Headed down to Dorset again yesterday morning, although winds were lightish all week, the wave bouys were giving some pretty big seas so wasn't sure what to expect.
Mark one saw the water far too coloured for my liking so headed off the Portland. I stopped in the car park and peered off the cliff, the sea was lively but looked bassy so I decided to give it a go and wandered along the path to my chosen spot. By now I was having second thoughts about the sea state so I stopped on the cliff to smoke a fag and watch the water. It soon became clear that it far too dangerous, with a big powerful groundswell rolling in and the rock I looking at fishing getting regularly swamped by big waves, so onwards to mark three......
I'd never fished here before but I happily found clear water and shelter, and bass first cast! Taken on a zonk in crusing blue, two casts later I hooked into a better fish but it snagged me round a post, I tried to to wade and free it but it was just to deep so I tied it off and carried on fishing.
As the tide ebbed I landed another fish, a smaller one this time and had a follow from a couple of lunker fish.
Finally as I packed up, I went back to my tied off line, managed to retrieve my lure and found the fish had freed itself in the mean time so a happy ending for all concerned...all in all not a bad session to end up with a couple of fish from a new mark when conditions were tough elsewhere. It's good that the fishing is continuing well into November.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Monday, 7 November 2011
7th November...A new rod and a tough session
Ok, where to start? New rod I think. Last week I walked into Veals in Bristol for a lunchtime browse, when I spotted something new among the lure rods....I wandered over...can it be? yes it is! The Diawa Branzino range had hit town!
To be honest I was perfectly happy with my current rods, but when I picked one of these up I knew I was holding something a little bit special...so light, so slim, so had to have one...I resisted for a few days but by the weekend I was back, and walked out with this, the 80ml Seabass Quest Custom.
Now I know I truely am a tackle tart, I know this won't catch me one fish more that my previous gear, but I will get lots of pleasure out of simply owning and using it...a bit sad perhaps but there you go.
Veals also had in the Japan range of Shoreliner plugs, there are some nice ones in there but I was dissappointed to see the 140 size are identical to the Saltiga Minnows which have been around for a while. No great problem there perhaps except these are £19.99 and you can pick up a Saltiga for £13 if you shop around (although for how much longer now I don't know). I guess that's the price you pay, it's great that we are getting so much more choice of gear these days but with the high demand for branded jap gear (fueled by tackle tarts like me) there is going to be some commercial opportunitism going on!
So yesterday I went down to Dorset for the afternoon...conditions were not good with a strong offshore wind, the remnents of a big sea still rolling in and still some colour left in the water. Plenty of people around hoping for a cod and I thought they had a better chance of success than me. Still I did my ususal walk, heading along the beach for a couple of miles, the water got clearer the further east you went and eventually I was rewarded with this to save a blank and "christen" the new rod.
Its nice to get a fish in November, I've set my self the objective of getting a bass as late as December this year and as early as April next year...that way it will feel like the "off season" is only three months long!
To be honest I was perfectly happy with my current rods, but when I picked one of these up I knew I was holding something a little bit special...so light, so slim, so had to have one...I resisted for a few days but by the weekend I was back, and walked out with this, the 80ml Seabass Quest Custom.
Now I know I truely am a tackle tart, I know this won't catch me one fish more that my previous gear, but I will get lots of pleasure out of simply owning and using it...a bit sad perhaps but there you go.
Veals also had in the Japan range of Shoreliner plugs, there are some nice ones in there but I was dissappointed to see the 140 size are identical to the Saltiga Minnows which have been around for a while. No great problem there perhaps except these are £19.99 and you can pick up a Saltiga for £13 if you shop around (although for how much longer now I don't know). I guess that's the price you pay, it's great that we are getting so much more choice of gear these days but with the high demand for branded jap gear (fueled by tackle tarts like me) there is going to be some commercial opportunitism going on!
So yesterday I went down to Dorset for the afternoon...conditions were not good with a strong offshore wind, the remnents of a big sea still rolling in and still some colour left in the water. Plenty of people around hoping for a cod and I thought they had a better chance of success than me. Still I did my ususal walk, heading along the beach for a couple of miles, the water got clearer the further east you went and eventually I was rewarded with this to save a blank and "christen" the new rod.
Its nice to get a fish in November, I've set my self the objective of getting a bass as late as December this year and as early as April next year...that way it will feel like the "off season" is only three months long!
Friday, 21 October 2011
Dorset 15th Oct
My first trip out for a while last Saturday, recovering from my knee injury, busy at work and family duties have all been conspiring against me for a few weeks, so Saturday afternoon was some welcome relief and on a warm bright sunny Autumn afternoon and I headed down to Dorset.
I couldn't make up my mind where to go to be honest, so I let fate decide and the toss of coin landed on heads and I headed east.
I arrived a low water, there were a few others in the area which is unusual to be honest, as I rarely see other anglers at this mark (is that a bad sign?!) but with a mile or so of rocks and boulders there was plenty of room for all.
Today was about relaxing and getting out, as with the weather as lovely as it was, it did not look condusive for great bass fishing...so I was pleasently pleased when this hit my feed shallow after an hour or so.....
I fished on after this, full of renewed confidence but only managed a couple of small pollack so with the light fading, I packed up and headed for a welcome pint in the pub by the beach rather than carry on into darkess.....Fishing in such fantastic Autumn weather made this one of my most enjoyable trips of the year. Sometimes it's just about getting out....not catching lots of fish
I couldn't make up my mind where to go to be honest, so I let fate decide and the toss of coin landed on heads and I headed east.
I arrived a low water, there were a few others in the area which is unusual to be honest, as I rarely see other anglers at this mark (is that a bad sign?!) but with a mile or so of rocks and boulders there was plenty of room for all.
Today was about relaxing and getting out, as with the weather as lovely as it was, it did not look condusive for great bass fishing...so I was pleasently pleased when this hit my feed shallow after an hour or so.....
I fished on after this, full of renewed confidence but only managed a couple of small pollack so with the light fading, I packed up and headed for a welcome pint in the pub by the beach rather than carry on into darkess.....Fishing in such fantastic Autumn weather made this one of my most enjoyable trips of the year. Sometimes it's just about getting out....not catching lots of fish
Sunday, 25 September 2011
24th / 25th September
Well bad weather and a bout of decorating has put paid to any fishing for a couple of weeks, so I was pleased to be heading off down to Dorset at 5am on Saturday morning....
Now some trips just don't go as planned, I was full of confidence, with a decent forecast and good tide for the mark. I'd taken my ESG and had planned to concentrate on soft plastics. I arrived and as soon as I started fishing I started doubting what I was doing. I has a couple of pollack pretty quickly and saw someone nearby land a small bass, but this did not help me...I was just fishing badly and I knew it...I wished I'd gone somewhere else, I was swapping between hards and softs every few casts and before I knew it, time and tide had run out on me with just a couple of wrasse more to show. To top it off, as I was packing up, I took a tumble and twisted my knee aggravating an old rugby injury...I manage to do this every couple of years and the pain for a couple of minutes is excrutating. It took me a little while and a couple of fags to get myself together afterwards but it left me limping and with a knee swollen like a balloon. So after hauling myself up the cliff I drove home in pain and dispondent from making a mess of what should have been a good session.
So today, I needed to get this trip out of my system, but with rock hopping not on the cards for a couple of weeks now whilst my knee recovers, I opted for a couple of hours down at Chesil. A nice clean weed free sea was running and it looked promising, but as ever with me and Chesil looks were deceiving and I only managed one schooly on a zonk, Still I fished a lot better than yesterday and I drove home much happier and looking forward to the next session.
I've still not got a decent sized bass yet this year though, so hopefully the weather will smile for the next couple of months and I can have a productive Autumn.
Here's a couple of fish from the weekend....
Now some trips just don't go as planned, I was full of confidence, with a decent forecast and good tide for the mark. I'd taken my ESG and had planned to concentrate on soft plastics. I arrived and as soon as I started fishing I started doubting what I was doing. I has a couple of pollack pretty quickly and saw someone nearby land a small bass, but this did not help me...I was just fishing badly and I knew it...I wished I'd gone somewhere else, I was swapping between hards and softs every few casts and before I knew it, time and tide had run out on me with just a couple of wrasse more to show. To top it off, as I was packing up, I took a tumble and twisted my knee aggravating an old rugby injury...I manage to do this every couple of years and the pain for a couple of minutes is excrutating. It took me a little while and a couple of fags to get myself together afterwards but it left me limping and with a knee swollen like a balloon. So after hauling myself up the cliff I drove home in pain and dispondent from making a mess of what should have been a good session.
So today, I needed to get this trip out of my system, but with rock hopping not on the cards for a couple of weeks now whilst my knee recovers, I opted for a couple of hours down at Chesil. A nice clean weed free sea was running and it looked promising, but as ever with me and Chesil looks were deceiving and I only managed one schooly on a zonk, Still I fished a lot better than yesterday and I drove home much happier and looking forward to the next session.
I've still not got a decent sized bass yet this year though, so hopefully the weather will smile for the next couple of months and I can have a productive Autumn.
Here's a couple of fish from the weekend....
Sunday, 4 September 2011
A couple of trips...
I started off with a blank on Tuesday night. I went down to east Dorset with a view of plugging into the night but when I got to my mark my heart sank when I saw the colour of the water. I'd forgotton about the massive tides which had the water lapping around the edge of the Jurrasic coast cliffs and turning a nice muddy grey colour. Visibility ranged from 0 to 18' at best but there was a bit of surface activity going on so I gave it a go for an hour or so, I lost something small and had a few bumps from Gars but once it got dark I lost all confidence in fishing such coloured water so I packed up headed home.
Yesterday saw me take a gamble that the water would not yet have weeded up with the Sou'westerlies and I headed down to Chesil. Conditions were great with a lively see rolling in but still clear water and reletively weed free.
The session started well enough, I quickly had a small fish on the beach and lost another of similar size (on a chartruse Zonk), so I had high hopes for a really good session, but it didn't turn out that way and I fished on into darkness with only one more fish to show for my efforts, taken on Zonk in Crusing Blue, the last fish took right at my feet in only a couple of inches of backwash, I guess bass are used to chasing their prey right up onto the beach here. I was slightly dissappointed to only end up with two fish after sucg a promising start but still double my last trip here so I am improving!
Yesterday saw me take a gamble that the water would not yet have weeded up with the Sou'westerlies and I headed down to Chesil. Conditions were great with a lively see rolling in but still clear water and reletively weed free.
The session started well enough, I quickly had a small fish on the beach and lost another of similar size (on a chartruse Zonk), so I had high hopes for a really good session, but it didn't turn out that way and I fished on into darkness with only one more fish to show for my efforts, taken on Zonk in Crusing Blue, the last fish took right at my feet in only a couple of inches of backwash, I guess bass are used to chasing their prey right up onto the beach here. I was slightly dissappointed to only end up with two fish after sucg a promising start but still double my last trip here so I am improving!
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Dorset 26th August 2011
Back down to Dorset this afternoon, I arrived around 4:30 ish, smack on HW. Fishing was hard at first although I did have a really decent fish follow on two occasions. This was quite weird, I'm sure it was the same fish as it looked around 6/7lb and had a distinctive white mark on its back, perhaps a scar or something but the follows were about 2 hours and 100 yards apart!
With no fish landed though I decided to stay on into darkness and just as the last of the light had gone, the fish switched on and I had 4 bass, losts a couple of others and a few pollack all in the space of 30 mins. No great size though, all around the 3lb mark. All the fish came on a Komomo II in Joker Flashing Plate. I would have liked to have stayed on but I'd told the wife I'd be home around 10:30ish and with no signel on the mark I couldn't txt to say I was going to be later so had to pack up while the fishing was still hot.
Thats the first time I've seriously plugged into darkness, and like getting there before dawn in the mornings, it is plain to see how much difference it can make at times. I'm on holiday next week so will plan another trip only this time I will fish on into the night and hopefully bag a decent one.
With no fish landed though I decided to stay on into darkness and just as the last of the light had gone, the fish switched on and I had 4 bass, losts a couple of others and a few pollack all in the space of 30 mins. No great size though, all around the 3lb mark. All the fish came on a Komomo II in Joker Flashing Plate. I would have liked to have stayed on but I'd told the wife I'd be home around 10:30ish and with no signel on the mark I couldn't txt to say I was going to be later so had to pack up while the fishing was still hot.
Thats the first time I've seriously plugged into darkness, and like getting there before dawn in the mornings, it is plain to see how much difference it can make at times. I'm on holiday next week so will plan another trip only this time I will fish on into the night and hopefully bag a decent one.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Plugging Chesil - 20th August 2011
When it comes to bait fishing, Dorset's Chesil beach is by far and away my favorite place to fish. Its 18 miles of shingle is one of the country's most famous venues, it provides easy fishing for 10 months of the year with a numerous array of species that can be realistically targeted with the bonus of knowing virtually anything may swim by!
But when it comes to plugging, where do you start on a place like this.....
I have to admit its a mystery to me, I know some regulars do really very well plugging here, but I am not one of them. I have caught a couple of lunker bass on plugs from here (including the one pictured on the right of this blog), but in reality both were just lucky fish, as I was just throwing a plug to pass the time whilst bait fishing with the beachcasters. Whenever I come down specifically to lure fish, I inevitably blank!
So onto todays trip, I arrived just after daybreak, and conditions were perfect (or at least how I imagine perfect shoud be for here). There was a lightish SW breeze, enough to kick up some chop but the water was still clear and weed free, the tide was just starting to flood.
I worked my way eastward along the shingle for a couple of mile, casting as I went. I started full of confidence but after a while of no activity this started to wane, there was no sign of any fish, no mackerel activity which is unusual and it started to feel like another chesil blank was looming. Then finally, when I had nearly worked my way back to the carpark area where the feather chuckers were gathered, this little fella took pity on my fishless state and nailed my zonk to save the day!
So I got a fish, but feel no closer to unravelling the mystery of chesil plugging....
But when it comes to plugging, where do you start on a place like this.....
I have to admit its a mystery to me, I know some regulars do really very well plugging here, but I am not one of them. I have caught a couple of lunker bass on plugs from here (including the one pictured on the right of this blog), but in reality both were just lucky fish, as I was just throwing a plug to pass the time whilst bait fishing with the beachcasters. Whenever I come down specifically to lure fish, I inevitably blank!
So onto todays trip, I arrived just after daybreak, and conditions were perfect (or at least how I imagine perfect shoud be for here). There was a lightish SW breeze, enough to kick up some chop but the water was still clear and weed free, the tide was just starting to flood.
I worked my way eastward along the shingle for a couple of mile, casting as I went. I started full of confidence but after a while of no activity this started to wane, there was no sign of any fish, no mackerel activity which is unusual and it started to feel like another chesil blank was looming. Then finally, when I had nearly worked my way back to the carpark area where the feather chuckers were gathered, this little fella took pity on my fishless state and nailed my zonk to save the day!
So I got a fish, but feel no closer to unravelling the mystery of chesil plugging....
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