Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 362
- Reaction score
- 3,354
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
More fun, but with dirty bait.
Next up on Wednesday night, was a rock fishing session with Steve A and though we didn’t get away quite as early as we hoped, we were still on the mark by the early evening. As it happened the slightly later start wasn’t a bad thing, as the heavy showers which had bubbled up late in the afternoon had largely passed by and so we were at least dry for the walk to the mark.
The water was incredibly clear and with a distinct lack of pull in the small tide we weren’t sure what to expect, but again it was a lovely evening to spend by the water. Despite the less than ideal conditions, by hedging our bets and fishing one rod with large baits and the other with scratching gear, we also managed to catch a few dogs, a spider crab and a solitary dab, so we were happy.
Once the sun set and darkness propped arrived though, our luck with the weather ran out, and the heavy showers which weren’t actually due until the early hours, arrived ahead of schedule. Some of the downpours might best be described as biblical, but at least the rain was warm ? so we persevered. The dogs also came on the feed in numbers now and we caught them steadily on the large and small baits, but just around low water I spotted a different type of bite on my scratching rod. It started off as a typical dog bite but it soon developed into something altogether more bouncy, and as soon as I lifted into it I knew I’d hooked something a little more substantial. Having hooked it on the scratching gear, I took my time reeling in my catch in and once it was beaten at the base of the ledge I could see that it was a half decent huss ?. Now came the moment of truth, but thankfully I was able to use the light swell to strand it on a lower ledge, from where Steve was able to retrieve it.
Once ashore we immediately saw the size 8 hook, baited with a 1cm piece of sandeel fillet lodged neatly in the scissors, where thankfully it had kept the 15lb mono snood out of harm’s way ?.
At 8lb 11oz she wasn’t the biggest huss I’ve ever caught, but I was still more than happy to have landed her on such light gear ?.
5 minutes later it looked like I might be about to double my huss bag, as I had another fish of similar size beaten on the surface, but despite being hooked this time on pennel 4/0s on a 60lb snood, she somehow managed to spit the bait before Steve had a chance to climb down for her! ? If she had been my only huss of the night then I might have been more upset, but having already had one a few minutes before, there was no point stressing about things so I put it down to experience and cast out once more.
With the heavy showers continuing and the dogs taking over from the huss again in snaffling our baits, we decided to call it quits and more than happy with our night’s work we headed back to the car to dry out ?.
The final trip of my week was another bait fishing session, but this time I was joined for a second time by Josh and Sam for their first foray into the world of deep water rock fishing. Keen for more of the same after the previous evening’s session, we were also joined by Steve again and his son Matt, also a rock mark first timer.
After several disappointing beach sessions on bait and no luck yet on the lures this year, the chance of more and bigger fish in deep water had certainly fired the boys’ imagination and they were mad for it. I only hoped that the bright sunshine and clear water wouldn’t put the fish off the feed ?.
I needn’t have worried though, as after a few pointers in rig and bait choice, casting, retrieving and landing fish from above the water, the boys were off and within minutes the first dog of the day was duly landed ?.
For the next 4 and a half hours the dogs fed with a vengeance and the boys hooked and landed a steady stream of them, one at a time and in double headers. It was fantastic to see how much they enjoyed themselves, and how quickly they got the hang of everything ?.
Though we didn’t get the variety we hoped for, the boys weren’t bothered in the slightest, as they bagged up on the dogs. Sam did manage something different and he was very proud to land the only wrasse of the session ?
But even this was soon forgotten about and the excitement levels doubled, when Matt landed the most popular catch of the day, a decent sized octopus
.
After the planned 4 hours of fishing the boys were still having great fun, with no signs of boredom setting in, so we gave them another half an hour, but eventually the time came to get off the rocks before the light started to fade. On the walk back to the car we totted up the numbers and as well as the wrasse and octopus, we must have caught at least 75 dogs between the 5 of us, so you can safely say that the boys first rock fishing session had been a roaring success.
Next up on Wednesday night, was a rock fishing session with Steve A and though we didn’t get away quite as early as we hoped, we were still on the mark by the early evening. As it happened the slightly later start wasn’t a bad thing, as the heavy showers which had bubbled up late in the afternoon had largely passed by and so we were at least dry for the walk to the mark.
The water was incredibly clear and with a distinct lack of pull in the small tide we weren’t sure what to expect, but again it was a lovely evening to spend by the water. Despite the less than ideal conditions, by hedging our bets and fishing one rod with large baits and the other with scratching gear, we also managed to catch a few dogs, a spider crab and a solitary dab, so we were happy.
Once the sun set and darkness propped arrived though, our luck with the weather ran out, and the heavy showers which weren’t actually due until the early hours, arrived ahead of schedule. Some of the downpours might best be described as biblical, but at least the rain was warm ? so we persevered. The dogs also came on the feed in numbers now and we caught them steadily on the large and small baits, but just around low water I spotted a different type of bite on my scratching rod. It started off as a typical dog bite but it soon developed into something altogether more bouncy, and as soon as I lifted into it I knew I’d hooked something a little more substantial. Having hooked it on the scratching gear, I took my time reeling in my catch in and once it was beaten at the base of the ledge I could see that it was a half decent huss ?. Now came the moment of truth, but thankfully I was able to use the light swell to strand it on a lower ledge, from where Steve was able to retrieve it.
Once ashore we immediately saw the size 8 hook, baited with a 1cm piece of sandeel fillet lodged neatly in the scissors, where thankfully it had kept the 15lb mono snood out of harm’s way ?.
At 8lb 11oz she wasn’t the biggest huss I’ve ever caught, but I was still more than happy to have landed her on such light gear ?.
5 minutes later it looked like I might be about to double my huss bag, as I had another fish of similar size beaten on the surface, but despite being hooked this time on pennel 4/0s on a 60lb snood, she somehow managed to spit the bait before Steve had a chance to climb down for her! ? If she had been my only huss of the night then I might have been more upset, but having already had one a few minutes before, there was no point stressing about things so I put it down to experience and cast out once more.
With the heavy showers continuing and the dogs taking over from the huss again in snaffling our baits, we decided to call it quits and more than happy with our night’s work we headed back to the car to dry out ?.
The final trip of my week was another bait fishing session, but this time I was joined for a second time by Josh and Sam for their first foray into the world of deep water rock fishing. Keen for more of the same after the previous evening’s session, we were also joined by Steve again and his son Matt, also a rock mark first timer.
After several disappointing beach sessions on bait and no luck yet on the lures this year, the chance of more and bigger fish in deep water had certainly fired the boys’ imagination and they were mad for it. I only hoped that the bright sunshine and clear water wouldn’t put the fish off the feed ?.
I needn’t have worried though, as after a few pointers in rig and bait choice, casting, retrieving and landing fish from above the water, the boys were off and within minutes the first dog of the day was duly landed ?.
For the next 4 and a half hours the dogs fed with a vengeance and the boys hooked and landed a steady stream of them, one at a time and in double headers. It was fantastic to see how much they enjoyed themselves, and how quickly they got the hang of everything ?.
Though we didn’t get the variety we hoped for, the boys weren’t bothered in the slightest, as they bagged up on the dogs. Sam did manage something different and he was very proud to land the only wrasse of the session ?
But even this was soon forgotten about and the excitement levels doubled, when Matt landed the most popular catch of the day, a decent sized octopus
.After the planned 4 hours of fishing the boys were still having great fun, with no signs of boredom setting in, so we gave them another half an hour, but eventually the time came to get off the rocks before the light started to fade. On the walk back to the car we totted up the numbers and as well as the wrasse and octopus, we must have caught at least 75 dogs between the 5 of us, so you can safely say that the boys first rock fishing session had been a roaring success
.
