This is the first of a series of seasonal rigs we are going to produce over the year.
The Wishbone rig is a firm favourite amongst anglers targeting flat fish, especially Plaice, Flounder and Dabs. The main advantage of the wishbone rig, is it allows two hooks to be fished on the sea bed. It is normally used with small to medium sized baits, otherwise everything become too bulky, making casting difficult. When I make a wishbone rig, I like to design it to be clipped down to get extra distance when using it.
If crabs are a nuisance the wishbone section of the rig can be tied with micro swivels in place of the top stop knots and beads. This allows you to replace a single hook and snood, should a crab snip it off.
There is very little explanation needed to go with the diagrams below. However you should note that if you use beads with it, you will reduce your casting distance with each set if beads you add. If distance is essential then remove the beads all together.
At last the baitfish that I have been waiting for are here and so are the Bass. No great numbers of Bass yet, but they are starting to show around Poole, Plymouth and Portland harbours. The bad news is the May water bloom has started. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it is an algae bloom that is caused by increased sunlight and water temperature. This causes a massive growth in plankton, which colours up the waters.
This often puts fish off from coming into the water as it reduces the oxygen levels and when it is at its worst, can cause irritation to the fishes gills. The positive side to it, is it brings much needed life to the water, as it provides the first part of the food chain for the small fry.
I am sure you are all fed up by now with me going on about how important the bait fish are to the predators. Well last week we had reports of the top of the food chain, visiting Abbotsbury. Several sharks were spotted hitting the shoals of Mackerel no more than 60 yards out. I have also seen video of a Basking Shark in the same area. The May water will contain the rich nutrients that that Basking Sharks feed on, but it is certainly the Mackerel and Herring that the Thresher and Porbeagle sharks like. I suspect that at this time of year, it was a Thresher Shark. Anyone catching one of those from the UK shores will certainly make headlines.
The May water hasn’t put a stop to the fishing as Ian Clark and Chris Clarke found out on Friday afternoon on a trip to Abbotsbury. Ian managed three cracking Plaice, the best going 3lb 2oz.
They also had a number of Smoothound over 6lb, with Chris managing the best one at 8lb. All the fish were caught on Ragworm, Lugworm and Squid.
Well it is back to sea fishing for me from this week. I have had a bit of a break from it, as I waited for the fishing to improve. My main target over the past few weeks has been numerous species of coarse fish on the fly. I have had lots of Carp and small species such as Roach and a few Pike. I have been concentrating on the Pike before the water gets too warm to fish for them. it was during a Pike session last week that I managed to hook this double figure Bream on a Pike fly. I spotted the Bream near the margins, with several others. I am pretty sure they were spawning, so I had no intention of targeting them. However where they were is normally a good Pike holding spot, but as the fly went past the Bream, it turned on it and grabbed it. I was pretty happy to land it.
That wasn’t the end of my better fish last week, as I managed to land this 16lb Pike on a lure. All in all I had a pretty good couple of weeks, but now the sea fishing is picking up, I will be doing more of that and less of the freshwater fishing. Maybe!
With the summer now upon us, many of you from outside the area may well be thinking about coming down to Dorset for a holiday this summer. There are many places to stay in the area, but if you are looking for somewhere central that would be good for your family, then it is well worth taking a look at Parkdean Holiday parks. With a number of parks throughout the county they can offer great family breaks, close to some fantastic fishing marks, there is also the addition of offering freshwater fishing at their complex at Warmwell. I have been working in conjuntion with Parkdean and some other local operators and clubs to create a guide to fishing in this area. For more details check out this casting your net in Dorset article
Chesil Beach: calm with lightly coloured water
Portland: calm with lightly coloured water.
Portland harbour: calm and clear water
Weymouth Bay: Calm with lightly coloured water
Chesil Beach forecast: The beach is now starting to come alive and is well worth a visit. During the day you can expect mackerel, Plaice and Smoothound. The first of the Gurnards should start to show in numbers soon. Night tides will also produce Smoothound, as well as Pout, Dogfish and Rays.
If you want Plaice then head towards West Bexington and Abbotsbury, but if you are looking for the early Gurnard, then you want the other end of the beach towards Portland.
Portland: It seems that lure fishing is becoming ever more popular on Portland. I had a walk down the Bill this afternoon to see more lure fishermen than I have ever seen there. Wrasse were the main catch, but a number of Pollock were also caught. I don’t normally target Bass on Portland until much later in the year, but there is always the chance of picking one or two up.
If you fancy trying some float fishing then go for a ragworm for Wrasse and Pollock, or better still a Mackerel strip for them and Garfish.
Portland Harbour: The harbour has suddenly come alive. I seen lots of birds working the bait fish close to the shore. This suggests that Pollock, Garfish and Bass are pushing them to the surface. I have heard from a number of anglers saying that they have had both Flounder and Plaice. Boat anglers have had Thornbacks close to the shore.
Weymouth Bay: As usual the piers provide easy fishing both during the day and at night. Preston will fish for all sorts of flat fish and Rays, as well as Bass.
Guiding: The new guiding season is underway once again. Although we can’t keep any Bass at the moment, we can certainly catch them. 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]
Honeypot Lakes is a day ticket complex in central Essex, boasting two lakes stocked with carp to well over 30lbs and catfish up to nearly 50lbs, it’s a great place to enjoy a day’s fishing.
Following a series of successful winter matches, Jim the owner decided to hold a catfish pairs match on the 8th May. I teamed up with my friend Ben, and after weeks of preparation (as well as the obligatory last minute panic), we arrived at the venue. On a quick walk round the lake I spotted some fish rolling, so when the draw came round I could make an informed decision about the location. We were lucky enough to come out second, and I wasted no time in securing the ‘Blowout’ swim.
With such hot weather, I assumed the cats would be up in the water, so as I tackled up the rods with polyball rigs, Ben went to catch some livebait from the ‘pleasure lake’. A polyball rig suspends the bait off the bottom, using a variation of the knotless knot to make the hook stand-off at 90 degrees, aiding hooking. Finally 3 o’clock arrived, and as leads crashed in around the lake, we too cast our lines into the water, positioning rigs at varying ranges and depths to intercept any fish in the swim.
After an uneventful hour, it was evidently going to be a slow match, but as we sat enjoying the sunshine my left hand rod exploded into life. I was forced to give line from the start, evidently attached to a good fish and as the minutes passed a crowd gathered in the swim. It was a tense fight as I prayed the fish would stay on, but I needn’t have worried as before long Ben squeezed the fish into the net, putting us on the score board.
As luck would have it, I’d landed one of the bigger cats, my new UK personal best, weighing in at 39lbs 10oz and I was really pleased to have caught it. We couldn’t celebrate too much however, as the pressure was still on and we knew that one fish could turn the tables. The rod was quickly recast, along with another, to the successful range and depth, hoping that there would be more fish in the area.
Seeing our result, other teams followed suit and we saw several livebait rigs cast out. We knew that more action was on the way and before long the team on ‘Rovers Point’ were into a cat. I went round and watched nervously as he fought it, but as the fish went in the net, I could see we were still in the lead. This fish weighed 29lbs 4oz and although it wasn’t enough to take the top spot, we still wanted another fish to secure our place out in front.
We needn’t have worried, as I hadn’t been back in the swim long when the same rod was away. This time it was Ben’s turn and a twitchy bite saw him in contact with his first ever catfish. He did everything right and before long the fish was beaten. Ben was ecstatic with his 27lb cat, which took our total to 66lbs 10oz.
With 4 hours to go, all the teams sat in anticipation of action, but the cats stopped feeding confidently and what followed was a series of dropped runs and single bleeps which continued until darkness fell.
At around 9 o’clock the action stopped and as we sat there in the darkness, we were quietly confident of winning. The final minutes seemed to last an age, and I lost count of how many times I checked my watch, but eventually Jim walked into the swim, shook our hands and handed over the hard won £300.
It was a tough afternoon’s fishing but with a PB and the prize money as a bonus, I had a great time. I’d like to say thanks to Ben for his hard work as well as to Jim and Selina for organising and hosting the match. Well done to all the other competitors, I look forward to the next match!
On the catch n cook theme, Here’s how to dress or prepare your cooked lobster and make a cheeky Lobster salad!
The Lobster has been cooked in boiling salted water for 25 mins
Close up view of the beast.
The Lobster has been turned over and cut in half with a strong blade(wooden board is best)
It’s now time to remove the waist and brown meat from the head, remove and rinse the shell under a tap until cleaned, the red Coral pictured is edible and is the Lobsters eggs/caviar…
The washed out shell
Remove the meat from the tail in one piece then slice it up and present the meat upside down in the shell
The nippers have been cracked and presented in the head part of the shell, the finished dish is elegant and stunning to the eye, served with an espresso shot of garlic mayo…
Bassmans cheeky Lobster salad served with vine ripened cherry tomatoes and fresh Rocket with a twist of lemon..(crusty bread a must)
The fishing was pretty much as I expected it to be this weekend. Plenty of Mackerel, some cracking Rays, lots of Wrasse and Pollock from the rocks, but no baitfish showing, hence that lack of Bass. The Plaice fishing was also as poor as I thought it would be, with only a few anglers managing to pick any up.
As is the norm for the early runs of Mackerel, the shoals were large when they came through and then they would be gone for hours. They are often at range in the early weeks, especially if there is an easterly wind driving the baitfish offshore, as was the case over the weekend. My mate John Cady, came down to fish the area on Saturday and we decided to try for the Mackerel with lures instead of getting the beachcasters out. John did manage to find the Mackerel at the extreme range of his casting, but it’s a lot more fun on a lure rod.
I have seen some great pictures of double figure Undulate Rays that were caught at Abbotsbury over the weekend. Shaun Royal, on a night session at Abbotsbury managed one of 14lb 2oz. Unfortunately I don’t yet have the permission to use the pictures. He caught the ray on chunks of Mackerel.
I mentioned earlier that my mate John came down for a session. After trying for a Bass with me, he headed back to Portland for a go at the Wrasse and Pollock on lures. He managed this lovely Wrasse on a Fiiish Black Minnow, one of his favourite soft plastic lures.
As the light started to fade he switched to a Tronixpro shore jig and managed a load of Pollock, with the best going to 3lb. In the picture below, of one of his smaller Pollock, you can see the lures has no trebles, but is fitted with a single assist hook, to reduce damage to the fish when practicing catch and release. It also helps when getting caught in the kelp. The lure is very similar to the Fladen shore jig’s that I have used to catch a lot of fish last year
Although it was a bit poor for Bass from the shore this weekend, we know that they will be here soon as Luke Pettis, Skipper of Weymouth charter boat Snapper found out whilst searching for Cod and Pollock. Almost all of his customers managed to get into the Bass on one drift. All the Bass were released.
Make sure you check in each day this week as we have some cracking articles in the pipeline including a report from Plymouth and a delicious recipe from our Bassman, Paul Gordon.
Chesil Beach: calm with clear water
Portland: Small swell and lightly coloured water.
Portland harbour: calm and clear water
Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear water
Chesil Beach forecast: Expect plenty of Mackerel for this week, as well as more Rays. I am pretty sure that with this clear water and fairly settled conditions, we will see more Plaice, especially from the Abbotsbury end of the beach. The big issue that we have at the moment, is Spider Crabs. They are around in large numbers.
The Spider crabs are capable of stripping your bait in minutes and snipping off your snoods. The use of floating beads will help a bit, but regular checks on your bait, will make sure that when a fish does come along, you have a chance of there being some bait left on the hook.
Portland: Wrasse and Pollock fishing will continue to be good on Portland this week, especially during the early part of the week.
May is one of the best months to catch a big Conger on a night session on the rocks. Heavy gear and large fish baits are required, but huge Conger have regularly been caught this month.
Portland Harbour: I fished the harbour several times over the weekend with lures. The results were poor, with no sign of any Bass, but there was a number of Garfish, which can be lots of fun if you target them with light tackle. I am sure most of you have seen this video I made a couple of years ago, on how to catch Garfish, but for those that didn’t then have a look.
Weymouth Bay: Lots to catch around Weymouth and Preston at the moment. The Harbour has some lovely Mullet in it and the piers are fishing well for Garfish, Pollock, Mackerel, Wrasse and Pout. Preston Beach has seen a few Dabs and the odd Plaice. It is often one of the first marks to produce Gurnard.
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Guiding: The new guiding season is underway once again. Although we can’t keep any Bass at the moment, we can certainly catch them. 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]
The first set of Spring tides in May, has traditionally been my benchmark for the start of the Bass season. We normally see an influx of smaller Bass in the 2-3lb range, and reports from Kimmeridge and Ringstead indicate that some are starting to show. However, as I mentioned last week the bait fish have not arrived in numbers yet, so that may well delay the Bass. There are plenty of large Bass being caught by Commercial Bass boats towards the Isle of White and St Albans head.
Personally I will be out trying for some Bass this weekend. At the early part of the season, I normally head towards Kimmeridge and Ringstead, but after being caught up in a landslip at Kimmeridge last year, I wont be going there again. I urge anyone to either avoid that area or take great care to not go under the cliffs.
9lb Bass
This year I will probably start off at the reefs around Sandsfoot Castle, as the Bass normally come in looking for Peeler Crabs. Fresh Peeler are without a doubt one of the best ways to target fish, other than by lure. If you want to find out how to find Peeler Crab and how to prepare them, then have a look at these couple of videos I produced.
One piece of good news is that the Mackerel are about in good numbers now. Reports from the tackle shop at Abbotsbury indicate that they are being caught in good numbers down that end of the beach.
What’s not so good is the lack of Plaice. Don’t get me wrong, there are Plaice around on Chesil, but not as many as you would expect.
As part of our new catch & cook series of videos, we decided to produce a filleting one. Gavin Parsons shows how to fillet a Pollock, but the same techniques can be used on most of the common white round fish in the UK.
There are good numbers of Squid being caught from Brighton and a few from Plymouth. There is no reason for them not to come from the piers at Weymouth.
Guiding on lures and bait: now the the weather is starting to improve I will be concentrating on Lure fishing again. Although we can’t take any Bass we can still fish for them. I am limiting my guides to 100 this year, which is a 30% drop from last year. I want to concentrate more on creating videos. However we can offer guided services in Poole and Plymouth, as well as the North East of England. If you would like to be a Fishing Tails guide then please contact us for more details.
After one of my best fishing sessions I’ve had in a long while the other weekend, it was nice to plan a fishing trip without putting too much pressure on myself. With that in mind I set off to Southbourne with three rods and two bags of frozen mackerel determined to catch myself a turbot.
Using three rods gives you lots of options:
I fished one in close on long flowing rigs.
One blasted as far as I could get it with clipped down flowing rigs for added distance
A third casting in between the other two with a plain lead allowing it to roll around covering lots of ground. Seeking out those fish holding gulley and holes.
Long story short I never had a sniff from a turbot or any other fish until slack water at midnight when the dogs came on the feed. At that point I knew it was definitely time to pack up.
I wasn’t too disheartened, I had tried for a new species so I don’t expect results overnight. It takes time and a few man hours on the beach to learn what are the best tides weather and bait etc! All of which, as always, goes into my little black book. Whilst I was fishing I also enjoyed one of Southbourne’s added bonuses. The sunsets down there can be stunning, so it was nice to kick back and soak up nature’s spectacle and just chill out. It was that or “Britain’s got Talent” I know which one I would choose every time!
In the lead up to the bank holiday the weather hadn’t looked great and in order to earn some much needed brownie points I had agreed to do some bank holiday jobs around the house.
By midday Saturday I had finished all my chores, I raced down to the beach and dug a few worms for a couple of hours plaice fishing at Sandbanks.
By 1 pm I was just casting out the first rod of the session. The beach was packed with dog walkers and families enjoying the early season sun but I selected a quietish spot between the groins to setup. I always bring my dog “scooby” with me when I go fishing so I know the problems associated with dogs and anglers. I keep my bait covered up and any hooks or weights,knives or any other dangerous items stowed away so he wont hurt himself on any of it and my dog is well trained enough that I can trust him not to do anything stupid when my back is turned. That way no dog walker feels he has the right to be lecturing me on fishing around their dogs.
Imagine my disgust when, after returning to my seat box after casting out, I find the seat cushion was soaked in dog pee. I knew it wasn’t my dogs as he can’t get his leg up that high! Looking around for the offending dog or owner nobody owned up or apologised. It just go to show the lack of control and respect that some dog owners have for the rest of the beach users.
That was enough for me and I moved my base camp up to the end of one of the long stone groynes.(that was after I had washed all my kit in the sea).
As well as being out the way of all the dogs, being on the end of the groyne gives me a few extra yards casting distance. Two rigs baited with lug and rag went out as far as I could get them and one at the end of the groyne. For the first time in a long time water visibility/clarity was very clear and ideal for plaice. It’s just a shame the tides and weather weren’t..
Warm sunny spells in between heavy sleet and hail showers were still a sign summer is not quite here yet.
Nevertheless it was pleasant when the sun came out. Now all I needed was a plaice.
High water came and went! Usually the time I would expect to see a flattie. Another hour went by and I resigned myself to just enjoying the weather as it looked like the plaice weren’t going to play ball! Reeling in to rebait one of the distance rods I felt a little tug and a slight resistance on the end of the the line. In the clear water I could see a perfectly formed small plaice on the end of my line. Target species accounted for!
About thirty minutes later I had another plaice slightly larger closer in.
In a short session I had set out to catch a plaice and that is exactly what I had done! It’s just a shame I didn’t get any of the six pounders that I know Sandbanks can produce.
OUTLOOK
Rays are still being caught on all the local marks and we are starting to see a trickle of summer species being caught too.
One of which is the black bream. These fish punch well above their weight and can be caught on worm, mackerel, squid or shellfish baits.
In the past through the summer, bream have been caught off the groynes at Sandbanks and any scrub ground off of Southbourne’s shores. Milford shingle bank is another good area to fish for them. They don’t require any specialist tackle and are very often caught whilst targeting other species. The best fishing I have had for them is on the boats off of Bournemouth using light spinning tackle and 6lb braid is the best fun I have ever had catching these scrappy little fighters.
Many charter boats from Poole offer specific trips for bream with 4,6 or 8 hour trips depending on your budget.
Check the out the local tackle shops for more details on charters.
Early indications are that mullet are showing in and around the harbour too. It won’t be long before I will be free lining a bit of crust off the edge of the quay in the evenings.
With the long summer nights. I will be offering guiding trips throughout the week in the evenings as well as guiding trips Saturday days or nights. Any species catered for.
