The weather these past two weeks has been worthy of biblical descriptions. Wet? I think that’s slight understatement, we’ve not wanted to go outside let alone go fishing and on the days where it’s been almost tolerable the wind has been all over the place.

We did manage to get out a couple of weeks ago for another attempt at getting a Smooth Hound at Cleveleys.  The weather was perfect – flat calm and a warm muggy evening but all we managed was a small Bass and a Lesser Weever, not my favourite fish as they have a sting on their backs and when you try and pick them up they arch in a way to try and stick you.

Pliers and forceps are my usual method of dealing with these little buggers as the sting is very painful.

Looks like the weather is going to be equally grim this weekend so we’ll just have to see and maybe, if there’s a slight beak in the wind and a small ocean isn’t falling from the sky we’ll try and get out fly fishing somewhere local.

After eagerly watching the weather and ordering 20 peeler crab and 20 black lug from Blackpool Angling Centre on Wednesday I woke up Saturday morning to find the wind hadn’t died down as expected and with the Westerlies blowing onto the Lancashire coastline the chances of catching a Smooth Hound sea fishing from Cleveleys, between Blackpool and Fleetwood, was slim at best.

But I’d got the bait and armed with a few extras from the freezer we made our way to the beach to be greeted by a surf that could only be described as ‘Bass like’. Good job we’d brought the lug, maybe a fish was on the cards after all.

After a bit of trouble initially with our two hook rigs getting tangled in the surf we both elected to fish single hook pulley rigs, armed with a 2/0 wide gape hooks, Wendy using Black Lug, me with Black Lug on one rod and Crab on the other.

Casting over the weed that the wind had brought into the shallows we left our baits for about 15 minutes before changing, any longer than that and the tide would have washed out any scent. It was getting a bit difficult to tell a bit from the movement of the rods due to the waves but suddenly there was a  thump on Wendy’s rod and a small Bass was landed, her first this year.

As high tide drew closer the wind did drop a little until on the ebb you could just make out some calmer water past the breaking waves.

I fired out a crab into what I hoped was a weed free zone, into this smooth water and left the other rod closer in, hoping for a Bass from the surf, then it happened, a bite that in no way could be mistaken for a wave. I wound down onto a solid weight, fish on! The line started kiting to the right and then I saw it in the last of the waves – a Smooth Hound! Carefully I lifted the rod high to avoid the weed and at that moment it went weightless as the fish either let go or wasn’t hooked properly.

I was gutted! To miss a fish is one thing, to actually see it then it get away is almost heart breaking.

Shaking I baited both rods up with crab and launched my baits into the same area as before, this was to be the last cast as the tide was ebbing quickly now and soon there wouldn’t be enough water to fish into to make staying any longer feasible.

Fifteen minutes later it was all over, no fish for me this time so I packed away one rod while leaving the other out as long as possible. Wendy had packed up a few minutes before as it was getting a bit chilly now but as I wound in the last rod I felt a slight weight on the line and as it got closer in again it started going right.

Odd, this doesn’t seem heavy at all I thought, and then it broke the surface, the world smallest shark…

Yes, once again fishing during the summer on the Lancashire coast I had caught a tiny Tope, I think they’re getting smaller.

When you consider these fish, a top UK predator, can grow to over sixty pounds in weight this one was minute, it must have been one of this years young. After a quick photo (I’d shouted to Wendy to witness my fish…)  I slipped him back into the sea to start his reign of terror and after packing up and checking that we’d not left anything behind I made my way up to the car.

So, not a total disaster by any stretch, out of a lot of anglers on the beach that evening I only saw our two fish landed and although they were not the weeks target it was great to be out and we’d made the best of the weather we’d got.

Young Tope - I'm sure they're getting smaller...

With the gear only just cleaned from our Anglesey visit the weather looked spot on for a touch of sea fishing at Formby Point, Merseyside. The strong Westerly made for some impressive looking surf as I arrived on the beach to meet up with Kev and Chris, Kev had already had one small Bass and Chris a Flounder of 1lb 9oz so things were certainly looking hopeful.

Unfortunately for me that’s all they did, look… Even with the freshly pumped Black Lugworm that Kev supplied I couldn’t manage a single fish not matter if I cast far out or close in and the only other fish landed during the session were a couple more Flounder.

It may actually have been too windy although that does seem a bit unlikely for Bass, a fish that’s hunts in the surf, but we think the main problem was the speed the tide raced in with the wind behind it. It didn’t really give us much chance to fish the gully’s that run along the beach as we were constantly on the move as the tide flooded.

A smaller tide would give you more time to fish the (hopefully) more productive areas on a beach that is otherwise a featureless expanse of sand.

Warning: The tide races in here and all along the North West coast, take waders and be careful of the gullies filling up behind you – it is not a beach I’d confidently fish on my own unless I was going for a high water down session.

After the thankfully non-eventful journey down, unpacking more gear than would supply an Amazonian expedition and a trip to the local supermarket to stock up on food and beer we decided on an easy venue for our first nights sea fishing, hoping for Bass and armed with some fantastic peeler crab as bait from Menai Angling we arrived at Cemyln Bay a couple of hours before high tide.

The wind was a bit unpleasant and it looked like everyone had the same idea as us as Cemlyn is fairly protected from the weather. The fishing wasn’t great to say the least but we managed a few dogfish, no Bass this time…

The following few days we gradually ‘turned off’ and proceded to soak up the sun and think of nothing more taxing than ‘what shall we have for lunch?’ The weather was fantastic so we just relaxed for a few days, making the most of it.

Tuesday was a day for fishing though so with the wind in the East we elected to try a rock mark called Ty Croes, where the Anglesey race track is. On arriving at the car park there were a few cars there already but stupidly we made our way down to the rocks only to find all the available spots taken – I’m sure there are more but we don’t know the Ty Croes area well enough to find them. Plan B was put into action, go back to the cottage, chill out some more then fish Broad Beach, just South of Rhosneigr a couple of hours either side of high water into darkness.

This proved to be a great move, as we were entertained the whole evening by a contant stream of dogfish. Not the target species until I spotted the classic bang of a Bass bite on the rod I was fishing with peeler crab relatively close in and reeled in my first Bass of the year. At about a pound and a half isn’t wasn’t a monster and it swam away safely to terrorise more tiny sea denizens.

We also managed to catch a few whiting but by about midnight we’d had enough and happily made our way back to Bodedern.

The following day dawned bright and cheery once more so it was another one of those chilling out days, it’s amazing how doing nothing but relaxing can tire you out…

We did go for a stroll around Penrhos Beach and found a couple of likely looking marks to try during our summer visit as well as finding an old boat house, complete with rusty rails leading down into the sea. It must have been here ages but was long abandoned and was now just a remnant of ages past.

Thursday the weather turned a bit unpleasant but we couldn’t complain and continued to do more relaxing…

Friday was to be our last full day on Anglesey so after picking up some more peeler crab bait from Valley Baits and having a chat about likely venues we made our way to Cymyran Bay where, instead of walking over the dunes to the sea we went right and fishing a pool in the ‘river’ that separates Anglesey from Holy Island. The tide blasts through this channel and we would only get a a couple of hours either side of low water to fish it but it was worth a try.

Fishing down to low water we got a few bites but nothing to get excited about but once the tide turned and we moved ‘up’ the ‘river’ a bit to stop being cut off the place went nuts. Although we didn’t connect with anything, and I’m not entirely sure why, we both had some thumping bites for at least an hour, after than the weed and tide became too much of a problem. Why couldn’t we connect with the fish? Maybe the hooks were to big for a bait, maybe weed masked to points – I’ve not idea – but we’re definitely going back either armed with crab again or, after being to actually see the fish on the surface, armed with the fly rods and some Sandeel ‘flys’ as hopefully by summer thats what the Bass will want.

No fish from this venue but damn – it was exciting…

Saturday dawned with mixed weather so we packed the car and had lunch at the refurbished cafe at RSPB South Stack where the cliff top flowers are stunning and the cliffs are covered in breeding sea birds of all types.

Once again Anglesey didn’t disappoint and we came home relaxed, a little sun tanned and with a few fishy stories, we’ll be back in a couple of months and we’re looking forward to it already…

The Sun sets over the surf at Rossall

With the wind in the West we decided on a late night sea fishing session up at Rossall near Fleetwood last Saturday to see if any Bass were out playing in the surf.

On arrival and after a fly by from the Red Arrows along the promenade we had a quick look at the state of the sea and although it looked a bit rough it seemed fishable enough so we quickly set up the gear and launched some black lugworm baits just behind the surf.

Initially this seemed to work well but contrary to the forcaste the wind seemed to pick up and as high water approached it quickly became evident that there was far too much weed in the water to make sea fishing feasible. You can see how windy it was – the bags hanging from the tripods in the photo above are full of rocks to stop things blowing over. This was quickly demonstrated in my last two casts where one bait ended up snagged round a groyne about 30 yards to my left – dragged there by the weed (I lost that one) and the other bait ended up on the beach with about 4 pounds of wed attached to it.

We gave up at that point…

A shame really as the sea looked very fishy but sometimes it’s just impossible to fish it and you don’t know until you give it a try.

Penrhos beach - North of the coastal park

The wind continued to blow and showers were forecast so we elected to try somewhere with a bit of shelter. We’d been for a walk around the coastal park at Penrhos and had seem someone fishing north of the car park, just where the clay cliffs start so we parked up, donned waders and waterproofs and got going.

Weed was a bit of a problem initially as the tide ebbed from right to left and the wind blew the same direction, but once the tide turned everything became a little calmer.

A small Bass for me

This was another one of those infuriating sea fishing sessions where you know there are fish there, made even more so by the fact we could see birds diving for bait fish and we even saw a few fishing jumping, but no matter how hard we tried or what method, we just couldn’t hook into anything.

And then, while sitting and having a coffee, I noticed a slight bump on my rod but thought nothing of it as the weed and wind had been doing that all day, until it happened again – a tiny little knock.

Could this be a fish?

I wound in even more weed to find my smallest Bass yet attached to the bottom hook of my rig, a whole ragworm dangling from it’s mouth.

This was to be my first and only Bass of the hoiday but we’d found a new venue and got a fish out of it in conditions that in all honesty were probably best suited to sitting in the pub and having a pint. It doesn’t look very windy on the photo but believe me, it was blasting along the beach and after a while we called it a day as not only was the weather worsening but the tide was pushing us away from the deeper water.

The 'Bay' to the Right of Stanley Embankment (A5), Anglesey, Looking North East

We set off on our Bank Holiday journey just before noon last Friday and after stopping off at Colwyn Bay promenade for some lunch called in to Anglesey Tackle Centre to have a quick chat with Gareth and pick up bait for the long weekend ahead. Needless to say after wishing for good weather it had turned a bit blustery but we were fairly sure we’d find somewhere to fish.

Our first stop was to have a go at Broad Beach, we’d been told it would be too windy to fish it but decided to give it a go anyway. It was just on the side of manageable as we fished the tide up but after a while, and after loosing a fish as it snagged me round a rock I’d previously tripped over (yes – I know!!!!), we grudgingly agreed that it was indeed far to weedy to fish.

Anglesey 1, Stuart & Wendy nil.

Saturday morning greeted us with bright sunshine and yes, you guessed it, yet more wind. After quickly working out wind direction we decided to drive down to Aberdaren, at the far end of the Lleyn Penninsula – this turned out to be one of our more stupid choices due to a few reasons;

1. We’d forgotten about the major roadworks between Caernarfon and Trefor where the speed is limited to 30 mph.
2. We got stuck behind the worlds slowest driver on one of the narrower B roads, which meant,
3. We arrived at the mark with little time till high water.
4. The wind shifted and seemed to gain in strength blowing more weed at us.
5. The weed… I’ve never not been able to wind in due to weed before and after both of us loosing gear to rafts and rafts of the stuff we made our way back to the cottage.

2 nil to Anglesey…

We woke early on Sunday, quickly ate breakfast, made our lunch and headed towards Ty Croes where we would fish the tide 2 hours down to low water and 2 hours back up. It looked a little choppy as we drove past Cable Bay but at least from the rocks weed shouldn’t be a problem. We parked up and made our way to the mark only to find we’d obviously not got up early enough! A few guys had beaten us to it, damn! There aren’t really many snag free marks here so we quickly back tracked to Cable Bay where we’d seen from Ty Croes that the mark was empty of anglers. After a short hike we got to the mark and yep, there were people there, double dammit! They’d arrived in the 10 minutes it took us to get from Ty Croes to Cable Bay.

Sod it, lets go for a walk.

We dumped the gear back at the cottage and drove to across the A5 to Penhros Country Park but after looking at the tide flooding into the bay and the lack of weed or wind, we quickly went back for our Bass gear. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours and did actually see some fish swirling on the surface, either Mullet or Bass and then it happened. BANG! The rod tip didn’t just twitch it arced over as a fish took my Peeler crab bait. I struck and I felt it shake it’s head as it dove into the rocks, then after about 10 yards of mayhem I felt it come off as it dived through the weed. I was a little upset as you can imagine and we fished ‘hard’ for another hour but to no avail.

3 Nil to Anglesey.

On Monday the weather showed us that it was not yet summer. The temperature dropped dramatically as the rain and wind lashed the island making fishing anywhere almost impossible, or at least very uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. We spend the day reading and drinking hot mugs of tea while praying for a break in the clouds that never arrived.

Tuesday dawned overcast and still windy as we bid our farewell to Anglesey until we return in a couple of months and after a final brew and slice of cake at the Penmon Lighthouse cafe we made our way home.

Did we enjoy it even though the fishing was, to say the least, a bit rubbish? You’re damn right we did. There is hardly anywhere else I know that instills such calm and rest as Anglesey and missing those few fish just makes us more eager to go back and even the score.

Everything is packed;

* fishing gear – check
* walking gear – check
* birdwatching gear – check
* photography gear – and check

At this rate I’m going to have to buy a bigger car.

If all goes to plan (which I doubt) the weather will stay as it is and produce a slight surf to bring the Bass in but be gentle enough to flatten the sea on the western side of the Island to give us a chance for some Thornback Rays.

And while we’re on the subject of Bass… what is it with people calling them “Sea Bass”, is there some type of land or air Bass that I’m not aware of? It’s a Bass! All the other varieties are called a ‘something’ Bass, the European one is called a Bass or if you want to be pedantic it’s full name is European Bass or Dicentrarchus labrax, also known as Morone labrax.

I guess it’s to avoid confusion with some of the American varieties such as Large Mouth Bass which live in fresh water. Sorry – it’s just a pet hate of mine that things get renamed for no apparent reason, or at least non that I can see (don’t even get me started on Marathon vs. Snickers)

Hopefully the next entry will be full of images of huge fish or if not, at least some good scenery.

Pumping for Black Lug, Formby

The call went out to all like minded fools (I mean sea anglers) that Kev was going down to Formby Point, Merseyside for a Bank Holiday Bass hunt. I didn’t need much encouragement although getting up at 4:45am so that I could have breakfast, make a flask of coffee  and load the car before arriving at the Lifeboat Road car park did make me wonder at the state of my sanity.

The foolhardy few that woke to the sound of the dawn chorus just starting up made our way on to the beach and proceeded to pump up some Black Lugworm which was to be the bait of choice. Throughout the morning we would keep getting Lug as the tide pushed us up the beach so bait was as fresh as it could possibly be.

We knew that we were pushing it to get a Bass as they don’t usually show for about another month at Formby but the weather forecast was good and it beat watching bank holiday TV or fighting through crowds of tourists to get wherever you needed to go.

The method is to cast out then keep moving backwards until you see the gully behind you filling up, then you can either cross the gulley paying out line as you go, or wind in and cross the gulley then wait for the tide to fill it enough so that it’s fishable. The Bass travel up the gulleys that run parallel with the beach as these are where the water is deepest, and the food items they are searching for end up.

The Worlds Smallest Flounder

Our predictions of it being to early were correct and the only thing caught was a very, very small Flounder in about six hours of fishing but were we disappointed?

Not really – it was a long shot at best but as the saying goes “you’ve got to be in it, to win it”

We left the beach at noon, just as the numbers of day tripppers started to get unbearable.

One great thing was that I ‘tested’ by new Scierra breathable waders / boots combination – wow – what a fantastic thing these are, they weigh nothing, are fully waterproof, ‘breath’ so you don’t sweat and since you are wearing proper boots are comfortable to walk in.

I wish I’d bought some years ago and I expect they are going to make my fishing a lot better this year as they will allow me to fish places I’d previously been unable to reach. Hopefully Wendys’ will arrive this week to give her time to test them before we go to Anglesey.

But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and I’ve done a bit of searching on the internet for bits and pieces about sea fishing and angling in general. The internet has certainly changed the way we gather information about our hobby / sport and with a few quick google searches I’ve come up with a couple of gems.

I was searching for “Bass Fishing” and although I usually stay away from youtube links as they’re normally a bit dodgy I came across this film, made in 1947 by Van Campen Heilner, it’s not up to date by any stretch of the imagination, or even in the UK, but it was good just to sit back and watch this film of fishing from half a century ago.

The other main thing I managed to find today was Dave Lumb’s Specialist Tackle. Now I don’t usually link to tackle dealers but Dave makes custom rods and gear for most freshwater fishing and I expect he could make rods for salt water plugging for species such as Bass and Pollack, but the main reason Dave’s company took me by suprise is it’s only about 2 miles from my house and I’d never even heard of it!

And talking of dealers – we’ve a new one opened up in Southport called Tony’s Tackle, I had a quick look and it looks promising, it’s on Rufford Road (B5244), Southport