I've been looking for a new rod for a while now and wanted a decent rod without paying over the odds for one. So when I saw that Gareth at Menai Angling had a Century Kompressor Lite for sale 2nd hand I was soon on my way over there for a look. The rod itself was in almost mint condition and at around 50% of the usual retail price I couldn't say no and bought it then and there. Extremely happy with my new toy there was only one thing left to do, put it into action :) With the winds being extremely strong at the moment, we didn't have a large amount of options and in the end decided to try Llam Carw for congers. Myself and Gav L arrived a couple of hours prior to high water and got set up on the rocks down from the car park. I hadn't tried this exact spot before so didn't know exactly how far to cast to clear the snags. I guessed at 30 yards due to the boulders on the left hand side. The rig I opted for was a running ledger with a 5oz lead connected to a weak link. Then at the business end 35kg wire with 2 size 6/0 hooks in a pennel and half a mackeral for bait. The conditions were horrible at best with fairly strong wind and a heavy drizzle. After leaving the rods for 30mins it was time to check the bait. I picked the rod up to feel a slight knock but not thinking anything of it I struck hoping to pull free of any snags I may have landed in. Sure enough, I was into a snag, or was I...... After giving it a good pull there seemed to be a slight bit of give and eventually the line came free, all be it with some added weight. It wasn't long before I realised I had actually got a fish on and what felt like a decent one at that. The new rod was put through it's paces as the fish hung on and provided a nice little fight in a bid for freedom. After a minute or 2 the fish was at the bottom of the rocks, so handing the rod to Gav I clambered down to land it. Safely up on the ledge I could see that my weak link to the lead had worked and the lead had come loose from the clip. Somehow though the death rolls of the fish had managed to tangle the lead back into the rig so I still got my lead back, what a bonus. It was a very long fish as you can see from the picture but it didn't have much of a girth and so when weighed it only dropped the scales down to 11lb 13oz but it's my first double of 2012 so cannot complain. Then things turned for the worse again. The weather which was already awful got even worse, Gav L lost his rig to a snag and the rats had started to close in on us. These 3 factors meant it was time to leave before we ended up sad, cold and wet fishermen. An enjoyable evening despite the weather and what a fish to christen my new rod with. Can see this new toy bringing me alot of joy over the summer months or at least I hope so.
Cheers for reading,
Tight Lines,
Ross
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