Autumn Fishing in Dorset and Chesil Beach

Autumn is without a doubt the best time for sea fishing in Dorset. We still have all the summer species around, but the winter species are now starting to show, so you never know what your next catch will be. It could easily be a hard fighting Smoothound from Seaton or a tasty Cod from Cogden. Exactly 2 years ago today I landed an 7lb Bass on bait from Ferrybridge in bright sunshine.

The variety of fish that have been caught over the last weeks has been incredible. Mackerel are still around in significant numbers as are Bream. Garfish have turned up and are more than happy to take a small lure or float fished strip of Mackerel. Night fishing adds even more species, as Conger and even Bull Huss make an appearance. James Pritchett had this little one from Abbotsbury, on a Cod bait.

One fish that has been around in surprising numbers these past few days are Plaice. A lot of anglers target them early in the season, when they return in March from spawning. The September fish are normally more numerous and definitely in better condition. Andrew Carter had a number of lovely conditioned Plaice at range. One took a Squid and Lugworm bait meant for Cod.

The Plaice are feeding heavily, to put weight on for their move to the winter spawning grounds. I often find that Lugworm is a better bait at this time of year. Chris Morris was another angler that managed to find a plump autumn Plaice.

It wasn’t the only fish Chris managed to catch. He also managed a few nice Sole and a Cod at the same time. Thats what I would call a good session.

Unfortunately the trawlers are well aware of the number of Sole coming from the beach and have been out in numbers. Lets hope the Sole and Plaice stay closer inshore than the boats can.

Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm with lightly coloured water

Portland: Calm with clear water

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear water

Chesil Beach forecast: This should be a great week for fishing from Chesil. Conditions are perfect for just about everything. We have a spring tide, combined with calm conditions and the arrival of the autumn Cod. Expect Bream, Gurnard, Trigger, Bass and Cod from the Portland end of Chesil. To the West, we should see Sole, Plaice, Dabs, Rays and Smoothound.

During the day there will be lots of Garfish and Mackerel, with Bass chasing the Mackerel and bait fish. As dusk approaches the Scad will move in and can be caught on float fished strips of Mackerel or even Mackerel feathers and lures.

Portland Harbour: Bass and Garfish can be seen chasing the bait fish around Ferrybridge and Castletown. Large shoals of Mullet can also be caught from the area between Castletown and Portland Marina.

Get out there with a lure rod and see what you can catch, you will be surprised how effective it is.

Portland: If I was asked to give one mark that you would be guaranteed of catching fish this week, it would be Portland. You can make it easy on yourself and use Ragworm float fished or hard on the bottom for Wrasse, or you could go light and use soft plastic lures for a great sporting experience.

Dawn and dusk will see Pollock caught from most of the rock marks. Use a white sidewinder or Metal X Bubblehead lure for best results.

Weymouth Bay: The harbour should still have plenty of Mullet in it, but they will soon leave to move to open water. The piers are good for numbers of smaller fish, but Mackerel and Bass often show.

Guiding: I have a number of slots that I have opened up for guiding over the next couple of weeks. Bass, Wrasse, Garfish and Pollock on lures and fly, or just about every species on bait.

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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Bass and Cod on Chesil

I am guessing many of you have looked at the weather forecast for the next few days and thought I don’t fancy going out in that. I look at the conditions and it makes me almost tremble with excitement. I know that this is one of the best opportunities that I am going to get, to try and catch a big Bass and a few Cod in the same session. Yes it will be rough, but I am looking for the breaks in the weather and even if they are only going to be for 3 or 4 hours, I intend to take advantage of them. The first one looks like tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, so I have booked my Lugworm and Peeler Crab.

I know the first of the Autumn Codling have started to arrive. My friend Roger Morgan landed this plump fish on Saturday night and missed a few slack liners as well.

I mentioned Bass earlier, they are going to be my main target as my records show, this month has produced the best large Bass immediately after a storm. The best being this near 12lb Bass from my friend and fellow fishing guide Paul Black

I always favour live peeler crab or Mackerel heads at this time of year. The chances are, you won’t be able to cast out far with the wind in your face, but you don’t need to. Just get your bait clear of the surf line and your line won’t get buried under by the waves. I will be using an Up and Over rig with 4/0 hooks. Hopefully I will give live updates via social media whilst I am out and about. Just be aware to not get too close to the water as conditions could well be dangerous. I wear either a life jacket or flotation suit in rough conditions and never take any chances.

Bass and Cod are not the only species that will take advantage of the feast that the storm will stir up. Undulate Rays often come in when it calms slightly and there have been some lovely rays caught recently. Gav Cuthbertson had this 13lb Undulate on Whole squid recently, proving that there are a great diversity of species to be caught this month

Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Very rough and coloured. It will be unfishable on a number of days.

Portland: Rough with coloured water

Portland Harbour: wavelets with lightly coloured water

Weymouth Bay: wavelets with lightly coloured water

Chesil Beach forecast: The beach will be rough and coloured for most of this week. The main species will be Bass and Cod, but there are plenty of other fish around. As the conditions start to improve, you have a good chance of Gurnard, Rays and Conger, as well as Dogfish and Pout.

Portland Harbour: If you don’t want to face the high winds and rough conditions, then the harbour is a great choice. The water is clear enough for lure fishing. There are plenty of Mackerel, Garfish and some nice Bass around Ferrybridge, Sandsfoot and Castletown.

Those wishing to stick with bait can expect Flounder and Wrasse, as well as small Bass and Pollock. Float fishing strips of Mackerel will produce Garfish and Pollock.

Portland: Conditions are less than ideal for the island. The Wrasse don’t like rough coloured conditions and neither do Pollock. However is doesn’t deter Conger, Bull Huss and Bass. With the winds from the SW, Church Ope Cove should give reasonably sheltered conditions.

Weymouth Bay: Another option for those seeking shelter. September is a fantastic month for so many different species. The piers will produce, Wrasse, Pollock, Mackerel, Pout and Bream, to name just a few. Preston will produce Mullet, Garfish, Gurnard and different flat fish. The fish can all be caught at short range.

Guiding: I have a number of slots that I have opened up for guiding over the next couple of weeks. Bass, Wrasse, Garfish and Pollock on lures and fly, or just about every species on bait.

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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A Brief History of Slime: Fly fishing for Carp

At first glance, fly fishing for carp appears to be a very modern phenomenon; all deer-hair pellet flies and punk camo clothing. But you’d be very wrong! What if we told you that fly fishing for carp is probably as old as fishing itself? And the first reference to fly patterns specifically for carp date back to a German text from around 1500!

Fast forward to the 20^th century and Peter Cockwill (as ever!) was very much in the vanguard of experimental UK fly fishers, targeting & catching his first carp on Ivens Nymph patterns in the 1970s. Other famous UK angers also targeted carp surprisingly early on, including Arthur Cove & Bob Church; but it was John Wilson who first publicised the idea of using fly fishing tackle for them in both his writing and his original TV series “Go Fishing” in the 80s; unashamedly super-gluing trout pellets onto a hook!

But the real origins of fly fishing for carp in the modern era can be found in North America. The seminal article has to be Mel Ellis’ “Those Copper Coloured Bones”, published in Field & Stream in 1966. He was the first to coin the term “freshwater bonefish” for carp & the name has stuck ever since. And he’d been doing it for quite a while before that….

 http://www.warmwaterflyfisher.com/CarpHunters/CarpHuntersArticles/Those%20CopperColored%20Bones.htm

Probably the most famous book on the subject has to be Barry Reynolds, Brad Befus & John Berryman’s “Carp on the Fly, A Flyfishing Guide” from 1997. But arguably the best, and by far the most exciting, early book is George von Schrader’s wonderful “Carp Are Gamefish”, published in 1990. It’s a great read but becoming increasingly collectible so can be tricky to track down. John Geirach also devoted a whole (& very humorous) chapter to the subject in “Another Lousy Day in Paradise” 1996.

Lurking in the background like a jovial antichrist is the somewhat unlikely figure of self-styled “Carpfather”, Ian Colin James. An ex-pat Scot from Clydeside, he moved to Canada as a young man in the late ’70s, became an expert exponent of fly fishing for carp & set up one of the first carp on fly guiding services in the world. An outspoken advocate of the art, he has written a number of highly informative (and amusingly confrontational) articles on the subject, none of which will endear him to the UK’s pellet flinging aficionados! Sadly he died far too young in 2015, but his writings can still be found online. Try “Carping: Fly Fishing’s Crack” 2006 for starters, http://www.flyfishersrepublic.com/tactics/carp-on-the-fly/ Preferably with a cold beer!

More recently fly-fishing devotees from across the planet are discovering that carp are indeed gamefish; stalking and sight fishing these large, powerful fish with innovative fly patterns and ultra-modern fly tackle. There has also been a rapid proliferation of articles & books from around the world; but it’s safe to say that the Americans have been at the forefront of modern development, with notable contributions from Spain, Portugal, South Africa and most recently, South America. Have a look at this wonderful article by Jose Rodrigues from Portugal for inspiration:

 https://www.scale-magazine.com/former_scale/2012-12/#/48

Sadly the UK seems to have an unpleasant fixation with stocked fisheries & pellet flies, although a couple of activists such as Jamie Sandford are pushing the boundaries & challenging convention. Check out the Carp Champions page on Facebook.

‘Must-reads’ for your coffee-table are Kirk Deeter’s “Fly Fishing for Carp; Tricks and Tips for the Determined Angler” 2013 (probably the modern ‘bible’ on the subject; also published as “The Orvis Guide to Carp), Dan Frasier’s “Orvis Beginner’s Guide to Carp Flies” 2015 & Jay Zimmerman’s “The Best Carp Flies: How to Tie & Fish Them” 2015.

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Summer fishing in Dorset

With July only a day away we can finally start talking about summer fishing and what we can expect along the Dorset coast. Lets start with Chesil, which is everyones favourite mark. It certainly hasn’t been on fire recently, but that should start to change as the summer fish as now moving in. Gurnard normally herald the first of the summer species and they are now being caught in regular numbers. We are lucky that we see most species of Gurnard caught on Chesil. Ben Stockley managed this little Grey Gurnard this week.

Certainly no monster, but a good example of how many different species that we are lucky enough to be able to catch. Ben also managed a number of Plaice.

Chesil is certainly famous for its diversity of species and the summer months can and often do throw up anything. Expect Smoothound, Bass, Bream, Mackerel, Dab, Conger, Rays, Dogfish, Pollock, Scad, Pout and Garfish to name but a few. One fish that we don’t often associate with summer fishing in Dorset is Sole, but I have had some of my best catches during daylight throughout July and August. I always use lugworm and size 4 or 6 hooks fished on short snoods on a two hook flapper. Just to prove this point Ian Hooper caught this lovely Sole of 1lb 6oz during the day from the western end of Chesil.

Away from Chesil and the fishing really is good at the moment. The harbours are full of Mullet and the piers have loads of fish on them. Rock marks such as Portland and Kimmeridge are producing some great Wrasse, Pollock and Bass. Night fishing has been good for large Conger.

Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm with almost clear water

Portland: calm with clear water

Portland Harbour: calm and clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear water

Chesil Beach forecast: It is looking good for the next few days, with light winds and plenty of sunshine. Expect to catch Plaice, Gurnard, Smoothound and Rays from Abbotsbury to Cogden. There have been a number of nice Undulate Rays caught very close in using Mackerel head baits intended for Bass.

Further along the eastern end of the beach, towards Ferrybridge and Portland, Bream and Gurnard are beginning to show. I always think that you are more likely to pick up a Bass at that end of Chesil. Mackerel are showing in good numbers and the first of the Garfish and Scad will start to show in the next week or so.

Portland Harbour: The harbour is full of bait fish, which has attracted Bass, Pollock, Mackerel and Garfish. Get your lure rod out and have some great light line sport. For those of you that are more comfortable just using bait, then there are also plenty of Flounder around Hamm Beach and Sandsfoot sailing club. These areas become very busy at the weekend, with other water users.

Portland: This is the time of year when Wrasse fishing is hectic. Use a float fished Ragworm and you won’t have to wait very long for a bite. It will come as no surprise that I will be using lure to target the Wrasse, but as the light fades, I will switch to trying for Pollock. These can also be targeted with float fished ragworm and Mackerel strips.

Weymouth Bay: The harbour is full of thin and thick lipped Mullet. It is hard to tell the difference between the two species, but as you get to know there behaviour and where they are in the harbour, you can quickly work out which species they are. However try casting a little Mepp spinner, baited with a small ragworm. if they turn and chase it, they are thin lipped. If not then try with some float fished bread, as this is one of the more effective methods for catching the thick lips.

Both the Stone Pier and the Pleasure Pier are producing loads of Wrasse, Pollock, Mackerel, Garfish and Pout. It is well worth casting a full squid or a  large Mackerel bait from the Pleasure Pier out to the sand. This produced some large Undulate Rays this time last year.

Guiding: Bass fishing in the spring should be even better than in previous years. The ban on all commercial fishing during February and March, combined with a huge cut in the quotas, will all go to help increase the stock levels. The season carries on until the early winter, so make sure you book early this year.

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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Review – Fladen Vantage Dropshot 5-20g

With dropshotting as popular as ever, I was intrigued to see what this very reasonably priced rod from Fladen could bring to the table. Stop wait I said the F word, for a long time Fladen has been associated with cheap, almost disposable tackle but recently there has been a shift in focus, with the company following hot on the tails of their more fashionable competition. The tackle quality has improved, there has been more innovation and less imitation, plus they’ve added some quality anglers to their sponsorship roster, for example Nathan Edgell aka “Adventures Of A River Piker”. This gave me cause for optimism when it came to testing out this rod.

The rod follows the modern design trend, looking quite at home on the rocks.

As I have mentioned, in classic Fladen fashion, this is a budget rod. For a very sensible thirty pounds it could be yours. With a casting range of five to twenty grams this particular version, they go up to thirty two grams in the range, neatly encompasses LRF/finesse fishing whilst also being able to handle larger lures. This fits soundly with my angling preferences, I’m not often casting anything much heavier than fifteen grams even when targeting large predators like pike or bass. So in theory, this is a rod that should suit me to a tee.

Aesthetically we’re not off to a great start. I’m not a fan of the white and blue design, it looks a little cheap in my opinion. Perhaps I’m shallow but I like my rods with darker, classier colour palettes. The butt and reel seat design are an improvement though, using the modern spinning rod design, with a small, bulbous grip at the base to provide counterbalance.
Although the fittings are obviously inexpensive, the reels I used (small 1000 and 2000 sized HTO and Daiwa models) fitted snug and secure. With fairly large eyes all the way to the tip, they don’t particularly complement the design but they are very braid-friendly. I will say that a lot of this rod’s competitors have similarly large eyes, so I can’t berate Fladen too much, it’s just not a design I like, however practical it may be.

The white and blue isn’t to my taste, but it does stand out from the rest of the market.

Let’s move on to the truly most important aspect here, how does it feel to fish with? This is where this rod really starts to show it’s worth. It’s very light in the hand and you could easily fish with it all day. It has a fast action, which is expected in a dedicated dropshot rod, with a very sensitive fibreglass tip.  In use I found this to be excellent in picking up even minuscule bites, I caught a tiny sand goby and could feel every miniature attack on the lure beforehand. For a rod that is more than just about finesse fishing, this is a fantastic trait to have.

I was impressed by the sensitivity in picking up bites from the mini-species. Although this rock goby wasn’t exactly shy!

Casting a dropshot weight of seven grams felt effortless and accurate, with excellent distance. I did test the rod out with a bulkier twelve gram Effnet Kick S Minnow and lost that accuracy a bit, but I would still be comfortable casting a lure that weight all day on this rod. Working the lures, either on dropshot or with the heavier shad lure, I felt connected and in control. These are two very important factors in lure fishing, so that pleased me. You are not going to get the power of a high price tubular model, that’s a given, but the rod still had enough backbone to give me confidence.

My intentions whilst testing this rod were to fish around the harbour and hope for a flounder or a mullet to test it’s capabilities. Although both of those species were absent in my catches, I was lucky enough to be treated to the sight of baitfish leaping from thin toothy beaks – garfish! If any species could provide the variety of fighting styles to truly test the rod it would be a gar. Garfish require a rod to be sensitive to takes, strong to set the hook and flexible in the fight. These fish leap, dive and do everything in between. I couldn’t have planned it better.

The smile says it all here…

I decided that I could use the dropshot set-up like a miniature one hook feather rig, using an inch of Isome as my makeshift feather. The fish were far out and this really tested the Fladen’s casting ability, a test it passed with flying colours. I reeled the line in fast but with lots of pauses and twitches, really making that imitation worm come alive. The rod held up well, showing it’s qualities and the garfish obviously agreed. It’s such an exciting sight to watch them harry and chase the lure in packs. In classic garfish style I lost many more than I landed but the fights were excellent fun. My favourite fish was the one pictured, it leapt from the water four times, true heart in mouth stuff! Taking line and really giving everything in the battle. The Fladen stayed strong though and I subdued it in the end. With an ability to tame garfish without sucking the fun out of it, that’s a pass from me on the fighting front.

They can be an absolute nightmare to catch and handle but I love these fish.

In conclusion, the Vantage Dropshot’s success is in it’s versatility, the sensitivity to fish LRF and the backbone to step up to HRF where needed. It’s a rod that is ideal for targeting perch or trout, yet will also handle a medium sized pike. Though it’s not as fashionable these days to have an ‘all-rounder’ rod, for the lure angler just starting out or on a budget, I can certainly recommend what Fladen have come up with here. Design wise they aren’t matching the (pricier) likes of HTO, but I would argue it’s a more complete rod than some of the other budget manufacturers, for example – Okuma. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a three star rod, but for the price there probably aren’t many out there that can match it.

As always, thanks for reading and hopefully this review has been of some help.

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Fladen Vantage Dropshot 5-20g Durability

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Turbot and flat fish surprise on Chesil

Turbot are not a fish normally associated with Chesil, but for some reason they are showing on a number of different marks along the beach. Steve Parsons landed this lovely Turbot on crab and ragworm, during a daylight session.

A number of larger ones into double figures have been landed on night tides. Local angler Phil Cheeseman, landed this one during the Weymouth Angling Society monthly shore competition.

My theory is that the fish are moving out to the Shambles and have moved in from the West, passing and feeding on Chesil on the way past. Reports from Paul Whittall, skipper of the famous Offshore Rebel, suggests that the Turbot fishign on the Shambles is picking up, with some nice fish being landed, including this specimen 18lb 4oz for  Rob Thompson from Lymington, himself a charter boat skipper.

Its not just Turbot that are making and appearance, the mighty Chesil is finally waking from its post winter slumber and starting to produce some nice catches of other flat fish and rays.

Plaice are starting to show in reasonable numbers and have been for a few weeks now, Dave Barratt managed a cracking 3lb 12 Plaice and a nice Sole when they first moved onto the beach.

Demitri Loukanaris had a good evening session on the Western end of Chesil and landed this lovely Small Eyed Ray, just to prove how diverse the fishing is from the beach.

Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm with almost clear water

Portland: calm with clear water

Portland Harbour: calm and clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear water

Chesil Beach forecast: It is looking good for the next few days, with light winds and plenty of sunshine. Expect to catch Plaice and Rays from the western end of the beach, especially Abbotsbury. The rays are most likely to be caught during the hours of darkness on fish baits. I prefer Sandeel baits, but Mackerel or Blueys will work equally well, if the Dogfish don’t get to them first. Plaice can be caught on Ragworm. I prefer to use a Wishbone rig or a single clipped down rig.

With plenty of baitfish around the Mackerel are starting to show. I love the first Mackerel run of the year, as you know the Bass wont be far behind. Expect the Mackerel to show all along the beach, but it may be quite  wait between the shoals moving up and down the beach.

Portland: Conditions are good for both Pollock and Wrasse from the rock marks, especially around the Bill. I always use lures for Pollock, but they can be caught on float fished strips of Mackerel or ragworm.

The Wrasse are now starting to take lures, as they become much more aggressive as the water starts to warm. Small paddle tail lures or Fladen Verms are excellent choices for an early season Wrasse on light gear.

Portland Harbour: The bait fish are showing in numbers within the harbour. This means that Garfish and small Pollock will follow them in. It wont be long before the first Bass also start to appear.

Flounder are around in numbers at Sandsfoot Castle and Hamm Beach and the first Mullet could make an appearance as well.

Weymouth Bay: The piers will start to liven up as Mackerel and Garfish move in. I have had reports of lots of baitfish and Garfish showing from the Stone Pier.

Preston Beach will be fairly quite for a little time yet, but its still possible to catch Dabs and Flounder at close range. It may well be worth targeting the beach at night for a Ray.

Guiding: Bass fishing in the spring should be even better than in previous years. The ban on all commercial fishing during February and March, combined with a huge cut in the quotas, will all go to help increase the stock levels. The season carries on until the early winter, so make sure you book early this year.

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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If you want to find out more info about sea fishing reels, check out www.myseareels.com

Mixed Fortunes

Over the past couple of weeks the fishing has remained pretty hit or miss in the South Devon area. The weather has warmed up which has made things feel more pleasant to be out in. The catch rates haven’t warmed up a lot though. Last time I reported on how scratching techniques seemed to be working reasonably well from the beaches local to me. With no real significant sign that things were improving I have continued along this line of attack, joined once again by family members.

Following up his run of successful trips my dad was certainly up for trying to up his species count and also to try to get a nice sized flounder from the beach. Once again we stayed local to him and chose to fish the Ness Beach in Shaldon. Situated on the opposite side of the Teign Estuary to Teignmouth, Shaldon is a lovely coastal village. There are a few good spots to fish for bass and flounders along the river shoreline, particularly for bass in the raging waters of the river mouth over low water. With strong westerly winds again sweeping down the river we opted to go for the shelter of the Ness. I enjoy fishing the Ness; I caught my first bass from this beach many years ago. Fishing this beach always feels like a real adventure. Its main access point is through a smuggler’s tunnel cut straight through the sandstone cliffs.

The sounds of the wind and surf echo through the tunnel as you make your way down. You never know what you’ll find when you reach daylight at the bottom. On this day I found a very calm sea and not a breath of wind, with the cliffs behind us forming a perfect barrier to all Westerly breezes.

The calm, settled sea looked good to target flatfish from the clean ground in the middle of the beach. The ground becomes more mixed the closer you go to either end. I had an eye on the possibility of a plaice on the sandbanks further out. My dad hoped for flounder in the gulleys closer in. It was perhaps the nicest afternoon we have had all year, almost warm before the sunset. Unfortunately the crabs also felt it was a nice afternoon to be out and were on the feed hard. Nothing was safe from their hungry claws and we endured biteless hours over the top of the tide and into darkness. With that the full moon rose serenely over the sea and shone with all its intensity for the remainder of the session. A friend of ours, Gary, joined us and managed to winkle out a dogfish around dusk. I had a few runs on a large squid bait cast in close for a bass but couldn’t connect with anything. I suspect they were dogfish. Big bass are caught from this beach regularly but more often after an Easterly blow has stirred things up. Smoothounds appear later in the year. The beach does get very busy with tourists through the summer making night fishing and very early mornings the best time to fish. Dad and I suffered a blank but it was enjoyable to be out on an evening that finally felt like spring was here.

That poor result didn’t deter me from trying another beach for my next session. This time I was joined by Roy, my partner’s father. We met up in Sidmouth to fish the Jurassic Coast. With strong westerly winds forecast I picked a location on the main town beach that looked like it would offer some shelter. We both arrived a bit later than we would’ve liked due to the rugby being on the telly. We had our first baits in the water just as dusk was beginning to form a gloom around us.

Two offshore breakwaters protect this area of the beach and the town from the worst of the rough seas. They also provide shelter for many species of fish and a pathway for species to move into the shallower waters. Despite the forecast there was a complete lack of any wind and a nice feel to the air again, no chilly fingers when baiting up. Bites came as soon as the light went from the sky. With a heavy cloud cover it was a dim evening. A few waves were hitting the shore with force and the water was well coloured for some distance out. The first fish ashore was a bass of about a pound on a bait cast at distance on my rod. Roy, using his freshwater outfits, was soon into fish as well. Casting a Wessex rig beyond the breakers a good bite resulted in a small bull huss, certainly a surprise capture from the clean ground in front of us.

This was followed immediately by a slightly larger version. My baits got hit by dogfish soon after. I was pleased to see one as it was the first of the year for me, another species to add to my tally for the year. A solid strike onto Roy’s carp rod resulted in a very spirited scrap from a very chunky dogfish just before high water.

Weighing in at 2lb 5oz it was a very nice specimen from the shore at this time of year. She was safely returned just as a smaller specimen took my bait. It had been an action packed hour over the high water period. As the ebb tide began things went quiet for a while. Roy started packing up and went to refresh baits for one last cast. As he was dealing with one rod his other rod baited with sandeel and ragworms curved over alarmingly. I grabbed it to avoid losing it to the sea. A short fight followed before a shape appeared on the surface in the gloom, a ray.

It wasn’t going to break any records but it was Roy’s first ever small-eyed ray. I was delighted to see another species hit the beach and it was good to learn that they could be targeted from this section of the shore. Hopefully a sign that the corner is being turned in regards to our fishing fortunes. I stayed on another hour into the ebb for another dogfish before calling it a night myself. A much more fortunate evening than the week before and a renewed enthusiasm that things are improving locally. Roy was over the moon to see a number of different species on this session remarking that in sea fishing you really never know what you are going to catch.

Around the coast things have been quiet. A few plaice are showing from East Devon and the South Hams but not in the numbers they were last year. Mackerel and herring are being caught regularly from the deeper waters around Torbay.

I would expect more plaice to show over the coming weeks. Easterly winds are forecast which will kill things for a while. Thornback rays will be worth targeting from the shelter of the South Hams estuaries. Flounders will also be showing later in the month as they return from their offshore spawning grounds. I am hoping to try my hand at course fishing very soon and will hopefully be able to report on a new experience for me!

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LRF Profile – The Long Spined Sea Scorpion

Certain fish species are just icons for their respective scenes. The bass is the poster boy for heavy rock fishing, the carp for specimen coarse fishing and when it comes to LRF, one species is synonymous with the technique, the long spined sea scorpion.

The long spined sea scorpion, all fins and fury.

It’s easy to see why this species is so popular, it’s incredibly photogenic! Looking more like a venomous fish from the tropics, their habit of puffing up their spikes when handled makes every photo look epic. For such a small species, they are so individual and surprisingly aggressive, it’s inevitable that they capture the imagination.

In the UK we have two species of sea scorpion, the long spined and the short spined. Certain areas have more of one than the other, but the general rule is that the long spined is more common. It is also the smaller of the two, the record standing at just nine ounces, whereas the short spined grows to a significantly larger two pounds. Colour patterns of both species are extremely varied, from bright red, to purple, blue, black and dark brown, no two fish are the same. Combined with stripes and spots, these are beautiful creatures to behold.

Habitat-wise these fish prefer rocky areas with plenty of ambush sites – whether those rocks are naturally formed or artificially like harbours or sea defence walls, scorpions do not seem to be fussy. I’ve certainly found that rocks that border open sand tend to be prime feeding areas for these little predators. Though they hunt primarily through ambush, scorpion fish are surprisingly mobile. They quickly follow the tide up, whether this is swimming up the channels and gulleys in rocky areas or moving to and up the harbour wall. I once spent a day fishing the tide up on a sea defence made of boulders, the scorpions clearly moved in from the beach in only inches of water, you would get takes only at the edge of the tide. It was great evidence of the fish moving up with the rising water.

A short spined sea scorpion, notice the short spines and bulkier build. This one was caught by Jamie Sandford’s dad, Jamie kindly letting me use the pictures for comparison.

This angry looking specimen was caught in inches deep water on the rising tide.

Long spined sea scorpion have a mouth almost the width of their entire body, combined with a powerful digestive system, this is a species that can eat something almost the size of itself! As an angler this can lead to some entertaining catches, with lures and baits intended for larger species being gobbled up by this most greedy of mini-species. Their preferred food is normally prawns, shrimps, small fish and other small crustaceans and worms. This gives the LRF angler plenty of lure choice to target them, I will say though that personally, small silver or pink straw/ball tail lures and red Isome worms have been the most prolific for myself.

Probably the toughest part of targeting scorpions is catching every other fish species. Scorps’ share their habitat with all the other mini-species and singling out just them can be difficult. If you are fishing crystal clear rockpools or gulleys, then sight fishing is both exciting and effective. If you don’t have that luxury, say in deeper water like you find in harbours, then you will likely catch every other species before your target. Obviously this is the joy of LRF but if you’re on a species hunt, it’s worth being slightly more specific. A worthwhile tactic is to use slightly larger, unscented fish or prawn imitation lures, either dropshotted or on a jighead. You will catch less gobies and blennies, hopefully singling out your desired scorpion. Of course my best advice is to fish through all the species until you catch one, everyone loves variety.

With a Ballzy Worm lure in it’s mouth, this one was covered in glorious colouration.

Once caught you will quickly discover a few things: one being that although these fish have no real teeth, they have a powerful bite, easily latching on to your hook or finger! It’s not going to hurt too much, but it might bend your hook if you’re not careful in removing it. You might also be lucky to be experience the vibration they give out when threatened, it’s like a mobile phone going off in your hand. Overall you can’t help but be enamoured with the character and pompousness of this incredible little fish. As I always say, look after your catch, they are tough creatures but deserve our respect. Careful catch and release is always the way forward, you never know it might lead to catching that fish again!

If you enjoyed this post then take a look at my blog 

You can also find me on Facebook here. Feel free to contact me if you have any ideas on what fish profiles you’d like to read, if you would like any advice or if you just want to talk fishing.

I’m on Instagram too, search – benbassettfishing.

As always, thanks for reading.

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If you want to find out more info about sea fishing reels, check out www.myseareels.com

Scratching in the surf

Now certainly is the time of year when the fishing around South Devon can be particularly tough. The whiting have all but gone leaving the main targets relatively small, not easy to find and you simply have to put the hours in to get great results. This is not exactly an inspiring time for the everyday shore fisherman. The recent weather with a succession of low pressure systems causing strong winds and downpours  also does not get you feeling like heading out. There are fish to catch though if you want to enjoy a few hours on the beach as my dad and I have been doing recently.

If you have read my previous posts you will have seen that my dad has not long got into his shore fishing. For Christmas I had a 12ft rod remade up for him and ever since he has been chomping at the bit to get out and christen it. With the fishing not being too brilliant we opted not to travel far and have been hitting the beaches in the Dawlish and Teignmouth areas of the coastline. Our first sortee was to a small cove to the West of Dawlish beach. This was an area I had wanted to fish for a long time but had always been scuppered by big storms whenever I ventured down. This time, despite some high Southwest winds, the beach was decidedly fishable. The surf was stirring things up close to the shore and there was some fishy looking colour to the water.

The cove is surrounded by two small breakwaters protecting the train tracks behind. Beyond the breakers there are small broken reefs and gulleys. The place has a lot of potential for good fishing in my opinion. This first ever session saw us casting from the centre of the beach on a rising tide. I fished a large bait into the surf hoping for a nice bass and another rod further out to see what else might be about. Dad was getting to grips with casting his new, more powerful rod and was flicking small baits just beyond the breakers, at most, 40 yards. Squalls of rain and breeze came and went as the tide slowly rose. I knew fishing would be tough and the first couple of hours proved me right with no bites and barely a touch on any of the baits. Just before dusk began to settle in I noticed my dad’s pull down sharply and rise back into position, a definite bite but not the bass bite I expected to see in such conditions. Dad was keen to see if he had a fish but waited patiently to see if the bite would show again. A cup of coffee later and he could take it no more. A bend in his rod tip showed me he had something on and it wasn’t long before a nice plump flounder was sliding up the sand out of the churning waves.

Not the biggest fish but it made my dad’s day and got him a fish on his new rod. It was in great condition and duly went back strongly. Inspired, dad carried on casting just beyond the surf line saying he wanted a bigger one! Unfortunately that didn’t transpire. Darkness fell completely around us at the top of the tide, broken only by the lights of the passing trains, their rumbling muffled by the pounding waves. I struggled even after dark and had no bites at all. My dad however thoroughly enjoyed himself adding pout and shore rockling to his haul. With the tide ebbing away we became aware that there was a chill in the air and looked up to see a glorious clear sky full of stars which seemed in sharp focus that night. We called it a night a couple of hours after high water and arranged our next trip for the following week.

This time we made our way to Teignmouth to fish the main beach not too far from the mouth from the River Teign.

This is a beach I have had some really good fishing sessions from in the past. My personal best flounder came from nearby and the bass fishing can be non-stop later in the year. The river itself is one of the most famous flounder estuaries in the country. With large gusts of wind blowing straight down the estuary the beach was the obvious choice to have the breeze coming over our backs. We adopted the same tactics as the week before and fished the tide up. Once again bites were hard to come by until just before dark when dad missed what looked like a good flounder bite; my fault for telling him to lift into it too soon! Not long after the sun had disappeared behind Dartmoor did the fish come on the feed in force. I got the first bite on a small bait cast as far as I could get it (not a bad distance with the wind behind!) It looked suspiciously like a whiting but I was very pleased to find a small bar of silver skim its way through the coloured sea to my feet.

This was followed straight away by another. Then my dad’s rod start tapping away with the signs of another fat little school bass. The fish were really on the feed. I’d set dad up with some small wire booms on his rig which seems to work fantastically in the surf, the short snoods rarely tangle and the catch rate was much higher than for my plain flapping rig. He was over the moon to land a double shot of bass and a whiting, followed up with more bass. He then added a fat five-bearded rockling to his count.

He was catching two fish to one on me using his scratching rig in the surf and was overjoyed at the end of the session when he tallied up six species over his two sessions, three of them new fish for his catch list. I was happy with a few schoolies myself and I also winkled out a five-bearded rockling for my annual species tally right on the last cast of the night. Two very enjoyable trips at not the best time of year. It was awesome to see my dad really getting to grips with his fishing now. We will be out together again very soon to try to up his species tally and see what else we can get from the local surf beaches.

Elsewhere around the coast it has been a similar story of school bass and various smaller species. Interestingly a few smoothounds, small plaice and rays have started to show in the South Hams areas, hopefully a sign that it won’t be long before things improve dramatically. My good friend Mark has been out and about trying for the big predators. A few strap congers have come his way. He also caught an intriguing rarity, a topnot, on one of his conger baits.

A fish I’ve never seen in the flesh but becoming a more common capture in these days of species hunting and LRF fishing.

The coming weeks locally will see hopefully more plaice turning up around the South Hams. Small eyed, spotted and thornback rays are also viable targets as the month progresses. If the weather settles down a bit and the sea clears, mackerel will also be showing from the Torbay marks.

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If you want to find out more info about sea fishing reels, check out www.myseareels.com

Scratching in the surf

Now certainly is the time of year when the fishing around South Devon can be particularly tough. The whiting have all but gone leaving the main targets relatively small, not easy to find and you simply have to put the hours in to get great results. This is not exactly an inspiring time for the everyday shore fisherman. The recent weather with a succession of low pressure systems causing strong winds and downpours  also does not get you feeling like heading out. There are fish to catch though if you want to enjoy a few hours on the beach as my dad and I have been doing recently.

If you have read my previous posts you will have seen that my dad has not long got into his shore fishing. For Christmas I had a 12ft rod remade up for him and ever since he has been chomping at the bit to get out and christen it. With the fishing not being too brilliant we opted not to travel far and have been hitting the beaches in the Dawlish and Teignmouth areas of the coastline. Our first sortee was to a small cove to the West of Dawlish beach. This was an area I had wanted to fish for a long time but had always been scuppered by big storms whenever I ventured down. This time, despite some high Southwest winds, the beach was decidedly fishable. The surf was stirring things up close to the shore and there was some fishy looking colour to the water.

The cove is surrounded by two small breakwaters protecting the train tracks behind. Beyond the breakers there are small broken reefs and gulleys. The place has a lot of potential for good fishing in my opinion. This first ever session saw us casting from the centre of the beach on a rising tide. I fished a large bait into the surf hoping for a nice bass and another rod further out to see what else might be about. Dad was getting to grips with casting his new, more powerful rod and was flicking small baits just beyond the breakers, at most, 40 yards. Squalls of rain and breeze came and went as the tide slowly rose. I knew fishing would be tough and the first couple of hours proved me right with no bites and barely a touch on any of the baits. Just before dusk began to settle in I noticed my dad’s pull down sharply and rise back into position, a definite bite but not the bass bite I expected to see in such conditions. Dad was keen to see if he had a fish but waited patiently to see if the bite would show again. A cup of coffee later and he could take it no more. A bend in his rod tip showed me he had something on and it wasn’t long before a nice plump flounder was sliding up the sand out of the churning waves.

Not the biggest fish but it made my dad’s day and got him a fish on his new rod. It was in great condition and duly went back strongly. Inspired, dad carried on casting just beyond the surf line saying he wanted a bigger one! Unfortunately that didn’t transpire. Darkness fell completely around us at the top of the tide, broken only by the lights of the passing trains, their rumbling muffled by the pounding waves. I struggled even after dark and had no bites at all. My dad however thoroughly enjoyed himself adding pout and shore rockling to his haul. With the tide ebbing away we became aware that there was a chill in the air and looked up to see a glorious clear sky full of stars which seemed in sharp focus that night. We called it a night a couple of hours after high water and arranged our next trip for the following week.

This time we made our way to Teignmouth to fish the main beach not too far from the mouth from the River Teign.

This is a beach I have had some really good fishing sessions from in the past. My personal best flounder came from nearby and the bass fishing can be non-stop later in the year. The river itself is one of the most famous flounder estuaries in the country. With large gusts of wind blowing straight down the estuary the beach was the obvious choice to have the breeze coming over our backs. We adopted the same tactics as the week before and fished the tide up. Once again bites were hard to come by until just before dark when dad missed what looked like a good flounder bite; my fault for telling him to lift into it too soon! Not long after the sun had disappeared behind Dartmoor did the fish come on the feed in force. I got the first bite on a small bait cast as far as I could get it (not a bad distance with the wind behind!) It looked suspiciously like a whiting but I was very pleased to find a small bar of silver skim its way through the coloured sea to my feet.

This was followed straight away by another. Then my dad’s rod start tapping away with the signs of another fat little school bass. The fish were really on the feed. I’d set dad up with some small wire booms on his rig which seems to work fantastically in the surf, the short snoods rarely tangle and the catch rate was much higher than for my plain flapping rig. He was over the moon to land a double shot of bass and a whiting, followed up with more bass. He then added a fat five-bearded rockling to his count.

He was catching two fish to one on me using his scratching rig in the surf and was overjoyed at the end of the session when he tallied up six species over his two sessions, three of them new fish for his catch list. I was happy with a few schoolies myself and I also winkled out a five-bearded rockling for my annual species tally right on the last cast of the night. Two very enjoyable trips at not the best time of year. It was awesome to see my dad really getting to grips with his fishing now. We will be out together again very soon to try to up his species tally and see what else we can get from the local surf beaches.

Elsewhere around the coast it has been a similar story of school bass and various smaller species. Interestingly a few smoothounds, small plaice and rays have started to show in the South Hams areas, hopefully a sign that it won’t be long before things improve dramatically. My good friend Mark has been out and about trying for the big predators. A few strap congers have come his way. He also caught an intriguing rarity, a topnot, on one of his conger baits.

A fish I’ve never seen in the flesh but becoming a more common capture in these days of species hunting and LRF fishing.

The coming weeks locally will see hopefully more plaice turning up around the South Hams. Small eyed, spotted and thornback rays are also viable targets as the month progresses. If the weather settles down a bit and the sea clears, mackerel will also be showing from the Torbay marks.

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Chasing Winter Silver

On a blustery and damp Monday night in February, I find myself searching for silver. The ‘Tamar Tarpon’ (I unfortunately can’t take credit for that excellent nickname) aka the Atlantic herring, rumoured to be in the river in huge numbers. An LRF angling opportunity on my doorstep I’d be a fool to miss. Not one to sit bored watching television, I ready the rod and make my way to the river.

I don’t fish the Tamar often enough, it’s the river that divides Devon and Cornwall neatly almost the entirety of the border. The lower reaches and the mouth of this river are only a two minute walk from my house, yet in my own desire for wilder climbs I often ignore it. Not this night though, tonight I’m embracing my local, if not exactly picturesque, fishing marks.

Drizzle, wind and low temperatures, what else could you possibly desire?

The sun is long gone and the only illumination left is the orange glow of streetlights. The cloud is low and reflects the light pollution, almost gives the impression there’s embers burning behind it. I’m at my first mark and it’s as far removed from the more poetically beautiful coastline, only a few miles away, as you can get. North Corner Pontoon in Devonport. It’s grubby, ugly and home to many a rat, but I love it. I caught my first fish here, a tiny ballan wrasse, so I’ll always have a soft spot for it. It’s a popular mark and there are already two anglers bait fishing on the pontoon.

I’m not interested in fishing from the pontoon though, I require a casting point where light hits the water. To the right there is a large accessible ledge with a streetlight beaming onto the surface. I know this to be a fish magnet, any area with artificial light on the water at night, provides a great chance of holding fish. The wind is strong, though not consistent, so I opt for a heavier jighead than I’d ideally like. Three grams might not seem like a lot, but it falls a little too quick through the water column for my liking, but it’s the only way to get the lure out there in this wind so I persevere. I lift the rod tip constantly to slow the fall but I’m cautious not to be too erratic.

Small ‘ballzy worm’ lures bring small plucks and hits but nothing concrete. I switch over to an inch of the ever reliable Power Isome and it brings instant results. I use a slow pulsing retrieve through the artificially lit water and a fish is on. The spirited dive with no real power gives up the perpetrator immediately, a tiny pollack. Quickly I follow it up with two more. The silver fish are eluding me!

Fishing at night and quality photos do not go hand in hand, but these micro pollack deserve a little limelight, they save many a blank!

It’s very clearly obvious the herring aren’t here so I move on. I head to probably my least favourite mark in Plymouth, Mount Wise. I have no real reason not to like it, the area holds fish and regularly throws up great catches yet I can’t get on with it. It’s a very open and exposed promenade with few obvious features besides streetlights. I suppose it doesn’t help that it holds a greater selection of trolleys and baskets than your average Tesco! It’s these snags that make me thankful I’m using a cheap AGM jighead tonight, I can afford to lose two or three of these.

These cheap AGM jigheads are perfect when fishing snaggy areas, combined with a length of Power Isome you will always find fish.

There’s three fishermen bait fishing on the most prominent spot, a small pier that juts out a couple of metres to either side. To the right of me at the end there is an angler fishing LRF under the streetlamp. Unfortunately the spot I wanted to try but alas I’ll try left. I make my casts into the dark, the random gusts of wind blow me off balance. It’s not easy to keep in touch with my lure at times. This is both the frustration and joy of winter LRF, the conditions are awful but the satisfaction when you catch a fish is addictive. I keep casting, trying out different depths but, with only one stray hit to work with, it’s uninspiring stuff!

The three guys fishing on the pier have moved and I’m wasting no time in trying there. The gap between one side of the pier and the inside wall is well lit and calm. If there’s fish anywhere they must be here. I cast out and then twitch it back, keeping it about a metre under the surface. A solid hit! Then another. The hits continue without a hook up right until it’s under the rod tip. I cut down the Isome so it barely extends past the hook and recast. The hit is instant again but this time I connect. The fish feels rather strong and it’s definitely not a pollack. It is a few metres out and is dogged in it’s fight against me. Though not large enough to take line, I’m relieved when I see silver. Unfortunately though, not silver enough to be a herring. I get it on land and it’s revealed to be a sand smelt, a rather large one too.

A chunky little sand smelt, a welcome sight on chilly nights!

Sand smelt are a small species of pelagic shoaling fish. They are unusual in that they are not particularly slimy and smell rather pleasant. It can only be described as cucumber-like. The one I hold in my hands is certainly the chunkiest I’ve ever caught, though still only about five inches long. I try to contain it’s wriggling for two seconds to take a picture, not easy in the wind and drizzle. After a couple of satisfactory photos it is returned to swim again.

I really want a herring now and subsequent casts have brought me only more smelt. As lovely as they are I want a real pull on the rod, something that right now only a herring or a bass is going to provide. The LRF’er on the end looks like he’s packing up, so I figure he’s worth chatting to, perhaps he’s had more luck with the herring than I. I walk over and on the floor in a plastic bag is my answer, it’s full of herring (and a little annoyingly, an undersize pollack, but I’m not in the mood to pick a fight). The chap is leaving but says there’s plenty of herring here still, which is music to my silver deprived ears.

The streetlight beams directly onto the water here and you can occasionally see fish flashing under the surface. I put on a slightly longer piece of Isome and cast out just beyond the light. I twitch it back for immediate results. A real pull back, then another, then I strike and connect. This fish is no smelt! It’s turbo-charged and takes line handsomely then shakes the hook. This happens again twice. The fourth fish is truly on and I yank it in just so I can see it.

This photo really shows the varied colour palette in the herring. True disco balls in fish form.

The ‘Tamar Tarpon’ in all it’s iridescent glory, those silver scales reflecting blues, pinks and lilacs at me. A true disco ball of a fish. Their mouth is incredibly thin and it’s easy to see how the hook pulls out so often. Trying to take pictures of such a lively fish, whilst also trying not to shake any of it’s scales off is a test. Their beautiful large scales seem to be held on by a thread, they lose them so easy and I’m careful to minimise touching the fish. Unlike the angler before me I require no food for the pot, just the simple joy of catching such a beautiful thing. I quickly return it.

With that tarpon-like mouth and slim, streamlined build, it’s no wonder these fish fight so well.

I’m now hooking fish after fish, a lot are shaking the hook right at the end. This suits me as I’m only here for the fight. With the drag set light the herring rocket off! Some go deep and fight like a scad, others do their best impression of a garfish and leap from the water. In difficult wind and a constant drizzle, it’s a relief to find such electric sport. I milk each fight and there are many, I lose count but it’s easily over twenty in only fifteen minutes. Only mackerel can rival this species for sheer numbers, greed and outright speed!

With a massive smile on my face I head home, my lust for silver abated. As I drive home I see the flickering of televisions on curtains, I imagine the people inside, warm but numbingly watching television. I’m chilled to the bone and smell of herring, but I know who had the more memorable of nights.

If you enjoyed this post then take a look at my blog.

You can also find me on Facebook here. Feel free to contact me if you would like any advice or if you just want to talk fishing.

I’m on Instagram too, search – benbassettfishing.

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If you want to find out more info about sea fishing reels, check out www.myseareels.com