a hit on my first cast but I was being greedy, using a much larger than really necessary Crayfish imitation. The fish wanted it but couldn't get it's mouth round the lure. Olly cast to the same spot and quickly had a fish, he was using a cheap scented shad that always worked so well before. The fish fought bravely but was soon in the net, about a pound and a half, a decent start but turned out to be Olly's only Wrasse of the day. I changed to a more sensibly sized lure and quickly had my first of the day. We moved around spots and the sun decided to scorch its way through the dense clouds, leading to us sweating in our supposedly sensible attire. Olly switched to a small shore jig on his LRF rod and managed a couple of Pollock, I had numerous battles with Wrasse but the big pigs didn't show. We did get the pleasure of seeing a Grey Seal plundering it's way through a gulley very close in though, they are such a pleasure to see and I never get bored of seeing one. With decent weather, a good few fish and a seal encounter it wasn't a bad start.

My next trip out was a couple of hours LRFing around Millbay in Plymouth. My main target was a Scorpion Fish (they have become quite an obsession for me recently). As I fished my small jighead around with an ecogear lure on, I quickly became distracted by the sheer amount of Shanny's around on the harbour wall below me. I needed one for the competition and quickly caught three, measuring the biggest and then returning it. Shanny satisfaction settled, I moved to the other side of the promenade. Whilst attempting to tempt a small Ballan into taking my lure a large shoal of Smelt moved in. I had never seen a Smelt in the flesh before but recognised them and they pounced on my lure, pulling at it but unable to take the hook. I quickly formulated a plan. I tied a size 20 hook onto a short length of fluorocarbon, which then tied onto the eye of the link swivel above the lure, onto this tiny hook went a minuscule piece of isome. Luckily the shoal hadn't moved far and one of them rapidly snatched the tiny bait, a second later I had my first ever Sand Smelt in my hands. I know to the average person a small silver fish wouldn't mean much, but as someone who's always been fascinated by everything in water, catching unusual fish, no matter how small, gives me great joy. To top it off in my own species challenge a Smelt is worth the same as a Wels Catfish! Anyway, I returned the Smelt and couldn't catch another, I had spooked the shoal. With nothing else showing much interest I went home.

I had my mind on doing some light jigging off the rocks around Heybrook Bay. Ellie was keen to join and hopefully boost her total. We arrived to find the water significantly choppier than expected. It didn't look great for light lure fishing but we persevered and made our way down onto the rocks. The waves were quite intense at ground level and it wasn't looking good, that was until I spotted a rockpool that was sheltered from the worst of the waves. I wondered if a Giant Goby might reside under the large rocks there, I had heard they were quite common around the area, so I lowered my light shore jig into the water to see if it got any attention. As soon as it touched the water a Giant Goby appeared! I quickly changed my jig to a jighead with an small ecogear lure on it. With Ellie watching in fascination I lowered it in and moved it steadily up and down... Fish on! With pretty much zero fight it was in my hand, my first ever Giant Goby. Ellie wanted to try for one so I handed her the rod, within seconds she had one of her own, which quite humorously wouldn't let go of the lure, leaving it looking like it was smoking a cigar, a gangster goby. We had three more and it was surprisingly easy, fascinating to watch though as it was all happening in a beautifully clear rockpool. We moved back onto the jigs after that but the waves had us beat.

The Wrasse were still playing on my mind, I was sure I could catch a bigger one. So me and Olly headed back out to the South Hams gulleys to my favourite mark. It involves a bit of a steep descent but the risk of falling is worth it - Lots of Wrasse, well lots in good conditions. These were not good conditions, lots of waves and heavy rain showers with zero clear skies. We persevered though mostly out of pure desire to make the most of a joint day off work. The session before I had good results on a texas-rigged Savage Gear Sandeel, not my usual selection but within two casts I had an angry Wrasse on the line. After the fish doing it's best impression of a motor vehicle, I had it under control and in the net. Two and a half pounds, a great start. I soon had another smaller fish then a nicer more brightly coloured one. Olly had a small one too, but then started to struggle, I was getting hits but Olly had no interest. His frustration grew. After a bit of lunch he got back to it and then I heard those magnificent words, 'Fish on!'. After a minute of 'wrassling' he had it in the net. A bright green beauty of a fish, Olly's mood was significantly lifted but with the rain coming in heavy and the tide receding, it was time to move on. Looking for new spots on the walk back we noticed a large rockpool, it looked full of potential for a Giant Goby, a fish Olly hadn't caught yet. We set up his LRF rod and he lowered the small lure in, it didn't take long for a Goby to take notice, it snatched at the lure and Olly quickly pulled it out of the pool. He then followed it up with a couple more. We forgot about the rain and caught many, the best fish being a dark and beautiful little thing, with electric blue edges to its fins. It must have been breeding colours, certainly the best looking goby I've ever caught. After that we headed home, a productive session in tough conditions.

Realising I wasn't likely to catch the biggest Wrasse I decided to focus on the species count, something I've obviously been doing all year with varying degrees of success. In a quick pre-work LRF'ing down Millbay, I managed a couple of tiny pollock, some Corkwrings and a Goldsinny. I also bumped into Maurice Minchinton who I'd seen a lot of on the facebook page, Plymouth LRF. A lovely chap and great to talk about the local fishing marks and techniques. He was also taking part in the comp but wasn't holding back information selfishly, happily telling me where I'm likely to find that fish I've been desperate to catch - the Long Spined Sea Scorpion. Alas I didn't end up catch one but I'm sure on a better day I would have.

I also got back out on the rocks with Robbie. I hadn't fished with him properly in over a month and it was a great couple of hours. He was late of course and I had already had my first Pollock by then - caught on the trusty LRF Shore Jig. I caught 7 Pollock in the hour or so we were there and Robbie also got one, though he spent most of the time after larger specimens. A seal also treated us to an appearance right in close to the rocks, which topped off the evening's fishing nicely.

Looking at the results coming in on Facebook it was clear I wasn't going to win the species count either! A couple of the guys were smashing out the rarer species for fun, with Topknot, Gurnard and Garfish all making appearances. I knew I was unlikely to catch up with them but I wasn't going to give up on it. So I made my way out to Mount batten Pier early, I couldn't sleep as I had been watching the referendum results come in, the weather was as groggy as me, the rain drizzling moodily. I had intended to try for a Tompot Blenny then try jigging afterwards but that quickly changed, as I saw what was below me in the water - thousands of Sandeel. They were bunched up against the pier wall and it was obvious predatory fish must be very near, this suspicion was confirmed when I watched a large Mackerel lunge into the shoal. It was strange to see a lone one but it was much larger than your average 'Joey'. I quickly changed to a little metal Jig, as I was tying it on I watch a group of Launce (Giant Sandeel) attack the shoal, it was fascinating to watch even through the drizzle. I launched my lure out and had a couple of hits - some I could even see below me, but no hook ups, the Launce carried on smashing into the shoal but I couldn't get one, the height of the wall from the water made fishing the Jig awkward and I struggled to get a consistent presentation. The Sandeel split up and it was all over, I had apparently missed my chance which was disappointing. I moved back onto a small Jig head with Isome and caught a couple of Shannys, such a reliable fish! With the tide receding, the tip of the pier looked promising for jigging so I tried that again. Within minutes I hooked a fish, after a strange fight I got it in to find it was one of the Launce! My first ever. Only problem was it dropped back into the water before I could take a photo, since I was on my own it meant it didn't count in either the Lure Competition or The Challenge! I was a bit gutted and it got worse... I kept trying for another but had no luck, then I cast again and CRACK my line snapped, I looked at the tip of my rod and that was also gone! The line must have wrapped itself round the tip and the weight of the lure (only five grams) snapped it off. I was really pissed off with myself now, the first time I had ever snapped a rod and it had to be my Shakespeare Agility, my favourite. I headed over to Osborne & Cragg and after some debate bought the HTO Rockfish 73, at £30 a reasonably priced replacement and almost exactly the same as my now deceased Shakespeare. So not a great day all in all.

My last session was another go after the big Ballans in the gulleys again. I must have have still been emanating negative energy because I blanked, something I haven't done Wrasse fishing in ages. Olly, Ellie and Shane all caught though so it wasn't a wasted trip. I finished the Lure Competition with a bit of a whimper in the end, but it had been fun to take part in and I had learned a few lessons along the way. The winners in the end were:

Age Lundstrom - longest bass (54cm)

Steve Butler - longest pollock (56cm)

Rob Eastman - longest wrasse (51cm)

Mark Gliddon - Species Hunt (12 Species = 24 Points)

Well done to those guys and I'm looking forward to the next one! Hopefully with less broken rods and more species from myself...

After that the totals are:

Ben - 25 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, Golden Rudd, Golden Orfe, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Crucian Carp, Sand Smelt & Giant Goby

Ellie - 21 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, Common Blenny, Golden Tench, Golden Orfe, Bronze Bream, Crucian Carp, Common Carp & Giant Goby

Olly - 18 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Ballan Wrasse, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny, Shore Rockling, Corkwring Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Sea Bass & Giant Goby

Will - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench & Golden Orfe

Robbie - 12 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe & Pollock

Shane - 8 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock, Shore Rockling, Common Carp, Mirror Carp & Roach

Zoe - 5 Species - Pike, Goldsinny Wrasse, Rock Goby, Ballan Wrasse & Long Spined Sea Scorpion

Grant - 2 Species - Ballan Wrasse & Tompot Blenny

As always thanks for reading and please check out fishingtails.co.uk where I'm now a contributor.