Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 376
- Reaction score
- 3,444
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
Having missed out on my fishing last week, due to DHL making a complete pigs ear of a frozen bait delivery 
, it would take more than a bit of wintry weather to make me miss out again this week. After several days of fresh Northerly winds, conditions were forecast to calm down slightly on Wednesday night, and though light, wintry showers were forecast early in the evening, the skies were due to clear later, so I was looking forward to a good night.
Though conditions were forecast to improve on the open coast, I wasn’t in the mood for too long a drive, so I decided to head for the Straits. I’ve never done well for conger there myself, but I’ve been told about its potential many times over the years, so I thought it was worth a go.
I arrived at my chosen mark dead on high water and I immediately cast out a medium sized mackerel and squid cocktail, mounted on an 8/0 pulley rig, before I followed that up with a 3-hook flapper, baited with a combination of lug, squid and sandeel. I hadn’t been fishing long when I saw the first sign of interest on the big bait, but sadly it didn’t amount to much. It was a start though and after 20 minutes or so, I replaced a slightly chewed bait with a fresh offering. It was a different story on the flapper though, and 15 minutes after casting out, a good rattling bite signalled the arrival of the first whiting of the session.
Soon after this I spotted the first few hailstones of the evening, but expecting just the odd “light shower”, I wasn’t too concerned. Unfortunately, the Met Office’s idea of a light shower is more like a downpour of biblical proportions in my book
and for the next 10 to 15 minutes, I could do nothing but zip my coat up as tight as possible and hunker down, as I was pelted with a combination of hail, sleet and rain. Eventually though, the downpour passed and the skies finally began to clear 
.
With the improvement in conditions, I was finally able to concentrate on the fishing and on the next couple of casts, the flapper rig accounted for another brace of whiting. The big baits on the other hand, remained untouched and so after another couple of casts, the mackerel and squid cocktail was replaced with a whiting fillet. This finally had the desired effect, as the rod tip was soon rattling away, but rather than my hoped for conger, the culprit turned out to be a greedy, cannibalistic whiting!
Despite this setback, I was determined to keep trying for the biggie, so the rest of the whiting was now impaled on the 8/0 and once more it was lobbed out into the depths.
Soon after this I spotted another bite on the flapper rod, but this was different from those I had been getting up to this point. Instead of the typical whiting rattles, this was more bouncy in nature and I immediately suspected that the dogs might have arrived on the scene
. I gave it a little time to develop before I reeled in, and I was immediately reassured by a decent weight on the line. Not wanting to lose what could be my best fish of the night, I reeled in steadily and after a minute or two my catch was safely landed, not the dog I expected, but a nice little bullhuss of just over 2lb in weight 
.
Over the next hour or so, sport picked up and the flapper accounted for a fish on most casts, the whiting went off the feed slightly but they were replaced by a steady stream of what I assumed to be huss or doggie bites. I say assumed, as I dropped several fish on the retrieve, but that wasn’t always the case and I did manage to land a second huss of 2lb 10oz, followed by the first dog of the night
.
Soon after this I spotted another bite on the big bait, but again it didn’t look like my hoped for conger, in fact it didn’t look like anything very big at all. I gave it another 10 minutes though, hoping that it might liven up a bit but sadly, after the first few rattles the rod tip didn’t move again. Expecting to find a chewed bait, I decided to reel in and check, but when I picked up the rod I was surprised to feel a decent weight on the line. Not knowing quite what to expect, I reeled in steadily and eventually, I was pleasantly surprised when a decent huss surfaced a few meters out
. From my vantage point a few meters above the water, the head looked absolutely massive and I thought it might well be a double, but when I cambered down to the water’s edge and grabbed my catch by the tail, I could see that despite the size of the head, it wasn’t actually that big. I wasn’t too disappointed though when the scales settled on 8lb exactly 
.
Hoping for more of the same, I quickly re-baited and cast out to a similar range but alas, that was the last bite of the night on the big baits
.
It wasn’t the last fish of the night though, and I continued to get bites on the other rod, but the fish were becoming quite finicky as the flow eased and I missed most of them. I did get one more fish, another huss of just under 3lb in weight,
but the bigger beasties, conger included were nowhere to be found.
With bites dwindling I decided to pack in at 00:15, and though I didn’t get my hoped for conger, I was still happy with my bag of 4 huss, a dog and half a dozen whiting.
After several hours of clear skies, the temperature had plummeted and though I wasn’t feeling the cold, all around me the bladder wrack was glistening with frost, and when I got back to my car I was shocked to find it completely covered in frozen hail and slush. Not only that but the drivers door lock was also frozen solid
.
Thankfully, I was able to get in through the passenger door
and by the time my gear was all stowed away, the car was defrosted. Though the lane from the mark was now icy and quite slippery in places, at least the main road was gritted and with the heating warmed up, I had a nice toasty warm drive home to plan ahead for my next outing 
.
, it would take more than a bit of wintry weather to make me miss out again this week. After several days of fresh Northerly winds, conditions were forecast to calm down slightly on Wednesday night, and though light, wintry showers were forecast early in the evening, the skies were due to clear later, so I was looking forward to a good night.Though conditions were forecast to improve on the open coast, I wasn’t in the mood for too long a drive, so I decided to head for the Straits. I’ve never done well for conger there myself, but I’ve been told about its potential many times over the years, so I thought it was worth a go.
I arrived at my chosen mark dead on high water and I immediately cast out a medium sized mackerel and squid cocktail, mounted on an 8/0 pulley rig, before I followed that up with a 3-hook flapper, baited with a combination of lug, squid and sandeel. I hadn’t been fishing long when I saw the first sign of interest on the big bait, but sadly it didn’t amount to much. It was a start though and after 20 minutes or so, I replaced a slightly chewed bait with a fresh offering. It was a different story on the flapper though, and 15 minutes after casting out, a good rattling bite signalled the arrival of the first whiting of the session.
Soon after this I spotted the first few hailstones of the evening, but expecting just the odd “light shower”, I wasn’t too concerned. Unfortunately, the Met Office’s idea of a light shower is more like a downpour of biblical proportions in my book
and for the next 10 to 15 minutes, I could do nothing but zip my coat up as tight as possible and hunker down, as I was pelted with a combination of hail, sleet and rain. Eventually though, the downpour passed and the skies finally began to clear .With the improvement in conditions, I was finally able to concentrate on the fishing and on the next couple of casts, the flapper rig accounted for another brace of whiting. The big baits on the other hand, remained untouched and so after another couple of casts, the mackerel and squid cocktail was replaced with a whiting fillet. This finally had the desired effect, as the rod tip was soon rattling away, but rather than my hoped for conger, the culprit turned out to be a greedy, cannibalistic whiting!
Despite this setback, I was determined to keep trying for the biggie, so the rest of the whiting was now impaled on the 8/0 and once more it was lobbed out into the depths.
Soon after this I spotted another bite on the flapper rod, but this was different from those I had been getting up to this point. Instead of the typical whiting rattles, this was more bouncy in nature and I immediately suspected that the dogs might have arrived on the scene
. I gave it a little time to develop before I reeled in, and I was immediately reassured by a decent weight on the line. Not wanting to lose what could be my best fish of the night, I reeled in steadily and after a minute or two my catch was safely landed, not the dog I expected, but a nice little bullhuss of just over 2lb in weight .Over the next hour or so, sport picked up and the flapper accounted for a fish on most casts, the whiting went off the feed slightly but they were replaced by a steady stream of what I assumed to be huss or doggie bites. I say assumed, as I dropped several fish on the retrieve, but that wasn’t always the case and I did manage to land a second huss of 2lb 10oz, followed by the first dog of the night
.Soon after this I spotted another bite on the big bait, but again it didn’t look like my hoped for conger, in fact it didn’t look like anything very big at all. I gave it another 10 minutes though, hoping that it might liven up a bit but sadly, after the first few rattles the rod tip didn’t move again. Expecting to find a chewed bait, I decided to reel in and check, but when I picked up the rod I was surprised to feel a decent weight on the line. Not knowing quite what to expect, I reeled in steadily and eventually, I was pleasantly surprised when a decent huss surfaced a few meters out
. From my vantage point a few meters above the water, the head looked absolutely massive and I thought it might well be a double, but when I cambered down to the water’s edge and grabbed my catch by the tail, I could see that despite the size of the head, it wasn’t actually that big. I wasn’t too disappointed though when the scales settled on 8lb exactly .Hoping for more of the same, I quickly re-baited and cast out to a similar range but alas, that was the last bite of the night on the big baits
.It wasn’t the last fish of the night though, and I continued to get bites on the other rod, but the fish were becoming quite finicky as the flow eased and I missed most of them. I did get one more fish, another huss of just under 3lb in weight,
but the bigger beasties, conger included were nowhere to be found.
With bites dwindling I decided to pack in at 00:15, and though I didn’t get my hoped for conger, I was still happy with my bag of 4 huss, a dog and half a dozen whiting.
After several hours of clear skies, the temperature had plummeted and though I wasn’t feeling the cold, all around me the bladder wrack was glistening with frost, and when I got back to my car I was shocked to find it completely covered in frozen hail and slush. Not only that but the drivers door lock was also frozen solid
.Thankfully, I was able to get in through the passenger door
and by the time my gear was all stowed away, the car was defrosted. Though the lane from the mark was now icy and quite slippery in places, at least the main road was gritted and with the heating warmed up, I had a nice toasty warm drive home to plan ahead for my next outing .
Great report and pictures, great fishing as always 
