Back To School

On Tuesday night I had an impulsive drive to go fishing. The kind of impulse it would be foolish to ignore, especially with the knowledge that a few of the regular LRF faithful were out too. There had been lots of talk of schoolie bass around recently and I didn't want to miss out. What followed was about the best fun you can have in a hour with your clothes on, topped up with excellent banter and some wise teachings by our very own LRF Gandalf, otherwise known as Maurice!

I'm not ashamed to admit when I'm cashing in on other people's hard work, the guy's had already put the graft in that night and found the fish. A quick message to Joe had confirmed everyone had caught so far and I was welcome to join. No self respecting angler can refuse that offer. I arrived to find that Simon, Kieran and Maurice were there too, which was a pleasant surprise. After five minutes of catching up and spinning the yarn it was time to get to business.

I've recently bought a couple of packs of the two inch Crazy Fish Vibro Worms and I was eager to try them. Mounting one on a three gram Savage Gear Darting Jighead it looked excellent in the water. Using a bright luminescent yellow colour I was very confident I'd at least get hits. It's worth saying how fantastic this range of lures are, they are heavily scented with squid, are ultra soft and have an incredible movement through the water. I can't recommend them enough.

My first few exploratory casts were near Joe and he managed three fish in just a few minutes. It was great to hear his drag start screaming off as these spirited little bass ran off. I had a couple of hits but missed them, to be honest I was paying too much attention to Joe's escapades. It was obvious the fish were stalking about underneath the pontoon and boats in front of us, accurate casts near these features were producing hits regularly. Finally a cast produced a fantastic run of my own, the fish aggressively trying to shake the lure out. Fishing in fairly shallow water meant it could only do one thing - run. This led to lots of line being taken for such a modest fish. Joe had also managed to hook one at the same time as mine. We landed them both together, creating a great photo opportunity and one of my favourite photos I've taken this year,

The fishing really took off from there, every few casts brought a fish in a hectic twenty minute spell. With the right setting on the drag you can get such an entertaining fight from these fish. The takes were quite interesting too, you would feel more of a weight then a classic bass smack. I presume this is because of the slow retrieve and the fish engulfing the lure in it's large mouth, so that by the time you feel the hit the fish is almost already hooked. By the time Simon came along to join us I had had ten. Unfortunately his arrival seemed to lead to all the fish disappearing, something we took great pleasure in letting him know! We moved back down to where Maurice and Kieran were to find the fish.

Maurice was still catching fairly consistently, it was time for us to go to school and listen to his teachings! His theory is that, just like fly fishing at night, you use a dark lure for dark skies and a bright lure for (you guessed it) bright skies. Simon had changed over to a darker lure on this advice and quickly caught a fish. Never argue with the LRF wizard! Although I had my final fish of the night on my bright Vibro Worm, probably just going to prove that schoolie bass will smash anything given the chance!

Overall I was only out for just over an hour and a half, catching eleven schoolie bass, all averaging around a pound. It was excellent sport in great company, definitely whetting my appetite for the upcoming LRF competition.

Enjoy your fishing everyone and thank you so much for reading, apologies for the lack of photos on this one. Night time fishing and quality photos are not great bedfellows!

Please check out www.fishingtails.co.uk for up to date fishing reports and articles, including some by myself.

You also find me on Facebook and Instagram by searching: Ben Bassett Fishing

Saluting The Shanny

When it comes to maligned fish species, the common blenny or, as it's commonly known, the shanny, is certainly on a lot of angler's lists. These fish are plentiful, small and bait stealing. Yet isn't it time we looked at them a little differently? Appreciated them for the aggressive, tough as nails fish that they are? Today, I'm in the shanny's corner, fighting the good fight. Hopefully you will humour me as I do.

Firstly, it's definitely worth clarifying what is a shanny? The shanny is a member of the blenny family and is one of the most numerous fish species in the inter-tidal zone (the area that is revealed at low tide then covered at high water). It is most commonly confused with the tompot blenny and the various goby species. The easiest way to tell apart a shanny from a tompot is that the tompot has two protruding tentacle like structures above it's eyes, the shanny does not. The tompot also grows larger and is generally more stripey, usually a deep red to brown colour. The shanny is a lot more uniform in colour, either grey, brown or black with speckled markings all over. They are both scaleless and quite slimy, with tall guinea pig-like heads and large eyes. Their dorsal fin is long and runs the entire length of their bodies. Gobies on the other hand, have much flatter heads, a distinct dorsal fin and tiny scales.

A shanny in classic mottled colouration.

A tompot blenny, a much more heavily set fish.

The shanny is an incredibly tough species. It has an impressive ability to remain out of water for hours, as long as it remains damp. This obviously gives it a huge advantage in shallow rockpools and harbours that dry out, all it has to do is find a safe crevice to hide in and wait for the water to return. Their teeth are needle-like and strong, they are true opportunists: eating fish remains, worms, small crustaceans and even barnacles. Being a territorial species means they do not leave their favoured area much, so eating whatever appears in front of them is a sensible tactic.

A large male shanny in full mating colours - dark body with red eyes.

Their opportunistic nature is exactly what makes them so easy to catch. These are a fish that do not have the choice to be fussy, so any bait of any size is fair game. Quite often they are competing with their neighbours too, when this happens they come across as suicidal! If you are targeting a larger species, this trait can be a frustrating one. It's easy to imagine a group of shannys whittling your expensive bait down to the bare hook. Yet if you are struggling to catch, the shanny can be a saviour. Yes, they are small, with an almost non-existent fight. They also will happily bite if you get your fingers too close! But they are also a rock solid, classically British warrior of a mini-species. Always there no matter what the weather, attacking what ever lure or bait you place in front of them, for that they get my respect.

A small shanny, greedily gobbling up a ragworm bait.

There's one last reason why personally, this fish has a special place in my heart. When I was much younger I would visit my grandparents in Looe. I already had a huge passion for angling at that point, but my love was directed at coarse fishing. My Gramps would take us down to the quay at high tide to go crabbing. Obviously I scoffed at the crabbing lines and brought my cheap and very light coarse rod, along with tiny hooks and split shot. My Grandad would point out the shannys peeking out of the harbour wall, snatching at the fish entrails left by the crabbers. I would take a tiny piece of either bacon or mackerel and lower it down the wall, the shannys would shoot out and attack it. It was the simplest form of fishing I'd ever known, yet it brought me such joy. To hold such bizarre and alien looking fish in my hands, surrounded by family, gave me some of my best childhood memories. Little did I know that over seventeen years later I would be repeating the trick, just this time with artificial lures and high tech tackle instead.

Enjoy your fishing everyone and thank you so much for reading.

Please check out www.fishingtails.co.uk for up to date fishing reports and articles, including some by myself.

You also find me on Facebook and Instagram by searching: Ben Bassett Fishing