Sea Fishing & Walking in the UK

Angling on Anglesey, May Bank Holiday

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Dogfish from Caim Head

We set off last Friday (just over a week ago) for our first trip to Anglesey this year, looking forward to a bit of fishing and a long weekend away. Our first stop was at a new tackle shop in Menai Bridge owned and run by Gareth, the founder of the fishing4u.co.uk sea fishing forum, where we picked up some bait and as usual bought some bits and pieces.

We spent our first evening targeting Bass out of the Menai Straits but all we could catch was weed as the wind was blowing strongly down the Straits, even if we’d had a bite I doubt we’d have seen it! A shame really as last year this venue produced my best ever Bass.

The following day (Saturday) the wind was very strong which made it impossible to fish anywhere on the West of the island, which is what we had planned so after a quick trip to see Gareth again for some advice we ended up on the East side on a beautiful headland called Caim Head.

Caim Head Dogfish, Anglesey

The place was magnificent and very sheltered from the wind so we proceeded to empty the area immediately in front of us of Dogfish. No matter what bait we put out the call went up – Dogfish! We had a fantastic time and probable caught about 10 or so in total, some up to about 2lbs and we stayed until the light started to fail – another great venue on this beautiful island.

Sunday arrived and with it came the rain…

Rain doesn’t really matter to sea fishing but the wind hadn’t dropped at all so a very lazy day was had by us both, doing nothing except a bit of reading and watching the snooker final of all things.

Monday – time to go home. We stopped off at Penmon Lighthouse cafe for tea and a lovely slice of lemon sandwich cake and just sat, read and watched the birds and the boats go by. Not many fish this time but who cares – in such fantastic surroundings catching fish is almost a distraction.

Spring is Here And Out Comes The Sun

Bluebells and Garlic in Flower, Queens Park, Bolton

What a huge difference to the world the sun makes. I’ve spent all my lunch hours for the past 2 weeks walking through Queenspark, Bolton and the difference in the flora and fauna is truly astonishing.

At the start of last week there were hardly any flowers except the Daffodils but this week the woods are full of Bluebells and Wild Garlic in every direction you look and whenever you stray off the path the smell of the Garlic instantly assails your nostrils.

I was listening to the radio on the way home last week and Wild Garlic is a very good salad ingredient and is good for you and although I haven’t tried any myself there are a few recipes using it on the BBC Wiltshire Website.

Comma Buttterfly

Another thing that always amazes me at this time of the year is the insects. Where do they come from? I know, I know – they hibernate, then come out to lay eggs and then a second lot turn up that are migrants from the south but it’s always a great sight – one day no butterflies – the next, they’re everywhere.

I’ve seen the usual suspects such as Small Tortoiseshell and a few early whites but I’ve also seen the earliest Peacock butterfly I can remember as well as this lovely Comma (Polygonia c-album) sunning itself on a new leaf.

The birds are also busy with far too many species to list all busy building nests or feeding early chicks – this weather and the early proliferation of insects should give them all a very good start to the year.

I keep seeing the Kingfisher but I still can’t find where it’s nesting and to be honest I’d be a bit worried about disturbing it so I’ll probably just enjoy watching it fly up and down the river.

Wild Garlic, Queens Park

No pictures of birds this time I’m afraid as they’re either to fast, to far away or I’m just to slow with the camera.

And as for the sea fishing, we haven’t been out since Christmas as we’ve been decorating and generally tidying up the house after winter but we’re going on our first Bass hunt soon and we can’t wait.

Blogtastic – Everybody’s Doing it!

It seems to be that time of year when everyone is starting to blog for the first time or updating old websites, would you believe it’s been a year since I started this one?

So here are a few blogs that have recently gone ‘live’ that are vaguely related to my life…

First up a new blog, Fresh New Creative, from Kathryn at work. Being a blog about all things ‘cool’ in her eyes – music, art or gadgets – it’s all going to be in here. Knowing Kathryn I expect they’ll be a few suprises in here!

Chris, another work mate, has a new blog about his exploration into the world of 3D modelling imaginatively called Untitled Side Project as well as some great new stories on his mountain biking blog rockyroaduk.com

Phil, the middle brother of the three of us has recently added a blog to his diving website and Charles, the youngest of us is still experimenting with his tropical fish tank with the newest blog entry about a canibalistic catfish attracting local media attention!

And for completeness we’ve finally got round to doing a blog for work, I’m not exactly sure what kind of things we’re going to put on it yet but you can see the D-ROOM blog here. It will probably be an extension of our normal website but a bit more informal with articles not neccessarily about work.

The Weather is Psychic…

I haven’t updated this blog recently as every time we plan to go out fell walking during the weekend the rain gods laugh at us and our outing has to be canceled.

All except this weekend, the sun was out and the rain stayed somewhere else but… we had to go and pick some tiles as we’re having the bathroom re-tiled next week. So not much going on recently except house maintenance and avoiding the rain.

The annoying thing is during the week, when I’m at work, the weather has been perfect for sea fishing – oh well – roll on Spring and Summer.

The Mighty River Ribble

Just a quick plug for a couple of blogs regarding one of our local rivers, the Ribble. Internationally important for it’s diverse ecosystem it meanders 75 miles from West Yorkshire through Lancashire into the Irish Sea.

The Ribble Cycle Diaries

A blog dedicated to the River Ribble, one of Britain’s last great wilderness areas, full of wild beauty, with many moods and seasons as it meanders through its Green Belt and Floodplains.

Save The Ribble

Dedicated to preserving the beauty of the River Ribble, and opposing the Riverworks ‘vision’ to build a barrage and develop green spaces, causing damage to wildlife and the environment and increasing the risk of flooding to our homes.

Winter in Bolton – what Winter?

Wild Primula

After a couple of dismal weeks worth of bad luck regarding the weather, where it would be nice a frosty during the week and raining at the weekend we’re not going to get out this weekend either as Wendy is ‘on call’ and has to stay within an hours traveling time of the local hospital.

So plans of fell walking are out but I do intend to get out somewhere before I go mad…

Walking through the park on Wednesday I was amazed to see a few flowers already coming out including the first hint of purple from the crocus’ and a few wild primrose (primula vulgaris) and today during my lunchtime stroll the birds were in full song as if celebrating the arrival of Spring, a little early but I knew just how they felt.

It’s amazing the difference a little bit of sunshine can make you feel.

River Croal, Bolton

I took this photo on Wednesday as well just to show the level of water that’s now coming down the River Croal. It’s like a completely different river compared to a couple of weeks ago. I was going to take some photos of the trees that have come down but the council had been busy and already chopped them into log-sized pieces.

So what to do over the weekend? I might go for a long walk along the River Douglas, do a bit of bird-watching or even go sea fishing although with Wendy not able to go far it will have to be something near to home.

Sorry about the lack of postings recently but I’m back on track now so expect a few more regular updates and thanks for reading.

The Storms Come and the Rivers Flood.

River Croal in Flood at Queens Park, Bolton

The weather has been a bit breezy lately with strong gales and heavy rain battering the coastline up and down the country, not suitable for sea fishing or walking.

After seeing the state of the River Yarrow which I cross every day on my way into Bolton I had a walk around Queens Park to survey the damage done to the trees. They were in remarkable condition with just a few loose branches blown off but the River Croal was the highest I’ve seen it for a long time. Compare it to the photographs in this entry ‘A Lunchtime Stroll‘ which I did in September last year.

Everything seems to be holding up well in the face of this weather which, listening to the news, you’d think was a suprise. It sometimes seems people forget what winters are supposed to be like.

I can’t imagine what they’ll say when these Northerly winds bring us all a bit of snow! I just wish it would get a bit colder and stop raining then we can get up onto the fells without wading through bogs that should have frozen months ago. Although saying that I am looking forward to spring and some sun.

Weather – what can you do?

But then if it wasn’t for the rain we wouldn’t have this magnificent ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ called Britain we live in…

A View From the Other Side

Cuckoo Wrasse

In the interest of fairness, and because the pictures are so damn good, here is a link to my other brother’s website which showcases some of the stunning photographs taken during his many dive trips, both here in the UK and abroad.

Phil’s Personal Website – Great underwater imagery.

I Know how hard it is to take a good photo on land so how he managed these and remembered to breath is beyond me. Amazing to see the ocean from under the waves for a change but me, I’d rather watch it from above, chilled out in the sun with fishing rod in hand.

Welcome To The Year 2007

Looking out to the Three Peaks

The new years is here and over on the west coast of the UK it arrived in some style, with winds gusting up to 70 mph. Where does the time go? We had every intention of going on a few fell walking trips as well as doing a lot more sea fishing over the Christmas break but before we knew it, it was time to go back to work.

It doesn’t look like we’re going to have any snow this winter either – we’ve not even had frost in lowland Lancashire so just to remind everyone what snow is the above picture was taken in March last year when we went walking over Fairsnape and Parlick.

Wendy and Millsy (and Shacky) at the River Alt

Our promise to ourselves this year is to do more sea fishing, fell walking and birding and – if possible – to be out in the countryside even more than last year. A tall order but we’re willing to give it our best shot!

As well as the usual we’ll be going on another bank holiday Bass quest to Anglesey at the beginning of May and for a change we’re going to Devon for our summer break, we’re already looking forward to that and it’s still half a year away! I’ve even bought an OS map of the area.

So here’s wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year, Stuart.

Tropical Fish For a Change

Charles' Fish Tank

Just a quick plug for my youngest brother’s blog – finally he’s got round to doing one after all the nagging!

One of his main hobbies is tropical fish keeping and this blog is a way of keeping track of all the coming and goings in his fishy world.

numpty’s fishtank blog

Keep checking it – there’s a huge fish tank on the way.