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The water was clear but still cold when I set off yesterday aboard 'Piranha' in search of the first gilt of 2021. Fishing the whole of the ebb and the first hour of the flood, I dodged about trying favourite spots. Three rods were baited with lug, rag and peeler crab. Bass in the Tamar are still...

This unfortunate 1.5lb whiting fell foul of a big eel before I could retrieve it. At first I thought I'd snagged, then there was a heavy weight and a big wrench before I wound in what was left of my catch. Shame the big eel didn't attack the other end with two hooks in! I landed two strap conger...

....and so much more fun on the float! PH

Persistent rain didn't dampen my spirits during a two-hour session at my local pier tonight. The whiting were in and liked my home-caught mackerel bait. There will be some happy herring gulls in Stonehouse Pool when I take them the remains tomorrow! Whiting used to disappear after Christmas here...

Despite a tiny tide and filthy water, I was back on the Tamar aboard 'Piranha' again today. It soon became apparent that the floodwater had pushed the whiting out to sea, so it was down to resident fish to provide some action. At first it was just pout, one of which went down on my downtide rod...

...to get your string pulled by a big fish! The Tamar is famed for heavy conger, and two came my way in a four-hour uptiding session this morning, just downstream from the Torpoint ferries. I fished three rods: a downtider with a legered live pout, a light uptider with two-hook flapper for...

An eventful trip in my boat this morning as I somehow managed to snap 8" off the tip of my beloved HTO Nebula spinning rod. It doesn't owe me anything, as I've had it several years and it's had a lot of use and plenty of fish, but still a sad occasion. Hopefully I can source a new top section...

...I had six more mackerel today from West Hoe Pier in Plymouth, two of them big chunky ones that really put a bend in my light float rod. Also helped a nice couple and their friend who were fishing with hopeless rigs and supermarket prawns catch their first mackerel. Their joy was really...

Catching mackerel on light float gear is so much more fun than feathering. These four came in a couple of hours this afternoon from Plymouth's West Hoe Pier. 15 minutes' walk from home... PH

Plymouth Sound was blanketed in freezing fog this morning as I set off in search of mackerel. I lost my bearings once or twice, and was shocked by ghostly figure apparently walking on water. It was a paddle boarder taking a breather! I eventually emerged from the gloom to find a cluster of small...

Pre-dawn start at West Hoe pier this morning but I had no bites on the float so I tried a change of tactics. Two sabikis above a modified Savage Gear Seeker did the trick, whacked out into the falling tide and gently jigged back. A pleasing result for a couple of hours' work! PH

Just had eight mackerel float fishing from West Hoe pier in Plymouth this afternoon. Much more fun than fluff-chucking! PH

After a frustrating week of terrible weather and one hand being in a splint, today I was back in 'the office', as my wife wittily calls my boat. The mark I fished normally does best on the flood, and starting at 9am there was not much tide left till high water. Still, as long as there's bait in...

I fished a three-rod session on the Tamar today on the flooding tide: a big squid bait for cod (two strap conger), a livebait downtide (nothing) and a two-hook flapper with squid and mackerel (lots of whiting, including some good ones). The wind was blowing NW down the river and the boat was...

A December lure-caught bass was the target today as I headed for a favourite warm-weather mark. I was a bit concerned that heavy overnight rain might have chilled and coloured the water, but it was clear enough when I arrived. I planned to intercept bass running up-channel on the late flood into...

Two days ago I had my first cod of this winter from the Tamar, so with hope bordering on confidence I headed back to the same mark today. First cast produced two big chunky whiting on the flapper rig and things were looking good. Sadly, it all went downhill from there, with a trickle of smaller...

Today on the Tamar I uptided with two rods: one with big baits, the other with a two-hook flapper with small baits for whiting. I was merrily catching good-sized 'tings when I hooked a heavier fish which thumped all the way in. As I was baiting with small bits of squid and mackerel, I was...

....about cod in the Tamar: *Don't bother unless you have crab/I had three on lug and squid but no bites on peeler/prawn works for me/all I use is squid. *They've had loads at Devil's Point/most of the cod are upstream of the ferries. *Don't bother with the mouth of the Lynher/I had two...

Highlight of a cold, grey day in my local estuary today was this very fat 46cm bass. It took a Rapala X Rap Countdown fished slow and deep down the edge of a channel. Having broken my duck, I then picked up five smaller schoolies on a Megabass Flatbacker 110, again fished deep. Not a great haul...