fishybuisness
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2021
- Messages
- 107
- Reaction score
- 803
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
February is always a month of great effort and usually little rewards, its been manic in work and the time i have had off ive felt quite low in energy and enthusiasm.Its a month where finances from xmas and tax payments hit hard which limits friends from coming out on adventures.
We had an amazing big fish December and then January started off really well until the blues set in, Feb was off to a good start with a nice skerries day out and targets were achieved (my last post) so i thought i would mix it up a little the weekend after.
I took gadget out on the Saturday 12th for a long long run and 2 friends were also coming out on their own boats. The seas were flatter than a pancake and reasonably warm for the end of feb and conditions were lovely with a nice tide for wrecking. We played join the dots all the way out, 45 miles out to be exact! Every wreck was devoid of any decent fish and the pollock and bass we did get were damaged by commercial gear with marks all over them. The pouting were out in force and nailing the jig as soon as it hit the bottom.
It really was hard going but its no surprise as ive been watching certain boats absolutely hammering the wrecks on marine traffic. One boat jodie b was averaging 13 wrecks a night and the other commercials were following the same suit. Times are drastic when everything has been wiped out before they have had time to spawn! Plus the guys after black gold have wiped out most of the breeding stock of bass in lyme bay! 70 double fig bass thrown overboard for one £60 tub of cuttle - but its ok as they work hard and go out in all weathers to achieve a wage!
To top it off the quotas have just been doubled and i just cannot understand it. The only people i see concerned about the fish stocks are recreational anglers but we have no say as we are no part of the money’s. Always follow the money!
Speaking of commercials we now have a dutch trawler sunk off penzance (gwennap head) with 10000+ ltrs of diesel seeping out. So much for the couches bream marks this year!
So on to positive news.
I left Wednesday for an adventure and have come home today. 3 different marks and plenty of good food (cheese toasties) a beer here and there and some nice weather thrown in. Thinking to myself, i have everything available on my doorstep with beaches, 3 boats, rock marks and the big beach that I haven’t visited for time but sometimes you have to go to the fish as anything around here wasn’t really going to tick that urge or put a decent bend in the rod. Like ive mentioned before its always nice to have a wing man but sometimes doing it solo just makes everything more interesting. Plus i will have to do the cooking! I know theres Not much to cheese toasties or cereal but its still effort!
So i set off- and kept going and going and going. 15 costa stops but no hot food available in any services in the early hrs of the morning so i had to make do with yep lets abbreviate them as CT’s. A little ketchup for colour and munch on!
Arrived at mark 1 with terrible onshore weather and thick with rain. It was sour and cold and made for a quick retreat and find somewhere suitable to camp for the night. It was forecast to be 48mph and torrential rain so a case of getting into bed in the back of the transporter and not getting up until the pitter patter had stoped. The views were nice being in the middle of glencoe!
The next day was lush and it started with proper coffee and mac and cheese pie!
I was fishing in my t shirt for coalies and small pollock as i needed them for bait. The bait i was using this weekend was going to be a main of octopus with any oily fish baits cut up into small triangles and slapped on the side. I had anchovies, herring, trout, pilchards, sardines and macks and of course a few fresh out coalies.
It was my birthday the weekend before and i was having the century fireblades rebuilt as back in december a seagull decided to fly into my line. It took both rods for quite a run up the beach and over the top leaving only one or two eyes left between the two rods. my mate Mike Reed (MAR custom rods) was going to do a little surprise for me so i left him to do what he thought would be best. The fireblades were originally bought due to having a bad back and were much softer than my casting rods and over time i really got attached to them. But i used them as a tool and never washed them or didnt care for them like i would a rod with expensive eyes like kwags they were put to the extreme test over 2 years and apart from the seagull incident they performed brilliantly with a good list of specimens under their belt they were worth a little attention.
I was gobsmacked when i picked them up.
The thread work is unreal with a diamond whipped purple 3d backing that pops out. They are rung with special eyes that match the blue flip impregnated into the blank. Even the tips are wound with glow thread
that illuminates without a light Mike really hit it out of the park with these and to do it for cost was a really nice birthday
. If your thinking of making your rods bespoke Mike really comes into his own with the finer detailing. It’s obvious that building rods in his shed/workshop is his hobby and all he wanted was to unleash his talent, and by the looks of it on my rods!Back to the fishing.
I setup my new rods and paired them with spinfisher 7500’s and 80lb power pro, up and overs made from 200lb momoi with a 10,0 hook at the pointy end and bait as described above.
With in moments of casting out both rods i had a very cod like bite and not like the small cod bites we see on the south coast, good lunges and pull downs with a slow dead weight on the end. As it popped to the surface i let out a little yelp and a bit of wee came out.
Its a ling!!
Not a big ling but a ling from the shore. The second one ive caught from the shore in 30 years if fishing. So very happy with that
And also what a way to christen a rod!
The other (new) rod was making signs of something on the end and i could tell what it was before picking the rod up, smoothhounds and spurs have a very similar bite but this one was small so it didnt take any line.
But a fish nonetheless on the first cast of the second rod.
Right then , on to the next bit
Due to a lack of sleep and feeling pretty behind it i thought i needed something that could indicate a bite if im flat out asleep in the van. Its a much waisted time for us humans and to realise we could catch big fish whilst sleeping seamed to be a little out there for me. I popped into argos on the way to pick up more go pro batteries and I happened to type in to the search bar the words “BITE ALARM”
and up popped a picture of Matt Hayes specials for £18. I clicked the button.I installed them to the bottom of the top bar on the rod rest by drilling a hole and using the alarms like a self tapper straight in to the soft alu. Jobs a good one
So now i dont beed any light at all to gish apart from a little light for my bait board! And i can go to sleep in the van and get woken up when theres a run.
So now i have big baits out and im in bed eating CT’s and i heard the sound!
Geddon hookon
From bottom to top 23mins to be exact not weighed or measured and fish released quickly. The rods were on fire and i managed to get this all on film.
Then like all fishing venues the weapons arrived. Drug fuelled chemical sniffing wasters that just want to get blottoed and make sure everyone else has a bad time. My lines got pulled in everytime even after trying to explain uptiding. Then the chap just wouldnt shut up! With a strong glasweigen accent everything rolled into one word that was about 30mins long. He continued to talk to me even when i pretended to be alseep in my chair. Seriously it just ruined it and without causing a havoc i told him i really need my space and to leave me to have some peace. Nope on and on and on he went. I have no idea what he was talking about and the only way to end it was to pack up!
Part 2 below
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