Summer's Long Goodbye - Pen Rods, Gnomes & Mullet

With autumn fast approaching, it's easy to feel the panic of summer's inevitable demise. The night's are drawing in, wind and rain are becoming more frequent, it would be easy to get disheartened. But that would be ignoring what are probably the most productive months of the year, in both salt and freshwater. In the sea, the summer species are still here and they're also being joined by the winter rabble - the whiting, pouting, cod, big pollock and herring. In the rivers and lakes, pike and perch are starting to pile on that winter weight, the cooler, clearer water putting lure fishing right at the fore of the modern angler's mind. For the opportunists out there this time of year can reap great rewards. I'm a greedy angler, the more variety the better, so bring on the autumn, lets see what we can catch amongst the falling leaves.

Two weeks ago I had a fantastic Sunday's fishing, one of those days that make the Monday at work so much more bearable, not because I caught huge fish (though I did miss one), but because of fantastic company and truly entertaining fishing.

It started with a pen rod in hand. I had entered myself into a pen rod competition and to be completely honest had forgotten about it. Sunday was the final day of the competition and an alert came up on my Facebook with interesting news, it was a species comp' and the winner currently stood with four species, a figure I knew I had a great chance of beating. I already had plans to fish with Olly later in the day, so I decided to head out in the morning with the pen rod (looking quite ridiculous in the process) and try to tempt as many species as possible. Using a heavy in-line lead and a small hook baited with Power Isome, I managed to land five species in a very short amount of time. The highlight being when a huge shoal of mackerel moved in, chasing the baitfish shoals in the low water, they're such a pleasure to watch and I managed to land one! What a nightmare it was on the pen rod too, my drag gave up on me as I tried to lift it up the harbour wall, so I ended up handlining it the rest of the way. That fish, combined with black and rock gobies, corkwring wrasse and whiting put me in the lead of the competition. I had to meet up with Olly so I left there and bought some more mackerel and ragworm from Rob's Tackle & Bait, handily open on a Sunday.

In high spirits I met up with Olly to discover we had quite a gang of us going fishing, with Shane, Louise and Zoe all deciding to give it a go. Rame was to be the venue for our angling that afternoon, and I figured I should be able to get another species for the competition too. We arrived and made the thorny and slippery descent to our favourite mark. Olly was targeting a dogfish as he hadn't caught one yet, the rest of us were just content with catching anything. Whilst we set up it was obvious there were a lot of fish in the area, fish surfacing everywhere and dark shadows of baitfish were right near the surface. Zoe, Shane and Olly all tried various lures with no success, the fish seemed a little too small even for mini sandeel lures. The bigger fish were out of casting range for LRF tackle so I encouraged Shane to use a heavier Dexter Wedge to get amongst them. Still no luck though, I asked if I could give it a go as I didn't bring my usual lure set up, graciously he said yes. After a couple of fluffed attempts I managed to achieve the perfect cast, bringing it through the swirling shoal, fish on! Expecting a mackerel I was delighted to find it was a herring, my first ever. Unfortunately it wasn't in the best of health so I decided to use it for bait. Meanwhile Olly had his first fish of the day, a small bull huss, the first of what would end up many that day. I set a rod up on the bottom with half of the herring whilst I used my pen rod to catch my sixth species, a tiny pollock. I started to try for the herring and mackerel with the pen rod, during which a bass of around four pound followed my lure right to the rocks, I doubt I would have got that in on the pen had it taken it! I was setting up another rod when my herring rod went, I had set the drag loose to stop it getting pulled into the sea but it nearly went anyway, it was a huge bite and I leapt across the rocks to hit it, unfortunately I struck into nothing, I had missed the fish. The fish must have been on for around five seconds but I was too far away to strike it properly, I was pretty gutted to say the least. I speculated it was either a decent bass or huss, either would have been very special. I moved on though and got much more heartening news through that I had won the pen rod competition. We spent the rest of the evening catching small huss and mackerel.

The biggest surprise came last though, as Olly's rod started tapping away very unlike the huss bites we had enjoyed all day. He struck into a very different feeling fish and Shane's rod went too, there was a moment of confusion until we realised Shane's had just got tangled with Olly's (leaving Shane a tad disappointed). Olly's fish revealed itself to be a couches bream! A great surprise and a new species for Olly. During the commotion of landing that fish, a wave nearly washed the net into the sea, leaving me no choice but to jump in after it! Luckily it was still on the rocks but I was soaked! After all that excitement it was time to go home, a couple of new species, lots of laughs and winning the competition. That's a good day's fishing to me.

Olly fished again the next night in a different spot and managed a small conger eel, another new species for him.

My next trip was fishing the River Culm near Exeter with Adam. He had never caught a pike and I really wanted a lure caught chub. We met up at Exeter Tackle Shop and headed to the river. At first it was a little uninspiring, with no sign of fish at all. My little plugs were getting zero attention from the chub in the water, if indeed there were any there at all. I decided quickly that pike would be a better target, certainly a fish I'm a lot more knowledgeable with. I was using my favourite Crazy Fish Vibro Worm in pink and yellow. It didn't take long to get a hit from a good fish, unfortunately in typical pike manner it shook the hook after ten seconds. It was a start though and followed that up with a smaller jack shaking the hook in similar time right at my feet.

Wanting Adam to catch his first pike I gave him my lure to try. I moved onto a red senko on a weedless hook, experimenting with American bass tactics. Adam soon had numerous hits from a hungry fish, he finally hooked it and got to experience the raw animosity of an angry summer pike. Summer pike are lean and athletic, they are certainly bulkier in the colder months but are simply much more fun in the summer, though being delicate fish at the best of times, you really have to look after them once they're on the bank, don't be afraid to rest them in the landing net to let them get their strength back. Adam's first ever pike was a great fish, at around five pounds still a jack but considering my first pike was around thirty centimetres it was an excellent start.
We moved up and down the stretch, finding that the fish were quite predictably on the bends, perfect ambush areas. I soon had a pike of my own on the red senko, only a jack of a pound or two but as it was a fish on a new technique I was pretty pleased. It was obvious that the more traditional paddle tails were much more effective though. Adam managed to follow his pike up with a decent perch of over a pound and then we had to leave. Unfortunately it was only a short trip but it's got me excited for the upcoming pike season.

The next week was spent fishing short LRF sessions when I could with Olly, Shane, Louise and Ellie. Olly managing to get even more species under his belt - long spined sea scorpion, rock goby and tompot blenny all being caught by him, he's really got to grips with LRF recently. My favourite fish of those trips being a chunky little pout and the moment, whilst reeling in a large tompot blenny, that a bass almost snatched my fish! 

I don't get to fish enough with Robbie, ironic considering he runs a fishery. We did however manage to steal a couple of hours after work one day, to try a mullet spot he's been told about. So off we went armed with our coarse fishing tackle and a loaf of bread. The spot was on the River Plym where the river floods with the tide, bringing with it large shoals of thick lipped mullet. We set up and managed to find a lot of feeding fish (not always easy when mullet fishing). They were happily taking our bread offerings and we were slightly optimistic. What happened next was quite predictable, hundreds of missed takes, frustration and heart in mouth moments, yet zero fish hooked. Then the tide turned and I knew that they can be easier to catch on the outgoing tide (in theory). Rob proved this to be correct as he hooked one, only small but we were still overjoyed to get it on the bank. A bold little thick lip, Robbie's first of the year. Try as I could I couldn't get one, but I knew with more subtle tackle and a slightly larger hook I would have a good chance when I tried it again.

The mullet would have to wait though as I had a pen rod meet to partake in. Meeting up with Age Lundstrom and friends who, particularly Ben Grout, were dressed brilliantly like gnomes! I felt quite underdressed wearing only a beanie hat pulled up gnome style, but the guys didn't seem to mind. Age had put on the whole competition with generous help from Sea View Angling Tackle Shop. The prizes were fantastic and the beautiful Major Craft LRF rod and HTO Rockfish reel I won is something I will get so much use out of. Age is a keen writer himself and will share his full write up of the events soon, so I won't get into too much detail here. Just a quick word from me to say thank you Age and Sea View for putting on such a great competition.

After the gnome-based hi-jinks, it was time to try for the mullet again. This time I was armed with a much more sensitive float and a strong size twelve hook, having found the eighteen's used before to be too small. I had picked up Ellie from work and knew we only had a couple of hours before
A) the sun would be setting, and
B) Ellie would be fed up and ready to go home.
So no pressure then!
The water was more low and clear than the session before and the fish weren't there in numbers, but they were bigger. We started feeding up the swim heavily with bread and they quickly destroyed our offerings. The usual missed takes were still in full effect, the fact you can see them taking the bait actually works against you, I find you strike too soon. So I tried my best to be patient. I waited for the float to go down before I struck and bingo, fish on! What a feeling after all the frustration and disappointment. Ellie rushed to get the net but I couldn't force it, the fish darted all over the river in front of me, taking line at will, I did not want to lose this fish. Luckily the hook held strong and it was in the net! Contrary to popular belief, the mullet's mouth is actually extremely tough, the hook was right on the tip of its bulbous lip, a hook hold like that would have pulled out instantly if they were the marshmallow-mouthed fish of popular opinion. The fish was no monster, but the combination of relief of landing one, the fantastic fight and the beauty of the fish itself, meant I couldn't remove the smile off my face if I tried. We returned the fish to the water and it obviously informed all it's shoal mates, because the fish seemed to vanish. We wondered up and down the stretch looking for them but couldn't find any in a feeding mood, this didn't bother us too much though, Ellie was keen to go home and I had caught the prize I had set out for. Proving an hour in the right place is worth days elsewhere. I can't wait to catch more.

Totals after that are:

Ben - 44 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, Whiting, Dragonet, Brown Trout, Koi Carp, Scad, Pouting, Couches Bream, Herring & Thick Lipped Mullet

Olly - 31 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, Scad, Couches Bream, Conger Eel, Rock Goby, Tompot Blenny & Long Spined Sea Scorpion

Ellie - 25 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 & Sea Bass

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 - 14 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Pollock, Mackerel & Thick Lipped Mullet

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

As always, thanks for reading. 

  

Bream's Do Come True

Social media is a famously double edged sword, it's fantastic connectivity being used to both bring people together and tear people apart. This post (luckily enough) is about the more positive side of the internet and how it can bring like minded people together.

You might have seen me mention the Plymouth LRF group page on here before, if you are unaware of it then its a page on Facebook that originally started off as an LRF page for the Plymouth area (of course), it then morphed into something a lot more broad and its membership is now nationwide. Will added me to the group and it has been a source of great knowledge and inspiration ever since, a lot of the members being very forthcoming in advice. For someone like me trying to catch as many species as possible it's been a godsend, my experience of sea fishing before this year was almost completely based on wrasse and the occasional mullet, so with the wealth of information available from this group I have grown much more confident and understanding of certain elements of sea fishing, particularly LRF. There is still lots to learn as always though, that's why we love fishing. Another benefit of this group is connecting with like minded anglers and actually going fishing with them. I was approached on Instagram by Adam Morris, a guy I had seen a lot on the Facebook page and knew was having a species competition of his own. He lives in Exmouth and wanted to give the Plymouth area a go, he seemed like someone on my wavelength and I hardly need any excuse to fish more! So we arranged a meet and I agreed to find him his first goby species.

We met up at Marsh Mills roundabout and headed off to Heybrook Bay. I knew a couple of spots there where giant gobies are plentiful. Adam wanted to catch one as he had never caught any type of goby before. Giants are actually very rare across the UK and we are very lucky to have them so near to Plymouth, though the average size is quite small there are the occasional brutes of nearly thirty centimetres. We arrived and made our way to the spot. In conversation I found out that Adam has only been fishing properly this year and in that time has caught over 30 species of Sea fish, he is a self confessed fishing addict, something I can certainly understand. We set up and using small pieces of Isome and Ecogear grubs we quickly had our gobies, that spot is definitely reliable! With the tide receding we had a chance to fish the gulleys on the large rock formation in front of us, access to it normally being blocked by the tide. Fishing there I had a couple of good sized corkwring (possibly my biggest of the year) and a ballan of around a pound and a half. We fished around the area then it was time to move. Mount Batten was next, although with the tide still low it was only Shanny's that wanted to bite. So off we went to Millbay, I knew it was where we'd most likely get the greatest variety of species. I moved on to my trusted baited spinner technique and had the usual mix of wrasse species, mackerel and gobies, nothing new though. Adam had a better run of it, fishing dropshot, he caught his first rock goby and goldsinny plus quite a few ballan wrasse. We moved around as the sun started setting and the mackerel were going crazy on the other side, we watched and tried to tempt them but they weren't being as forthcoming as usual, though Adam managed to land a nice schoolie and a monster scad, a fish that was definitely on my wish list. Unfortunately I didn't get one but I was happy with Adam's results and a decent haul of over 10 species that day.

My next trip was a short one with Ellie after work, it was more of an excuse to get out on the rocks in the sunshine than fishing to be honest, but ballans and blennies never fail to put a smile on your face.

If my previous trip was a pleasurable jaunt, my next was much more eventful. I had seen a spot in the Yealm estuary that was full of mullet so Me, Olly and Robbie thought we'd give it a go, with Adam once again joining us later. We had gone too early though and the tide was much too far out, even walking far down the estuary we couldn't find the incoming tide, we had arrived too early. It was difficult and muddy work, so we decided to climb up into the woods above us to find a path back. During this walk through the woods we came across a buzzard on the ground. Unable to fly it was limping around and I knew it was surely fox food, I couldn't have that. So using the net and my hoodie we caught it and I managed to walk it back the (quite considerable) distance to my car. By this time Adam had arrived and was obviously a little thrown by the circumstances. Calling a vet we found out they would take it and heal it if possible, so we headed there. It was during this time I could really appreciate what an awesome bird it was, it's sharp claws and powerful beak deserving respect. Arriving at the vets Olly had to leave for work, so me, Robbie and Adam left the buzzard with the vets and went to Millbay again as it was closest. I later received a call informing me that the bird wasn't too badly injured and would be healed in the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre near Newton Abbot, which was amazing news. We set up as usual and Robbie caught his first corkwring of the year, Adam caught a mackerel and a black goby, his first ever. Quite a few tiny whiting also started making an appearance too, they are always very welcome. Robbie had to leave for work after an hour though so it was time for a new mark. Adam wanted to fish the Tamar so that's where we headed. It really was a great choice. The spot we fished produced countless mackerel, a couple of pound-plus wrasse and a lovely schoolie bass of around two pound for me, the fish taking a Savage Gear Mini Sandeel right beneath my feet in crystal clear water! It was fantastic and the fight a bass can produce when the current is pushing hard is epic. The best fish though was caught by Adam. His 'sleeper rod', set up with ragworm legered on the bottom, started bouncing manically and it was clear a good fish was on the line. I've never seen a man move so quick as he handed me his LRF rod and leapt towards the frantically bending one in front of him. We waited in anticipation as the fish drew nearer. What would it be? A flash of red shot threw the blue water, 'it's a bream!' we both exclaimed in unison. Thirty seconds later it was in the net. Neither of us had seen one in the flesh before, it was such an exotic looking beauty, a couches bream. The colour's are exceptional on these fish, pinky red, with light blue spots and stripes, they look so out of place in our waters. We got the required photographs and returned it to the sea. That fish capping off a fine session and ending a more unusual day.

I had a couple of short sessions after that, I find summer so full of opportunity that any chance to get out I will, even if its only for an hour or two. This led me to catching a beautiful little brown trout, pretty much on Seaton beach, where the river meets the beach and is still fairly deep and fresh. Using a split shot rig with a tiny piece of isome (my weapon for catching all the truly mini-species), I had to contend with an audience, quite a few bushes and very spooky trout! But eventually I got my fish, a perfect little red-spotted brownie, then headed swiftly to work.

A couple of days later I tried again on the Tamar for a bream but only caught a ballan wrasse of around a pound, not content with that I drove up to Milemead Fishery near Tavistock. I fished their heavily stocked 'mini match' water in hope of a tench. Though the tench wouldn't play I caught a lot of small carp, bream, roach, rudd and a new species for me, a koi carp. I know that the carp strains are not truly different species but for the purpose of the challenge, they are. Though it was a lovely day's fishing, it was a bit frustrating to not catch a tench again, considering I've never struggled to catch them in the past.

I spent the next couple of nights chasing scad (or horse mackerel) in the dark after work. It was quite eventful mainly because, due to some kids fooling around near the entrance of the marina, fishing had been banned at Millbay. It was a strange experience being kicked out of the marina for fishing, by a security guard who'd been employed purely for that purpose. Though I was annoyed I carried on round the other side and caught mackerel, pollock, a schoolie and my target fish... the scad! A decent haul in the darkness, knowing scad love a bit of light on the water in the dark, I fished near a streetlight and it paid off handsomely.
Olly and his girlfriend Louise wanted to try it themselves so the next night I picked them up after work and we went down to the same spot. The same species made an appearance and we all caught scad, which was a new species for Olly too.

After being at a festival all bank holiday weekend, me and Ellie were invited on a boat trip with Adam out of Lyme Regis, unfortunately the festival had bankrupted us and we couldn't afford it, though we were both still very fragile and perhaps a boat wouldn't have been a good idea! So instead we had a couple of hours LRF'ing around Plymouth, Mount Batten producing a giant tompot blenny for Ellie and just shanny's for me, then at the Barbican (Ellie feeling quite ill at this point so wasn't fishing) I caught my first little pouting of the year, in front of quite a large audience - I think they were expecting a larger fish! We left shortly after as the results of our weekend exploits got the better of us.

And finally... (Apologies for the length of this post, between work, fishing and festivals I really haven't had time to write!)

My boss Dan is a keen fishermen but rarely gets the time to indulge himself, so I agreed to take him out on an evening. I still really wanted a bream so took him to the same spot as before. The tide can be brutally strong through there so I invested in some gripper leads and a heavier set up. I use an old carp rod for most of my heavier bait fishing from the shore, knowing it will happily cast three ounces without complaining, yet still provide decent bait indication. Baiting a size six long shank hook with a small whole ragworm I felt confident. I cast that out about sixty yards and left it to do its work. During this time I introduced Dan to the world of LRF, he was getting lots of bites on Isome but I think they were finicky goldsinny wrasse, as they wouldn't hook up. We switched over to the mini sandeel lures to see if we could get a mackerel or bass. During this time three other anglers turned up, they were a decent group of guys who were after bass. I recast my heavier set up and within a minute the rod was pulling round, I am not over-exaggerating when I say it looked like I had a decent carp on the end! Excited I ran to the rod and connected with the fish, though the gear was heavy you could feel the power of the fish even though I could tell it wasn't large. I was over the moon when it revealed itself to be my target fish - a couches bream. I got the pictures and then rested it in the net so it could recover, admiring this tropical looking fish as it got its breath back in the water. I find it's so important to do this, fish get caught in strong currents and in their weakened state easily die, its crucial if you're intending to release your fish that you care for them. After it was clearly back to its best, I released it out of the net and watched it swim back into the depths. Although small, definitely one of my favourite fish I've caught all year and my forty second species. I had one small wrasse after that and nothing else. I offered to take Dan to a different spot but we were both hungry so went for food and a celebratory pint instead.

Totals after that are:

Ben - 42 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, Whiting, Dragonet, Brown Trout, Koi Carp, Scad, Pouting & Couches Bream

Olly - 26 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 & Scad

Ellie - 25 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 & Sea Bass

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