Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 360
- Reaction score
- 3,336
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
The lads all fancied a change from the usual for our latest club match, so a plan was hatched for an Anglesey rover. We would gather at 13:30 on Sunday before hitting the road at 14:00, then after fishing as many marks as we wanted through the afternoon/evening we would meet back at the rendezvous point by 21:00 at the latest. We factored in a 5 minute safety buffer to allow for bad traffic on our way back, but anyone not there by 21:05 would be disqualified!
After several weeks of winding each other up about our plans and trying to lay false trails, the day of the match finally arrived and 10 very secretive anglers met up at the Waitrose car park in Menai Bridge, then once the fees were paid and the rules finalised, we all scattered to the 4 winds ?.
Though the match wasn't a team event, we all planned to share cars and fish with others in order to witness catches and to save travelling costs. I was fishing with my long-time partner in crime Steve A, aka Goldenb***s, while Glyn, Ady and Kenny would also be fishing together. Steve O, Hughey and Alan made up the third group, while John and Gwion made up the final pairing.
The general consensus seemed to be that everyone’s first priority was to catch the club limit of 10 dogs, before trying for other species, but Steve and I had a different plan
. We reckoned that with a potential 6 or more hours of fishing, we wouldn’t struggle on that front, so we decided on a mark with both the potential for a wide range of species in among the dogs, and one where we would also be in with the chance of some decent sized fish. Though our last match there hadn't been particularly productive, Steve and I planned to give it another chance and to fish Ty Croes again.
On the drive there, we pondered the question of where everyone else might end up, and after a little thinking we decided that Steve O’s gang would head for his favourite ledge at Lillypond, while John and Gwion would head for one of John’s favourite spots, Llanbadrig. As for Glyn & Co, we weren’t entirely sure, though he also has a soft spot for Llanbadrig, Glyn had also mentioned the potential for Holyhead breakwater to thrown up both variety of species and some decent fish too. Only time would tell!
As Steve and I neared our destination we passed a large number of cars parked on the side of the road, and the car park at Cable bay was absolutely heaving ? so all we could do was hope that Ty Croes itself wasn’t as full. Unfortunately, almost as soon as we turned onto the lane leading to the track, we could see that the fisherman’s car park was busy ?. With at least 6 cars there already, and with our first choice ledge always the first to be taken, we weren’t exactly confident of even getting to the water, but with time ticking away we didn’t really have a choice. The walk to the coast didn’t take long, but as soon as we looked down we could tell immediately that all of the ledges below us were taken. We spent the next 10 minutes walking along the coast and spotted a few potential places where we might be able to perch, but having come this far we decided that we might as well check out our first choice spot after all. As I approached the top of the rocks I kept my fingers crossed and incredibly, despite the car park being so busy our favourite spot was in fact free! ? Not wanting to waste a moment, we then scrambled down to the ledge in record time and excitedly began setting up our gear, 10 minutes later the first baits were in the water.
In another change from our usual rules this was also a 2 rod match, though still with the traditional 3 hook limit, and while Steve decided to start with a 2 hook flapper on one rod and a single hook pennel-dropper aimed at ray on the other, I opted for a 2 hook flapper on one rod, but on the second I went with a pulley rig armed with a single 8/0, in the hope of picking up a tope, he who dares I thought ?.
It didn’t take long for the initial bites to materialise, and my first rod started jumping around in my hand before I even had a chance to place it in the tripod! With 2 baits in the water though I decided to give it a few more minutes. As it happened this was a good idea and I soon reeled in a double header of a mackerel and a small eyed ray, sadly under the 1kg minimum size. With mackerel not counting in matches either, I wasn’t actually weighing in yet but it was still a great start to the session ?.
While I started with a couple of fish it looked like Steve might not be so lucky, as he couldn’t actually shift his gear, he thought he might have found a very rare snag at the mark but knowing Steve I wasn’t convinced. Sure enough, after some sustained pressure he managed to get the “snag” moving. After hauling for several minutes, the unseen weight was directly below our ledge and as I clambered down ready to land it, we saw a couple of decent rays emerge from the depths. Typically, Steve’s orbs were still working and he was off to a flyer with 2 thornbacks of 2.64 & 1.87kg ?. Not only was this a cracking weight, but he also scored a point per fish, and with bonus points available for fish over a kilo he already had 5 points on the board. We couldn’t believe our luck in finding the mark vacant and then starting with 3 rays on the first cast, so we fished on with confidence, determined to make the most of it while the rays were feeding.
Over the next couple of hours we caught one ray after another and while I started with a cracker of 2.91kg, which took a large mackerel bait on the tope rig, a lot of mine were slightly below the 1kg limit. I did hold the lead briefly, but with Steve’s rays all seeming to be in-size, including fish of 1.0 & 1.01kg ?, he soon started to build a decent advantage over me. It wasn’t all rays though and in among them we also caught the expected dogs, plus a couple of small tub gurnards and a little dab.
Sport did eventually slow down, but in between slow periods of half an hour or so we still caught the odd ray, the thinning out of the ray hordes also allowed other fish to get to the baits. The occasional dog still showed up and though Steve caught the majority of them, I caught a nice consolation of a 1.81kg smoothhound ?.
Having done so well in terms of fish, and with a strict cut off for the meeting-up time, we daren’t take any chances of being disqualified, so we decided to be heading off the mark by 20:00 sharp, this would allow us a good 30 minutes to walk back to the car and to pack up, followed by a 30 minutes’ drive back to Menai bridge. Finally the time arrived and with a tinge of disappointment at having to walk away from such good fishing, we began the climb / yomp back to the car.
The journey back was uneventful and we actually arrived at Waitrose by just after 20:30, a good 30 minutes early! ? We both agreed though, that while an extra cast might have given us another fish or two each at most, we were confident that our bags were still enough to put us somewhere close in the final reckoning.
Over the next half an hour, the other lads arrived back a car at a time and by 21:10, after a bit of a natter to compare notes and to reveal the secret of where we all fished, we were ready to start totting up the bag weights.
In 10th place was John, who had experienced a complete mare, fishing Point Lynas (as it involved less of a drive than Llanbadrig) he had somehow managed to blank, losing 8 rigs to snags in the process! (CRY) Fishing with him was Gwion, who did slightly better, catching 3 dogs for 1.38kg and 9th place. In 8th place was Alan, who as we expected had fished Llandadrig with Steve O and Hughie, he had caught 2 ballan wrasse for a bag weight of 1.68kg. He was followed in 7th place by Hughie, who caught 5 dogs and a ballan wrasse for 3.02kg. Ady came in 6th with 10 dogs, a ballan wrasse and a surprise bass for 6.48kg after fishing Llanbadrig with Glyn and Kenny, while his fishing companion Kenny came in 5th with 10 dogs and a new club record smoothhound of 2.06kg, for a total bag of 7.23kg.
At the business end of the result and in 4th place was the last of the Llanbadrig posse, Glyn who had caught 10 dogs, a ballan wrasse and a strap conger for a total weight of 7.46kg, just edging out Kenny. In 3rd place was the summer rock fishing specialist Steve O, who as usual had got in among the wrasse, with 7 ballans and 2 corkwings to add to his 5 dogs, for a total weight of 7.79kg. This meant that our decision to return to Ty Croes had paid off handsomely ? and with 20 rays caught between us, as well as other bits, Steve A and I took the top 2 places.
With only 2 of his 11 rays being under a kilo, compared to 4 of my 9, there was no real question of who had won but I was still happy with my bag of 5 thornbacks, 5 dogs and a smoothhound for 13.37kg and 2nd place. As usual though, Goldenb***s was uncatchable and his bag of 9 thornbacks and 8 dogs for 17.68kg simply smashed the rest of the field ?.
After several weeks of winding each other up about our plans and trying to lay false trails, the day of the match finally arrived and 10 very secretive anglers met up at the Waitrose car park in Menai Bridge, then once the fees were paid and the rules finalised, we all scattered to the 4 winds ?.
Though the match wasn't a team event, we all planned to share cars and fish with others in order to witness catches and to save travelling costs. I was fishing with my long-time partner in crime Steve A, aka Goldenb***s, while Glyn, Ady and Kenny would also be fishing together. Steve O, Hughey and Alan made up the third group, while John and Gwion made up the final pairing.
The general consensus seemed to be that everyone’s first priority was to catch the club limit of 10 dogs, before trying for other species, but Steve and I had a different plan
. We reckoned that with a potential 6 or more hours of fishing, we wouldn’t struggle on that front, so we decided on a mark with both the potential for a wide range of species in among the dogs, and one where we would also be in with the chance of some decent sized fish. Though our last match there hadn't been particularly productive, Steve and I planned to give it another chance and to fish Ty Croes again.On the drive there, we pondered the question of where everyone else might end up, and after a little thinking we decided that Steve O’s gang would head for his favourite ledge at Lillypond, while John and Gwion would head for one of John’s favourite spots, Llanbadrig. As for Glyn & Co, we weren’t entirely sure, though he also has a soft spot for Llanbadrig, Glyn had also mentioned the potential for Holyhead breakwater to thrown up both variety of species and some decent fish too. Only time would tell!
As Steve and I neared our destination we passed a large number of cars parked on the side of the road, and the car park at Cable bay was absolutely heaving ? so all we could do was hope that Ty Croes itself wasn’t as full. Unfortunately, almost as soon as we turned onto the lane leading to the track, we could see that the fisherman’s car park was busy ?. With at least 6 cars there already, and with our first choice ledge always the first to be taken, we weren’t exactly confident of even getting to the water, but with time ticking away we didn’t really have a choice. The walk to the coast didn’t take long, but as soon as we looked down we could tell immediately that all of the ledges below us were taken. We spent the next 10 minutes walking along the coast and spotted a few potential places where we might be able to perch, but having come this far we decided that we might as well check out our first choice spot after all. As I approached the top of the rocks I kept my fingers crossed and incredibly, despite the car park being so busy our favourite spot was in fact free! ? Not wanting to waste a moment, we then scrambled down to the ledge in record time and excitedly began setting up our gear, 10 minutes later the first baits were in the water.
In another change from our usual rules this was also a 2 rod match, though still with the traditional 3 hook limit, and while Steve decided to start with a 2 hook flapper on one rod and a single hook pennel-dropper aimed at ray on the other, I opted for a 2 hook flapper on one rod, but on the second I went with a pulley rig armed with a single 8/0, in the hope of picking up a tope, he who dares I thought ?.
It didn’t take long for the initial bites to materialise, and my first rod started jumping around in my hand before I even had a chance to place it in the tripod! With 2 baits in the water though I decided to give it a few more minutes. As it happened this was a good idea and I soon reeled in a double header of a mackerel and a small eyed ray, sadly under the 1kg minimum size. With mackerel not counting in matches either, I wasn’t actually weighing in yet but it was still a great start to the session ?.
While I started with a couple of fish it looked like Steve might not be so lucky, as he couldn’t actually shift his gear, he thought he might have found a very rare snag at the mark but knowing Steve I wasn’t convinced. Sure enough, after some sustained pressure he managed to get the “snag” moving. After hauling for several minutes, the unseen weight was directly below our ledge and as I clambered down ready to land it, we saw a couple of decent rays emerge from the depths. Typically, Steve’s orbs were still working and he was off to a flyer with 2 thornbacks of 2.64 & 1.87kg ?. Not only was this a cracking weight, but he also scored a point per fish, and with bonus points available for fish over a kilo he already had 5 points on the board. We couldn’t believe our luck in finding the mark vacant and then starting with 3 rays on the first cast, so we fished on with confidence, determined to make the most of it while the rays were feeding.
Over the next couple of hours we caught one ray after another and while I started with a cracker of 2.91kg, which took a large mackerel bait on the tope rig, a lot of mine were slightly below the 1kg limit. I did hold the lead briefly, but with Steve’s rays all seeming to be in-size, including fish of 1.0 & 1.01kg ?, he soon started to build a decent advantage over me. It wasn’t all rays though and in among them we also caught the expected dogs, plus a couple of small tub gurnards and a little dab.
Sport did eventually slow down, but in between slow periods of half an hour or so we still caught the odd ray, the thinning out of the ray hordes also allowed other fish to get to the baits. The occasional dog still showed up and though Steve caught the majority of them, I caught a nice consolation of a 1.81kg smoothhound ?.
Having done so well in terms of fish, and with a strict cut off for the meeting-up time, we daren’t take any chances of being disqualified, so we decided to be heading off the mark by 20:00 sharp, this would allow us a good 30 minutes to walk back to the car and to pack up, followed by a 30 minutes’ drive back to Menai bridge. Finally the time arrived and with a tinge of disappointment at having to walk away from such good fishing, we began the climb / yomp back to the car.
The journey back was uneventful and we actually arrived at Waitrose by just after 20:30, a good 30 minutes early! ? We both agreed though, that while an extra cast might have given us another fish or two each at most, we were confident that our bags were still enough to put us somewhere close in the final reckoning.
Over the next half an hour, the other lads arrived back a car at a time and by 21:10, after a bit of a natter to compare notes and to reveal the secret of where we all fished, we were ready to start totting up the bag weights.
In 10th place was John, who had experienced a complete mare, fishing Point Lynas (as it involved less of a drive than Llanbadrig) he had somehow managed to blank, losing 8 rigs to snags in the process! (CRY) Fishing with him was Gwion, who did slightly better, catching 3 dogs for 1.38kg and 9th place. In 8th place was Alan, who as we expected had fished Llandadrig with Steve O and Hughie, he had caught 2 ballan wrasse for a bag weight of 1.68kg. He was followed in 7th place by Hughie, who caught 5 dogs and a ballan wrasse for 3.02kg. Ady came in 6th with 10 dogs, a ballan wrasse and a surprise bass for 6.48kg after fishing Llanbadrig with Glyn and Kenny, while his fishing companion Kenny came in 5th with 10 dogs and a new club record smoothhound of 2.06kg, for a total bag of 7.23kg.
At the business end of the result and in 4th place was the last of the Llanbadrig posse, Glyn who had caught 10 dogs, a ballan wrasse and a strap conger for a total weight of 7.46kg, just edging out Kenny. In 3rd place was the summer rock fishing specialist Steve O, who as usual had got in among the wrasse, with 7 ballans and 2 corkwings to add to his 5 dogs, for a total weight of 7.79kg. This meant that our decision to return to Ty Croes had paid off handsomely ? and with 20 rays caught between us, as well as other bits, Steve A and I took the top 2 places.
With only 2 of his 11 rays being under a kilo, compared to 4 of my 9, there was no real question of who had won but I was still happy with my bag of 5 thornbacks, 5 dogs and a smoothhound for 13.37kg and 2nd place. As usual though, Goldenb***s was uncatchable and his bag of 9 thornbacks and 8 dogs for 17.68kg simply smashed the rest of the field ?.
