Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 360
- Reaction score
- 3,336
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After finally getting into the sharks last year, with 36 blues to 115lb between the 4 of us, hopes were high for a repeat performance this year. It wouldn't be the same though without a few weather scares in the run up to our trip ?. The forecast did eventually settle though and with 2 days, the 12th & 13th, booked on Bite Adventures, myself, Steve A and Glyn set off nice and early at 6am on the 11th, to get to Penzance in good time. Barry was already in Cornwall, holidaying with his family but he had negotiated a pass out for a couple of days to join us ?.
The journey down went without any hitches and after popping into the local supermarket for "snacks" to eat on-board, and topping up the car for a quick getaway on our journey back straight after the second day, we arrived at the Premier Inn soon after 12:30. Unfortunately, with Covid restrictions still in place we weren't able to book in until 4pm so there was only 1 thing for it ?.
Several beers later we checked in to our hotel, then after a chilling for an hour we headed out again for a curry and another couple of beers before calling it a night in preparation for our first day afloat. Bright and early at 7 the following after meeting up with Barry and taking on board a full English to start the day on the right foot ?, we steamed out of the harbour.
After a brief stop in the bay outside the harbour for bait, where unfortunately the mackerel were very scarce and we only caught 3, plus a solitary scad and a launce, we motored offshore to the sharking grounds. Once there, the skipper set up the rods and got the chum trail going, while the rest of us dropped baited feathers into the depths to catch fresh whiting for bait. Hauling multiple hook-ups of whiting, some of them weighing up to around 2lb, from the bottom in 350ft+ of water was no easy task but it was all good practice for what we hoped was to come ?. We also performed the draw to decide who would take the upcoming runs in order, and while I had been first last year, this time I would be last, following on from Steve, Barry and Glyn.
Sadly the sharking was rather quiet, and whereas last year they had started attacking our hooked whiting on the way up from the very first drop, this time there was no sign of them. Full of expectation we fished on and a couple of hours later we had the first sighting of a toothy critter when a small porbeagle started nosing around one of our baits ?, alas it wasn’t really interested and despite the skipper trying his best to encourage a take by jigging the bait around under its nose, the shark finally swam away into the depths ?. This sighting gave our confidence a massive boost but it was a false dawn and the next few hours remained quiet.
Though the sharks weren’t playing ball, we kept ourselves occupied by taking it in turns to drop the baited feathers into the depths where there was no shortage of hungry mouths waiting. Along with the hordes of whiting, including a new PB for myself of around the 2.5lb mark, we also caught a few poor cod plus grey, red and tub gurnard, again with a 2lb+ PB tub for me
.
The sharks though were still absent until about 4 hours in, when we finally had the first run of the day. Steve duly stepped up in readiness for the fight and once the skipper had set the hook he passed him the rod and it was game on! Sadly our luck was still out and after only a mute or two the shark spat the bait. We were all gutted for Steve and even though the rules meant that the next run should be down to Barry, we agreed to give Steve a second chance. An hour or so later and Steve’s chance came again, this time there was to be no dramas and after a 5 minute scrap a decent female blue of around 40lbs was beaten at the side of the boat . With a massive sense of relief on the boat she was unhooked in the water and she then swam back into the depths.
We hoped this would signal the start of a busy spell but again it wasn’t to be and we had to wait another couple of hours for the next take. When it eventually came, Barry took up the challenge and despite the shark coming to the boat at least 4 times before diving deep again, accompanied by roars of laughter for the rest of us he was refused to give in and the second shark of the day was eventually beaten .
A few minutes later, things seemed to be warming up at last as once again a float disappeared beneath the surface. This time Glyn made short work of the biggest shark of the day so far, at around the 60lb mark, which meant it was only yours truly still waiting to get off the mark. Sadly it wasn’t to be, and despite the skipper doing everything possible to attract sharks to the boat, the day ended on a downer for me as no more runs occurred, leaving me as the only one of the gang without a shark ?.
I spent the steam back to port wondering what might have been, but there was no point in worrying about it, and with a second day of mixed species fishing ahead of us, we still had plenty to look forward to.
Our second evening in Penzance was much like the first, and with no better halves to point out the error of our ways we enjoyed a mixed grill in Weatherspoon’s, washed down with a few cold beverages before we called it a night again in readiness for round 2.
The weather the following morning was a little more mixed than on the first day, but with another fry up to fuel us for the day ahead we were ready for anything ?. After heading offshore for the sharks, we would be fishing inshore this time and following a steam along some truly breath-taking coastline, we arrived at our first mark where we would be drifting for fresh mackerel bait.
Once again the mackerel were scarce but we managed to catch enough to make a start, and in among them I managed to start my day with another PB for the trip, my first ever scad.
Though we now had some fresh bait, that was earmarked for later in the day and we would be starting the serious stuff fishing whole squid baits at a mark known to produce a variety of species, with everything from lowly Dogs to 20lb+ blonde ray showing up at various times. Our first target species though was something a little more elusive, a summer visitor from warmer waters, the Couch’s bream.
Once we anchored up, the first fish fell to Barry, when he hooked a small ling to take us up to 10 species for our visit. This was followed shortly after with a half decent pouting before the dogs began to become a nuisance. We carried on trying though and eventually I had an altogether different kind of bite. I hoped it was our target species but I didn’t want to tempt fate by alerting the rest of the lads, the skipper on the other hand seemed to have a sixth sense about it and he had no doubt about the identity of the unknown squid muncher. He was soon standing by my side offering advice about taking my time, and to keep reeling until he was finally able to net my prize, my first ever Couch’s bream of around the 3-3.5lb mark. I was chuffed to bits ?.
Soon after this we lost the tide at this particular spot so we moved on to the next mark, a series of sandbanks where we would anchor up and fish strips of fresh mackerel for rays, turbot, brill and anything else which might turn up.
The rest of the day was spent catching dabs to over a pound, small eyed ray to an impressive 11lb 12oz, which fell to Barry and briefly held the lead in our little side bet for the biggest fish of the day ?, while Glyn also caught his first ever small eyed ray and Steve caught his first ever blonde. I also had a few small eyed to around 4 or 5lb myself
but I kept the best until last when I snatched the prize for the heaviest fish of the day with a new PB huss of 14lb 2oz ?.
Eventually, as slack water arrived the fish wet off the feed and it was time to call it a day on our Penzance expedition for another year and to start our journey back to sunny North Wales.
Though I didn’t get my shark this year, I couldn’t really complain at my 5 new PBs, including 2 completely new species, along with the only bream of the trip and the heaviest fish of day 2. With 17 species in total between us it had still been a very successful couple of days.
We’ve already booked our 2 days for August 2022, when hopefully the sharks will be around in better numbers, and we will also be in with a chance of some more exciting summer visitors which we just don’t get here up North.
Bring it on I say!
The journey down went without any hitches and after popping into the local supermarket for "snacks" to eat on-board, and topping up the car for a quick getaway on our journey back straight after the second day, we arrived at the Premier Inn soon after 12:30. Unfortunately, with Covid restrictions still in place we weren't able to book in until 4pm so there was only 1 thing for it ?.
Several beers later we checked in to our hotel, then after a chilling for an hour we headed out again for a curry and another couple of beers before calling it a night in preparation for our first day afloat. Bright and early at 7 the following after meeting up with Barry and taking on board a full English to start the day on the right foot ?, we steamed out of the harbour.
After a brief stop in the bay outside the harbour for bait, where unfortunately the mackerel were very scarce and we only caught 3, plus a solitary scad and a launce, we motored offshore to the sharking grounds. Once there, the skipper set up the rods and got the chum trail going, while the rest of us dropped baited feathers into the depths to catch fresh whiting for bait. Hauling multiple hook-ups of whiting, some of them weighing up to around 2lb, from the bottom in 350ft+ of water was no easy task but it was all good practice for what we hoped was to come ?. We also performed the draw to decide who would take the upcoming runs in order, and while I had been first last year, this time I would be last, following on from Steve, Barry and Glyn.
Sadly the sharking was rather quiet, and whereas last year they had started attacking our hooked whiting on the way up from the very first drop, this time there was no sign of them. Full of expectation we fished on and a couple of hours later we had the first sighting of a toothy critter when a small porbeagle started nosing around one of our baits ?, alas it wasn’t really interested and despite the skipper trying his best to encourage a take by jigging the bait around under its nose, the shark finally swam away into the depths ?. This sighting gave our confidence a massive boost but it was a false dawn and the next few hours remained quiet.
Though the sharks weren’t playing ball, we kept ourselves occupied by taking it in turns to drop the baited feathers into the depths where there was no shortage of hungry mouths waiting. Along with the hordes of whiting, including a new PB for myself of around the 2.5lb mark, we also caught a few poor cod plus grey, red and tub gurnard, again with a 2lb+ PB tub for me
.The sharks though were still absent until about 4 hours in, when we finally had the first run of the day. Steve duly stepped up in readiness for the fight and once the skipper had set the hook he passed him the rod and it was game on! Sadly our luck was still out and after only a mute or two the shark spat the bait
. We were all gutted for Steve and even though the rules meant that the next run should be down to Barry, we agreed to give Steve a second chance. An hour or so later and Steve’s chance came again, this time there was to be no dramas and after a 5 minute scrap a decent female blue of around 40lbs was beaten at the side of the boat . With a massive sense of relief on the boat she was unhooked in the water and she then swam back into the depths.We hoped this would signal the start of a busy spell but again it wasn’t to be and we had to wait another couple of hours for the next take. When it eventually came, Barry took up the challenge and despite the shark coming to the boat at least 4 times before diving deep again, accompanied by roars of laughter for the rest of us
he was refused to give in and the second shark of the day was eventually beaten .A few minutes later, things seemed to be warming up at last as once again a float disappeared beneath the surface. This time Glyn made short work of the biggest shark of the day so far, at around the 60lb mark, which meant it was only yours truly still waiting to get off the mark. Sadly it wasn’t to be, and despite the skipper doing everything possible to attract sharks to the boat, the day ended on a downer for me as no more runs occurred, leaving me as the only one of the gang without a shark ?.
I spent the steam back to port wondering what might have been, but there was no point in worrying about it, and with a second day of mixed species fishing ahead of us, we still had plenty to look forward to.
Our second evening in Penzance was much like the first, and with no better halves to point out the error of our ways
we enjoyed a mixed grill in Weatherspoon’s, washed down with a few cold beverages before we called it a night again in readiness for round 2.The weather the following morning was a little more mixed than on the first day, but with another fry up to fuel us for the day ahead we were ready for anything ?. After heading offshore for the sharks, we would be fishing inshore this time and following a steam along some truly breath-taking coastline, we arrived at our first mark where we would be drifting for fresh mackerel bait.
Once again the mackerel were scarce but we managed to catch enough to make a start, and in among them I managed to start my day with another PB for the trip, my first ever scad
.Though we now had some fresh bait, that was earmarked for later in the day and we would be starting the serious stuff fishing whole squid baits at a mark known to produce a variety of species, with everything from lowly Dogs to 20lb+ blonde ray showing up at various times. Our first target species though was something a little more elusive, a summer visitor from warmer waters, the Couch’s bream.
Once we anchored up, the first fish fell to Barry, when he hooked a small ling to take us up to 10 species for our visit. This was followed shortly after with a half decent pouting before the dogs began to become a nuisance. We carried on trying though and eventually I had an altogether different kind of bite. I hoped it was our target species but I didn’t want to tempt fate by alerting the rest of the lads, the skipper on the other hand seemed to have a sixth sense about it and he had no doubt about the identity of the unknown squid muncher. He was soon standing by my side offering advice about taking my time, and to keep reeling until he was finally able to net my prize, my first ever Couch’s bream of around the 3-3.5lb mark. I was chuffed to bits ?.
Soon after this we lost the tide at this particular spot so we moved on to the next mark, a series of sandbanks where we would anchor up and fish strips of fresh mackerel for rays, turbot, brill and anything else which might turn up.
The rest of the day was spent catching dabs to over a pound, small eyed ray to an impressive 11lb 12oz, which fell to Barry and briefly held the lead in our little side bet for the biggest fish of the day ?, while Glyn also caught his first ever small eyed ray and Steve caught his first ever blonde. I also had a few small eyed to around 4 or 5lb myself
but I kept the best until last when I snatched the prize for the heaviest fish of the day with a new PB huss of 14lb 2oz ?.
Eventually, as slack water arrived the fish wet off the feed and it was time to call it a day on our Penzance expedition for another year and to start our journey back to sunny North Wales.
Though I didn’t get my shark this year, I couldn’t really complain at my 5 new PBs, including 2 completely new species, along with the only bream of the trip and the heaviest fish of day 2. With 17 species in total between us it had still been a very successful couple of days.
We’ve already booked our 2 days for August 2022, when hopefully the sharks will be around in better numbers, and we will also be in with a chance of some more exciting summer visitors which we just don’t get here up North.
Bring it on I say!
