cap'nhaddock
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2020
- Messages
- 1,008
- Reaction score
- 2,556
- Points
- 113
- Location
- South Coast
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
I thought I'd take advantage of a gap in the rain and high wind weather and try a few hours at West Bay.
I started fishing at about 6:30,(high tide was about 8:15), out on the 'round' at the end of the west pier. I had bites on gar fish baits from the start but from Pout, it passed the time and with light flattie rods you can feel some action from them. I was expecting a Dogfish for the species hunt but none showed up.
I was puzzled by a tiny trembling sort of bite, that's not a pout or whiting, could it be a rockling? (one of the targets for the night). The bite developed into something more positive and I reeled in the tiniest Bull Huss I've ever seen.
I had a bit of difficulty photographing it, Huss of any size have their own way of objecting to being caught. The camera not leaving its auto mode and was using flash when it wasn't needed, being so small required the camera to be close to the subject and the range-finding couldn't cope; altogether a situation where several more hands were needed.
Having sorted that one it was a matter of a few more pout and then another delicate little bite, another miniHuss ?
Lifting into the bite met solid resistance, into the kelp was my first thought but more pressure got it, whatever it was, moving. It was then a matter of pumping a dead weight towards the wall; then it woke up and started taking line from a tight drag and putting a huge bend in the flattie rod. A battle of wills developed, I would pump and crank the thing towards me and the thing would dive back down again and we'd be back where we started, all the time keeping the rod high so that the line didn't get on the rough concrete wall edge. After about twenty minutes of the tug of war I'd managed to coax it around the 'round' towards the stem of the harbour wall which has no wall or rails where I could perhaps handline it up. Getting around the railings at the end of the wall meant giving slack but luckily whatever it was swam towards the corner and didn't take line.
Having moved around from the wall I could, at last, look down to see what was there, as I managed to work it to the surface I could see a long thin pale shape, another bloody conger? But no, it moved around to show big wings, I'd got myself a big ray, or rather the ray had got an angler thinking 'and now what do I do?' I moved it along the wall to beyond the railings and it was now on the surface, a big Blonde Ray.
If I'd had my drop net and someone to give a hand there might have been a chance of netting it but the only way was to lift and hope, I lifted, and hoped, and the 18lb hook-length finally gave up, the frayed end showing the effect of twenty minutes of abrasion, it was good that the hook held, it seems that a size 4 Kamasan B-490 will hold very big fish.
All that exertion is not good for someone with COPD so it probably took me more time to recover as it took the ray which just flipped and flapped away.
I fished until about 10.20 catching nothing but a few more pout.
A night of extremes, one tiny fish and one huge one, one new species for the hunt and one more 'big one that got away' tale
I started fishing at about 6:30,(high tide was about 8:15), out on the 'round' at the end of the west pier. I had bites on gar fish baits from the start but from Pout, it passed the time and with light flattie rods you can feel some action from them. I was expecting a Dogfish for the species hunt but none showed up.
I was puzzled by a tiny trembling sort of bite, that's not a pout or whiting, could it be a rockling? (one of the targets for the night). The bite developed into something more positive and I reeled in the tiniest Bull Huss I've ever seen.
I had a bit of difficulty photographing it, Huss of any size have their own way of objecting to being caught. The camera not leaving its auto mode and was using flash when it wasn't needed, being so small required the camera to be close to the subject and the range-finding couldn't cope; altogether a situation where several more hands were needed.
Having sorted that one it was a matter of a few more pout and then another delicate little bite, another miniHuss ?
Lifting into the bite met solid resistance, into the kelp was my first thought but more pressure got it, whatever it was, moving. It was then a matter of pumping a dead weight towards the wall; then it woke up and started taking line from a tight drag and putting a huge bend in the flattie rod. A battle of wills developed, I would pump and crank the thing towards me and the thing would dive back down again and we'd be back where we started, all the time keeping the rod high so that the line didn't get on the rough concrete wall edge. After about twenty minutes of the tug of war I'd managed to coax it around the 'round' towards the stem of the harbour wall which has no wall or rails where I could perhaps handline it up. Getting around the railings at the end of the wall meant giving slack but luckily whatever it was swam towards the corner and didn't take line.
Having moved around from the wall I could, at last, look down to see what was there, as I managed to work it to the surface I could see a long thin pale shape, another bloody conger? But no, it moved around to show big wings, I'd got myself a big ray, or rather the ray had got an angler thinking 'and now what do I do?' I moved it along the wall to beyond the railings and it was now on the surface, a big Blonde Ray.
If I'd had my drop net and someone to give a hand there might have been a chance of netting it but the only way was to lift and hope, I lifted, and hoped, and the 18lb hook-length finally gave up, the frayed end showing the effect of twenty minutes of abrasion, it was good that the hook held, it seems that a size 4 Kamasan B-490 will hold very big fish.
All that exertion is not good for someone with COPD so it probably took me more time to recover as it took the ray which just flipped and flapped away.
I fished until about 10.20 catching nothing but a few more pout.
A night of extremes, one tiny fish and one huge one, one new species for the hunt and one more 'big one that got away' tale
