Anglesey 25th & 26th June 2012
My first session this
week took place on Anglesey with the lures. I met Terry in Beaumaris and headed
off to a mark I hadn't fished yet this year, but was confident of a fish or
two. After a nice downhill trek to the mark we set up the rods and began having
a walk along the coast chucking the lures as we went. Switching between surface
lures and shallow divers I got my first fish of the day on just my second cast,
not what we were after though, a small pollock. After a good hour I was losing
my confidence in the bass so after having a quick word with Terry, we headed
off to our left to fish off a deeper stretch of coastline. After scouting a bit
we decided on a spot and began chucking again. As it was a little deeper I
decided to try a slightly deeper running lure, the zonk gataride in katakuchi
colour (blue top, silver flanks, red belly for anyone not familiar) These lures
fly so against the wind I launched it out a fair distance and began my
retrieve. About half way in a small tap and then a solid take, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
sounded as the braid left the spool. I was very conscious about setting the
drag right as due to running out of my usual 20lb fluoro leader I had to settle
for some 10lb stuff I use when after wrasse, not ideal. As I played it gently
to the side though, there Terry was on hand to guide my prize into a little
gully where he could grab it. I didn't bother weighing/measuring it as it
wasn't as big as others I've had this year so after a few quick photos I
released the fish back into the depths. At a guess I would have said it was
around the 3.5-4lb mark. The Zonk had proven its worth once again and certainly
put a big smile on my face for the rest of the evening. Terry soon followed
suit and whacked on his Zonk and sure enough got his first fish of the session
soon after the changeover. I failed to catch for the rest of the evening but
Terry managed to winkle out a second bass just as the light was fading. In
typical style, he'd noticed a few fish surfacing for sandeels and had switched
to a Patchinko surface lure. I watched on as his first few casts got some
interest in the form of a missed take and then the proceeding cast got a hook
up and his 2nd bass. As soon as they switched on though, they disappeared so
after a further hours plugging into the darkness, we called it a night and
headed back. This was a tester on the legs though, as after a seemingly easy
descent, the mile or more walking straight back up the hill certainly got the
heart pumping. Worth it though just for that one stunning fish.
The day after saw me
returning to the exact spot from the previous evening. This time I had left the
plugging rod at home and lugged down the beachcaster, a bucket of crab and
plenty of spare leads hoping for some more silver and maybe something new for the
species list. After a much more strenuous walk down I found myself dealing with
a brisk breeze and a slightly choppy sea, not what I had hoped for, but
nevertheless I ploughed on hopeful. I set up with a portsmouth loop rig armed
with a lovely helping of fresh peeler and launched it out across a bay to the
west of me. After a fruitless first cast, I wound in rebaited and repeated the
process, this time casting slightly shorter. After a short wait, I had my first
knock and then a nice pull round. Initially my lead was snagged up but after a
quick tug it came free, luckily with the fish still attached. Up it came in
front of me, with its silver flanks catching the suns rays, a nice little bass
of around 1lb. For the next few chucks I continued to get fish of this size,
finishing with 4 bass in 6 casts. My seventh cast however produced this codling
of around 1.5lb which went home for tea, tasted lovely pan fried in some
breadcrumbs. Unfortunately the following cast I snagged up again, losing both
my snoods but retaining the lead. I thought enough was enough though and headed
back happy again after a good couple of hours. The walk back was agonizing on
the legs, especially considering I was carrying a good amount of gear this time round and had done the same walk
less than 12 hours previous. But again the long walk was worth the effort and at least I had dinner lined up :)
Thanks for reading,
Tight Lines,
Ross
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