Osborne & Cragg Easter LRF Species Hunt

Two weeks ago it was that special time of the year again, the Osborne & Cragg Easter LRF species hunt. This being the third competition I had participated in, I was eager to beat my previous attempts and finish at least in a top three place. So how did I get on?

It started on April 1st and I had no plans to play the fool, getting out nice and early to get my first species on the board. The fish had other ideas though and my two favourite marks completely blanked on me! It was time to bring out the big guns just so I wasn't wasting the day, so I headed to Rame. I knew the spring tide would reveal loads of new rockpools that could hold a few species, even if the open sea was being a foaming angry beast. The first large rockpool gave up it's resident giant goby in a couple of casts - not a blank, phew! It was then to find the ever reliable shanny, which again did not take long and I then couldn't stop catching them all day.

I had two species ticked off, not too bad but I had hoped for at least one more. I walked around the entirety of Rame, hot and sweaty but still admiring the ravens cawing above me and the spectacular views. I then saw a gulley that had been cut off by the low tide. It was a sketchy climb down amongst sharp rocks that obviously don't see many anglers. The water was cloudy from the waves that had been battering it previously, but it looked fishy. I had a couple of hits just under the rod tip, then struck into a very strong fish. It caught me by surprise after all the blennies and it nearly snagged me up. After a brief moment of strong arm persuasion it came to the surface, revealing itself as one of the most beautiful corkwring wrasse I've ever seen! Day one was done and I had three species ticked off. 

The next day were the prearranged meets for the comp'. I could only attend the evening one on the Barbican. Luckily it turned out to be one of the best meets I have been part of, with lots of new faces and a fair few fish caught. I've become much more appreciative of Sutton Harbour's value as a fishing venue recently, with that night being one of the reasons. The water was teeming with fish, with huge mullet teasing everyone (well, mostly just Kieran!) at the surface and shoals of mackerel sleepily cruising by every ten minutes. I managed four species, a small ballan wrasse caught in daylight at Elphinstone, a rock goby, a goldsinny and one of those mackerel. The mackerel being a massive relief as I couldn't catch one in the last competition. So by the end of the night I was on seven species, feeling pretty confident about my chances this time.

With the weekend over, my fishing opportunities would be limited to evenings only. This was no bad thing, LRF is quite often even more effective at night, with a lot of mini-species being semi-nocturnal. In no species is that more true than the tompot blenny, they really come onto the feed once the sun starts setting, and it didn't take me long to catch one from a reliable mark. Species number eight. 

I had a little more time the next evening and set about catching a black goby and a scorpion fish. Quite unbelievably I caught both! Which, considering I struggle with scorpions in the competitions, was a huge relief. The black gobies were in their usual haunts around Millbay, aggressively attacking the Ecogear Shirasu Aqua lures. The tide was low and I had the rare pleasure of watching a small scorpion fish ambush the lure in front of me. I say it a lot but I absolutely love these fish, I never get sick of catching them. Those two species had taken me onto ten species.

I wasn't done that night though, with a late high tide I ventured out to Mount Wise. What lay before me was the single most inspiring sight an angler can experience - fish topping everywhere! The water was alive with fish and I knew they'd be herring. It took me three casts and three hook ups to land one, it was turning out to be an amazing evening. I had plenty more 'Tamar tarpon' before I decided that I better try for a pollack. I begrudgingly tore myself away from the herring and was rewarded with a chunky little pollack. Day five was done and I had a very respectable twelve species, which had completely exceeded my expectations. 

The next night I went out with Kieran. After watching him get snagged up by a mystery brute of a fish we decided to try for the herring again, Kieran having only ever caught one in his life. The herring were still there even though the tide was low. What then proceeded was a hilarious game of 'shake the hook' between the herring and Kieran. He really struggled at first to land any, which wasn't helped by me landing mine quite easily - no doubt my practice the night before had put me in good stead. He got there in the end though and I managed a bonus sand smelt to add to my total, a great night's fishing in good company. Day six and thirteen species.

Not until day ten did I get my next species and it was another huge favourite of mine, the garfish. These fish frustrate the hell out of me but I'm a sucker for the punishment, they are just so much fun on light gear. I turned up to a very sunny and therefore busy West Hoe Pier. What's handy about that though is it's very easy to see if the gar are about, as the pleasure anglers will definitely have caught a few if they are around. One of the chaps fishing had a bag covered in green scales that gave me the answer I needed. I cast around and quickly had four sand smelt. I moved around the pier and then had a mackerel. It was clear the gar were present but not in numbers, I had numerous hits that were undoubtedly them but it wasn't easy going. With time rapidly running out on the hour parking ticket I had bought, I had a take! The relief when I felt the fish rush for the surface and shake its head was palpable. I landed it finally and celebrated my fourteenth fish of the competition.

Day eleven arrived and I wanted a topknot or a poor cod to boost my total. I was fishing with Shane who is a casual LRF'er to say the least. I managed four species - shanny, pollack, corkwring and goldsinny, all lovely fish but not needed. We decided to try the harbour for bass instead as Shane had never caught one and I hadn't caught one for the comp' yet. As we fished around we bumped into Chris Price who had already caught a bass, a good sign. As we cast around the back wall we couldn't believe our eyes as hundreds of schoolie bass and mackerel swam in a ball in front of us. The stunning silver scales reflected the streetlights above us and I was temporarily in awe of such a sight. I quickly regained my senses and pulled my lure through the shoal, I had a big hit and after an energetic battle I subdued the bass I needed. Shane then followed mine up with one of his own and you could not knock the smile off his face, it was a great moment to be a part of. Day eleven and my fifteenth species.

It was getting tight at the top and I was level with Rob Eastman, who seemed to be matching me day by day. We were like two evenly matched football teams who kept coming back to equalise once the other had got into the lead. I needed something special and I couldn't rely on a flatfish (I seem to be absolutely useless at finding them! Much more practice is needed). I had tried and failed to catch a clingfish in the past but I knew that could be the bonus species I needed. I headed to a rockpool filled mark where I knew they were plentiful, equipped with isome and a size eighteen hook on a split shot rig. It was not easy! I searched rockpools everywhere for them but due to their small size and shy nature, it was hard going. I finally found a crevice where one was hiding, lucky for me this one was hungry! It quickly sucked in my minuscule piece of isome but I pulled it out of it's mouth, it took me three more times to hook it! The feeling when I held this tiny fish in my hand was equal to any species I have caught this year, such was the satisfaction in catching it. I had looked like a mad man and almost convinced myself that I was, but I had my sixteenth species.

The next day was Easter Sunday and day sixteen of the lure competition. I had the idea to fish the sandier waters of Polruan and Fowey with my dad, in the hope of something unusual. It started off so well, I quickly landed a sand goby, my seventeenth species of the comp' and I nearly had a tiny plaice! I couldn't get one though, although we bumped into Matt Downing who I knew through Instagram, he managed to tease one out and although I wished it was mine, I just admired it's miniature beauty and congratulated him. The rest of the morning was a bit of a write off unfortunately, no other fish for myself or my dad. So we headed home for some food and Easter eggs instead.

Due to a severe hangover on bank holiday Monday (when will I learn?), I didn't go out again until the evening. It turned out to be a pleasant session with a lovely pollack of just over a pound being the best fish. I also finally got to meet my rival for the title, Rob Eastman. Turns out he's a lovely guy and it made for enjoyable banter and stories as we fished together. My alcohol-caused tiredness soon beat me though and I called it a night and settled on my total of seventeen species. I just hoped Rob wouldn't catch the one more species required to catch me up!

At eleven o'clock the next day the bell was tolled and the comp' came to a close. I had won! What a fantastic feeling and a great achievement. I've learned a huge amount in the last year and a half fishing LRF, so rarely has a fishing technique captured my imagination as it has, and it's always a great pleasure to have all the hours put in rewarded in the end. Rob Eastman and Glenn Triscott are also excellent anglers so finishing above them is a fine honour. A huge thanks to Simon for putting on the competition and a huge well done to all the anglers who took part. We are lucky to have a awesome community of lure fisherman in the Plymouth area, which hopefully will continue to grow.

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Journeyman LRF

I've been here, there and everywhere recently. Fishing a lot but without truly having a full day's session. This is the reality of modern life combined with winter weather, those days you are free have rain beating the windows, the days that are calm you have work. It's up to the angler to find the precious hour or two needed to catch fish. With week two of the LRF competition over, progress has been slow, madly frustrating at times, but also productive.

I mentioned in my last post a desire to target corkwring, ballan and topknot. With this in mind and two hours to spare, I decided on Mount Batten Pier. It was a typically blustery day with the south facing (and most productive) side difficult to fish. The water clarity was good though and by fishing a slightly heavier dropshot set-up. it wasn't too difficult to discern bites, of which there were many. I love the pier when it is like that, every fish in the area seems intent on finding your lure, it can be fantastic sport. Though I will concede the majority of the bites were the resident aggressive shannys!

After about fifteen minutes of the tell tale 'lift' bites from the shannys, I had a proper knock, then another, on the next I struck into a wrasse. It's such an excellent feeling to hook a wrasse after endless blennies and gobies, the power is in a different class. You really have to watch them too as they try to dive into the boulders below, light braid is so delicate in these situations. I could quickly see it was a corkwring, one of my target species. As I landed the fish, I turned around to find I had gathered a small audience of women, who couldn't quite believe the colours on a fish from our waters. With the usual question of ''are you going to eat that?'', I returned the fish back to the boulder filled depths, quite uneaten!

I struggled to find any other wrasse after that and decided to try the much calmer opposite side. It wasn't long before I was catching pollack after pollack, no real size to them, but enough to keep the spirits up as I searched for other species. In a deep hole and after many missed takes I managed a nice tompot blenny, certainly the more exciting of the blenny species, but not a species I needed. I moved on and found another likely looking crevice. To my surprise I had a big take and hooked into a fish that was certainly no blenny. It stayed deep briefly and I figured it was a small wrasse, as it surfaced I was surprised to see it was a poor cod. A complete first for me and my fifty first species of the year.

If you don't know what a poor cod is, it is aesthetically very similar to a pouting. The main differences being that the poor cod is a more bronze fish and sheds it's scales very easily. It's also slightly longer than a pout and doesn't grow quite as large. I was a nice result. Unfortunately it attracted the attention of two, I would say slightly novice, anglers who proceeded to cast over me in hope of fish. The rudeness of these two is sadly quite common on this pier, it gives us all a bad name. I moved up slightly and used the opportunity to speak to an angler on the end. He was catching garfish and supplied some excellent conversation, cancelling out the two idiots further down. With my time up and two more species ticked off, I headed home.

As I mentioned before, most of my trips have been very short. Trying to take opportunities as they come. I won't write about the less productive ones, but we've all been there, when gobies and pollack have been thankful blank-savers. It's safe to say I've had a few of those recently!

Me and Ellie planned months ago to have a few days away in Bristol. Somehow I managed to persuade her that we could go via Weymouth (a two hour detour). I've heard great things about this harbour and have been looking for an excuse to fish it. We had a full day free and both were looking forward to giving it a try. The A38 had other ideas. Just before Newton Abbot we found a wall of traffic stretching as far as we could see. The road was completely closed and we were forced on a major detour around Newton Abbot in stop-start traffic.

A full two hours later than we planned we arrived in Weymouth, not quite as chipper as expected. I parked up quayside and watched a cormorant wolf down a small flatfish. A good omen perhaps? The tide was going out but bites were not hard to come by, though I quickly found out the harbour was full of tiny sand gobies, not a fish worth travelling four hours for, but at least a new species for Ellie. As we searched I did manage a small whiting, my eleventh species in the competition. The pier was full of anglers so we couldn't make the most of that, which was a shame and things were looking a bit glum to be honest.

We stopped into the Weymouth Angling Centre for some advice. Quite shamefully I had ignored the stretch almost right next to my car, we were informed that was a great spot for LRF. With a fresh packet of Power Isome (in medium pink, my favourite), we fished the previously ignored mark. It started slow so I tried casting out into the main river, right by the bridge. Straight away I started catching palm sized whiting, these fish put up a real fight on the incoming tide. Confidence was renewed but the weather tried to quash that. It hammered it down! A spell of freezing rain cutting right to the core of us.

Despite the weather and now impending darkness, we carried on. In between the wall and the pontoons I found plenty of fish, mostly black and rock gobies with the occasional tompot. I couldn't find anything new though and I also couldn't bring myself to test Ellie any more. She had been incredibly patient but even I wasn't enjoying it anymore in those conditions. It was time to head to Bristol, though I'm looking forward to trying Weymouth again with more time and fairer weather.

I had one more short session on return from Bristol after a ballan. With the tide low I headed to Heybrook Bay to fish the rock gulleys out there. I managed to hook two and lost both! I have never struggled with this fish before, yet I can't seem to land one. I think a dedicated session with calmer weather is on the cards, if that weather arrives. As I write now the wind and rain is battering the house! I did manage a nice giant goby that day though and missed one twice the size. They are truly the most aggressive mini-species out there, if only they were more common.

I headed to Millbay afterwards and bumped into Frankie Costello who was out fishing for the competition himself. It was great to finally meet such an active and popular figure in the local scene, living up to his reputation with fine conversation and lots of interesting information. Quite to the detriment of my fishing to be honest as darkness set in pretty quickly. I tried for scad afterwards but couldn't find any in the usual spots. The water being coloured up by the rough weather was my excuse to myself as I headed home.

That leaves me on eleven species so far in the LRF competition. Still many more out there to catch, let's hope for finer weather.

Ben - 51 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, Chub, Dace, Bleak, Garfish, Sand Goby, Flounder & Poor Cod

Olly - 34 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, Minnow, Bleak & Garfish

Ellie - 27 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, Goldsinny Wrasse & Sand Goby

Shane - 17 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, Dace, Bleak & Minnow

Robbie - 15 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Pollock, Mackerel, Thick Lipped Mullet & Pike

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


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Half A Century Of Fish

Week one of the Osborne & Cragg LRF competition is done, just three more to go and the weather is turning quintessentially November-like. So how am I getting on?

The first morning of the competition was a bit of a failure to be honest. Although I did manage a goldsinny wrasse at West Hoe Pier, I was hoping for a garfish, but the tide was receding and so were the fish. There was a small highlight though, my first sand goby, an absolutely tiny fish but a new species, taking me up to forty nine and two in the LRF competition.

My next trip wasn't LRF related, instead I was joined by Robbie and Adam on Tiverton Canal in search of pike. The weather had turned very cold and the pike wouldn't play ball, the crystal clear waters making them easy to spot, yet difficult to tempt. We had to go really small in the end to catch. Fox Micro Fry doing the trick at last light, the perch and mini pike going on a half hour feeding spell, making the trip worthwhile in the end, with Robbie finally getting his first pike of the year

The next morning was back to competition business. The tides were better and weather was slightly more bearable. It didn't take me long to catch my first gar of the day, a small fish but an excellent fight as always. I had many more of these high flying acrobats in a fun filled hour, most of them shaking the hook by leaping into the air, I have to say I've really enjoyed fishing for them recently, they are quickly becoming a favourite of mine. A pollack even decided to crash the party, which I had half hoped was a mackerel, but it was another species ticked off. I then moved on to Millbay where I had a nice black goby and a shanny to take my total up to five. A modest haul before work.

With Monday as my day off and the sun blessing me with its presence, I made my way to Charlestown. This harbour is both stunningly Cornish and delightfully sandy, so different from the rockier, grimier marks I'm used to in Plymouth (not that I don't love my local fishing). I decided on a simple Carolina rig, with a five gram bullet weight and a size fourteen hook to hold the Power Isome. First cast onto the clean ground of this quaint harbour produced a fish! Not only that, but the fish I had came there to catch, a flounder. It wasn't a large one, but it was my fiftieth species of the year, my target at the beginning. I excitedly took it's picture and returned it, a few onlookers looking slightly bemused at my actions. (A small disclaimer - it could be a plaice, but I've gone with flounder now as that's what it most looked like to me, but I'll happily be told I am wrong)

I had plenty of bites as I cast around the harbour but most of these were from sand gobies, of which I caught quite a few. I did hook a better flatfish, a fish big enough to take line but it shook the barbless hook at the surface, a real shame. Another angler was baitfishing the other side of the harbour wall, having little luck, he was keeping himself busy by also casting out a lure. He had numerous follows from garfish but couldn't hook up. During this commotion, I noticed a shoal of silver fish just behind the waves hitting the beach. I lowered my lure to them and was rewarded very quickly with a sand smelt, another new species for the LRF competition.

I fished around the harbour but couldn't find any other new species, I definitely would like to try the harbour again but on an incoming tide, this time, time and tide were against me, so I moved on.
I tried both Par Sands and Fowey afterwards with little success, though Fowey just screams fish to me and has a fantastic reputation, definitely worth another try soon. With the sun rapidly setting and with other less fishy business to attend to, I headed home.

On a couple of short trips to Millbay and Mayflower Marina after work, I caught a tompot blenny taking my total to eight species in the competition, Ellie also managed her twenty sixth species of the year, a goldsinny wrasse.

Next up, I need to catch the two most common wrasse species, the ballan and corkwring. I also will be targeting bass, scad and topknot. Hopefully it's a productive week!


Ben - 50 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, Chub, Dace, Bleak, Garfish, Sand Goby & Flounder

Olly - 34 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, Minnow, Bleak & Garfish

Ellie - 26 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 & Goldsinny Wrasse

Shane - 17 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, Dace, Bleak & Minnow

Robbie - 15 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Pollock, Mackerel, Thick Lipped Mullet & Pike

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


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As always, thanks for reading

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