Carp-e Diem

The past month has seen me make some big life changes, one of the biggest being a change of job and a change of career, I've worked in the same company now for ten years as a CNC lathe  programmer setter and operator, for any man or women ten years is along time to stand at the same machines doing the same thing day in day out, I needed change big time. and the change came when I got the phone call for an inspection roll at one of the most advance aerospace companies in the south west, to say I was over the moon was an understatement, not only is this a new job and change of scenery this is a completely new roll all together, new challenges and a whole new roll to learn and sink my teeth into, Just like when I first read about LRF, HRF and plugging, making that first step is the biggest challenge and finding faith in your choices is the first reward, I've been working at the new company now for two weeks and already have that feeling of when I first caught that first bass, the moment you realise that all the research and blanks suddenly starts paying off. 

I owe a massive thank you to the those that have helped me over the past couple weeks get to grips with everything from software to equipment.. whether you guys ever read this or not, I'm truly thankful and one day I hope I can repay the favour. 

So hows the fishing been for me these past few weeks, the sessions I've managed to get out for have all be productive now the summer species have really kicked in to gear, I haven't managed to get up early like i used to to chase some of the bigger specimens, but it hasn't stopped me catching, Me and Lolly were joined by Andrew Mytton for a afternoon LRF session over Portland Bill and we had some great fun testing out some Berkley Gulp sandworms, strait from the word go.. Andrew was slamming fish on the Major Craft KG lights rod. 

Like me Andrew likes to mix it up and see what works best, we used all sorts of rigs from jig-heads to texsas rigging, we even had ragworm at hand, like always the ragworm found small fish strait away, but we lost tackle due not being able to effectively rig it weedless, soon as we used the Gulp sandworms we could fish effectively around the boulders and kelp without fear of snagging, thus finding some the bigger fish.. 

By the end of the evening I was surprised that Andy hadn't hooked a Pollock, right now over at Portland Bill the Pollock are crawling up the rocks, catching them on light gear like we were is awesome fun, I'm sure Andy would advise anyone to have a crack at it, I took Andy to a favourite rock perch of mine in search of that Pollock, determination was on our side, I'm sure it was one those moments when he said "right this is it, last cast" and sure enough, fish on!

Both me and Lolly have noticed a huge increase in the amount of anglers now fishing some of are favourite marks, now I don't believe this is because I have advertised them because some places I fish that I've been shown I wouldn't dare take a picture at, but its the shear growth in the sport, I remember only a few years back I wouldn't meet another guy with a lure rod in his hand, everyone used to fish bait and carry broom sticks around with them, so me and lolly brought a boat, not exactly a big boat but a half decent dingy with a outboard.. I've managed a couple trips out on it so far and already caught a new PB Mackerel, I swear when I hooked this fish I thought it was a bass on speed or something, it ripped the Sunline Rockfish PE off the spool like it was going out of fashion, if only every mackerel were this big in our waters.

(please excuse the picture quality, I'm not going to take £xxx DSLR out to sea with me on a dingy)

Also been catching plenty of Pollock out of Portland harbour, next investment for the dingy will be a fish finder, not necessarily to find fish but to find structure, when your out on the water looking down in to the depths you have no idea what's down there, if there's anything I've learnt over the years is that structure equals fish.

Me and Lolly also managed a quick trip to the lakes for a bit of LRF sporting fun, now we could have taken the easy route and used a pinch of bread on a size 14 hook, but that would just be to easy, we like challenges and when looking through the endless baits and artificials available to us at Revels fishery tackle shop we came across these little dynamite balls!

As you are already probably gathering, my faith in the Berkley Gulp range is growing by the day, not only does this stuff stay on the hook (hair rigged) it doesn't dissolve within five minutes. I managed to stalk the margins for over and hour in search of the bigger fish and still the bollie was as good as new, even after hooking this chunk.

This fish gave me an absolute blast of a fight on the Blue Current 80, this rod goes everywhere with me now, coupled with the shimmano 2500 C14 and Sunline Rockfish PE its an amazing set up, it would pay to say now that a lot of fisheries don't allow the use of braided mainlines, but after talking to the powers that be at the lake, we agreed that using 3ft or more 10LB mono or flouro leader would avoid any fin damage to fish. yes there are a lot of opinions on this subject, but fish safety comes first.

Today I was lucky enough to bump into a really nice chap called Graham Rainbow over at Portland bill, from what I gather he had been trying for a bass with not a lot of luck for a few hours, I decided to pitch a cast just in front of him, it wasn't long and the Blue Current 80 was bending into a small critter of a wrasse.

The fish wasn't of great size, but the chap soon came running over the rocks to investigate what I was doing differently, after a five minute chat and a quick demo about lures and weedless presentation the chap was hooked on the idea of nailing wrasse, I gave him a couple of old Ecogear jigheads I had in my bag along with some new lures I've been trying out for JacksLRF and left him to it, I didn't want to be one of those guys that come along and ruin some guys peaceful mornings fishing by blabbering on about fishing.

I soon saw him waving out to me from his rock and it was like magic to me, this guy had never before caught a wrasse let alone heard about catching them on soft plastics.. and this was his prize, again not a big fish.. but a wrasse all the same, and it was one of those stunning green ones that always look amazing for photos.

I hope he remembers the name of this blog so he gets to see the write up and pictures, I'm sure he's now got the soft plastic bug that's gripping the sea fishing scene here in the UK 

It wasn't long before the weather started to turn, the waves started building and the fish pushed off out of my casting range, my last fish of the day was this small ballan on one of the lures I'm testing out, doesn't seem to matter what colour I use at the moment the wrasse are loving them!

Hope you enjoyed the read and lets hope I can catch something a bit bigger for the next write up. 

Time for sun cream...

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the UK is about to have its first proper heatwave of the year, which might make day time fishing a little tougher from my experiences, but get your back side out of bed early enough or fish on through the evenings and results can prove to be outstanding, if you are fishing day light hours, make sure you are prepared, take that extra bottle of water, double check you have sun cream, sun glasses  and make sure someone knows where you are going and when you will be back, one trip in a remote location could spell disaster.. I  have had fishing sessions cut short before because I completely under estimated my water consumption while climbing up and down cliffs like the east side of Portland, when the rocks heat up and the sun hits its highest point, temperatures can sore, also add the fact that the water is reflecting a percentage of the sunlight your effectively getting a double dose.. so look after yourselves! 

So, what's been happening over the past weeks, fishing has picked up ten fold, and I'm hearing reports coming in now of some decent bass catches from all the local Dorset marks, I've said this before and I will happily say it again, around Weymouth and Portland I cant think of anywhere you couldn't cast and have chance of catching that silver bass, don't spend hours trolling the net in search of misleading answers that could be years out of date, get out there and find those fish! 

One of the biggest achievements for myself this month was to receive my certificate to be a level 1 Angling Coach, which with the help of that shark fanatic dude Mr Paul Burridge who encouraged me to do this course, I found simple enough and highly enjoyed the course, I learnt a huge amount, not necessarily fishing related, but coaching skills and people skills, anyone who has fished with me on a long term basis knows all to well that my patience can run thin at times, the course ironed out those creases an taught me coaching skills that aid me to work with individuals, small groups and cater for all situations including health and safety and risk assessments, trust me.. doing a mock up risk assessment to take an individual to a lake fishing for carp can be an eye opener, taking every risk in to considerations, from health of the individual, weather conditions, and terrain hazards such as slippery river banks, tackle being used such as sharp knifes or scissors, makes you think we live in a mine field!

I also met some really decent guys on the course, from novices to pros, salt and fresh water.. this course isn't just for the experienced anglers, but for those who want to help promote and support angling in the way it should be.. coaching, supporting and getting everyone involved from the youths to the elderly is what its all about.. I've seen many side of the angling industry good and bad that has left me bewildered at times, taking part in this course refuelled my enthusiasm and gave me faith that some anglers are not in it just for profile, but for the passion of angling. 

The course was held at Longham Lakes just outside Pool, the training facilities at the modern built cabin were fantastic and the grounds were stunning, check out the ramp and platform for wheelchair access on the lake. I wish I lived closer because seeing the pictures on the walls of the cabin of the fish caught there makes me want to dust off my course fishing gear and chase down some of those monster carp. 

I have been thinking a lot over the winter on where LRF  (light rock fishing) can be used more as a educational method, I know this all sounds strange, but hopefully it will make sense in the end.. I've been fishing LRF now for a good few years, and the knowledge gained not just as a fishing practice but the knowledge gained about species and habitats,  as a bass angler myself I know that sometimes the fish will not feed unless conditions are right, on top of that your lure or bait must be or represent what the bass are feeding upon to achieve the highest chance of catching your target fish. So using LRF and UL (ultra light) tactics to find out exactly what is there can provide you with knowledge that you might have just cast to one side.. I've lost count of how many times I've caught species from locations that for one I wouldn't  have put money on being there.. also we all know time of day effects what species are active, I know that searching for active Pollock at mid day around Portland bill can prove tough, BUT, try for those Corkwings and small Ballan wrasse and its easily fish a cast.. so why not use them as bait or match your lure as these are the prominent species active at thus given time of day, food for thought. 

With this theory in mind I have been keeping a small record of what I catch and where, already I've noticed patterns in bait fish behaviour like these sandsmelt that I caught on the outer wall of the stone pier.. again fish a cast, yet if I fished the opposite side it was micro Pollock and pout, yet at night these species seem to swap sides and the sand smelt spread out and became less abundant. working back into the harbour species such as seascorpions and blennys become more abundant alongside all the common gobys.. all bottom dwelling fish, I hope it all makes sense what I'm typing and that LRF as much as its a HUGE amount of fun to fish this style, it actuality will provide you with a equally huge amount of knowledge.

I've also managed a few very productive sessions with the delightful Lolly and good friend Mr Turner, after showing Lolly how to tie up and use the drop shot rig she ended up showing us lads how its done by pulling in a 17 fish form corkwings to pollock, most of the fish were caught using ragworm I believe, when she found that hole full of fish there was no stopping her!

It wasn't long and we got to hear her drag singing and her Major Craft Solpara bent double on this critter, before we started fishing I knew she wasn't happy and felt under gunned  using LRF gear off Portland as that's all we had in the car, with Lollys skilful playing skills and a high end decent Japanses rod, tackling this fish was no hassle what so ever, and I'm confident she could have beaten one twice the size.

I've been using the Burkley's Sandworms a lot this past week, and I've got to say that I'm well impressed, both on the mini species and the larger species, being a lot more tougher than the isome it lends its self a lot more to being used on Texas rigging with EWG hooks, there is no need to use a assist spring that I have pictured and mentioned in previous posts... 

Hope you enjoyed the read guys,  just like to thank Paul B again for encouraging me on the Coaching Course,  mate.. your an absolute star! and I cant wait for when you complete your level 2 and we can kick a lot of our ideas into touch.. 

Gopro - Hidden Harbour Gems

Well first off I have a big announcement.. THE SUMMER HAS LANDED!  The winters grasp has let go, the waters are warming and the species are returning, I'm hearing lots of reports of plenty of fish being caught all along the south coast now both from boat and shore, I myself though have been struggling to find the time to fish in-between work and the million projects I have on the boil at the moment, the times I have though have been fantastic, I had a session on the stone pier with some good friends, Mr Paul Burridge, Richard Hudd and the gals, strait from the word go fish were being caught, plenty of Corkwings and a few small ballans kept us entertained.  

I caught a few small Corkwings on imitation worms but as soon as I switched over to ragworm the fishing heated up and it was nearly fish a cast, everyone caught something! 

Also while out on my travels I`ve been probing a few new marks along the coast and after being asked recently about Lyme Regis both me and Lolly Dots had to swing by and give it ago late one afternoon, as soon as our lines were in the water, we were getting fish after fish, strangely none of the mini species I was expecting but Pollock and Pout in good numbers, if your living local to Lyme Regis then grab yourself an LRF set up, the fishing is awesome off the piers!

Berkley sandworms doing the business as the night drew in... amazing how much tougher these lure/baits are compared to many rivals now on the market, think myself and Lolly only used one worm the whole night. 

As from the heading of this post you might be wondering what hidden gems the Gopro might have found, well so far things are being kept under wraps mainly because finding time to edit and shuffle clips is proving tough, but check this little dude out.. Fifteen Spined Stickleback! Not hugely rare in our waters, BUT with such a small mouth its not something that gets caught on rod and line very often... so next time you tie on a size 14 hook while on a species hunt.. remember that hook might just be massively to big to catch something like this.

Seriously cool fish!! some might might disagree but my love for finding obscure fish like this is growing daily, also I have to make a quick note here, if it wasn't for the WhatFishUK app I wouldn't have had a clue what this fish was, at first I thought it was a member of the pipe fish family until I read the descriptions on the app, the latest app update is awesome to, those guys seriously went to town and left no stone unturned when identifying each specie to the high degree that they have, there's a real life picture of each specie caught in the UK with detailed rigs and techniques for both shore, boat and kayak. if you haven't got it yet.. your missing out on an encyclopaedia of knowledge for both marine species and fishing! ho and even recipes if your a fishermen with time to cook your catch.

To round up this blog post I thought I would leave you with a few pictures I`ve taken locally around Dorset, nothing at all fishing related but very much to do with one of my little projects I`m currently working on.. check out this Iridium flare over Hardys Monument, if you know what this is then you will appreciate the planning involved in nailing this photo, plus flares like this are super cool to watch!

Me and Lolly having some fun with long exposure photography at a secret lake location, if you can recognise the bridge then you will know that this place is like heaven, another one of  Dorset's hidden gems.  

A few shots I took a few nights back of our Galaxy the Milky Way, when you take photos like this you soon realise just how small we are in the grand scene of things.

Hope you enjoyed the read guys, for anyone who might have noticed my departure from Facebook, don't take it personal, I  just have to much to do rather than stair at my phone screen, anyone that wishes to contact me can through Lolly or by emailing me at nextgenerationangling@gmail.com.

Winters grasp

Can this cold front hold Britain in its grasp for much longer? reading the reports on Sky News this March has been the coldest in over 50 years, now as much as a lot of people me included are concerned that our central heating has been on full blast now for what seems like forever, my thoughts tend to wonder about what damaged this cold grasp is having else where except on our bank accounts,  I remember reading "Hooked On Bass" by Alan Vaughan & Mike Ladle where they briefly mention effects weather and climate can have on future bass stocks, how a good breeding year where natures chemistry is perfect can produce a heavy stock of fish and completely revive stocks, now things may have changed a little since this book was written as commercial pressure has probably double since the book was published, but their points are still valid which brings me to my concerns, and not just for bass stocks but for most if not all fish that breed inshore around the UK.. reading the countless sea fishing related blogs especially lure related that are filling the internet shelves its very apparent that peoples salt water catches have dropped off so much so that a lot of those anglers are now spear heading new methods in the UK fresh water scene, so what could we be expecting in the future years from our sport as a result of this winter? A couple small things I have noticed already is the abundance of small young  flounder in our local harbors and not just Weymouth, could this be because the larger predators are staying out in deeper waters and not venturing into feed? I understand that  now is the time for them to start leaving our estuaries and harbors but over the last five years of fishing many different style of bait and lure tactics I haven't seen them in such an abundance as now... 

This time last year both myself and partner in crime lolly were hitting half decent wrasse and bass regularly and with somewhat ease from such marks as Portland Bill and local Weymouth marks, but this year seems like the fishing gods aren't  ready to pull the starting gun trigger to this years season, as much as I get a kick out of fishing for anything big or small, there are only so many Gobies and Sea Scorpians we can catch before the thirst for something bigger takes hold, so to fill my time as I watch the sea temp slowly rise and in some cases fall (crazy I know) I have embarked on a few new ideas and embracing my passion for photography and filming, I`m no expert at neither but my basic understanding that serves me well, and my camera guru Rob Mears filing in the blanks for me, I should now be able to learn and answer a few questions that roll around in my head when I`m fishing, for example: what is at the bottom of that dark deep gully? why can I only catch a Spotted Gobie from a couple locations, whats holding them there? why do I snag on every cast in the same place? I have dozens of questions I want answers to.. 

Something that has always stuck with me was after a visit to Jersey to fish with pro angler Keith White, sitting round a coffee table before fishing he asked me what I thought was a simple question.. "what sort of ground are you fishing Will?" well my obvious answer was "big rocks and boulders the size of small cars" his reply was the key to me not losing half the tackle as I did before that visit; "what sort of boulders what are they made of, granite, sand stone, flint etc etc etc." the more I fished over the last two years that not so simple questions has ran through my mind at every location I fish as every location is different, from stone type and boulder size to weed type and height, they all have a impact on what rig, bait or lure I should be using, fishing a certain pattern of jig head may work wonders over a soft sandstone ledges and drop offs, but work that same set up over a harder porous more jagged terrain and you could be asking for trouble.

So to help me answer some of these questions for myself and you guys reading this i have acquired Gopro and made a few home made parts to attach it to a telescopic landing net pole, I can now capture some under water footage, before you watch this video bare in mind this is basic test footage and is nothing special,  for those that fish this mark, keep an eye on the blog as me and a couple friends are going to be exploring a lot of the popular local marks like this one.. look for those under water features and snags like ropes etc. 

Fingers crossed, when this season picks up and the weather sorts its self out there will be a lot more footage, like lures and techniques from an under water perspective, I`ve had a few attempts now at trying to capture a fish hitting a lure and its like capturing lighting in a bottle, near to impossible with the current fishing conditions, trying to hold the camera still in swell, finding crystal clear waters, knowing what depth your fishing and filming at.. these are all problems I am learning to overcome one by one. 

So over the last few weeks whats been caught, apart from a stinking cold and something close to hypothermia not a great deal to sing home about, its tough out there and conditions have been the toughest I`ve seen them in years, I managed to get out for a quick session with Iain Turner and Simon Harris which proved very fruit full, I don't know what Simon was using because he racked up a score count with in 3 casts and 3 species, Goby, Pollock and Sea Scorpion while both me and Iain had to settle for a few tiny flounder between us, cant complain at least we were catching, and these fish saved us from a cold blank on a bloody cold night.

Perfect way to finish the evening!

Contradicting myself here a little, I had a couple hours play around some old lakes I used to fish as a nipper, taking just the LRF rods I was shocked at how small the lakes look now I`m a little taller and a lot wider, I used to carp fish these lakes day in day out on my school holidays as my folks used to be busy running a farm, dropping me off at the lakes and picking me up before dark was a easy way to get me out the way, I never used to complain tho. 

It felt very surreal having Lolly there and showing her different tactics like basic float fishing while watching the sun set, made me start feeling like a young kid again, it was a shame  it was super super cold and the fishing again was tough, but we did manage a few roach between us, next time we head there I`m dusting off the bite alarms and carp rods, those fish must have put some weight on in the years I haven't fished for them, I`m also sure Lolly enjoyed her self as she has gone and renewed her license before I have!!! 

Hope you enjoyed the read guys, fingers crossed the fishing picks up and I can get busy again, I have so many ideas for this summer that I`m hoping I have time to make them all happen.

Tight Lines!!