It’s time for Flounder

In South Devon the first frosty days of Autumn stir many anglers minds towards digging out the light rods and making their way down to one of the local estuaries in search of a big flounder. The British record flounder was caught in the River Teign in the 1990s, a monster of 5lb 7oz. Each year many fish over 3lb and a few over 4lb are caught from a number of different estuaries along this stretch of coastline. The numbers of larger specimens has dwindled over the years but each estuary contains a reasonably healthy stock of fish.

The first frost of this Autumn occurred over the Bonfire Weekend at the beginning of November. This coincided with the National Flounder Championship being fished over two days on the River Teign. Decent numbers of flounders were caught but the big specimens were elusive, the winning fish a lovely 2lb 12oz specimen. This got me thinking about having a go myself for a couple of sessions.

My first trip was a couple of weeks ago on the set of really big tides which is not ideal in the estuaries as space can become limited to a few marks over high water. The tide brings extra debris on the ebb and many spots dry out completely over low water. My fishing time is limited by work so I make the most of the weekend chance to wet a line and as I stated in my first article, I like to see what might happen. I chose a small creek on the Kingsbridge Estuary system for my first winter flounder foray.  The Kingsbridge system has a massive range of marks but does in general require a bit of walking to get to many of them. I crossed a few fields on public rights of way before descending onto the foreshore and walked a few miles to my spot, a new one for me on the northern bank of the creek close to where it widened into the main estuary waters. The weather was stunning, not a breath of wind to ruffle the waters. The mark seemed ideal with the main tidal channel within easy casting distance and a nice bay just off that tide run to cast into. I cast one bait into the channel and another off to where I could see the crease of the tide run alongside the bay. Small school bass were on to the baits in a flash, giving some fun sport on my light outfits with plenty of slackline bites.

If the bass didn’t get to the bait then unfortunately the crabs did. They would strip the hooks in minutes, not uncommon in fishing the estuaries, particularly the Kingsbridge system. The cold weather usually puts them off the feed but following the frosty weekend the temperatures warmed back up again, meaning the crabs remained on the feed. Fishing at this mark was tough going and I didn’t even get a flounder bite. I was treated to a very relaxing session in the still conditions and a beautiful sunset made the day. Talking to other anglers along the stretch they were also suffering with the crabs and there were many comments about it being ‘too mild’.

Not one to be put off too easily I planned another flounder session for the following weekend. The idea was to head to one of our other estuaries to see if I could tempt a flounder there. My dad again chose to join me. What wasn’t in the plan was Storm Angus hitting our coast with some brutality on the Saturday evening. Over two inches of rain were recorded in Exeter and the resultant floodwater running into the rivers would’ve made the Exe, Teign and Dart virtually unfishable and a waste of time. So we went back to the Kingsbridge area. Without a main river running into the system, the Kingsbridge estuary suffers less from flood water than other systems. Trying to think of a spot ‘on the hoof’ at six in the morning I plumped for an easy access mark not too far from Kingsbridge itself. Even in the gloom of our pre-dawn arrival we could see that the waters were mucky but not the raging torrent one of the main rivers would’ve been and certainly fishable. I figured we would at least be in with a chance of a few more school bass if we could avoid the crabs. We setup in near darkness and cast our first baits out just as light was filtering across the tree tops. The flounder of the Kingsbridge estuary love ragworm over other baits and I showed my dad how to load up his hook. He commented on the size of the bait, a big bunch of wriggling worms and tails, in disbelief that a small bait wouldn’t work better. He flicked his bait some twenty five yards out in front of us and my baits were placed further out and to another spot close in. Straight away we had bites. The tips of my rods rattled with the bites of small bass, my dad’s rod pulled over in a more deliberate manner. To me it was clearly a flounder. I advised that he ignore these initial tugs and allow the fish plenty of time to  chew on his large worm bait. We had a coffee and packed the head torches away as the sun rose. A few more bites on my rod tip made me spring into action but I missed the culprit. A stronger pull on my dad’s rod tip showed the flounder was still interested. He lifted the rod tip and the bend showed he had something. After a bit of gentle pumping and winding he was disappointed to find a clump of weed on his line. This was just caught on the top swivel of his trace though and below that, in the murky shallows was our target species. A flounder on his first cast and first attempt at fishing for them!

Weighing in at 1lb 2oz it was no monster but I don’t think that mattered to him. He was chuffed; I was chuffed too. He debated keeping it for the table but decided to return it. Being only lightly hooked it swam away strongly. Massively enthused that there were flounder to be caught we fished hard as the tide rose, but apart from school bass and baits being stripped by crabs we only had one more flounder bite which resulted in a bare hook. It was a glorious day to be out though after the horrific storm of the night before and we basked in warm sunshine with no wind at all. My dad thoroughly enjoyed the morning, drinking coffee, talking fishing and sending me back to the car to check on the cricket score on a regular basis. We ran out of worms quite quickly due to crab activity and made our way home for lunch.

I am sure we will be out fishing together again soon. We need a cold snap for the crabs to stop feeding so hard and to allow the flounder a chance to home in on the baits, but the fish are there and a number of 3 to 4lb fish will be caught this winter I’m sure.

Elsewhere the usual whiting and dogfish are making up the majority of catches on the open coastline. The weather has remained mostly mild and a number of summer species are still being caught, including smoothounds and gilt-head bream. The mackerel and garfish are still present as well. Now is the time to target a large bass from the open coast with all of the beaches along South Devon worth trying. North East winds are forecast for most of the week which will give a decent surf on most of the beaches for the bass to feed in. Conger eels will also be feeding hard now before the winter really sets in and can be found at most deep water rock and pier venues.

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Calling all Sea Anglers

If like us you are fed up with getting the rough end of the stick when it comes to fishing restrictions and bans, here is an opportunity to fight back and help show quite how important sea angling is to the UK.

Seaangling.org is has launched a project called Sea Angling 2017 which aims to collect catch and spend data from a 1000 sea anglers throughout 2017. If you are a regular or even occasional sea angler they need you to record your catches, releases and spending throughout the year to help get a better understanding of the current state of sea angling in the UK. Once compiled this data will be published and made freely available  to local and national  policy makers as well as the sea angling community.

Even if this was all they were doing we think this a project that all responsible sea anglers should be supporting but there is more!

Free Stuff – 

All anglers selected for the project will get access to a unique Online Catch Diary Tool to record fishing trips, catches, releases and spending. You will also receive a sea fish identification booklet and catch recording kit (including bespoke waterproof catch recording notebook and tape measure)

Still not convinced it’s worth your time and effort to take part in this important project? Shame on you, but perhaps this will tip the balance, as well as feeling good about your contribution to sea angling in the UK, all participants who take the initial survey are entered into a free draw with a chance to win  2x£50 tackle vouchers from Fishing Megastore. If you are selected to take part in the Diary project you will have further opportunities to win more vouchers throughout the year.

Give it a go we think it will help to collect some real data from real fishermen!  http://www.seaangling.org/

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South Devon Tails

Hello from South Devon! My name is Tom Sheffield and I have been fishing the coastline around this area for the past 16 years. After talking to Sean recently I agreed to become a contributor for Fishing Tails reporting my exploits from this wonderful section of coastline. We are truly blessed in South Devon to be able to fish a huge variety of different types of ground for a myriad of species throughout the year. I personally enjoy catching flatfish and usually have a bait out to target one of the flatfish species during most sessions. My passion in angling involves getting out to different venues and trying various tactics and baits on different states of tide to see what works. This often results in some surprise captures along the way, as you will see from my first report below! I will endeavour to keep you up to date with my fishing trips, give an overview of what is being caught locally and what to realistically target from South Devon in the near future.

My first report below is of a session I had back in the middle of October.

My father has recently retired and in an odd reversal of the usual story he asked me to take him out and start showing him the ropes when it comes to sea fishing. We’ve had a couple of trips together and he is starting to get the hang of casting, baiting up and the general basics, but the previous sessions had been slow affairs with only a couple of fish showing to my rods and nothing for my dad. Keen to find him his first fish I took him out again yesterday to a beautiful venue in the South Hams area of Devon, East Portlemouth. This tidal inlet at the mouth of the Salcombe estuary is made up of golden sandy bays broken by rocky outcrops. There are a huge number of different marks to try all along the waterfront from North to South and a large variety of species available, but the area is famous locally for flatfish (flounder, plaice, dabs, turbot and sole can all be caught here) and thornback rays (the British shore record was caught here). The plan was to fish from low water to the top of the tide from one of the sandy coves near the mouth of the inlet and try to catch a few flatfish. I was certain my dad would run into a school bass at some point during the tide. This original plan was scuppered somewhat by the strong Southerly gusts funnelling through the craggy cliffs that line the estuary mouth, making casting a challenge for the beginner and also bringing with them a lot of weed. I managed a small school bass from this location but it was clear conditions would be too tough to properly enjoy the session, so we upped sticks and trekked down the coast path towards the open sea to a small rock mark. From here we could find a bit of shelter from the wind and also avoid the weed once the tide rose. From our new platform we would be casting onto clean ground, into a decent swell and a bit of tide run. It’s a good spot to find flatfish as they wait to ambush food being dragged over the outer estuary sand bars, which we could still see slightly exposed. We soon had lines in the water again and sat back to enjoy the wall to wall sunshine on yet another surprisingly warm October day. Bites were difficult to distinguish with the breeze buffeting the rod tips but the fish were feeding hard. I was into another school bass almost immediately, quickly followed by a third. They were ravenously taking my blow lugworm baits. Then the highlight of my day came. Having watched my dad bait up and cast out without any assistance (the baiting needle is his new favourite tool), I watched intently as a rattling bite developed on the tip of his rod. He kept looking at me, anxious to wind in to see if he’d got his quarry but I told him to hold fire until I was sure the fish had taken his bait. It wasn’t long to wait and a more positive pull on the rod tip signalled the fish was on and he lifted into the fish without striking hard. He played a superbly healthy school bass to the shore. I was over the moon to have been able to share this moment with him and also to have been there to guide him to that success. His happiness made the day and he was grinning away as he slipped the fish back into the water.

A few more school bass followed and then the bites from them seemed to stop and a slightly different indication of fish activity started to show on my rod tip. I lifted into a fish which fought differently and stayed deeper in the water as it came towards our rocky base camp. It kicked hard as I got it to the surface and I was surprised to find a small gilt-head bream had snaffled my lugworm; the Salcombe area is famous for this species. The British shore record of over 10lb was caught further up the estuary system last year in late October/early November but I had never come across any in my time fishing down close to the mouth. I slipped it back and then over the next hour and a half managed to land 3 more, losing another as it slipped the hook right before landing. The biggest weighed in at 1lb 13oz (picture attached) and was my biggest of any bream species I’ve caught.

These fish fight hard and really punch above their weight. I can see myself having another go at catching these on lighter gear someday. As the sun dipped below the cliffs opposite our location and the light began to fade the bites dropped away. With the last of the dying Autumn sunlight we packed up the gear and made our way home. The flatfish didn’t come out but that was surely down to there being a lot of suspended sand in the water, churned up by the swells rolling up the inlet channel. However, the day had been busy with nearly a fish a cast once we moved location and a memory made to cherish seeing my father catch his first fish. He talked about doing some solo trips as we drove back through the maze of lanes to reach the main roads. I hope to report of more success for him in the future.

I look forward to being a regular contributor and hope you enjoy reading about South Devon’s fishing.

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Huge Cod from Chesil

On Friday my headline was “The Cod are coming”. Unfortunatly it would seem that the Cod failed to read my article and decided to go somewhere else. So far the cod fishing has been very poor. However Robert Moore proved that there are some good caught to be caught, when he landed this monster at 11kg (24lb)

Well done to you Robert, you will certainly get a few fillets out of that.

There were a few other codling caught, but not in the numbers or size that we would expect. Ben Stockley managed a small one, amongst a good haul of other species. The was no lack of fish, as the coloured water made them confident enough to come within casting range. A lot of small Conger were caught as well as large Pout and loads of Dogfish. Ben managed to catch a Pollock, which often show from Chesil in good numbers in November.

I know the reports from Fishing Tails have been a bit sparodic recently, but we have a load of articles for you, every day this week. Starting tomorrow, with an insite into fishing in South Devon, from our latest writer Tom Sheffield.

Sea Conditions: Water temperature 12.8°c

Chesil Beach:  2m waves with lightly coloured water. 

Portland: medium swell with lightly coloured  water

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with lightly coloured  water

Chesil Beach forecast: Acording to the wind forecast we should be in for a windy and rough day again today. However the reality at the moment, is tha the wind is nowhere near as strong as it is frecast and the swell has dropped below 2m. In fact as you can see from this picture provided by Izzy from Underwater Explorers, you would never think we had just had a big blow.

However there is enough colour in the water to bring in Pollock and Whiting. It is in days like this that you can quickly run out of bait. I would reccomend that if you are thinking of coming down to fish Chesil, you check out the wind forecast, as currently it looks like Tuesady will be unfishable. That makes Wednesday good for a session and thats when I will be on the beach.

Portland: Today should be good for Wrasse as the water is a bit more settled and has some clarity in it. The Wrasse will be hungry, as they struggle to feed when it is rough. With the number of Pollock caught from Chesil, I would expect to see plenty around the Bill at dawn and dusk.  

Portland Harbour: If you do turn up to fish Chesil and the weather is too rough, it is well worth giving the harbour a try. This time of year is normally good for Bass on the shallow sandy marks. I only fish it with lures but they wil take worm and squid baits.  There is also plenty of sport to be had with Flounders and Garfish.

Weymouth Bay: I know quite a few anglers opted to fish the piers and preston over the weekend and had some reasonable catches. Preston is still producing Gurnard and a few Red Mullet.

Guiding: The new guiding season is underway once again. Although we can only keep one Bass, we can certainly catch more. I am hoping that the winter fishing ban and the new commercial quotas, combined with an increase in the minimum landing size, will make for some great Bass fishing. I specialize in lure fishing and I am offering Fly fishing this year as well. I am still more than happy to go after the multitude of species in this area with bait, whether that is big Wrasse, explosive Smoothound fishing or targeting the tastier fish such as Plaice and Bream. If you want to book a session or find out more information drop me an email at [email protected]

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The Cod are coming.

It is not too often that I welcome a spell of bad weather, but I have been waiting ages for a big blow to come through and really stir up Chesil beach. Finally it arrived yesterday and looking at the beach this morning it is exactly what I had hoped for. I would be quite happy if it continued to blow for another day, to really stir things up, but I am happy to try and get out for a session today.

The Cod season hasn’t exactly been great so far, but I think it could all change this weekend. Conditions are near perfect this morning, with a he water carrying a good bit of colour. With 2m waves it won’t be easy fishing, but if you are a reasonable caster, you will be able get clear of the surf line.

Your going to need some good bait. Live Peeler crab if you can get, otherwise fresh black lug and blow lug. Don’t forget your Squid either. Make sure you give the tackle shops a call to reserve your bait, there will be a lot of people out this weekend.

Sea Conditions: Water temperature 13.7°c

Chesil Beach:  2m waves with coloured water. 

Portland: large swell with coloured  water

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with lightly coloured  water

Chesil Beach forecast: apart from Cod, you can expect to see plenty of Whiting, dogfish and Pout. Don’t be surprised if a few decent Bass turn up. I think it is more important to be on the beach rather than worrying about which part of Chesil to fish. Abbotsbury is normally very busy, so I will be keeping clear of there. 

It is a good idea to check the wind forecast on Sunday, as it is looking borderline in the afternoon.

Portland: the coloured water always has an impact on Pollock and Wrasse fishing. However it improves the Conger and Bull Huss fishing. Big fish and Squid baits are your best option. 

Portland Harbour: There is still lots of baitfish in the harbour, with the baitfish you can expect late Mackerel, Bass and Garfish. I always opt to lure fish in the harbour and my lure of choice at the moment is the Xorus Patchinko.

Weymouth Bay: the piers and Preston beach will offer shelter and reasonable fishing over the weekend. As usual there are plenty of species that can be caught from both marks. Rays seem to be featuring much more regularly from the beach.

Guiding: The new guiding season is underway once again. Although we can only keep one Bass, we can certainly catch more. I am hoping that the winter fishing ban and the new commercial quotas, combined with an increase in the minimum landing size, will make for some great Bass fishing. I specialize in lure fishing and I am offering Fly fishing this year as well. I am still more than happy to go after the multitude of species in this area with bait, whether that is big Wrasse, explosive Smoothound fishing or targeting the tastier fish such as Plaice and Bream. If you want to book a session or find out more information drop me an email at [email protected]

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The Squid are in

Calm seas, building tides and good water visibiity all combine to make great Squid fishing conditions. Both  Weymouth pleasure and stone pier are good locations, as are the piers towards Bournemouth. Squid fishing isn’t limited to the piers as Christopher Luke found out whilst fishing in Chesil Cove.

The main question I am getting this week is, will Chesil be fishable over the weekend. The simple answer is yes. The wind will be mostly from the North which means that it won’t  be in your face, but it will blow across the beach especially at the Ferrybridge end, and at Abbotsbury it will from over your shoulder. Unless of course it all changes, as it seems to do all the time at the moment.

I know a lot of you will be looking to target Cod, but they are still not really around in any great numbers. However there are still Gurnard, Garfish, Plaice and sole to be caught. Whiting are also appearing in numbers..

Sea Conditions: Water temperature 13.7°c

Chesil Beach:  slight swell with lightly coloured water. 

Portland: calm with clear water

Portland Harbour: Calm with water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear  water

Chesil Beach forecast: as I mentioned earlier it should be a mixed bag on Chesil this weekend. It is always worth putting a big bait out for a Cod and another out with a three hook flapper and some Ragworm and Mackerel to attract the other species.

Portland: this is the month for the big Wrasse. They are hungry and looking  to put on weight for the winter. The big Wrasse like Hermit and hardback crabs, fished hard on the bottom. It is harsh on your tackle and expect losses so use a rotten bottom.

Portland Harbour: I have never seen so much bait fish in the harbour as there has been this week. There is still Mackerel in numbers around Sandsfoot, as well as some nice Bass.

Weymouth Bay: conditions are almost perfect for squid fishing from the piers. I have heard more reports of Undulate Rays coming from the pleasure pier, as well as the normal Pollock and Wrasse.

Guiding: The new guiding season is underway once again. Although we can only keep one Bass, we can certainly catch more. I am hoping that the winter fishing ban and the new commercial quotas, combined with an increase in the minimum landing size, will make for some great Bass fishing. I specialize in lure fishing and I am offering Fly fishing this year as well. I am still more than happy to go after the multitude of species in this area with bait, whether that is big Wrasse, explosive Smoothound fishing or targeting the tastier fish such as Plaice and Bream. If you want to book a session or find out more information drop me an email at [email protected]

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The fun world of L.R.F

The fun world of L.R.F.

Hello everyone, It’s been a few months since I’ve written anything for the FT webpage and as 2016 comes to an end I thought I’d put a little piece together with regards to my local L.R.F adventures over the last 12 months.

Ive wanted to write some material for a while now to give a general overview on ‘What is L.R.F/How do I go about it/What can I catch’ as well as a diary style piece of my captures over the past 12 months. If you haven’t tried this fun and simple method then this might just inspire you to buy an L.R.F rod for Christmas and think about 2017’s fishing possibilities.

For those that are unaware light rock fishing or as we call it ‘L.R.F’ is a great way of targeting the vast array of smaller species that inhabit our docks, marinas and coastal edges. The idea is to use lighter rods and reels to intentionally catch the species that some may deem a nusisance whilst bait fishing for bigger specimens. What I personally find really exciting is the element of mystery when your drop that rig down, you just never know what will come up next.

With the right tackle this style of fishing is available to anglers of all ages and you don’t even need to worry about using real bait!

The above picture shows the kind of gear I use and what’s available on the market. The beauty of L.R.F gear is there’s lots of tackle to suit all kinds of budgets. I use a HTO Rockfish Ultralight rod rated 0.5-7gr combined with a small front drag reel. I use a Shimano Sedona 750 loaded with 6lb braid. (Yes it’s tiny – but perfectly balanced with the rod). As this style of fishing is becoming increasingly popular throughout the U.K. the choice of rods and reels out there is also growing rapidly. Makes and models from the likes of HTO, HART, Sonik, Shimano and Daiwa all have tackle to suit every eventuality and pocket. Prices range anything from £30-230 but like any hobby it all depends on how much you want to spend.

Local to me in the Northwest we have a big locked dock system with a promenade, This gives safe and easy access to fishing and is where I do all of my L.R.F’ing. There are other marks in the area however a lot of these are dominated by the tide and so the dock system offers fishing 12months of the year at any time.

I’ve been lucky enough to catch a variety of species this year including Goby’s, Wrasse, Mackerel, Whiting, Sandsmelt and Pollack. However there’s lots of other species on offer like Flounder, Mullet, Codling and Sea Scorpions.

Let’s look at the Rig, ‘Baits’ and Techniques I/You can incorporate into L.R.F’ing.

THE RIG: As I said above I spool my reel with 6lb Braid (I use braid from a brand called KastKing, It ties a good knot, Comes in a variety of colours and as you get 300mt for £8-10 it’s great value for money).

I grinner knot my mainline to a micro-swivel and from this tie on a length of monifilament for a hooklength. (I use Maxima in 3-5lb B/S).  Everyone will have their own ideas and thoughts on rigs but where I fish it pays to fish a drop-shot style Rig via palomar knotting the hook onto the length of mono and then attaching a weight to the tag end that’s left. The reason for using a drop-shot rig is due to the bottom detritus present, fishing a drop-shot ensures my bait/Lure is always clear of any rubbish. Remember how long you leave your tag end denotes how far you want your bait/lure to sit off the bottom and for the majority of my L.R.F’ing I find fishing the bait/Lure 2-4″ from the weight just right. As it gets colder I often shorten it to 1-2″ as I feel even the mini-species don’t want to venture very far to grab a Lure. I’ve found subtle changes like this can make a big difference on certain days.

The weights used can be dedicated drop-shot weights or simply split shot. I use anything from 3gr-7gr or SSG shot. Weather conditions will often denote what weight I need to use. For example, If not enough weight is used I struggle to feel for bites in windy conditions.

Hooksize depends on the size of the fish you are wanting to target and as with any fishing matching the hook size to the bait/lure is paramount. I favour ‘Kamazan B525 in sizes 14-16 and Mavers ‘match this’ pattern, Again in similar sizes. As im fishing with pieces of ISOME or VERMZ these hooks suit a slither of either perfectly.

In the above picture you can see the Sz14 hook with a piece of ISOME worm hooked on. In conjunction with this I also smear the ISOME with a layer of ‘Atlas Mikes gel scent’. This I feel gives the bait a little more pulling power and on those days when it’s hard to get a bite this can often make a difference.

BAITS & LURES:

For the majority of my L.R.F’ing I use Marukyus ISOME worms, Fladens VERMZ or CrazyFish’ white bait lures. These can all be bought from all major tackle shops or online. ‘AGM lures’ online often has a great range of U.L. lures, L.R.F baits, scents and gels.

TECHNIQUES AND TACTICS:

As I mentioned previously I fish from the top of a promenade. The usual tactic is to simply drop the rig down to the bottom and tighten up to the lead and wait to feel for a bite. Remember that as the bait is sat off the bottom any movement at the rod end is transpired down to the bait, So even the slightest of twitches means the bait/lure is always ‘working’.

On diffcult days and notably when it gets into the colder months I incorporate the ‘3 tap technique’. Again drop the weight to the bottom and tighten up, Then whilst keeping a tight line lift the weight off the bottom by an inch or so and drop it back down, repeat this 2-3 times. Having watched the Gobies response to this in the past I believe the vibrations of the lead hitting the bottom makes the Gobies come over for a look, and as the ISOME is just above them it’s then within grabbing range.

Casting out and twitching the bait/lure back like you would other lures and soft plastics is also a great tactic as this covers lots of ground. This gives you the option to search out other fish in the area too.

So, That’s a basic run down of some of the gear I use and how I use it. L.R.F’ing in the U.K. is taking off in a massive way, Species Hunt competitions and ‘L.R.F get togethers’ all around the country make this style of fishing a new and exciting venture for anyone that’s not done it before.

If you want to keep your fishing simple and fun in-between of work and home life then this might just tick all the boxes.

Thanks for reading, tightlines and kind regards. Jamie.

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Last cast Pouting

Midweek with lots of productive venues nearby I decided to fish Lake Pier beach, principally to see if there were any flounder to be caught. However on arriving at the large car park I found that it was packed! Apparently I had picked the one night a club match was taking place, one more thing to check before choosing a venue; tide, weather, water conditions, match in vicinity! After a quick chat with match organiser Steve Lawrence, he advised fishing further up the harbour towards Rockley park.

This turned out to be a fortuitous  move as I needed to dig my bait first before fishing and there was some good digging at my new spot which meant I was able to get enough ragworm for my session.

Fishing the flood after low water I was hoping for that elusive first flounder. But as per usual on the flood tide the small school bass beat the flounder to the baits. Some of the bass were smaller than the ragworm I was using!

You have to admire this Sea Bass’s ambition!

At the weekend my long suffering pal Martin and I took the leftover ragworm along with some squid and sandeel to Southbourne. Martin was keen to chase the bigger stuff like rays,codling or bass on the squid and sandeel wraps. Whereas I was looking to pick up a sole with small ragworm and lug baits. The tides weren’t ideal with the spring low tide at 10 pm but we arrived at the beach around 7pm and within a few casts Martin had a good rattle that produced a good little small eyed ray around 3lb. A few minutes later he landed another butterfly sized small eyed ray.

It was quiet considering the good conditions and we had to wait quite a while for another bite. Around 9pm an hour before low water I had a small rattle that produced a very small slip sole.

Another couple of hours passed then roughly an hour after low water, I had another rattle followed by another slightly larger sole.

Then that was it no more fish. Not one of our best nights however Martin had set out to catch ray and had caught two and I had targeted sole and also caught two. No monsters granted. But target species accounted for!!

Checking out the social media for that weekend Many people did much better than us, with better ray and some bonus turbot also caught. In particular some good blonde rays to double figures.

Worryingly however we did watch a trawler working offshore up and down the length of the beach all night. Providing those commercial boys give us a break, Southbourne will continue to produce some better than average ray, cod and whiting as the season continues.

This weekend saw me fully employed as dad’s taxi having to drop family members to their respective Halloween parties. Deliveries made I had a three hour window to catch a fish! So no deliberation about where might be best venue given the current conditions it was straight to the nearest beach which happened to be Sandbanks.

This time I had pre dug some ragworms  in the afternoon so it was straight down to fishing! Arriving around 7pm I set up two rods for sole and one with sandeel squid wrap for rays or anything else bigger.

I had a window of three hours to catch a fish.

After two hours I was still fairly confident.

After two and a half hours without a bite I was concerned.

With 15 mins to go to before packing up I had pretty much conceded the night was going to be a blank.

Reeling the rods in for a rebate and the obligatory last cast I found both sole rods had small smoothhound pups dangling on the end. Not what I wanted to see as at that size they are a nuisance.

The last cast on the squid wrap however produced one of the biggest pouting I have seen from the beach in years. At nearly 2lb in weight it had huge shoulders and was packed with meat so I never went home fishless after all. Wrapped in tin foil and cooked with chilli flakes, it was delicious. It was as was easily as good as any cod of the same size with a slightly more delicate flesh.

The Power of The Last Cast!

In the next few weeks the flounder fishing should really start kicking off in the harbour. I have already dusted off my rigs loaded with bling in preparation and look forward to chasing that elusive 5 pounder! Some good flounder have already been caught so hopefully this points towards a good season as the weather gets colder.

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