Mr Fish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2020
- Messages
- 18,861
- Reaction score
- 65,223
- Points
- 116
- Location
- North Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Sometimes you fish a mark and you think ‘this has got to throw up [insert fish species here]’.
So it is with my most local rock mark, only five minutes down the road in the car.
I spent my teenage years fishing it and all we ever really had were eels and I wrote it off as a snaggy conger spot, albeit some big ones.
The last two or three years I’ve rethought its potential.
I was convinced there might be huss there, and a couple of years ago I proved there was, with several in one night and several since.
For the past year I’ve been convinced there must be wrasse there. Years ago apparently it had a reputation for a big wrasse mark.
I tried earlier on this year and had one tiny one, so surely if there’s one there must be more?
A few words on the mark. It’s only really accessible two hours either side of low on bigger tides. The cut off spot is quite a long way from where you fish, so you don’t want to get it wrong.
Today I got on there as early as I possibly could, just after 2.5 hours before low, which needed some Spider-Man antics and spiked boots.
The target was wrasse but not much further out on the boat we’ve had triggerfish in season, so I’ve always wondered if they might be possible off the shore.
So out went half a spider peeler for the wrasse on a 3/0 rotten bottom rig (three way swivel and two bits of line), but I also put out a short snood two hook rig with fairly fine crab hooks that would bend out, baited with squid strip and spider legs.
It is snaggy as feck here so 10 weights a session is about right.
Anyway, you’ve had the foreplay… first chuck on the two hook flapper resulted in a modest bite and my pb wrasse for this mark!
All of eight ounces! Yep, a mark pb!
Soon after I dropped a smallish fish on the 3/0 rig, too big really for the tiny wrasse, and I was getting typical small wrasse pecks on both rods, nothing you could really hit.
As low tide approached, I dropped another small fish and the bites dried up altogether.
Conditions weren’t brilliant, there was a line of sediment that extended a fair way out and it was hardly perfect wrasse or trigger conditions.
Why didn’t I come down here last month when the sea was crystal clear? ?
The sea was awash with these feckers as well, but the westerly wind kept them inside the bay and away from me.
Still, not a bad view…
Low tide saw the sun go in and the wind get up and if anything, the water became grottier.
Low was 3.30pm and I’d decided to pack up about 5 if it was still slow, as it saves rushing to get back before the cut off was covered.
For the last half hour I decided to put spider out on both, to use it up, as that crab was hard to come by!
An early birds nest saw one drop in front of me 20 feet out and after sorting the tangle, I thought sod it, that can stay there.
The other rod was cast further into some really weedy rough stuff that I hadn’t tried yet.
Bugger me if the botched cast rod didn’t start to rattle, so I had all eyes on that when the other rod absolutely screamed off.
It was all a bit keystone cops, trying to strike while trapping the line and doing up the drag.
At first I thought it was a snag. No, it’s moving!
It was clearly a good fish, staying deep and giving powerful lunges, even taking line.
A couple of times it went solid for a second as the fish sought to go to ground, but I slowly steered it towards me.
I didn’t see it until the last minute at my feet, and that’s a bloody good wrasse!
In my haste to get lower and play the fish I’d forgotten to bring the landing net with me. Feck.
There was a shallow gully, can I bring it up that or risk a lift? Nope, don’t want to lose this, the gully it is.
It actually went to plan for once and I saw the fish was well hooked through the bottom lip, it wasn’t going anyway.
Shaking slightly, I carried it back to my base and grabbed some quick pictures. Wanted one with it but hadn’t set my camera tripod up and didn’t want to have it out too long, as wrasse are so delicate.
A quick weigh too, deducting 4oz for the sling, it went 4lb 4.
A very very fat fish.
I carried it back in the sling and tipped it in from two foot up. Bloody thing went belly up. Noooo! Grabbed the landing net thinking maybe I could revive it a bit first, but as I got back to it, the fish kicked and then swam safely down to the bottom. Phew!
Nothing on the other rod and it was long past 5, definitely time to pack up or swim!
But very very pleased! That’s a minor ambition achieved and a 4lb plus fish is a very good wrasse for our coast these days.
It’s my local pb and indeed my uk mainland pb as my best, 4lb 15, was a Channel Island fish.
Five minutes from home too!
So it is with my most local rock mark, only five minutes down the road in the car.
I spent my teenage years fishing it and all we ever really had were eels and I wrote it off as a snaggy conger spot, albeit some big ones.
The last two or three years I’ve rethought its potential.
I was convinced there might be huss there, and a couple of years ago I proved there was, with several in one night and several since.
For the past year I’ve been convinced there must be wrasse there. Years ago apparently it had a reputation for a big wrasse mark.
I tried earlier on this year and had one tiny one, so surely if there’s one there must be more?
A few words on the mark. It’s only really accessible two hours either side of low on bigger tides. The cut off spot is quite a long way from where you fish, so you don’t want to get it wrong.
Today I got on there as early as I possibly could, just after 2.5 hours before low, which needed some Spider-Man antics and spiked boots.
The target was wrasse but not much further out on the boat we’ve had triggerfish in season, so I’ve always wondered if they might be possible off the shore.
So out went half a spider peeler for the wrasse on a 3/0 rotten bottom rig (three way swivel and two bits of line), but I also put out a short snood two hook rig with fairly fine crab hooks that would bend out, baited with squid strip and spider legs.
It is snaggy as feck here so 10 weights a session is about right.
Anyway, you’ve had the foreplay… first chuck on the two hook flapper resulted in a modest bite and my pb wrasse for this mark!
All of eight ounces! Yep, a mark pb!
Soon after I dropped a smallish fish on the 3/0 rig, too big really for the tiny wrasse, and I was getting typical small wrasse pecks on both rods, nothing you could really hit.
As low tide approached, I dropped another small fish and the bites dried up altogether.
Conditions weren’t brilliant, there was a line of sediment that extended a fair way out and it was hardly perfect wrasse or trigger conditions.
Why didn’t I come down here last month when the sea was crystal clear? ?
The sea was awash with these feckers as well, but the westerly wind kept them inside the bay and away from me.
Still, not a bad view…
Low tide saw the sun go in and the wind get up and if anything, the water became grottier.
Low was 3.30pm and I’d decided to pack up about 5 if it was still slow, as it saves rushing to get back before the cut off was covered.
For the last half hour I decided to put spider out on both, to use it up, as that crab was hard to come by!
An early birds nest saw one drop in front of me 20 feet out and after sorting the tangle, I thought sod it, that can stay there.
The other rod was cast further into some really weedy rough stuff that I hadn’t tried yet.
Bugger me if the botched cast rod didn’t start to rattle, so I had all eyes on that when the other rod absolutely screamed off.
It was all a bit keystone cops, trying to strike while trapping the line and doing up the drag.
At first I thought it was a snag. No, it’s moving!
It was clearly a good fish, staying deep and giving powerful lunges, even taking line.
A couple of times it went solid for a second as the fish sought to go to ground, but I slowly steered it towards me.
I didn’t see it until the last minute at my feet, and that’s a bloody good wrasse!
In my haste to get lower and play the fish I’d forgotten to bring the landing net with me. Feck.
There was a shallow gully, can I bring it up that or risk a lift? Nope, don’t want to lose this, the gully it is.
It actually went to plan for once and I saw the fish was well hooked through the bottom lip, it wasn’t going anyway.
Shaking slightly, I carried it back to my base and grabbed some quick pictures. Wanted one with it but hadn’t set my camera tripod up and didn’t want to have it out too long, as wrasse are so delicate.
A quick weigh too, deducting 4oz for the sling, it went 4lb 4.
A very very fat fish.
I carried it back in the sling and tipped it in from two foot up. Bloody thing went belly up. Noooo! Grabbed the landing net thinking maybe I could revive it a bit first, but as I got back to it, the fish kicked and then swam safely down to the bottom. Phew!
Nothing on the other rod and it was long past 5, definitely time to pack up or swim!
But very very pleased! That’s a minor ambition achieved and a 4lb plus fish is a very good wrasse for our coast these days.
It’s my local pb and indeed my uk mainland pb as my best, 4lb 15, was a Channel Island fish.
Five minutes from home too!
Last edited:
