Wrecking trip 15th February 2013

My first boat trip of the year was wrecking for Pollack and ling aboard Flamer IV out of Weymouth.  It was also the first match in the Flamer Friday Fishers Specimen League.  A friendly (ish) species competition focusing on bigger fish.  The rules are simple.  Each species scores between 2 and 20 points with a maximum of 10 fish counting for each species.  There is a maximum of 2 hooks (Pennell rigs count as 2 hooks), mini species (those with records less than 1lb) and mackerel do not count and for any fish to count on the score sheet they had to be over 12” long.  5 bonus points are awarded for fish weighing 5lb-10lb, 10 points for fish weighing 10lb-20lb and 20 points for any fish over 20lb.

We left harbour just before 7am and it was obvious from the start the weather gods were in a good mood as the winds were light and the sky clear.  Colin opened up Flamer IVs engine as we rounded the stone pier and we started the long steam to our first wreck more than 20miles south of Portland Bill. 

The flat calm seas as we left Weymouth harbour

I opted for a Portland rig a simple but effective rig ideal for working artificials over a wreck.  To begin I used a lure I had success with last year…a bright pink redgill evolution which was soon nicknamed ‘the pink peril’.  Through the day, I also tried sidewinders in a range of colours including the popular rhubarb and custard.  The rest of the crew opted for a variety of Portland, Flying collar and flowing trace rigs loaded with shads and sidewinders. 

The first drift was unsuccessful but on our second we had a few takes and the first couple of fish hit the deck including a small Pollack for me only about 3 or 4lb but I was on the score sheet.  The third drift was also good with a second fish for me probably about 6-7lb, which gave me 5 bonus points.  The next few drifts were blank and Colin decided on a move.  Unfortunately our run of poor drifts continued.  Over what should have been the best part of the tide we visited a number of wrecks catching the odd fish here and there some of which were into double figures but we failed to find a wreck, which produced consistent fishing.  By the end of the morning, with the fishing so slow, the competition was close with only a few points separating all the anglers.  It was on our 6^th wreck of the day where we finally found a few fish as the tide began to drop.  I managed to add 3 more Pollack (1 small fish, another in the 6-7lb bracket and one just into double figures) and a pout, which was just over the minimum 12” to my tally.

My largest pollack of the day 10lb 4oz

As we approached slack water Colin said it was prime time to try for a ling.  I swapped my Portland rig for a flowing trace with a 6/0 pennell and a yellow muppet above.  I baited with a fillet of mackerel and a whole squid and sent it down to the depths.  This is high-risk high reward fishing.  Either you catch a fish or you catch the wreck.  On the first drift I found metal work and lost my gear.  I quickly tied on spare trace and was ready for another go.  The next drift looked to be going the same way as the first as I hit something solid but as I tried to bump out the lead felt a bite, which pulled me clear of the snag and I was into a fish.  It was not the hoped for ling but turned out to be a small conger eel of maybe 7 or 8lb.  This gave me a very useful 20 points (congers are t-bared outside the boat and are worth 20points regardless of size).  I had a second conger on the net drift this time around 25lb, which gave me a good tussle and another 20points.

The conger was the last fish of the trip and at around 3pm colin signalled the competition was over and we headed back into port.  On the way in the scores were added up and double checked and it turned out I was the top rod on the day with 112 points, 2^nd was Stephan Attwood (54 points), 3^rd Mick Nunn (47), 4^th Trevor Cozens (32) and 5^th Andy Collings (27).  The crew managed to boat some decent fish with the biggest over 14lb with a number in the 10lb-12lb bracket. 

Although the fishing was on the slow side the day was thoroughly enjoyable the weather was great for February, we caught a few fish and I added 3 species to my total for the year.  Colin worked hard to put us on fish trying a number of wrecks but some days the fish don’t play ball!  The next competition is in the middle of march which (weather permitting) should be a reef and bank trip targeting rays, spurdogs and other reef fish in the morning with a crack at the big turbot on the shambles bank in the afternoon…I cannot wait!

If anyone fancies joining the league or booking a trip on Flamer IV check out Colin's website

http://www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/flameriv

Until the next time

Tight lines

2013 Species - Thick lipped mullet, whiting, flounder, common goby, black goby, pollack, pout, conger eel

LRF down at the marina

It can't have escaped anyone's notice that over the last couple of years Light Rock Fishing (LRF) has really taken off in the UK.  Most of the monthly sea angling magazines have featured articles on the subject and there are numerous blogs and websites popping up on the subject.

If I'm going to hit my target of 35 species this year I think the list will have to include lots of 'mini species' and if I can have a bit of fun whilst targeting blennies, gobies and the like all the better.  So with this in mind I popped down to veals and purchased a Tronix-Pro Rockfish UL rod, a small shimano fixed spool reel, a couple of packs of isome worms and a few sundries to get me started.

The murky waters of the Bristol Channel aren't conducive to lure fishing of any kind especially with a rod rated to cast 7g and 6lb braid so had to head back to Portishead marina where the water would be clear enough to work the lures.  I didn't take any ragworm with me so I had to work at my technique with the isome worms.

It was a cold and windy day which made casting light weights a bit awkward but if I kept the rod tip low I was able to cast well enough.  It took a while to get the technique right, I think to begin with I wasn't leaving a big enough pause between twitches for the flavour in the isome worms to work.  As I experimented it became clear leaving up to 20 or 30 secs between twitches was the way to go and I started to get tiny nibbles.

The next problem was learning when to strike.  Do I strike straight away or let the bite develop and then strike.  To be honest when the first proper bite came the fish pretty much hooked itself and the rod bent nicely into a fish and I swung in this little black goby

A few minutes later I had another hit-able bite and landed another fish this time it was a common goby

Although I had a few more bites those two little fish were my only catches of the day but they were both new species for the year taking my species tally up to 5 for the year.

What did I learn about LRF?  Well it was a pleasure to go fishing with just a rod, reel, landing net and a small bag of bits and bobs.  I found the small red isome worms produced more bites on the day than the pale pink ones although on another day it could well be the other way round.  I think as the water warms up the number of fish which can be caught on LRF will dramatically increase.  I'm going to try small soft plastics on mini lead heads next time I use the LRF rod and these should be good for getting the more predatory fish such as bass and pollack.  And I can't wait to hit something 'big', an average sized mackerel would be fantastic fun on this light gear.

My next trip is hopefully going to be my first boat trip of the year down on Flamer IV out of weymouth targeting big pollack and ling (that is if the weather is kind to me) and I may have to take my LRF rod and have a play in the harbour before we head out.

Until next time

Tight Lines

2013 Species count - Thick lipped mullet, whiting, flounder, black goby, common goby

Back at the Marina. 27th Jan

After the success of my first trip of the year I paid another visit to Portishead Marina hoping to get the flounder I failed to catch on the first attempt.

It was a lovely day when I arrived clear skies and not too cold which was a vast improvement on the snow and ice of recent weeks.  The water was slightly clearer than last time but still with a hint of colour so.  I set up in the same spot as last time

I decided to fine tune my gear slightly instead of carp rods I opted for a quiver-tip rod and a barbel rod with 6lb and 10lb lines.  I stuck with a single size 4 hook and flowing trace on the barbel rod.  However on the quiver-tip I wanted to try to target mini species so made up a two hook flowing trace with size 10 hooks with tiny cubes of mackerel and worm as bait.  I stuck with halibut groundbait in the feeder.

It took a few minutes to get bites.  The culprits as I expected were little whiting which were homing in on the little chunks of mack.  With a light quiver tip the bites were quite dramatic and easy to hit.  I managed 3 whiting one after the other then the bites dried up which was a little strange.  I gave it an hour and then decided to move to the other side of the marina where I had been told was the place to catch flounder.  The water was much shallower probably only 8-10 feet and I swapped the mini-species rig to a single hook trace to target the flatties.

The normal procedure when you get a bite from a flounder (as far as I know) is to pick up your flask pour a cuppa and sit back and let the fish have a good old chew before setting the hook.  So with this in mind when I got a flounder-ish bite I gave it plenty of time but after the initial pulls nothing.  I reeled in re-baited and cast to the same area and within 10 minutes got another bite but the same thing happened after the first few pulls nothing.  So slightly annoyed at missing two flounder bites I made up my mind to strike at the next bite straight away.  20 minute later got a bite on the quiver rod I struck and fish on and netted this lovely little fish.

It certainly wasn't the biggest flounder in the world probably about 8 or 10oz but is was mission accomplished for this trip.  Fished on a little while longer but nothing else showed up.  A few other guys were fishing and saw one other flounder caught a little bit bigger than mine.

After 2 trips my species hunt is going well with 3 species caught.  Have just treated myself to an LFR rod which I hope will not only be a lot of fun to use but help me target blennies, gobies, scorpion fish and the like to really boost my species tally.  Although I think summer will be the best time to target mini species I don't think I can wait till then to play with my new toy so will be heading out as soon as I can to practice and I think a good sized flounder will put a serious bend in it.

Tight lines

2013 Species - Thick-lipped mullet, whiting, flounder

Portishead Marina 6th Jan 2013

Reports for the main Bristol Channel this winter have been mixed to say the least.  There are cod out there and of decent size but they are thin on the ground so a lot of luck or lots of hours are needed at the moment to be successful.

I didn't want to start the year with a blank so I opted for a few hours fishing at Portishead marina hoping for a flounder or two to rattle the rod tips and get my species hunt under way.  I'd never fished the venue before but was aware that freshwater tactics were the way to go so armed myself a couple of carp rods and set the alarm for an early start in the morning.

Conditions in the marina looked good with a bit of colour to the water which I hoped would encourage the fish to feed.  I kept my set up simple with flowing traces carrying a few bright beads and a small spinner blade for added attraction with ragworm on a size 4 hook.  Rather than using a plain old lead I decided I would try open-end feeders loaded with halibut groundbait containing chopped up mackerel and squid.

Having grown up coarse fishing I've used groundbait for years but like most sea anglers its not something I've really used in salt water.  With such a great range of fishy groundbaits and pellets on the market its an ideal time to start experimenting with groundbaiting in sea angling and is something I intend to do over the coming months.  Whether it will help my catches I'm not sure but it can't do any harm!

Back to the fishing and I started to get bites straight away but they were little rattles that didn't develop into proper bites I suspect little whiting and gobies were probably to blame.  I continued to fish hard despite the lack of fish casting regularly to get a bed of bait on the bottom which would eventually attract something decent.  I finally got my reward about lunchtime when I struck into my first proper bite of the day and the rod arched over into a good curve.  I thought I'd hooked into a large flounder but I was in for a little bit of a shock when instead of a a flounder a mullet broke the surface with the ragworm bait hanging from the corner of its mouth.  The fight was not as heart stopping as I would have expected from a mullet but was very relieved when I managed to scoop the fish up on the landing net at the second attempt.

My 5lb mullet.

The mullet went 5lb exactly on the scales which was a massive PB.  After a quick photo it was returned to fight another day.  I had a few more bites after returning the mullet but no more fish and packed up mid-afternoon.  I went home a very happy man!  

My species hunt challenge has started with a bang although not quite in a way I was expecting!

Looking forward to my next trip already.

Tight Lines.

2013 Species List: thick lipped mullet

The Challenge

Its January 2013 and I have set myself the challenge of trying to catch as many species of sea fish as I can  from UK waters in a calendar year.  Living in Bristol I have great local fishing in the form of the Bristol Channel and I will also be making regular trips down to the south coast around Weymouth.  This blog will chart my progress throughout the year and will hopefully keep me focused on the task at hand.  

I'm looking for a final figure of at least 35 species.  In 2012 I managed a total of 33 species (ballen wrasse, ballions wrasse, bass, black bream, black goby, blonde ray, brill, bull huss, cod, common goby, corkwing wrasse, dab, dragonet, garfish, gold sinney wrasse, lesser spotted dogfish, launce, ling, long spined sea scorpion, mackerel, plaice, pollack, poor cod, pout, red band fish, red gurnard, silver eel, starrey smoothhound, thick lipped grey mullet, thornback ray, tompot blenney, turbot and whiting).

This list is missing a few species I would normally expect to catch such as conger eel, cuckoo wrasse and scad so with a bit of luck I should hit my target and if i can find a couple of new species and maybe a personal best or 2 along the way all the better.

Fingers crossed for a good year.