"A web site dedicated to Shore Fishing"
November 2006 News Archives
KINSGBRIDGE ESTUARY - 05/11/06
By Sheff82
I was looking forward to this session all week thanks to the settled, cold period of weather we've been having, seems like perfect flounder weather!! My anticipation was further heightened by being able to get hold of both peeler crab and ragworm on saturday. By the time i had spken to another chap who had been fishing for a while who told me he'd had two flounder, well i was ready to burst with the thought of bagging one or two!!!
I couldn't get a bait into the water fast enough and...nothing! Well, not nothing, just no flatties. After an hour of fishing i reeled in to find a 5 inch bass had snaffled my crab bait. I'd decided to fish the tide up and down which meant fishing into the night but i was hopeful that once it got dark i might tempt an eel or two as well but that wasn't to be either. In fact not a great deal happened for quite a while until about three and a half hours after my first fish i had a wrenching bite. A scuffle amongst the weed close in ensued and a moment later a nice looking bass of just over a pound lay at my feet. I kept having plenty of bites but they were small knocks and i couldn't hook anything.
Time soon came to think about packing up, i had a few worms left so i loaded the four biggest and half a crab onto a pennell rig (would have made a superb cod bait!) and cast out. Got a number of knocks as i went about packing things away but left it to see if something more positive came, it did, on my other rod. I lost this fish in the weeds and decided enough was enough. As i wound down on the rod with the big bait i felt some weight on the end. A brief fight followed and another 1 pound bass was on the shore, this one had a massive head, i'm sure he'll be a 20lber one day!!! All in all an enjoyable session and i now know the flounder are there!!
ILFRACOMBE HARBOUR - 02/11/06
By Tracey 3001
Got to the pier at around 6pm it was already bitterly cold Sad but not raining, not windy, and we were full of fish n chips and coffee and enthusiasm. Fished for a couple hours, it was low tide (you can fish ilfracombe at any state of the tide). After a few nibbles and bites, i decided just to leave the bait out there, i was using Mackeral and Squid and my hands were far too cold to keep taking gloves off lol.
Then my rod went, and i caught a 2lb conger baby lol (always catch the babies never the mummy's). But a promising start. Dad and My Other half didn't catch all day, so i was hoping they'd pull up something, we're all on different baits, and different casting distances, i was fishing fairly close, Bf was mid range, Dad was miles away, probably landed his cast's in Cardiff or somewhere lol.
A Few local fishermen came down to speak to me, apparently there's alot of Whiting, Small cod, being caught on whole squid/big baits. Big Conger around. And still the odd Mackeral being caught, wrasse, bass, pollack, eels, dogfish, and other fish. So it's been fairly good for fishing the past few weeks. Sadly nothing more came for us, and we left at midnight, which is a shame because i could have stayed til 3am, once you're cold you're cold and i was getting bites, and knocks, but the men were too cold and wanted to get home.
FREMINGTON QUAY, BARNSTABLE 02/11/06
By Tracey 3001
Right i've written my fishing day in 2 parts, as i fished 2 venues.
Woke up to the sun shining and just a slight nip in the air, beautiful day for fishing i thought to myself. Got down the angling shop in Barnstaple, to be greeted by a lovely lady who served us saying it's nice to see another lady browsing the shop. Picked up some harbour Rag, a few frozen Mackeral and Squid and headed off.
Fremington already had a fair few fishermen/women along the railings, so it looked promising, spoke to some people who said "yesterday, they couldn't stop catching dab/flounder" So i was even happier. It's such a beautiful place, so quiet, and well kept, i just love sitting there.
After about an hour, i did wonder if there were any fish at all, our bait was going as quick as we could cast it, so there were obviously plenty of very small fish/crabs around.
Gave it another hour, no one around us caught anything, then my rod went Surprised
A 3inch Bass....I CAUGHT A BASS!! it was the most beautiful little thing, and had been caught on a hook bigger then it's head. I feared for it's life as i removed the hook from through it's head :( But as i released him slowly into the water, he swam in circles, took a gulp and swam off as normal!!! (I told him to go be safe, and grow big) lol.
My first bass in 17yrs of fishing lol My fella says it doesn't count, and no, i won't count it as my "most ideal sized bass", but it was still a bass, and it was all that was caught down at Fremmington that day, so i'm happy with that lol. Had a couple more bites, but nothing showed, the tide went out, and everyone made a move. Nice to see that there were also 2 other ladies fishing there though.
DART ESTUARY - 29/10/06
By Sheff82
I had a really good feeling about today's session ever since i walked into the tackle shop on saturday afternoon to be told "sorry, we've only got peeler crab today". First time i've been able to get hold of any for ages! Got down to the spot i wanted to fsih about an hour before high water. What a stunning day!!! I don't think i have fished in a more beautiful location. The sun shone, the water was clear and calm and only the birds in the trees made any sound. I don't know why i bothered taking a jumper let alone my fleece! Are we really only a couple of months away from Xmas?!!
First cast i had a nice bite and this set the tone for the day. I missed that first one as i was setting up my other rod but managed to hit the next one on the very next cast. A good scrap resulted in a small bass. I was getting a bite a cast and the bottom must have been covered in bass of about half a pound and smaller. I found the bites very difficult to hit but did manage five more in the next two and a half hours. All were stunning to look at and a joy to watch swim away in the surprisingly clear water. Things went quiet as the ebb tide picked up until i realised that the fish had moved further out into deeper water and i started getting bites again. Could only manage to hook one more though.
I ended up with 7 bass in total, easily my best total bass in a day. Nothing bigger than half a pound but i'm so pleased to be catching again after a fishless past month. Still no flounder which was a little disappointing but either it is still too warm for them or if they were there they didn't get a chance to get to the bait before the bass!
SIDMOUTH / JACOBS LADDER - 28/10/06
By Tracey 3001
As mentioned before we had been planning all week to pop down Jacobs ladder to do a spot of sitting in the rain.
I love the location, and it is usually a very good spot for fishing. (ask me details if you're not sure where it is). And for those of you who hate parking fee's it's free parking after 6pm.
Not last night Caught a few doggies after the other people had packed up and gone home empty handed, i guess persistance pays off.
But the weather was ok, had a few showers, water was murky. No real wind around. There were a couple men conger fishing on the beach and having a few bites was the best they had all night. Because it's so pretty/nice place to fish, i don't mind at the lack of catches.
Fished with Mackeral/Squid, next to us were fishing with worm, and the others had sandeel, peeler crab etc so it wasn't the bait we were using that caused the problem. We'll be going back down there soon, we're also planning to pop down to Berry head soon too
PRINCESS PIER - 24/10/06
By DanSak
Fished Princess Pier on tuesday evening with all the children, caught about ten mackerel and a gar. Kids enjoyed catching crabs in the drop net.
It's the end of October, how long do the mackerel hang around for!
BRIXHAM HARBOUR - 15/10/06
By Banger
Fished Brixham inner harbour with a friend on sunday from 11am until 3pm. Our intended species for the session was mullet and for the first couple of hours it looked unlikely!
Mackerel, Mackerel and more mackerel was the order of the day until the tide dropped a couple of feet. After about 30 mackerel I hooked into the first mullet and I could tell it was a good fish instantly. After 5 or so mins I got the mullet to the surface but the tricky bit was still to come! We were fishing with a drop net and it proved tricky, but after some fumbling the mullet was netted. Having taken my scales I weighed the mullet at approx 4lb 4oz the same as my previous best mullet.
another hour passed before the next mullet which was weighed at 3lb 4oz. Then with time running out I hooked a big fish in the region of 5lb but unfortunately with little room the fish went under the harbour and snapped me off!
I decided to tackle up quickly again with approx 20 mins left before we had to leave. I dropped my float back into the harbour and hooked another mullet straight away. It went off fast under the harbour again but fortunate I managed to guide him out. After 5 mins of great fight the mullet surfaced and boy he looked a good fish. This time Paul decided to throw the net out a little and guide it under the fish, which he did brilliantly, much to my relief!!!
Anyway the mullet was safely netted and weighed in at 5lb 4oz.
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