Quick update on the Beach Clean.

I’ve got to take my hat off to the half dozen families and a group of Cubs, that turned up at the Bowleaze Cove beach clean this Sunday. Even with the British weather throwing all she had at us, the beach clean continued and in my eyes it was a great success. My plan for the day was to take part at the Swanage Beach clean, but due to traffic I only just made the 12 o’clock start at Bowleaze cove. I’ve always been fond of this beach as its normally that little more quieter in the summer evenings than Weymouth bay, whether you bring a fishing rod or towel you can always get a little time out. Plus there is a reef just behind the third breaker that runs half the length of the bay. When the bass show this can be an excellent mark for poppers and surface lures, just keep walking till you find the fish.

To add to this blog post, I thought I would add a few pictures of what can be achieved in just two hours.
I’m not going to rant on about how much fishing line and tackle was found. But if all those hooks weren’t rusty.. I could of opened a tackle shop.

To top off a great afternoon I had to treat myself to some scampi and chips from the local café. Yummy!

Blame it on the weather man!

Guess what! Its still blowing and its blowing me up the walls!! Seriously this past week has been one of those weeks where I wake up, look outside and things appear perfect, only to finish work at four and the winds have turned and a hurricane rolls into town. Its mad. I’ve been avoiding the LRF for later in the year, but I am starting to get the urges to find a sheltered ledge or pier wall, get those light rods out and focus on the smaller species.

This past week, with the poor weather, I’ve taken time to research and find new products, plus I received a few packages to expand my ever growing collection. One package being from JacksLRF containing some outstanding LRF/HRF lures and weedless hooks. My first impressions are ‘Wow, why have I never came across these size hooks in this style before’. Size 2 and 4 are just what the doctor ordered for those shy biting wrasse. Next up where the equally good Yoshikawa 2 inch paddle tails in white, red and glow white, I cant wait to get these lures in the water.. These are some top quality lures, match these with a size 6 finesse jig head from AGM products and the mini species are going be all over them. Bring on those calm winter nights!

I also received my Reins RAZ Ajiringer-Z 7'6" 0.4-7g LRF rod back from Mrfish over in Jersey, after a small crack formed in the second section. I’m planning to couple the rod with a new Alcedo Pride MSP 3000f which I brought today from Chesil Bait ‘N’ Tackle, it wont be long and Ill have it spooled up with the Sunline 2LB small game Flurocarbon that they thought I should try. Cheers guys! With all the new soft lures I received this week and my desire to fish for the wrasse and bass, I only just resisted walking away yesterday without getting even more lures from their great selection..

Just a couple of pictures from last weekend after bumping into a few chaps from the Weymouth Bumble, which sadly I didn’t take part in. Great guys though and I hope they caught a few good fish.

I also wanted to share some happy memories from the summer that I found on my partners phone today. Not all to do with fishing, but I had some great times with my brother and his family and Id like to share them with you all.

Until the next time. I’m off to do a beach clean today, hopefully meet some like minded people and most likely get really wet with all the rain, who cares skins waterproof!

The Great Dorset Beach Clean 2011

I cant urge people enough to go and spend sometime and get involved in a beach clean, not only is this a chance for some family fun but as anglers that enjoy the coast we have an obligation to do our part. We can all sit an moan about people leaving beer cans and used barbecues at our favourite fishing marks. But I expect those same beach using people moan about lines of mackerel feathers, 6ounce weights and tangled up pulley rigs littering our beaches.. We all lose a rig now and then plain and simple.. But for every rig you lose consider picking up some rubbish on the beach and putting it in a bin.
I can remember walking along Weymouth beach a while back and out of the corner of my eye I could see a long length of clear mono stretching out across the shingle, after a small tug and pull guess what.. 4 hooks and a 6 ounce weight. At first I thought WOW free tackle! But I don’t think the parents of a 4 year old kid would say that to the nurse in A&E. It didn’t take me two minutes to wrap the line up and put it in my pocket.

So don't miss the Autumn beach clean and monitoring on Sunday 18 September

Data collected on the day will be added to The Marine Conservation Society's National Survey on beach waste.

Chesil Beach Masonic car park (free parking permit available), 12 noon - 2pm
Ringstead Bottom car park at Ringstead, 12 noon - 2pm
Bowleaze Slipway, Bowleaze Cove, 12 noon - 2pm
Swanage, North Beach Seafront by Ocean Bay restaurant, 2pm - 4pm

All you need to do is join the beach master at the meeting point at the appointed time on the day and you will be given equipment for the monitoring and beach cleaning.

Monitoring can be done individually or in a team so if you can collect a group of people to help you, maybe from your business or a group of friends or family, please encourage them to come.

For further information, please contact:

Coastal Ranger (Purbeck)
Name: Jenny Penney
Email: j.penney@dorsetcc.gov.uk
Tel: 01305 228952

Quick catch report

Had a short 1 hour session on a local mark. By looking at last years catch reports I’ve started to find a correlation for when smaller and bigger bass will turn active. In this case, on this local mark, I made a prediction that the bass will turn on and then turn off within a one hour window, and that all the bass caught will be small (1-2LB). The only element that was not in play was the wind. Normally this mark fishes well with a SE wind and all we have had this summer is bloody SW. So on with a Duo Minnow SLD F in sand ell green. First cast and I felt a knock, second cast saw a positive bite, working the lure at a medium pace with a short pause every 5 seconds. In total 5 fish in 1 hour to about 2LB. Like clockwork the fish turned off as the 1 hour window came to a close... Just goes to show that keeping a record of catches and blanks will pay off big time and saves on parking fees.

Catch report HRF # 1

A day off work is never wasted when going fishing. With the winds settling down by mid morning and a gentle sea mist starting to clear, I made the choice to ignore plugging for bass and focus on the wrasse for a couple hours. I’ve been struggling to adjust to the techniques of HRF, but after my tuition in Jersey with Keith White, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.
At first I was using a REINS 3inch rockvib shad Gold Legend coupled with a FOX size 1 offset hook and 3.5g cone head. I’ve used this combo for awhile now and only had a couple of hook ups, but a lot of short takes and bites. So I decided it was time for a change, with a moderate swell still forming after the earlier storms in the week I decided to use a heavier 8g cone weight the same Reins Rockvib lure. However, instead of using an offest hook I used a Kamasan size 2 Aberdeen hook effectively rigged weedless.

Second cast into a likely looking gully I had a massive take, but this fish got the better of me and smashed me up good and proper. On goes another lure… rigged the same but this time with a longer 3ft 20LB mono leader. Instead of casting up the gully I decided to drop the lure in half way and shake the rod tip, after about 5 seconds smash FISH ON!

For a wrasse of around 1.5LB the fight is fantastic on the 6.6 Okuma Octana 5g-15g.

Soon after this I had a text from a work colleague, saying I had a package in the post. Like a young kid, I cant wait till Monday to pick them up, so I made the mad dash to work to grab these packets of joy…

Until the next time.. have a good weekend everyone.

WOW!! Another first for 2011

Another Big well done goes out to Rob Mears today (my usual photographer), this guy must have had the biggest case of fishy bad luck I’ve ever come across, I’ve put him in front of fish so many times but I’ve lost count of the blanks he’s had.
However, last night was the night he’ll never forget. My plan was to give the heavy bass gear to Rob and let him feel the advantages of a top end rod and 8 strand braid, so off he went with the Tenryu Red ultimate one, coupled with a okuma trio reel, loaded with 15LB power shot line. Lure of choice was the IMA Sasuke 140 in rainbow pearl (debarbed).
Giving him the big boy gear was going to give me a chance to try out a new Major Craft Zaltz LRF rod I brought yesterday.. One problem in that plan, he never gave me a chance before he pulled this out… my jaw dropped knowing it’s the first fish this guy has ever caught.

This is what dreams and memories are made of. A stunning silver bar of 6.2lb.

From what I saw this fish was giving him the run around, the Tenryu was bent double when this fish took off, the sound of a tight 8 strand braid through the line guides sounds electric on a calm quiet night.

So after a whole lot of jumping around and hand shakes, we felt there was no need to carry on fishing. He was shaking and I was speechless there’s only one cure for that… and that’s a pint at the local pub. We must have told that story a hundred times before last orders.

Rob… I know your reading this… you still have to catch a double…Tehehe

A Weekend Of Learning

Well my trip to Jersey was a real eye opener. Meeting up with Keith White at the condor port in St Helier, you can tell this guy is fishing mad yet professional from the off, talking everything wrasse, HRF and bass for a whole day with this guy is mind blowing. I went to Jersey knowing the fishing was tough, like the south coast the winds just don’t seem to let up. But after a coffee at the point of saint-Catherine and quick chat.. Keith put me in front of the fish. Soon as that lure hit the water the bites where there, but the fish just didn’t want to commit to the hook. All in all the whole day showed 10 fish between us, with Keith pulling in a stunning wrasse of around 3LB on the HPR 73. Seriously, watching this guy with this rod was like a watching a Samurai wielding a Katana, Perfectly steering the fish to the shore.

Check out Keith’s blog for an account of the days events;

JERSEY BASS GUIDES

I do apologise for the lack of photos on my behalf, but I didn’t have a lot of time due to the mass amount of tips, hints and techniques I was trying to learn. Planning a return journey early November to get among those wrasse yet again. Until then ill be practicing all the new techniques I’ve learnt, and hopefully be able to hook a few more fish.

To add to a great weekend of learning I took some time out with my brother and his family. We went down to Bowleaze cove in Weymouth for a bite to eat. And as usual I cant go anywhere without my fishing gear. It wasn’t long till my little nephew Eddy wanted to have ago at fishing, at only four years old hes already got the makings of a pro!! (This time last year a huge shoal of bass held up in the cove for 2 nights)

To finish this blog post off I got to see my first water spout at Portland bill, this spout was spinning for at least 5minutes before I remembered I had a camera on me. But I managed to get a photo of the last of the funnel in the sky. Click the photo to get a bigger view.

Rainbow Garfish

Well not a lot to report on except its my first Garfish on a hard lure. I’ve had a couple Garfish with LRF, normally using small 1inch grub tails in white and yellow colours, but seriously what was this fish thinking…

Lure of choice was the IMA Sasuke 140 in rainbow pearl, reason being I’ve got to break my addiction to using the MegaBass Zonk Gataride. Yes it’s an outstanding lure, but I’ve broken 3 bibs this season, 2 being hit on sub surface rocks and 1 being bent upwards during an epic bass fight a few nights back. I cant cry over it though as these lures have all caught me some outstanding fish.

So after the strange fight of the Garfish came this bass of around 1.5LB. I swear this fish nipped the last treble for around 20 feet before I gained a positive bite. I even stopped after a few knocks but it wasn’t till I sped up the retrieve that the fish took the plunge. Just for the record this wasn’t a successful night for me as I would class both these fish as foul hooked.. Luckily there wasn’t to much damage done and both fish swam away safe and well.

Thanks again. Early night tonight for me, as ive got to catch the condor at 5:00AM to Jersey for a lesson in HRF.

IMA Sasuke 105

With the local fishing being a little slow of late, I have taken the time to scale down and target whats in front of me, without falling into the realms of LRF. I have been looking for lures in the 110 - 75 scale, with a little more weight than usual, distance is a priority at the marks I plan to fish.

First up on the shopping list was the IMA sasuke 105 F. A shallow diving lure, with a tight rolling action and a dive depth of around 55cm on a medium pace retrieve. There are more colours being released from the IMA lure giant every month, but I choose the darker rainbow pearl colour for 2 reasons, 1. it looks like a pollock at night and 2. in the day the extra light makes this lure flash like a baby mullet or mackerel.

I purchased this lure from Chesil Bait 'n' Tackle, a fairly new tackle shop to Weymouth, but the amount of decent gear for the roving lure angler that these guys are supplying is outstanding.
From top names like IMA, SAKURA and MEGABASS.

First cast with the Sasuke Lure saw it fly out to the distance, the ball weight transfer system working the 13g lure perfectly, even in a slight cross wind (very impressed). The third cast saw the pollack switch on and start nailing the lure, (now im really impressed). In total I think I caught around six pollack before I was washed off the mark and had to return home.

Something I noticed this evening was all the pollock had hooked themselves on the first treble, which, when being retreived sits dead center of the lure. I prefer lures with only 2 or less treble hooks, they do less damage to the flanks of fish, can be removed easier, and get snagged less often. Perfect!

So with a few pollack on a brand new lure I can't complain. This lure has found a small place in the tackle bag and im looking forward to some better weather to present this lure to some bass.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Off out fishing now!!

Full Moon madness!

Ok there are no werewolves in Weymouth waters, tuna maybe but no werewolves. However. I made a prediction on last years catch records that id pull a good size bass on the full moon… bass fishing has been slow this year, with even the mackerel shoals on Chesil being thin and far between. I’ve had to work hard for every fish I’ve caught, even a Mackerel on a hard lure seems a welcome sight.

But tonight all seem to come together with this girl, and I gave her the biggest kiss before sending her back on her way to the deep blue.. mad maybe, blame it on the moon. I took a gamble and fished a mark that I’ve only caught one bass at… Bang fish on!

Lure of choice was the Megabass ZZonk 120 Gateride in Rainbow Pearl. (As always)

Size and weight of fish is unknown.. Who cares! All I care about is ive got a couple good photos and I know that fish is still swimming!

Makes me think?

To be honest I’m still a little speechless over this news that I read on Matt Newcombe and Henry Gilbys blogs. I’m not going to repeat what all the top angling blogs are saying this week, all I’m going to say is… It makes me sad and more concerned for the future of sea fishing in the UK, when are people going to learn to respect these creatures and enjoy the fact that we still have half a hope an prayer at catching a few bass, THE MORE WE RELEASE THE MORE WE CATCH!

Right, now that’s off my chest I can tell you all about the one hour session of freedom I had this week. High tide was at around 7pm, and I didn’t finish work till 6:45pm so I had no time for any major adventures. My choice of venue was the local pier, which not many people realise, but get the timing right and this pier can make dreams come true. I arrived at 7:30, rig up and tie on the fox lure clip. First lure of choice was the 125 SLD F H139-TS Duo Tide Minnow.

This lure has caught me some cracking bass in the past and casts like a bullet into a head wind. The swimming action is a perfect representation of a sand eel, with a slight twitch of the rod tip and slow retrieve at night its outstanding. Within around 4 casts came the first of two fish, for a fish of around 1LB the fight was exceptional. After a few photos courtesy of Rob Mears, the fish was returned unharmed and ready to fight another day.

To give Rob some confidence and the best chance of his first bass, I gave him the Duo Lure to fish with and changed over to a Tackle House Feed Shallow 128 Pink Rainbow, moving around the pier I could see a few ripples on the surface over a very close in weed bed, I swear the water must have been only 12 inches deep, second cast and bang! Fish on.. I’ve got to say that for school bass they are putting up a harder fight than earlier in the year.. Perhaps because the water temperature has risen.. Who knows?

As this fish was landed I heard a few young voices behind me asking if I had caught a mullet or mackerel, the look on their faces when I lift a bass out the water is priceless, (especially from the piers). I took this opportunity to show them a little about the bass, and how they should be handled with care and safely returned. I just hope these guys listen and feel the same as most of us bass anglers do..

Thanks for reading

Dreams do come true

Big well done to Rob. For someone who has never really fished in his life, he took on the challenges of bass fishing with such high dedication in his first year. He managed this beauty last night, shame I wasn’t around to see the smile on your face… (I must of left that mark half an hour before you got there you git). Keep up the good work mate. As a Jersey chap once said to me ‘’The first fish is always the hardest but is the biggest achievement’’

Also Ive got to say a big thank you to a close friend of mine Rob Mears for some great company last night. Not many fish to sing and dance about, but a few pollack to keep the lines tight and enjoy some fresh air. This guy also can take some outstanding photos and has a talent to capture those moments you never want to forget. Check some of these photos out... Outstanding!

LRF at low water Weymouth stone pier

Sunset Portland Bill

Pollack from Red crane Portland