During our recent visit to Anglesey we had a break from walking or sea fishing and took a rail journey, by steam, from Caernarfon to Porthmadoc on the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway.

The scenery was magnificent as the train wound its way through the mountain of Snowdonia, made more so by the fact that we’d upgraded our seats to first class (it’s unlikely we’ll do it again for some time so we splashed out) so we were in the observation carriage at the end of the train which had a huge curved glass window at the rear, giving great views of the mountains and hills of North Wales as we sped (or trundled) past.

The carriage was amazing, with beautiful woodwork and individual small armchairs and although the snacks and drinks were basic they were of good quality and the service was great, especially considering that most of the ‘staff’ were volunteers.

At the other end we had a fish and chip lunch at the award winning Spooner’s Café & Bar – in Harbour Station then spent a few hours exploring Porthmadog harbour and Borth-y-Gest before reversing the journey.

Our return train was pulled by a different engine and we travelled in a ‘Pullman’ coach which was exceptionally comfortable – made more so by the fine bottle of Madog’s Ale, brewed in Porthmadog, I consumed along the way.

If the weather forcaste looks good, and you’ve nothing planned, I thoroughly recommend it.

Bull Huss for Wendy from Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey

We’ve just spent the last week on Anglesey sea fishing and generally relaxing where, much to Wendy’s amusement, I was out-fished in both species and size.

The week started well and after after chatting about possible locations for fly fishing and picking up bait from Menai Angling we spent the first day doing nothing. On the Sunday we made our way to a mark where Bass have been caught on lures and spend a couple of hours salt water fly fishing. After a while it became evident that we need more practice with the heavier rods and the fish not showing any interest we called it off.

That evening though, armed with some great Peeler crab we made our way to Cemlyn Bay to try for Bass. It was flat calm, and I mean mirror flat. Not a Bass like surf any where to be seen but the Dogfish kept us entertained until Wendy, after a bit of a struggle landed our first shore caught Bull Huss of about 9lb (the scales died on us).

We had a go at another couple of places. At Sandy beach in some truly horrid weather we spend a couple of hours down to low water and an hour back up in the vain hope that an early Smooth Hound may make an appearance, needless to say  I caught a Dogfish.

Then the weather turned for the worse until the end of the week when we tried fishing with lures at the South West end of the Menai Straights until sun set when we used the last of our crab to catch, you guessed it, Dogfish.

So species wise I managed Dogfish while Wendy got Bull Huss, Dogfish, and Eel and a ‘doesn’t count’ Spider Crab and size wise I was truly beaten by the Bull Huss.

Am I bothered? Not really, it was just great to get out and about and although we didn’t catch much we had a great time and learnt a few things about lure fishing, both conventional and fly, which we’re going to work on for the next couple of months because in less than 8 weeks we’re going back and we can’t wait.

Salt Water Fly Fishing, Anglesey

With the weather producing freezing rain and wind in truly biblical scales we haven’t done any sort of sea fishing or fly fishing these past few weeks and even venturing outside to do a little bit of gardening has had to timed between downpours so like any other angler what do I do when I can’t go fishing? Look up places I want to go fishing when the weather improves of course, and it was during such a search that I came across this short clip of a full length film called “Tapâm – a flyfishing journey“.

To say there is some remarkable fishing involved is to seriously underestimate just how good this is and the photography / camera work is amazing. This takes sea fishing, fly fishing and salt water fly fishing to a whole new level.

One day I hope to be able to do this sort of thing… one day… but in the meantime watch the trailer, it’s worth it.

In this guest post Amanda from sykescottages.co.uk tells us why we should holiday and fish in the UK, thanks for a great read Amanda.

The UK is an angler’s paradise. With lakes galore, extensive canal networks, and hundreds of miles of pristine coastline just begging to be fished the UK is a great place for the fishing holiday of a lifetime! Whether you are a fresh faced beginner, or a well seasoned fisherman you will find the perfect location to challenge your skills and learn the tips and tricks needed to make the catch of a lifetime.

Fishing 101

Whether you are heading out on your first dedicated fishing holiday or are just interested in giving it a try while you’re away there are a wealth of opportunities for you right across the UK and Ireland. The best option is to sign up in advance and take a course with an experienced guide who will be able to teach you all you’ll need to know to be successful. Working with a fishing holiday company will also eliminate the need to bring along equipment as they will supply you with all you need. Should you be travelling with children who want to give fishing a try there are some great fisheries around the country where you can rent a rod and give it a try in a safe environment. Some fisheries even offer cottages for fishing on site, which means you won’t need to travel far for some early morning action!

Out on the Open Sea

If you’re looking for something a little more adventurous then consider heading out on the ocean. You’ll find numerous charter companies operating out of towns and villages along the coast who will be thrilled to take you out on the open waters to land the biggest fish of your life! These charter trips generally last anywhere from 3 hours to a full day and will include all of the gear needed and often a freshly prepared meal on the longer trips. While they can’t guarantee what or if you’ll catch something, your chances are greatly increased as you’ll be benefitting from the experience of your local guide, many of whom will be from families who have fished the waters for generations. Not only are they keen to give you the best possible experience, but also to pass along their knowledge and give you the most memorable fishing experience of your life.

Fishing on the Fly

For many there is no more relaxing an activity then standing alone in the middle of clear river waters with a fly fishing rod in hand. With so many beautiful rivers across the country the UK is a great destination for fly fishers, beginners and experienced alike. If you’ve brought along your own equipment then all you’ll need is you licence and some local knowledge about where to go, but if you’re a beginner or looking to upgrade your skills then head out with a guide. As all fly fishermen know, fly fishing is more of an art then a science and local knowledge of the conditions are vital for upcoming your chances of coming home with the goods.

Should you simply want the opportunity to try a bit of fishing while on holiday Sykes Cottages have a number of holiday cottages with fishing facilities included, whether it is a nearby fishery or just a private pond you’ll have access to. If you’re looking for a great UK fishing holiday cottage head over to www.sykescottages.co.uk to check out the selection of cottages they have on offer.

After such glorious weather it was almost inevitable that the weather for the Easter bank holidays would be grim as we turned up for the Blackpool and Layton Angling Society (BLAS) Match at Fairhaven, Lytham. This was to be leg one of the Estuary Cup and the target species sea fishing at this venue is Flounder. The tide races in and out here and if you are fishing off the wall as we were you’ll generally only get about 3 hours of worthwhile fishing unless you want to follow the tide in, up to the wall and back out again.

Six people braved the bitterly cold North West wind and at 11:15am 6 rigs armed with various baits were launched seaward in the hope that the Flounder would show. Baits for the day were frozen Crab, Razor, Mackerel and Blow Lug as we couldn’t get fresh Peeler Crab but it wasn’t long until the first fish came to Sparky who was also using Prawns.

Then it was my turn with the first of 3, double headers. it was one of those days where everything went right and it didn’t seem to matter what bait combination I used, the Flounder would greedily scoff down anything I threw at them.

The only reel quiet period came at high water but once the tide started moving again on the ebb the fishing picked up resulting in everyone catching a few flatties.

Time was called 3 hours after we started with me being top rod of the day, my first ‘win’ for a long time, with a total length of 238cm. Wendy managed 2 fish even though we were fishing next to each other and using identical baits – it was just ‘my day’ for some reason and it felt great.

You can read the full report and results on the BLAS website, posted by Shacky, here.

The great thing about this match was it was the first ‘proper’ fishing session I’ve had with my new rod since I’ve had the reel seat moved by Gerry’s of Morecambe. Do I like it? Yes – it’s fantastic.

I wasn’t 100% sure about the ‘continental’ style of a longer / softer rod with a fixed spool reel but this setup casts a bait a very long way without the stress of a multiplier potentially exploding line everywhere and has amazing bite registration.

My new gear is the Tubertini Boomerang with the Shimano Ultegra XSB 10000 loaded with Berkeley Whiplash Pro braided line in 30lb breaking strain. Gerrys have done a fantastic job of moving the reel seats (I’ve got 2 rod and reel combo’s) to a more comfortable position which helps casting and I’m looking forward to a lot more stress free sea fishing.

I don’t know when our next sea fishing session is but if we can keep this form up it promises to be a great angling year.

This years target species for sea fishing is the Mullet, thin or thick lipped, we don’t care. We’ve tried and tried to get one of these and we’ve been so very close but this is the year , I can feel it. We’ve a fairly good ‘Mullety’ type river near us, the River Douglas which I’m convinced will produce Mullet as the tide floods into the small creeks but the water isn’t very clear so we’ll have to ‘cheat’ and use float fishing techniques.

Our aim though, and it has been for some time now, is to catch one of these beautiful fish on the fly, and it didn’t help my obsession one bit when I came across this video by Matt Dunkinson with support from Orvis called ‘Against the Tide’ – enjoy…

So the burning question is where… where is the water clear enough for the Mullet to see the fly and undisturbed to give us fair chance of not spooking them. The answer is of course North Wales and Anglesey. We’ve seen them, dammit we’ve almost trod on them they’ve been that close but this year we’ve done a bit more research into what flies to use and in May, when we visit Anglesey for the first time in 2012 we’ll be hunting out likely spots ready for our main 2 week holiday in the summer.

We’ll be well prepared but whether we succeed only time will tell, but it won’t be for lack of trying.

You’d think with the glorious weather we had last weekend that I’d have been fishing and you’d almost be right. Instead we went up to Gerrys of Morecambe to buy another Tubertini Boomerang and a couple of reels to match. More on this pairing another time. As that took longer than expected (tackle shops – they’re so hard to walk away from) there’s wasn’t much time for anything else on Saturday and Sunday, being another scorcher, was taken up doing the first garden tidy up of 2012.

The previous weekend we did manage to get to the Open Weekend at Curleys Trout Fishery where we each had a quick session with an instructor, polishing up our fly casting techniques. Also in attendance were Bolton Fly Tyers and Pat from Flytek who was demonstrating fly tying. We’ve signed up for 10 lessons from Pat which start this coming Wednesday and cover the basics all the way through to some proper imitations.

So, not much actual fishing going on but lots of fishy stuff.

I’ve made a fairly drastic decision in my sea fishing recently and that is to go down the ‘continental’ style of beach / shore fishing where the rods are longer and softer and used with a fixed spool real. The reasoning behind this is that although I love my 2 Century Tip Tornado’s coupled with the 6500 Mag Elite multipliers unless I’m going out fairly consistently my casting with these rods (pendulum style) goes to pot.

With a fixed spool set up casting is generally easier, and new rod technology means the newer continental style rods are a lot better and are now suitable for fishing UK beaches.

After visiting Gerry’s of Morecambe last weekend and talking to Chris who was very helpful, and handling a few different rods I came home with a Tubertini Boomerang, a lovely looking rod of 14’5″ long (4.4m) and last night was the first time I tried it fishing.

Having loaded my old Penn Surmaster 70 fixed spool reel with some Berkeley Whiplash Crystal braid on 30lb (but only 0.1mm!! thick) and a suitable shock leader I was ready to go and launched a bait a long way, in fact it went a very long way with no effort at all. Now sea fishing at this time of year is a bit rubbish as we wait for the summer species to arrive but all I needed was one fish to see if the setup, with braid as recommended, was as good as it was said to be. Then a small knock, another – leave it to develop as braid is far more sensitive than mono, another knock and hey presto – a small Dab.

For such a small fish to give such great bite indication from what must have been close to 100 meters range was amazing so overall, the night was a success. The rod was great and bite detection with the entire setup amazing. One small gripe is the reel seat is too high up but I’ll get that moved when I get another one.

So I’ll definitely be getting another Tubertini Boomerang with a couple of the newer wider spool fixed spool reels, possibly the new Penn Affinity 8000′s but they’ll have to wait a while.

The Frog spawn has arrived a  little earlier than last year in Queens Park, Bolton, but considering just how cold last year was not surprising.

So I present to you… the annual photo of gloopy Frogspawn.

The flower in Queens Park have started to show, this Primrose being one of the first, and I’m expecting to see the wild Garlic flowers any time now.

With all this warm weather it’s no surprise that the wildlife in the park is getting a little ‘frisky’. The Mallards and Moorhens are pairing up and laying claim to their little bit of water. I’ve seen a pair of Kingfishers patrolling up and down the River Croal and the Peregrines are once more making a welcome nuisance of themselves over the town hall keeping the resident Pigeon population under control.

A new one for me this week was an 16 Spot Orange Ladybird, it was just walking up a sun drenched tree – apparently a ‘warm’ weather species which just goes to show how mild it has been this week.

No fly fishing this weekend as my favourite fly rod has gone in for a repair although I may try and get out and about somewhere, although doing what I’m not too sure yet…