An early morning plug followed by a mostyn plaice

 Plugging in the morning 06/05/2012

First of all I'll apologise for the picture. I don't like blanking bits out, but as the mark I fished is a spot I've been shown, it's only fair I white out any features in the background that may be a giveaway. Anyway, I set off for the mark at 3.30am to catch first light which was set to be around 4.45ish. It was around 4.30ish when I actually was at the mark and ready to fish and I was full of optimism. I had come to try and land a sea trout which I know are in the area and I'm desperate to get one for the species hunt. I started plugging with a special little lure I was lent by Terry, one which he's had the majority of his sea trout on so I had a 

decent chance of getting into one.if they were there. After 20 mins it was clear they were with a couple of fish jumping around 20 yards out from where I had waded. I cast the lure to one of the rises, 5 turns of the reel and a take. I got excited but remembered what Terry had taught me, which was to keep the drag loose, as they have delicate mouths and you can pull the hooks easy. So I did that and played it carefully to the beach. As it got closer I could see silver and was convinced I had my first sea trout but realised after I'd beached it it was a schoolie. I don't think I've ever been more disappointed at catching a bass lol. It was a fish all the same though so it still got the adrenaline going. The rises disappeared shortly after my capture but I did manage another fish and another species for my growing tally, a sandeel, all be it foul hooked through the gill, still counts though  :)  (species 32) I called it a day then and headed off to mostyn to meet Colin after a quick stop at Menai angling to pick up some bait, which to my great delight was open at 7am, good effort Gareth and a big thumbs up!

Mostyn

My sole purpose of fishing Mostyn was to get myself a plaice for the tally. Thanks to Stewart (sasnacks) and Webbo for putting me on the mark.  I met up with Colin at 9am and we headed for the ship area. After walking a bit further down to realise the tidal pull was too strong we walked back to the ship positioning oursleves in the centre of a nice eddie that had been created by the flow. We both rigged up 2 rods and began fishing. I opted for a one up one down rig baited with a selection of black lug/squid, crab or rag. We both were getting bites fairly often but were missing a fair few each until eventually I managed a pin whiting to get me off the mark. As we were fishing from mid-water up, we were expetant of a few flatties coming up out of the channel to search out our baits but after an hour we were struggling. It was near midday before the next fish came out which was a little dab for me. The last hour though as the tide hit slack was the most productive. Again we both had plenty of bites but whilst Colin was struggling to hook up, I had a few more whiting before on what turned out to be the penultimate cast I managed to get my target, a plaice (species 33) It wasn't a big one at about 28cm but it made the trip worth while for sure. We packed up shortly after and headed back to the cars. I know Colin enjoyed himself and I look forward to fishing with him again soon, next time hopefully getting into some good fish.

Cheers for reading,
Tight Lines,
Ross