A fish to restore the faith
Eleven years ago on November 6th I was with Kevin Legge when he landed his then British Record tope of 66lb 8oz a fish that broke his own record tope coincidentally landed on November 6th, 2006. Interestingly in November 1979 Combe Martin SAC member Barry Hill landed a British Record coalfish scaling 18lb. These historic captures were in our minds as Kevin and I set out for a shore fishing session on the anniversary of the capture of that record tope.
Confidence is a vital ingredient in all forms of fishing and whilst the fishing has been difficult recently with catches poor it only takes one fish to lift the spirits and restore the faith.
We arrived at our chosen mark in daylight and were all set up with baits in the water well before high water. It was good to be at the shoreline watching the rods and taking in the ever flowing waters of The Bristol Channel. Bites came from the off with the rod tips rattling as we targeted rockling or pouting to use as bait for larger predators. A succession of rockling and small tackle twisting conger were swung onto the rocks. An hour before high water as darkness descended we both cast out fresh rockling baits and set the rods on a shared tripod.
We continued to catch small conger and rockling leaving the rockling baits anchored out in the tide.High tide came and went and the tide ebbed away. On the welsh coast fireworks lit up the sky at Port Talbot and Swansea. Two hours after high water Kev’s rockling rod nodded slightly raising hope. We intended to fish until 8:30pm and packed away one rod each at 8:00pm concentrating on the rockling baits that had been out for close to two and a half hours.
At 8:15pm there came a rasping call from my reel as the rod tip pulled over positively. We both thought tope and I picked up the rod with a degree of trepidation. For a moment the run stopped and at that same moment my headlight decided to falter! Kev passed a spare and I held the rod until another strong pull came. I engaged the reel, wound down and lifted the rod. I felt life on the end of the line then for a moment all was solid as I leant back hard expecting a strong run. There came a sickening moment as something gave way then once again I felt a decent weight as whatever I had hooked swam free from a potential snag. Kev scrambled down the rock with net in hand as a silver flank appeared in the searching beam of the headlights. As the fish came closer its head looked huge as it gills flared.
Safely in the net we admired a fine bass that pulled the scales to 7lb 5oz. After weighing and a quick photo I slipped the bass back and watched it swim strongly away. Not quite a specimen but a reasonable fish and a pleasing catch to restore the faith and renew the drive to get out again.
Kev wound in his rockling to find that a small conger had been hooked.
North Devons top shore mark?
Ilfracombe Pier is often overlooked as a great shore fishing venue but on its day when conditions are right it can produce the goods. Over the years it has probably produced more species and specimens than any other North Devon mark. Whilst this is in part due to it being easily accessible and heavily fished its is also a good mark offering deep water and mixed ground. Ilfracombe angler Toby Bassett is a frequent visitor and catches a wide range of species from the mark with tactics ranging from LRF to standard shore tactics.
“Well what an afternoon that was, rocked up to the pier mid day, and normally i just put small baits out for the mini stuff but changed it up today and put a big octopus bait out as far as i could first fish out a lovely little huss, next chuck my biggest bass to date a cracking silver bar knocking the scale between 9 and half 10.. To top it off i caught 3 lobsters as well”
The veterans amongst us remember the days of the old pier when it provided a safe stable fishing platform at all States of the tide.
Bass Sport on Bluefin
Troy Laing and Toby Bassett were amongst anglers to enjoy some great bass sport off Ilfracombe on-board Bluefin. Autumn often provides some of the years best bass fishing over local reefs and this year everything seems to be running a little late so perhaps sport will continue right through the autumn months if weather permits access.
Huss, tope, conger and bass off Ilfracombe
SOUTH MOLTON ANGLING CLUB
South Molton angling club enjoyed a day off Ilfracombe with John Barbeary on BluefIn. Report from Ed Rands below :-
It was a bit overcast and we had a heavy shower in the afternoon but it didn’t dampen our spirits.
Often this time of year can be good for bass on the horseshoe so after a couple of drifts on inshore reefs to let the tide ease we went out for the main event which needless to say produced no bass and only a few pollack and scad.
We then moved to another place and anchored up which produced a 20lb tope and a 25lb conger,a 14lb huss and the inevitable dogfish.
We tried the horseshoe again on our way in, still no bass!
We then finished the day off inshore off Lee bay, more huss, dogs and conger.
In all we had 25 huss, 10 conger,20 scad,3 pollack a starry smoothound and bjorn caught a mussel and a starfish, but the biggest cheer was for richards 4″ joey mackerel which are getting like hens teeth….how things change
Below Troy Laing with a nice bass caught on Bluefin. A few days after the South Molton Club trip
Big bass for North Devon Angler
North Devon angler Paul Hutchings took a trip to fish on Charter boat Lorna Doone out of Watchet and boated a huge bass scaling 12lb 3oz. The fish was returned after a quick photo.
Persistence and lessons learnt
Sometimes as I put these pages together and see what everyone is catching I wonder where I am going wrong. In the past few months, I have persisted lure fishing for bass despite blank after blank. I have fished ground that I have enjoyed success at in the past confident that it would eventually come right.
Calm conditions, interspersed with rougher water and masses of weed. I fished early, late and at different states of tide. Its seldom that everything is right after all. One morning I arrived at the water’s edge on the early morning flood. Third cast and wallop a heavy fish hit the lure hard. After a few strong runs the bass that I estimated to be between 8lb and 10lb was wallowing on a short line. All was going well until in a sickening moment the hook hold gave way and the lure flew back towards me. The big bass was gone with a flick of its tail to linger hauntingly in the minds eye. Strange how the loss of a big fish often remains etched in the mind far longer than a successful capture.
The loss of the bass spurred me onto more sessions and yet more blanks. On one occasion I arrived to find a huge swell surging into the shoreline. Despite this I persevered and found a slightly calmer area with no weed. I caught sight of a few mullet their flanks catching the evening sunlight. After two hours still no bass; a move to a second mark brought the same result.
A couple of days later I return to the same mark. A brisk North West wind is blowing into the shoreline but there is little swell just a fizzy wind driven sea. I wade out and flick out a dark coloured Mega bass spindle worm lure. Third cast and bang the rod tip slams round the line zipping out to sea the rod pulsing in the hands the reels singing in protest. After a short exhilarating encounter a bass of 67cm ( just over 6lb) is secured. In the next two and a half hours I beach another five bass estimated at between 3lb 8oz and 6lb. Three of the fish are close to 6lb. I pack away after darkness has descended my soft lures depleted by the aggressive bass.
Confidence is restored in the marks, the lures and my own judgement. It would be easy to just plan trips based on tide, weather and time of day. Problem is sometimes we can only go when it suits us. Choosing those perfect conditions would be ideal but getting tide times, weather, water clarity and time of day to fall into place is difficult. Then of course there is lure choice or bait choice plus location.
The following day I headed to Ilfracombe Pier for a short LRF session with my good friend Keith Armishaw of River Reads and Angling Heritage. After a later than planned start we fished the rising tide to tempt a few miniature pouting and pollock. Keith added a shanny to list and totally out-fished me using fragments of mackerel. I stuck to ISOME imitation ragworm and failed to connect with several good tugs.
Grey mullet were next on the agenda and we headed off to our chosen mark electing to fish the sheltered area out of the brisk North West breeze. A friend arrived on the opposite shoreline electing to fish into the teeth of the wind. Lesson learnt four mullet to 5lb 1oz on the windward shoreline – Nil, from the sheltered shoreline!
Remember the fish will be where the food is and not where you are most comfortable.
Bass feast on spider glut
Jamie Steward and several other anglers have enjoyed some great shore sport with bass. Large spider ray baits proving effective as these fish feast upon this annual abundance of food. As the spider crab finish their moulting bass will once again be worthwhile targets on the lures. Jamies has tempted eighteen bass over there sessions the best a stunning fish of 7lb 12oz.
Fine brace of identical specimen bass
Martyn Hunton landed a brace of bass from a local beach each weighing 8lb 1oz. Both fish took dirty squid purchased at Braunton Baits. He also beached small eyed ray and small eyed ray.
SUMMER NIGHTS
A gentle surf pushed into the beach as I strolled in the shallow water enjoying the coolness in the late afternoon heat. I searched the water for the fish I had been told would be there amongst the bathers. Amongst a slightly foamy coloured band of water, I found what I was looking for hundreds of mullet darting to and fro apparently feasting up on an algal feast.
I cast expectantly with a team of flies designed to attract the wily mullet. As the waves turned mullet could be seen in the small waves some of them a decent size. I suspected that many were golden greys though the size of some indicated that thick lips were amongst them.
A couple of times the line zipped tight but contact could not be made. As the tide started to flood the activity increased with swirling mullet all around. I cast repeatedly trying slow retrieves, quicker retrieves and static drifts. Frustration grew, the tide flooded and all of sudden they were gone.
The following night I stood upon a boulder strewn shoreline armed with a lure rod. A surface lure was cast out and worked back across the still water. The sun was descending as the day faded a golden glow of fiery light. A large swirl behind the lure gave hope. Hundreds of fish could be seen dimpling the surface. Mullet again! The fly rod was in the van but I was too lazy or too focussed on the bass to switch tactics. Another night I will return with a few bread flies and some floating crust to get them feeding. Some would say that’s cheating; but perhaps we sometimes make things too difficult for ourselves.
As the light faded expectation grew as the tide gently pushed in. An hour after dark I heard a swirl in the calm water. Next cast my soft plastic was seized, a welcome jolt of life through the line. A bass of a couple of pounds saved a blank.
The moon slowly rose above the hill, lights reflected in the mirror calm sea. The cool night air, the aroma of seaweed and fresh sea air. These summer nights are to be cherished for all too soon autumn and winter will descend bringing different challenges.
