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. 

  

Leicester Pike & Plymouth Dragons

I have chosen recently to wind myself up targeting mullet again. It's like winding back to my teenage years, chasing girls who I know in the end will just reject me, it's bloody agonising! I will get the better of these fish eventually, but I'm not expecting miracles. Luckily enough I have had some small successes targeting other species too, which keeps the spirits up. This post is about them.

Ellie is originally from Leicestershire and last Thursday I finally got to meet her extended family. We had set aside a day to try some fishing too, targeting zander and pike. Staying in Hinckley, I found out that the Ashby Canal nearby was free fishing and had a population of 'zeds', so figured it was worth a try. We soon learned why it was free fishing, the canal is the colour of rich brown soup, churned up constantly by boat traffic. We didn't feel confident. After blanking for two hours in a couple of different spots we left it and had some lunch with Ellie's grandparents instead. A much more worthwhile endeavour.
After more entertaining family greetings (and fantastic home made indian food!), we decided to give a stretch of the the River Soar in the east of Leicester a go (after asking advice in a local tackle shop, always a good idea when you don't know the area). It was early evening and if there was any time we could potentially get a zander it was then. We arrived at a very inviting stretch, where a marina inlet caused a fork in the river. Though it was weedy it looked like a great fish holding area, and so it proved to be. I was using my LRF gear, casting a five gram jig head with a Crazy Fish Vibro Worm in peach and custard colours, it looked fantastic in the clear water. On my third retrieve I saw a pike miss my lure then snatch it at the second attempt. It went off like a rocket, diving in and out of the weeds, taking line. I've had pike on light tackle before but, even though this wasn't a large fish, it pulled like few pike I've ever had the pleasure of hooking. After about a minute of adrenaline fuelled action it was in the net, at between three to four pounds, not a monster, but certainly my favourite pike of the year so far. The funniest part was, in Ellie's excitement to get the net, she had reeled in her rod quickly and netted my fish, it was only when we put the fish on the landing mat, that she realised she had caught a pike too! On the end of her plug was a pike only just bigger than it, she quickly put it back in the water, feeling terrible she hadn't realised she had hooked it. We got the pictures of both though and they swam away fine, we both laughed at how we had a double hook-up without even realising it! After that entertaining start we were hoping for more, but as is often the way in fishing, those proved to be the only fish of the evening. We didn't mind though, we were truly knackered after a long day and headed back to the hotel in fine spirits.

I certainly would like to try around the Leicester area again, it has some fantastic fishing available, but money, time and the reality of a full time job are always against me unfortunately, but I was happy with the result of a cumulative of three hours fishing that day.

My next trip was after those dastardly mullet again. I know there's probably somebody reading this who's really adept at catching mullet of both types, I'm not there yet, but with all this practice I hope to soon be. One thing I've taken away from it so far is location is everything, spinning for thin lips is much easier if you can see the groups of them and is in slightly deeper water, where they are more confident. Whilst thick lips just require patience and a large amount of groundbait.
Ellie has been desperate to catch a schoolie bass, not even a big one, just a schoolie, apparently she just loves the name. I knew exactly where to take her, Kingsbridge. It turned out to be a good idea, as baited spinners proved lethal for them, Ellie caught one on her first cast and as the tide came in we must of had nearly forty by the end. Only tiny fish really, but it ticked off the schoolie bass for her and it was great fun, even if the strong winds made casting sometimes very difficult. I also managed to hook a thick lipped mullet in the back accidentally in the shallows, it then did its best impression of a bonefish as it shot off, I managed to get it in eventually but as I reached for it in the mud, it snapped my line! Completely my own fault, I left my net with Ellie and rushed it, at least I could feel better that the hook was barbless and would easily fall out of the fish. I cursed myself for being an impatient idiot though, a rush of blood to the head happens to everyone at some point I suppose. Catching bass after bass got a little monotonous in the end and we had one last try at the top of the creek, where I watched a large thin lip bite the end of my ragworm but miss the hook... After a couple more bass giving me false hope, I decided I had tortured myself enough and it was time to head home.

A couple of days later I fancied winding myself up some more. I figured Tamerton Creek in Tamerton Foliot could have some potential for mullet. I arrived near high tide to find the place pretty much deserted, only a few small fish cruising around. I float fished some bread for a while but realised I was wasting my time, somewhere else had to be more fruitful. Millbay would be my next target, usually there are hundreds of mullet there. When I got there though I couldn't see one! These fish don't play by any rules. There were quite a few anglers about float fishing and chucking feathers and I figured I could always try on the bottom for a flatfish or gurnard. I had a spinner set up for mullet just in case and a few ragworm (that mostly were a little too big for the tactic), so I decided to try along the bottom, using the spinner as an attractant for the trailing live ragworm. Finding a quiet spot I quickly caught two hard fighting pollock, no great size but they really go well on LRF tackle. A young lad came along asking for advice so I stopped for a bit to help him out, he was after mackerel, he only stayed for about fifteen minutes though and as soon as he left they arrived! Baitfish leaping clear of the water as they chased them to the surface. I cast to them and immediately had a fish on, only a small one but I love the way they zip around even at that size. Unfortunately with the mackerel there it didn't take long for the feather chuckers to start casting over my head, a couple of them were pretty decent guys who were very interested in the technique I was using, but another seemed to be trying his best to stamp all over my gear, which as you can imagine got annoying quick. He soon left though and the other guys stuck around with some decent conversation. I was very slowly dragging the spinner along the bottom, stopping occasionally. It really worked well and I had a fish nearly every cast including a couple of new ones for me, The usual suspects were there, pollock , rock goby, and ballan wrasse, but some surprised me like a small silver eel (luckily it was easy to unhook), a couple of small whiting (which I was completely unexpecting) and a fish I have been trying to catch for a while now, a dragonet. When I caught the dragonet I probably looked quite silly in front of the guys, getting very excited about such a small unassuming fish, but after targeting them a couple of times I had caught one, which felt great. It had turned out to be a very productive hour or so, seven species, still no mullet, but there's always next time.

Totals after that are:

Ben - 37 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

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 - 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.

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.

First Fish Of The Challenge

Congratulations to Robbie who has taken the lead in the Challenge with a fantastic Eel weighing in a 4lb 10oz caught on home ground at Bake Lakes in Cornwall. Rumours of large eels that take lures inspired him to give it a go and a slow jigged rubber shad did the trick just bouncing off the bottom. In Bake Lakes it seems the Eels have taken up the predator niche and are making good use of the plentiful small fish in the lakes. It's amazing the surprises commercial fisheries can throw up sometimes.
Robbie 1 - rest of the team - nil