This weeks round up

Quick round up for the week. Fished with Rodney for some Sea Trout and we caught 5 or 6 each with him having the best of them. The fish seemed to be coming short and it would have been a good night to use a teaser above the lure with something like a shrimp or fry pattern. Having had my fly box in my hand before leaving the house I wasn’t best pleased to have left it at home.

I was down in the SW last night and the plan was to fish the incoming tide into darkness and then fish SP’s with a controller in darkness looking for more of these.

But all I got was more of these…..  wading, sharp hooks slippery rocks = not great pictures 

I meet a couple of guys fly fishing who managed a  small Bass each while I managed to get five, some Pollack and a Mackerel. We were fishing with 40 yards of and for me there seemed to be a lot of action over a short period but it was noticeable the difference in results due to the ground I could cover with the Hart X3 pencil I was using. It looked like a nice night for fish off the surface but having tried when I knew there were Bass there they didn’t seem interested.

I then switched to night mode at about midnight with the Bombarda and Killie lure and got a Bass on my first cast, same sort of size followed by some small Pollack and then an another school Bass. It really tunes your senses in fishing at night alone ,dead slow retrieve you can feel the movement of the lure through the weed, then the interest from the fish but it would be nice if there was the odd better fish in there.

I’m getting a bit despondent about the average size of Bass in July for me at least. I can feel a Mullet and Wrasse session coming on soon.

A few hours on a nice evening

A few of us met up down in the SW last night, Scott, Chris, Paul with Jamie and me driving down for the evening round trip.

Conditions were calm and bright with small tides so we knew it wouldn’t be bumper. We fished a rough and weedy area and after a couple of almost fruitless hours on a variety of surface lures and Shads the only thing to admire was the start of a nice sunset.

With the light going I could see Pollack moving way way out so out came the Hansen knowing fine well that any slight pause on the retrieve and I wouldn’t see the lure again. I then managed a couple of Pollack and a Mackerel.

As the light went with the exception of Paul we moved to the beach where the tide was so small it had hardly moved at all. I kept the Hansen on as with a vast expanse of calm water on the beach it’s a good lure to prospect with. The first sign of life was a humongous Salmon which cleared the water about 70 yards out. I then had a false alarm with another Mackerel before the first small Bass came along.

Paul then joined us on the beach and after finding the fish I managed 5 and lost as many with the fish nudging lightly at the lure at range then following it in the spin-stops were very very effective yet again.

By this point it was getting late so time to head home on a school night. There were a few blanks with only Paul and I getting fish and I think we were lucky to get them at all.

Long Night

We stuck to the game plan last night. Fished the rough stuff on the drop, had some fun with small Pollack and Mackerel which I ended up taking off the surface when the tide dropped and the fish came within range of my hard lures. We saw a couple of Bass but no takers on the first mark.

Onto the beach, knew there would be Bass there but they would be small so I left Rodney and Jamie there and hoofed it to the shallow and rocky opposite end of where we started. I took two Bass and a Pollack off the surface on the Z Claw but nothing of note but unless you try you don’t know.

 On getting back to the beach the guys had done better than me which was no surprise but the fish as predicted were small. Rodney had asked me for a headlamp and pliers as he thought he had a hook stuck in his finger, yeah no sxxt Sherlock. Without my glasses I was not going to attempt it so he squashed the barb and pulled it back through and headed home happy enough he had a few fish.

We fished on in darkness but not on the mark we wanted to because of the wind, this was a non-event and a waste of time.

Dawn came and the wind dropped to zero. We travelled to catch the dropping tide in another area and after checking the water clarity we cracked on. This was ok as we picked up a few Bass and Pollack but yet again all pretty much carbon copies of the fish which seem to be going around at the moment.

Some fish but we take a wrong turn

It was a flat calm night last night with a threat of thunder and lightning that eventually turned up with a brief but monsoon like rain storm.

We got lazy and gave the rocks a miss which I think was a mistake. There were plenty of fish to be seen moving on the surface between the fronds of sea lace. I could see it floating and occasional caught it a good way out but knew there was less of a chance on a night like tonight anyway of really good fish from this beach.

I’ve never lost five or so Bass in a session at the same point, ten feet from my rod tip which was curious as they had come in just fine from 70 yards. Two of them being reasonable fish. This little’un was the first to stay attached.

Then this jumped on the hook followed by another of a similar size.

And as the light faded and I continued to lose fish this but this one stayed on.

I checked the hooks and they seemed fine. The fish were all taken at the extreme top end of my casting range hence the use of the Hansen Fight. I also had some Mackerel and a solitary Pollack.

Jamie had a night that’s best not mentioned at all. I'm sure if we had fished on overnight we would have taken a couple of bigger fish, it had that feel to it.

Fish’n Impossible

Your mission should you chose to accept it is to land every Sea Trout you hook.

Anyone who has tried for Sea Trout in the sea or freshwater for that matter will know they can be tricky to keep on the hook with their airborne antics they can be masters of escape. On many occasions you see both the fish and whatever you happen to be using parting company mid-air. Last night was a wee bit different to say the least.

This fish hammered the Hansen In Line lure first cast. Good start but that usually makes me wary that its downhill from there!

A short while later this little chap wanted in on the action.

Then his brother came along and the In Line lure was working a treat providing no leverage for the fish to spit the lure as it’s free to travel up the line. I also add a little fluro bead providing some protection for the knot as well as a hot spot for the fish to hit.

This fish took another pattern of Hansen which I’ve painted white. Although the In Line was working well I noticed that there was a rough spot somewhere on the lure which was causing it to wear/fray the Seagur Ace Hard Fluro.

I then did a spot of deep wading to cover a seam of current just out of reach of even my best casting lures. This produced a few more fish and a couple of nice one's at that.

I moved back to a more sensible position as I was trying to go back to my hotel dry for once. My fish had been taken with an up tide cast but being too lazy to walk a few more yards to cover the next area of water I put a cast along and down resulting in this beauty. He totally nailed my lure and took to the air and started using the current to his advantage. It also coughed up a Smelt which was approximately the same size and profile of the lures I was using (funny that?)

A change of lure colour as water clarity had worsened with the tide’s progress and the fish were still in the mood.

A couple observations...good spread of sizes which is good to see. Also hanging spin stops are very effective. I've started doing these not just when a fish follows or I feel a bump but try them on speculative basis during the retrieve.

Back to the mission….. One of those rare nights where they all stay on the hook and sure I missed a few takes but each one stayed on the hook once connected.  Not a night to be counting fish but it was many. It was more of a night to just enjoy a superb session over a good tide on a nice night.

July starts with some SW Bass surface action

For the first half hour or so I was thinking that I should have been on another mark. In the calm conditions there was somewhere I had been keen to try for the first time this year but it was another 30 minutes drive. With it being Sunday and having work on Monday I stuck to plan A which worked out well.

It was a calm evening so I picked out a  Zenith Z Claw in 500 GP. Its got a nice lazy walk add in a few pauses and a shake of the rod tip and bingo!

 Ok so not the biggest Bass but good fun off the surface.

A bit more of the same and these little fish were in the mood to have a go at what is in comparison to their size a big bait.

A marginally better fish that followed the lure for a while before deciding to eat it. One of the best things about summer lure fishing for me is watching this happen.

This little fish hit the lure when I was just shaking the rod tip.

A brief venture sub surface with a Komomo 2 but after a few casts I missed the action of Z Claw
A nice little session with a dozen fish all off the top bar one. Has summer arrived ?

Last Bass session of June

Another dank night last night so I hope July is better. The Met Office and Windguru got both the strength and direction wrong but Jamie and I dodged on anyway. With the wind almost off my back I started off with a weightless Sluggo and them moved to an Xlayer which produced a couple of hits but nothing solid. Jamie tried a variety of lures with one half hearted splash to show for his efforts. The tide was dropping fast and with only a three hour session on the cards time was running out. As we looked out sea we could see Gannets moving fast, diving covering ground at an incredible rate as they did so moving towards us with tide emptying out the bay. Just at that we got a double hook...

Jamie with the better of the two fish on a baby Patchinko

Me with my fish on a Komomo in joker plate. As well as being happy to see the fish we were pissing ourselves as the rip in my waders at the backside had filled them almost to the waistband. You can see them in the picture below.

The two fish hit the beach at the same time

These are my spare pair.For a laugh I got Jamie to cut them at the bottom to let the water out.

Simple things make you laugh....this was one of them.

I arrived home today to find a new pair of waders replaced under warranty happy days!

Hopefully have some better pictures next time as phone cameras dont cut it in this light. I just got a new Lumix FT20 as you can see with summer here its defo got to be waterproof.

June round up, Tope, Huss, Sea Trout & Bass

Its not all been catching. I fished through the night a couple of weeks back with nothing to show for it ...sore one. The time flew in for me anyway as fishing lures at night is fairly focused with no distractions. It was a calm night and I could hear fish we just got the presentation wrong. 


The weather was nasty across the weekend just past but with it clearing on the Sunday I took my chance and managed to bash some school Bass on SP's. I caught 9 altogether two on a small 2 inch sandeel pattern metal lure and 7 on 4.5 inch Xlayers in Ayu as well as a larger copy of these called a Tsunami which is pictured below. I used these with a 10g jig head on a 2/0 hook.

I had some Sea Trout lastThursday night ... horrific conditions. It rained all night and blew a hooli.I lost 4 fish before I  took 4 on the trot which turned it into a very good night. It seems it was too much for my water proof Olympus which is now dead after leaving it my bag over night. Some bad pictures but the conditions were grim. Not really worth taking the XD card to Boots to get the pics.

 My Hansen lure is now well and truly battered and seen enough action in the last few months to lose the paint.

I joined Gordon to fish the last day of Sharkatag. It was bumper day for anyone near Whithorn with really bad weather the previous few days the fishing made up for it.

Gordon with one of the 29 Tope we had on the Sunday.

Me with one of the 18 Huss.The minute the Tope took a break these were on the baits.

Huss are prone to holding onto to baits till they get to the boat.This Tope followed a Huss up.It let go of the bait which I then held in the tide, fed it a little line and then nailed this Tope...sweet! Double hook ups and follows were a regular occurance.

Willie seen here with a double shot of Huss, him and Stuart had busy day as well.

This is a proper Tope from Graham caught on the Friday. Its a peach at 63 pounds

Time out

I'm taking some time out from forums, clubs and indeed blogs for the time being. I'll still be fishing. Not really a fan of this chocolate bar to be fair.....but picture and words et cetara

Blanks & Bats

The only thing on the score sheet last night was a Bat that hit the windscreen on the way down last night. I lost a fish about 2 hours in when it hit the SP and ran into weed and then pulled the hook out in the process. We fished through to dawn and the start of the dropping tide without any reward.

Night Mode

I took a permenant black marker over these two Storm Jointed Thundersticks to give me another option at night.. I've ever really used these classics since I bought them. They have a rattle in them and will move nicely at low speed rod tip up they should be no more than 1ft deep..... ideal

East meets West

Scott and Jake travelled through from the east coast today for a little LRF action on Wrasse.

We managed to get Goldsinny, Corkwing and Ballan. There were more Pollack than normal on the mark which made for a couple of interesting scraps. I hit a run of nice fish that took a little 3 inch blue fleck worm stick on a 3.5g jig head with the fish tearing off on some terrific runs.

I also had a few dabs on bait and Scott added a Long Spinned Sea Scorpion. It was a good day to be out and great to see the guys add a few species to their LRF species crusade.

June's account opened

Well that’s the sleep pattern mixed up for the next few days having got in at 5am this morning. I was down in the SW a couple of weeks ago but this was a proper session which covered a lot of miles in the car and on foot. It was shaping up to be a total failure. This fish changed the night taking an SP which was being slowly worked back toward me when it wolfed it about 5 yards out. Something special at night and one thing I’m keen to do more of this year

A take on tempertature

I had a few hours to kill tonight so I took a run down the coast as it was a nice night. While I didn’t go as far as I would have liked I was in an area where  Bass are caught but normally later in the year. Out of curiosity I bought a £3 thermometer today in B &Q to check the water temperature. It was 7pm and 15 degrees and being a calm night there was not much wave movement.  I guess because of this it was above what I expected. I managed a small Sea Trout on a surface lure a Xorus Frosty, this was a first for me and the only fish I came across and at 8 inches nothing to write home about. I made a number of moves as there was a lot of salad in the water. I made a point of checking the water temp at waist depth on each occasion the lowest being 14 degrees. It’s just about time for a west coast Bass on a lure as I can’t seem to get away from Sea Trout even when I try!

Nice fish for Jamie

No fishing for me this weekend but Jamie did manage a nice fish this afternoon. This is his first Bass of 2012. A good start in anyone's book.

Cost ? Value ? Reliability? Luck?

Not good....to be continued

Good day for a blank and a tramps tan

Thats the first blank of the year in the SW out of the way. Jamie and I had a chance each at a fish but that was it. The water was warmer than I thought it might be and there was plenty of of Tern, Gannet and Seal activity so its all getting  to work nicley down there at the moment.

I stuck with the Bombarda for a while with these 4 inch softies which are recessed top and bottom which makes it easy to fish weedless. I also threw around some Wave Worms for the last 30 minutes but the excitment was over.

We picked up a stray Marine on our travels pictured in the foreground, normally doesnt get his feet wet unless he's launching a boat.....

Hand made

I picked some bits and pieces up this week which I ordered last month but which never arrived in time for my Kyle trip( no fault of the retailer) Long story short I got talking to a member of the team when I placed the order and we spoke about in- line Sea Trout lures from Kinetic and he knew how these worked and how they were produced from what was cottage industry till it was bought out. As it happens he also makes them by hand and you might recognise these from some patterns you have seen in the past but there are a few differences.Its basically a Launce imitation designed to be fished on or near the surface in a tail down sort of presentation. At 22g and 12cm it will cover a country mile.When you see it working underwater with an explanation of why accompanied with the footage of Launce in action scooping off the surface in the videos mentioned previously on my blog it seems a reasonable option. It should be a handy addition to the toolkit.

Thank you James.

A bleak night with a little sparkle

I Stayed in Dundee again last night and while the tides were not great the times were sociable enough to encourage me out for a session. The whole scene had a rather dour look to it with the light S'ly winds which were in the forecast at one point managing to turn themselves around to gusts of 15-20 mph NE's with some rain in the mix....

The water colour was not what I wanted it to be but the fact I could see three sizes and colours of lures at 7-10 yards meant the fish should see what was offered as well. I covered a lot of water before this fish hit on a long line cast up tide, no doubt I was glad to see it. It took the lure really positively and went airborne straight away. I  felt a hard vibration on the braid instantly and when it went vertical again the fish  was also across and down tide having covered a surprising distance.It was the same sort of feeling a fly line has cutting through the water at speed.10/10 as it was punching above its weight.

These nothing to something moments on a wet skankie night is as good a reason as any to pick up a rod.

Not bad for a cold and wet night . 2 from 2 with another small fish and no other sign of life to be seen.