An opportunist session in Dorset

As the 1st November rolled around, myself and Lee were in the car and on our way down to Poole to catch the ferry, Scott was set to meet us in Jersey after flying over the previous day. Six hours after leaving North Wales we were at the port and both very excited, at least until the dreaded text came through just an hour before we were set to sail to inform us the ferry was cancelled. So after evaluating our options and having a good moan, we decided to  make the most of our day and get the LRF gear out. First stop was Poole harbour where both myself and Lee bashed out a few gobies each, Lee adding two new species to his yearly list with rock goby and black goby. The wind then decided to pick up a little making controlling the light gear much harder. The result was a short drive to Weymouth where we hoped for a few more new species. We made our

way to the breakwater at the mouth of the port, fishing the seaward side to avoid the wind as best as possible. There were plenty of fish taking a liking to our Isome and Gulp but after failing to connect, we both downsized the jigheads. The impact was instant and before long I was hauling out fish after fish, the majority being small pout. Thrown in the mix though were a number of corkwings, a scorpion fish, a few poor cod, a tompot blenny and this slightly better ballan wrasse of around 3/4lb. Lee was struggling to hook anything but eventually managed to winkle out a few corkwings before after a good wait, he finally landed a pouting, his 3rd new species of the trip. The bitter wind finally got the better of us after 3 hours fishing so we left Weymouth to once again visit Poole ferry terminal where we would spend the night attempting to sleep in my car, unsuccessfully.

Fantastic Pembroke Part 3 : Species bashing

The third day of my trip saw us targeting a variety of species. I am on a quest for 60 species this year from the UK shoreline so Ben had kindly set aside a day of my trip to concentrate on all things mini. We fished at a local mark to Ben who had informed me that the mark throws up trigger fish, a species I have never even thought about targeting. Armed with a few leftover rag, squid and fresh macky we started fishing just before low water. The rigs we were using were

 just half a set of size 12 sabikis, so in essence a 3-up baited flapper

rig with a 1.5oz bomb to get it firmly on the bottom. Bites came thick and fast for the first hour with Ben leading the way with a rock goby, myself catching the same shortly after. The new species started to appear though and before long I had my black goby (species 39 -top right). Ben had a really nice take on squid but the fish spat the hook before we could see what it was. Fishing a little closer to the wall though I kept getting tiny little rattles, eventually managing to hook one of the critters. Up from the depths came my first rod caught

butterfish (species 40) a cracking looking fish and it made me very

happy. Ben was still getting plenty of fish just off the wall managing a few small ballans and pollock before he managed a new one for his species tally this year, a gold-sinny wrasse. As if 2 new species wasn't enough I continued to pull out a vast amount of rock gobies before eventually getting a cracking take from this sand-smelt (species 41 - right) Another species ticked off the list. As the tide slackened the fish turned off with exception to the goby population down there, so we called it and headed off to another mark where Ben was confident I'd catch my first tub gurnard of 2012.

 After a short lunch break, we were on our new mark and ready to go. One up one down rigs were the plan with a 4oz rolling lead to keep it firmly pinned down. We both started with macky, myself opting to tip with squid to add a bit of movement to the bait. Ben had a bite almost instantly but the fish seemed to just hit it and leave it. Whilst he was holding his rod though, I got my first good knock and landed our target species, a tub gurnard (species 42). Re-baiting we continued to fish into an area that we were finding productive and Ben was soon into his 1st tub as well (up right) After the hectic start though the fishing went very quiet with one dab for me being the only other fish landed. We cut our losses and after another successful trip we headed home for some much needed food and rest. Yet again 3rd day running Pembroke didn't disappoint.

 On my 4th and final day we again targeted the smoothies after having some great fun a few days earlier. We spent a few hours collecting crab and then headed off to yet another different mark to try and get one of these doubles. To cut the story short, we managed another 2 smoothies each, no big ones unfortunately but I just love how much power they have in comparison to other fish of their size, just incredible. With the end of theis session came the end of my trip but I can definitely say I'll be back fairly soon, maybe to target some bream and that elusive trigger fish. The trip was a great success throughout with 18 species caught in total between us, myself landing 3 fish I've never caught before and smashing my Starry Smoothhound PB. Again a massive thanks to Ben for putting me on the fish every day, definitely a top lad and angler and I'm so jelous that he is surrounded by such a fantastic and diverse area of coastline. Back to North Wales it is now for a month or so though before I start on my adventures to Ireland, South Devon and Jersey.

Thanks for reading,
Tight Lines,
Ross

Fantastic Pembroke Part 2 : Lure fishing adventures

Day 2 on my visit to Pembroke started with a trip to one of Ben's plugging marks. He'd only fished it on one previous occasion and had winkled out a few bass, so with the lovely weather we both thought we were in with a good chance. We arrived shortly before the midday high water and were greeted by a number of fish hitting the surface, some of them being fairly hefty. We guessed they were sea trout and maybe even salmon with some of the smaller fish jumping a good 3-4ft clear of the water. Full of excitement we both clipped on surface lures, myself opting for a free-bee I was given to test, the
Seaspin Pro-Q 120 in flashing plate whilst Ben opted for a range of poppers including the ever faithful chugbug. The lure I was

 using had a fantastic walk the dog action and after 10 minutes or so I

 had my first rise, the fish unfortunately not committing to the take. A few casts later though and I was in business. After a short fight I got it a couple of metres from the rocks only to see the fish spit the lure, was this going to be one of those days. I continued with the Pro -Q 120 and it did pay off eventually when a bass of around 1.75lb was safely landed, photographed and released (top right). The surface action went quiet for me, but Ben was getting a few rises, finally managing a hook up but as with my first fish it threw the lure a few metres from the rocks. I did manage an action photo though before the fish escaped (right). The sea trout were now leaping freely so instead of targeting the bass I

 clipped on the trusty toby and began working it with some pace trying to induce a take, that failed lol. Then it was the turn of the dexter wedge. With the dexter being a little heavier I was able to cast far further and work a much greater area. Just as I'd switched lure, a couple of Bens mates joined us, one of them being Rob who I met last time I visited. I had a quick chat and chucked my lure out in the proccess. 5 turns of the handle and a solid take, it was as if the fish could sense their arrival lol. It was giving a great acount for itself taking me round a rock in front of me and continually pulling my line with some lovely strong lunging runs. It did not want to be landed, but after tightening the drag a little I started gaining a bit more line back, eventually getting the fish close enough for Ben to grab it. It was not the beast I was hoping for but a fine conditioned silver bar of just over the 3lb mark ( above left) It had a huge mouth for its size and a gut to match. We all continued to plug away for a further half hour before calling it quits and returning back to the car.

Mini-bashing on the LRF gear

With some great success on the mini species front on bait at another close by mark, we decided to give the mark a go with some LRF tactics. I lent Ben some size 12 jigheads and Ben lent me the Power Isome. We were in to fish as soon as the lures hit bottom, with me catching around 15 rock gobies and half a dozen black gobies (left) which is a new one for the TLF species hunt. Ben was having much the same but he'd opted to try bait first, getting gobies and the odd wrasse and pollock. Seeing the number of fish I was catching though he soon changed and managed a number of rock gobies himself (a new species for his species tally - up right). We stayed for around 2 hours in total calling it quits when the local kids decided that the spot we were fishing was a good one for jumping in off. Not to mention the idiot jetskiers that thought it was clever to drive straight through some other anglers lines. A fun session was had though and we left rather chuffed.

Hope you enjoyed the read,
Tight Lines,
Ross