A Day Wrecking With Spot On! Charters

 

It was touch and go whether the trip on Tuesday would go ahead with threatening north easterly winds

But after a brief chat to Ross the skipper Monday night he was willing to give it a go , so a rather early 5am start was on the cards to pick up friends Geoff and Roy for the trip to Brixham,

This was to be my first trip out on a boat for 30 years since having fished the Kent and Sussex marks when living in London,

We arrived at Brixham by 7.00 am and where soon off to the first wreck some 1hour and 20mins motoring time away and his boat does motor, a 10M Cougar Catamaran which he built last year,

We had all tackled up with 12oz ball weights and various shads  and started catching fish on the first drop , plenty of Pollack with a nice cod came to the boat, after 4 drifts it was off to the next wreck which pretty much how the day progressed ,

A Nice Pollock of around 9lb

By wreck three I decide to change to one of the new snowbee coailie pearl stinger skad lures and managed 4 Pollock from 9 to 12 pounds, there was also a number of Ling caught from this wreck on baited hooks and Shads , so in all a really good days sport the Skipper Ross worked really hard all day to put us over the fish and was there when ever anybody needed help so I will definitely be back for more, and even the weather was kind to us with a  hot sunny day and all most no wind ,

River Wye to the Rescue

It's been a summer of cancelled boat fishing trips for me, with inshore and offshore wrecking, a conger trip and flatfish days all called off due to strong winds. Very disappointing! It's lucky then that my visits to the River Wye have proved successful. Barbel to 9lb 5oz and chub to over 4lb have been keen to feed in less than ideal conditions, with the river very low and clear all summer. Usual tactics of a running lead with a smelly bait on the hook has produced the fish. Waggler or stick float has also worked for the dace and bleak. Information on the stretch of river I fish at Lower Lydbrook can be found at www.lowerwyefishing.co.uk The next time I post on here will be to tell you all about my trip to Canada. I fly in a couple of weeks to fish the Fraser River in search of white sturgeon. Cascade Fishing Adventures, my guides for the eight days, have already landed fish to over 700lb this year! Fingers crossed for some arm wrenching action!

A 9lb 5oz River Wye barbel

South West Super League Round 4 River Huntspill

After the Teams of 10 match on the River Huntspill, I missed the first Super League match due to work, so I was ready and raring for a chance to fish the 'Spill again!

Captain Hook, Glenn and a few more from the team met at Laburnam House Hotel for the breaky prior to the draw.

Sean, the walking wounded was helped onto his seat by his carer (Sam Johnson).

Hooky went off for the draw and came take with much better pegs than last week.......although not for Sean, how drew 63, the same peg as last week and a long walk with his knackered back!

I drew peg 76, the end section at Woolavington Bridge. I had Lee Trivett of Preston Innovations Thatchers to my left and Gary Etheridge of Garbolino BMV to my right. Luckily the wind wasn't as powerful as previous weeks although I wasn't counting my chickens just yet.........!

As the form normally goes the end pegs of these types of sections normally dominate but I thought I could put together a weight and get valuable points for the team.

I setup 2 feeder rods, one for ultra long range, the other to fish half way. I also setup to fish the pole at 13m with 0.4g and 0.6g rigs to hopefully target some eels and/or roach. Both tip rods were setup with braid for the bset possible bite indication.

On the call of 'all in' I put ten feeders stuffed with chopped worm and squatt on my long range line, followed by 5 feeders full on my short line. The pole line was given a half pot of white maggot and caster.
 I went out with a positive approach initially and went for a double dendro and maggot hook bait, I was rewarded within 15mins with a 10oz skimmer. I kept recasting regularly and alternating hookbaits and hooklength length to get bites, also twitching the feeder to wake up any fish in my peg.

As expected the wind picked up and although I could ping maggot over my pole line, presenting the rig was proving more difficult.

Half way through the match I got a call from fellow team mate, James Gunter, who couldn't fish due to work commitments! whilst on the phone to him I landed 2 skimmers plus an eel....a proper good luck charm! By now I had 5 skimmers, 2 eels and 1 roach but I couldn't see what else was being caught in my section so I just had to plug away! The bites got slower on the long line as did the shorter feeder line and so into the last hour I opted to swap between the long line and kept looking and topping up the pole line. I went on the pole for yet another look when the wind permitted. First put in was a proper 'Swimmer Eel' of at least 1.5lb, then next put in an 8oz roach!


I ended up weighing 7lb 11oz, which was good enough for 4 points. Lee next me had a couple of proper bream on the tip plus a good mixed bag on the pole for 14lb, Richard Aherne won out section off peg 80 with 16lb 6oz of skimmers, Lee was second and Clive Branson was third with 10lb of roach caught on the waggler. I needed one more decent eel for an extra point!

On the day, Don Sutherland finished 3rd individually, a result which helped us to a respectable joint 3rd on the day.

I cannot wait for the River Avon match in a months time!!

Individual:
1st.  Mike Withey (Sensas Cardiff Nomads) 29-2-0, bream and skimmers, groundbait feedered red maggot, peg next to Motorway bridge
2nd. Gary Webber (Preston Innovations Thatchers) 22-4-0
3rd. Don Sutherland (Maver Cadbury Angling) 21-2-0
4th. Andy Powell (Maver Lobby’s) 18-8-0
5th. Mark Brush (Daiwa Gordon League) 17-15-0
6th. Richard Aherne (Frenzee South Wales) 16-6-0.

Teams:
1st.  Preston Innovations Thatchers 53
2nd. Maver Lobbys 45
3=Maver Cadbury Angling 34
3=Daiwa Gordon League 34

League:
Preston Innovations Thatchers 185
Maver Lobby’s 166.5
Daiwa Gordon League 157.5.

A Blast From the Past. Bury Hill Fisheries, Dorking, Surrey

Its been over 15 years since I last visited Bury hill lakes in surrey, when I had previous lived in Reigate I fish the lake and the River Mole weekly ,
Today I was to fish the lake with friend Tony and we had decided to fish Milton one of three lakes that make up the complex which is mostly stocked with Tench , Crucians carp & rudd its lake of around 4 acres with an island in the middle and plenty of Lille pads,

Milton Lake

   We both opted to start on the float hoping for a crucian feeding pellet ,hemp & sweet corn next to a set of Lille pads, within a hour we had both had bites Tony landing a tench  my self losing one,
I went on to lose 2 more fish time for a change of tactics, I had been fishing light hoping for a crucian but as they where not playing ball I set up my feeder rod with a small method feeder and cast out close to the pads, this proved more successful , I landed 5 tench to 4lb over the next 2 hours by which time the rumble of a thunder storm approaching caused us to hastily pack up  and head for home,

One of Miltons Fighting Fit Tench

A Good Start to the New River Season

A Bristol Avon chub for Dan

The rivers reopened recently, so Dan headed to the Bristol Avon and I took a trip to the Wye. Dan targeted the chub on his club stretch with halibut pellet fished over pellet and hemp and tempted some nice fish to about 3lb. Two surprise trout also took a liking to his bait, providing some variety. My trip to the Wye was all about helping friend and customer Andy, to catch his first barbel and I'm pleased to report he did just that with a 6lb 14oz fish. Numerous chub to 2lb as well made it a day to remember for him. I obviously had to have a go myself and caught a brace of 9lb plus barbel before going on to land a personal best chub of 5lb 7oz. What a result! My dad was fishing too and he also managed barbel to 9lb 1oz and some nice chub. A great day for all of us!

 

Andy with his 6lb 14oz Wye barbel

Boats, Beaches and Bass. Seaton, Devon

Off to Seaton in Devon to try and tempt some bass! This small town is well known for the species whether targeting them from one of the local charter boats or from the beach. I had planned to do both to see which produced better results and unsurprisingly it was from the deck of John Wallingtons boat, Outcast II. Last years trip out with John had resulted in a great day and this time was no different. Between four of us we caught twenty five bass, a few pollock and two pouting. All the fish fell to lures with Red Gills, Sidewinders and bass wedges all doing the trick. A day out with John comes highly recommended and you can book by visiting www.devonbassprocharters.co.uk The day spent fishing from Seaton beach wasn't quite so memorable. Bass had been caught the previous evening from a mark known as Seaton Hole so Dave and I gave it go but only managed a small eel and a dogfish. Not really what we wanted but it was an enjoyable afternoon with great weather so no complaints from either of us.

New Species and Personal Bests

Pollock have been plentiful whilst wrecking

May has been a memorable month for me. I've enjoyed a couple of wrecking trips as well as an afternoon drifting the Skerries Bank and new species and personal bests have, I'm pleased to say, come my way. Pollock have made up the bulk of the wreck captures, I've seen plenty of double figure fish caught and been lucky enough to catch the biggest - a personal best of 16lb. The odd cod and a few bass were very welcome also, along with some whiting and pouting. The Skerries Bank produced my first ever plaice and red gurnard and other anglers on board managed whiting, dogfish, bass, mackerel and launce. My trips have been with Spot On! Charters of Brixham, Devon. Ross the skipper, is friendly, knowledgeable and not afraid to burn fuel in search of fish. He comes highly recommended! Visit www.spot-on-charters.co.uk for information about Ross and his fantastic new boat. Away from sea fishing and back with my feet on dry land I fished Cheddar Reservoir for pike. It was a lure only competition and although I didn't catch enough to worry the top spots I did catch a few small jacks. More sea fishing planned for next month and if we get decent weather I'll also be trying for a surface caught carp. That's not forgetting that the rivers reopen on June 16th, so I'll be digging the barbel gear out too and heading to the Wye. I'll tell you all about it next time.