A Cold Evening Catching at Cleveleys

Good Sized Whiting for me from Cleveleys

With the high pressure dominating the weather and the rain finally giving way we manged to get out on Sunday night for a spot of sea fishing with a few of the guys from Blackpool and Leyton Angling Society (BLAS). Along with all sorts of seasonal running about I’d picked up some Black Lug from Wayne’s Tackle in Preston which although a bit lazy saved me having to pump any in the freezing cold at Formby so money well spent.

We arrived with about 3/4 hour to spare until the start of the BLAS match so had a good chance to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen for ages. After surveying the beach from the car park for any likely gulleys before the tide covered them up while wrapping up in almost every layer we had we made our way down to the waters edge.

With the sea almost flat we cast our Black Lug tipped with Mackeral baits into the darkness. It wasn’t long until the Whiting started to show, small at first but getting progressively larger throughout the evening. We swapped baits around a bit to see what else was there, using Squid to tip the worms or just on it’s own and managed to catch a few small codling (all undersized) as well as a just in-size Dab for Wendy.

Small Codling for Wendy

Moving up the beach as the tide continued to flood the fish just kept coming and one one occasion I felt my bait get ‘hit’ twice while winding back in to re-bait only to find a couple of Whiting had jumped on the bottom and top hook of a Pennel bait that was hopefully going to catch me a Cod.

It was one of those nights where no matter what bait you put out you were going to get a Whiting or two, regardless of what end tackle was used, the trick was going to be if you could manage to catch an in-size fish before the small army of little ones found the bait.

For once I was the lucky one and managed to come second in the match, admittedly out of only eight people but still, after not being out for a while it was good to catch anything and getting a few ‘points’ was a bit of an added bonus. Wendy, although catching the same number of fish as me, only managed one in size, the Dab, but still, 9 fish each more than made up for our freezing extremities.

The major revelation of the evening wasn’t anything to do with sea fishing though, as we’d be fishing from 6pm till 10pm we’d bought some food flasks and loaded them up with soup. Why we hadn’t done this before is a mystery as we usually take sandwiches but with it being a little chilly we thought something warm would be better. It was probably the best idea of the weekend.

Hot soup, a roll to dunk in it and a few fish being caught – who cares what the weather’s like…

Another Sea Angling Washout at Fleetwood

Talking Tactics - Fleetwood Channel

With South Easterly winds and the weather playing silly buggers I didn’t hold out much hope for today’s sea fishing match up at Fleetwood but still, it’s always worth a go – with sea fishing you’re never 100% certain what’s going to happen or what you’ll catch.

As I’d successfully given Wendy my cold I arrived on my own and met up with a few like minded fools that were daft enough to brave the weather. And boy did we have some weather, cold winds from the SE and then about an hour before the end of the match the heavens opened, it was incredible and I was just thankful I’d decided to take my waders else I’d have been soaked.

Compare the picture above with the ones taken a month ago – how can the weather be worse now than it was then – looks like we’re in for a typical British summer.

Unfortunately the fishing for me, Millsy and Dave  turned out to be just as bad as I’d predicted with no bites let alone any fish but to either side of us Shacky, Sparky and JP managed a few Flounder, Eels and the odd Rockling. Looking back at it now there doesn’t seem to be any reason for our failure to connect with fish,  lack of peeler crab for bait may have had a bit to do with it but then Dave blanked and he was using the same Peeler as Shacky who eventually won the match.

Fishing! It does your head in!

Undoubtedly the best part of the day was seeing a small Porpoise swimming up the River Wyre and then a couple of hours later swimming back out again. I’ve seen them in North Wales but never in Lancashire so that was definately worth getting up for.

Summer Approaches Swiftly

Not much to report this week as work has been a bit busy and I’ve had a bit of a cold – you know – the type of cold that turns your face into a ball of slime. Not nice.

The good thing is, after hearing the Swifts screeching last night, I saw a couple on the way to work this morning. It seems the birds know summer is on the way even if the weather doesn’t – it’s hammered it down for the past couple of days, turning the garden into a pond.

Party tomorrow for my Dads 70th then hopefully a bit of sea fishing on Sunday, not sure where yet but I think the BLAS boys are having a match up at Fleetwood so we may join them up there for an hour or two.

Fantastic Weather at Fleetwood, Fishing the Channel

Fleetwood Channel - Looking East Towards Knott End

We woke this morning to a truly stunning day and as we made our way to Fleetwood to fish a Blackpool and Leyton Angling Society (BLAS) match the weather just seemed to get better and better. Shacky and JP were already there and not soon after Sparky and Millsy arrived so we made our way down to the edge of the channel. Fleetwood channel is actually the estuary of the River Wyre and is kept clear (and deep) as Fleetwood is a working port with regular sailings to Northern Ireland and The Isle of Mann

We cast just to the edge of the faster moving water so that our baits could stay anchored to the sea bed rather than be dragged out to sea by the swiftly ebbing tide and, where we were hoping the fish would be hunting in the back eddies for food.

A Small Flounder for Wendy

It took a while for bites to start but a slight shift in wind (more like a light breeze) direction from East to West resulted in Wendy landing a very plump rockling, shortly followed by Sparky.

Then it developed into a two horse race as Shacky landed a Flounder, then Wendy, then Shacky again, all the while myself and the other guys congratulating their success, honestly.

Shacky finally landed an eel which with the other fish won him the match, with Wendy coming 2nd and Sparky third.

It was hard fishing, we tried all sorts of baits; Lug, Squid, Mackerel, Peeler Crab and it didn’t really seem to make much difference – Wendy was catching on Lug, Shacky on Crab.

But what a lovely day to be out, blue skies, light breezes and flocks of birds taking to wing opposite us whenever they were disturbed. There was even a seal swimming around in the channel that every so often would vanish then a few minutes later appear somewhere else with a fish in it’s mouth. Sometimes fishing is better left to the natives while we just watch.

The venue has produced some good fish, and in quantity, which is why the BLAS guys picked it for this time of year, but for some reason the fish just weren’t playing today…

…at least not for me.

Looking West Down Fleetwood Channel

Fairhavens’ Sea Fishing Flounder Fiesta

River Ribble Estuary at Fairhaven, Lytham

Well not exactly a fiesta but the first match of season for Blackpool and Layton Angling Society (BLAS) got off to a cracking start today with light winds and glorious sunshine as the eight of us met up at lunchtime at Fairhaven Lake, Lytham, which sits on the other side of the promenade to the Ribble Estuary into which we would be fishing.

The target species today was Flounder as they moved into the river with the tide to feed on crabs, worms or whatever else these greedy fish can get their mouths round. Usually we’d fish for Flounder with peeler crab but there was non to be had without having to travel for hours so Wendy and I had got hold of some black lug, ragworm and mackerel which we were hoping would be OK for today.

Shackys' Fairhaven Flounder

We waited for the water to hit the bottom of the wall, and the walkers to move off the beach and then all cast in, hopes high for some non-stop Flounder action.

Most of the guys were concerned about lack of crab for bait but it didn’t seem to make much difference for those anglers that had it as the fishing was very slow. Shacky was into a fish about an hour into the match of about a pound in weight but mine and Wendys’ baits were coming back in untouched until about half an hour later when Wendys’ rod showed a very positive bite.

She waited awhile until it showed again then quickly reeled in to find… nothing. We were all a bit shocked that nothing was hooked but I suppose that’s fishing.

A few minutes later I saw a slight knock but thought nothing of it until on reeling in when I managed to land a Flounder as well. Not as big as Shackys’ but still, a fish is a fish when your match fishing.

A Fairhaven Flounder

And then it went quiet, occasionally bites registered but we just couldn’t connect with the fish for some reason as all they seemed to be doing was nibbling at the Mackerel they seemed to prefer today rather than gulping it down like they normally do.

We called it a day at 3 o’clock as the tide was started to ebb and soon there wouldn’t be enough water to fish into. Dave managed to win the match with three fish, Neil with two then Shacky and me with one each. As this match was the RNLI trophy we had a collection for the lads and lasses of the RNLI and raised a bit of cash to help in their funding.

The fishing was not as good as expected but the weather was fantastic and it was great to be out on the first sunday of Britsh Summer Time. The next match is up at Fleetwood in about three weeks, at a venue we’ve not fished before called Fleetwood Channel, so we’re looking forward to that one, hopefully someone will inform the fish.

Walking and Fishing on Hold – Decorating!

Sorry I’ve not put the pictures up but I got home last night and Wendy was in full decorating mode. The wall paper is now off the downstairs toilet walls, revealing a rather fetching yellow colour complete with holes and filler. So tonight I’m filling in all the holes and sanding the walls flat ready for the white paint to be applied on Saturday as we’re going up Clougha Pike tomorrow.

As for fishing, hopefully we’ll have most of the painting done by Sunday as we’re fishing another BLAS / WSF match at Caldy on the Wirral side of the River Dee. Hopefully we’ll be somewhat more successful than our last outing and I’ll have a few pics of some fish to put on here.