PLAYING THE GAME

Hello to all

In a time dominated by politics and news of horrific acts a grey cloud of uncertainty looms over myself and humanity as a whole! the tittle tattle of the election and all the bullshit on social media is getting right on my tits.As a species we are totally fucked! I don't mean Armageddon is round the corner......just that we are so unnecessarily complicated.One thing I am certain about is that I fucking love angling! the water is always there to offer us a degree of escapism.....The hunt continues,

Not a lot to shout about recently....not for the lack of effort mind!

The Bristol channel has been kicking my ass,I fished a session on a low water mark a few weeks back which ended up being a stern reminder of how harsh shore fishing can really be to ones inner Zen.upon arriving at the mark I was blinking knackered due to a week on the grind and a few to many cervaza's the night before,The wind was up way more than the weather man had told me but I decided to brave it,In all honesty I was that desperate to catch a Ray I would have fished no matter what,in my head I knew this was not going to be a walk in the park....I opened my rig wallet to grab a pair of pulley rigs when the whole lot was blown from my grasp sending the contents everywhere! I was flapping about like a madman trying to save my valuable rig bits whilst the dog just sat there with a bemused look on his face.I'm sure he was thinking what the hell are you doing bringing us here on a day like this you fool.

I just about got my act together along with a couple of baits in the water,an hour or so passed in which time my tripod had shit itself a couple to many times for my liking....my reels were caked in sand and I was beginning to feel that mother nature was repeatedly kicking me in the bollocks...however on that particular day I was too stubborn or some might say stupid to walk away from this procession of calamity's fish-less.

My first ever Turbot was my reward for staying calm and braving the shit winds,My next few trips on the channel were complete blanks,the weather was scorching hot but the fishing was cold as ice...other than that I have been scratching around on a few local marks catching a few fish here and there mainly on quick after work sessions.

Til next time

Good luck

ON A ROLL

Hello to all

Unfortunately I have felt the need to take a few days of work,my back is and knees are sending me a rather painful message to slow down for a bit.....bloody right an all I can barley pull a sock on let alone go plastering or fishing......uffff I hate being out of action stuck indoors whilst all the while I just want to be next to some salt-water casting a few baits,it really drives home how for granted I take able bodied-ness! any way I have had a few needles pushed into the pressure points at the old giroprachtor's and thankfully things are beginning to ease......I wont be entering any gymnastic competitions any time soon but hey.

On a brighter note I had a very busy weekend angling so enough about my battered bones......after the capture of the Thornback's last weekend we decided to hit the channel again, but this time the target would be small eyed ray from a different mark.Myself ,Sensai Collingridge, Big H and Pepe Headed up the M5 all buzzing at the prospect of a few Rays.We made a quick stop of at West coast tackle to pick up a few bits and bend Craig Butler's ear.....who was more than helpful so cheers buddy.Next came the obligatory trek to the mark which the dog enjoyed but the rest of us that were lugging heavy items of tackle found it a bit less pleasant.
Being predominately a low water mark we had jumped the gun a bit as the tide still had a lot of water to shed before we could comfortably cast over the boulders onto the sand,we weren't in a hurry mind so we took our time setting up whilst enjoying the sun and surrounding's.
I made a few casts with just a lead to check if I could make it onto the clear ground,after successfully retrieving the lead a few times I clipped on the baited pulley rigs......as did the boys.

 I didn't take long for the pooches to home in on the juicy fish baits,we were hauling from the off .I had two on a rig at one point....proper tricked me into shouting Ray on!Thankfully once the tide had fully receded they seemed to bugger off for a while.We scooted our tripods down with the tide and it wasn't long before Tom connected with a decent fish....

Excited as ever I made my way to the water's edge hoping it was Toms Small eyed,upon grabbing the leader a pair of wings flapped up in the muddy water...."You've got it" I shouted back.

Two target species in two trips isn't bad uh? "on a roll boys" I looked up to notice one of my lines had gone slack.....I clambered my way to the rods to checkout the enquiry which turned out to be a small Conger....bloody thing tricked me into thinking I had a Ray.

Soon enough the tide was quickly on its way back in, forcing us to retreat up the boulder's; which is a bit of a chore and not for the average pleasure angler.As tide and time pushed we were not catching anything... it was getting close to calling it a day but not before both myself and big H hooked into good fish....I lost mine about a minute or so into the fight, all the while H looked like he was hooked into a monster! " keep reeling!!!" I pleaded.... by this time I was already in the drink trying not to break my ankles amongst the boulders. after a tense few minutes I had the leader in my hand....All our jaws dropped as I lifted a hefty Blonde ray safely from the water.

What a jammy git....an amazing catch by anyone's standards....second trip,third Ray for Big H! on a serious roll. We were all so happy the walk back was a breeze,the next day I ventured out of Weymouth on a rather choppy day.....there were a few lads chumming the water with their stomach contents,I maneged to keep what little colour i have and even caught a pb Spurdog of 16lb's all in all a bloody good weekend.....

my back and knees say other-wise but needs must and all that.

Til next time

Good luck

RAY VON

Hello to all

Firstly let me congratulate man like Moxey on coming second place in the South west lakes trust Perch competition which was held at Tamar lake in dire easterly winds making things more than complicated for the anglers that were brave enough to take part.Some great fish were landed and pb's broken.......congrats to my pal Dom Garnett who took a long overdue personal best! and big up my man Lee Garner who won the comp during which he extracted a 4lb'er.....Nice one lad's top dangling!

Aside from the Perch, my love affair with the salt water angling continues to run as strong as the the Bristol channel.Which aptly brings me to my latest session....earlier on in the week I had arranged to go Ray fishing with my friends Ty aka big H and sensia Collingridge.I got a bit pissed on Saturday night and passed out with the telly on.In the morning my alarm sounded to alert me it was time to go fishing,I woke up a bit fuzzy headed and looked up to the television.....I couldn't believe it! the show Everybody loves Raymond was on.I chuckled to myself and took this as a definite sign the we would catch the target species that day.

So we headed up the motorway to fish a well known Ray mark in Somerset,The venue has a reputation for throwing up lots of Thorney's which hopefully Tom and Ty would tangle with as neither one has yet had the pleasure of catching one the proper way......from the shore.
After negotiating a few hundred steps and a bitch of a walk we were scuppered to find three lads had beaten us to our chosen mark, slightly peeved we trekked on until we found a safe place to perch ourselves for the day, most importantly with a suitable and safe place to land anything we might catch,the last thing you would want is to fall in.....no fish is worth risking your life for.

Standard Ray tactics were employed,long pulleys with fish baits mounted on 4/0 Varivas Big mouth extra's pennell style,we soon had our baits out and the excitement was building,as was the tide.Ty couldn't believe the speed and force the tide possess whilst watching it smother the boulders and mud flats that laid in front of us.With the flood also came a rather uncomfortable on shore blow,however we were kept busy landing strap congers and dogfish but there seemed to be no sign of the target species....the wind increased as we reached the top of the tide....it was becoming harder to get the baits out,and with the wind blowing the opposite direction of the powerful tide holding bottom was was border-line....it was looking like time to do one when I noticed Ty's rod buggering off towards Wales.He eagerly lifted the rod prompting the line to play a high pitched tune as it whistled in the blustery wind."Ray on" I enthused.....hastily clambering down the rocks like a mountain goat with a meal ticket,the fish held low using the tide to its full advantage.The bend in Ty's blank was spectacular,I thought he had something serious on the line but upon grabbing the leader and giving the fish a bit of persuasion a modest sized thorney broke the merk of the surface.

The size was irrelevant,we were all chuffed and decided it would be best to stay on for a little while longer to see if Tom could get in on the Rays....lucky we did too,soon after returning big H's ray Tom was hooked up.I was back on climbing duty quickly at the ready to leader the culprit,which gratefully was the target species....Toms face when I came up the rocks holding what he so dearly wanted was priceless......some proper kid at Christmas shit.Big H was soon back on the rod to land his second of the day....my rods weren't receiving any attention but I was happy to see the boys get what they wanted and be a part of it so happy days.

 

Til next time

Good luck

BEACH BOYZ

Hello to all

So I'm back already......matter of days between posts,he must be excited.

Well I am;also knackered mind but that's what happens when you fish and work hard.As you will know the flavour of the month is definitely the old Raymond's.I don't quite know what it is about them that captures my attention so much but these guys are high up on the favourites list.

So After a week on the grind with no angling for 5 days I was going stir crazy,It was Friday at last.Me and Neil aka Randy Schliffe threw the tools to one side and pondered an impromptu trip to a local beach for the evening,I could see old Rand looked how I felt but I had a good feeling and decided to ignore my fatigue and the lure of the pub to go in pursuit of a Ray.
With the van rapidly loaded we made a quick stop off to grab some Bass and chips for dinner ( which were bloody delicious I must add ) Moments later we arrived at the beach,The sea looked beautifully calm and inviting.
With fish-baits being the order of the day I had packed some squid,a big Bluey,some Mackerel and Sand eels.
Rig wise I opted to fish a standard pulley pennell on one rod and a pulley dropper on tutha.Both made with long snoods around 3.5 ft to ensure Raymond doesn't sit on my gripper lead spikes and get spooked.With everything set I punched out the rods, one short at around 60 yards and the other as far as I could put it.

We still  had an hour or so until the top of the tide and from what I had gathered the venue fishes better on the ebb so it was a case of sitting back and waiting for the sea and the fish to do there thing.
I was enjoying just lying there relaxing for a moment,but It wasn't long before Rand and I started landing a procession of dogs.....they were really making us work hard.
After a couple hours of pure dogfish carnage It was becoming a bit of a chore baiting up time and time again but he who dares wins.... according to Del boy Trotter that is.
He wasn't wrong either....I was watching the blue tip-lights awaiting a tap tap from another pooch when to my amazement the pulley dropper fished long on a bluey and squid had been seized by our target species,the rod pulled down almost in slow motion before I grabbed it from the tripod.I wound down and leant into a satisfying weight,I could feel the fish pulling back hard and knew exactly what I was attached to.After a tense few minutes I had her close to the shore but she was having non of it and wanted to go elsewhere but with a bit of persuasion and a good wave I had her beached,flapping angrily in the light of my head torch there lay the prize I had worked so hard to get.

To say I was made up is an understatement,We didn't have any scales so couldn't get a weight on my first shore caught Small eyed but never mind.We stayed on for a couple more hours hoping for another but other than a small Huss and a few more Dogs that was to be it.

Next on the hit list is the Undulate,also the Smoothhound's will be running our coast in numbers in the not too distant so watch this space.

Til next time

Good luck

SLOGGIN IT

Hello to all

Been a while again folks but if I'm honest I have not had much to talk about unless your interested in Dogfish?
anyway we'll touch more on that later but travel back to February and early March where it was still a bit dingy and cold.As readers of this blog will know,I am a full on Perch pervert and spend a lot of my free time in the winter chasing these feisty little critters,This one has been no exception.

With my time being severely limited due to work and a social life the results have been good.Myself and Mox have clocked up a number of  3 up specimens,The highlight being a 4lb Corker to Mox.

With the season drawing to a close we had a gap in the weather which allowed us one last dabble on the rezzi,upon arrival the water looked a bit lumpy....Mox gingerly announced that he had forgotten the Kylie Minogue (drogue) "FFS" I replied.
Undeterred we hit the water and headed straight to a hot spot we had previously marked,I decided to go with a larger lure than I usually use ( 4 inch black Fox pro-shad) to couple with a heavier jig head (20g) as we were speed drifting and the wind was rather blowey.On the first drift I had a big bang as I lifted the lure to skip bottom I wound down and proceeded to do battle with a decent fish, the arc of my lure rod was oh so satisfying.

At 3lb 8oz I was a happy man,shortly after returning her the weather took a turn enabling us to fish far more effectively.we caught fish on a number of methods that day including drop-shotting and vertical jigging on a slow drift,the fish were of a decent stamp too! mainly 2lb ers but old Mox did it again with a brace of 3's during last knockings....well in mate!

So about them Dogfish.....

Now that we are getting a slight sneak preview of summer my attention has been firmly drawn to the ball breaking but very enjoyable pastime that is beach-casting.I am completely obsessed with it at the moment!
Hell bent on catching a Ray from the east Devon coast line myself and Neil aka Randy Schliffe have been burning the candle at both ends.After work trips (on a school night ) into the early hours of the morning are becoming common,the pursuit of a fish from the sea is so exciting yet so difficult.Our by-catch so far has included as many doggies as you could shake a stick at,Bull Huss,Conger (both from clean beaches funnily enough)Smoothhound and Pout.Nothing to make the headlines but I am loving it none the less and those Rays will come sooner or later....just a case of sticking to it and wading through the pooches.

Til next time

May the Ray come and play

CHANNEL SURFING

Hello to all

As I write this piece my fingers are almost punching the keyboard! Over the last four months I have been planning a hunt for a proper lump of a perch for myself and I use this term loosely ...mate,the destination being Holland....where else? Hotel booked ,ferry booked,hell I had even booked 5 days afloat with a top guide.To say I was excited would be a huge understatement,now...my so called buddy which I wont name sent me a poxy text at 5am days before we were meant to leave saying he "couldn't make the trip...soz"
I could have snapped my phone clean in half...Fuming doesn't come close! for me to make the trip is going to cost me an extra shit tonn of euro's, which is not viable...so there goes all that,I promised myself I will be there soon!people tell me violence is not the answer...I'm struggling to agree.Any way its rare to meet a complete stitch up lying c%+£ so let me tell you about a proper nice guy I have had the pleasure of meeting.

A few years ago I was invited to go fishing on a friend (of my crazy lure fishing buddy Seb Nowosiad) of a friends boat out of Watchet marina to sample some angling on the mighty Bristol channel.Myself and Mox met the boys at the marina where Seb introduced us to the skipper Mike,
After a briefing and a strong Polish lager supplied by Mr Nowosiad we were on our way out the harbour to see what fishes were up for a munch.The day produced many congers and my first ever Ray which bent my rod double in the strong tide.Anyway we had a great day out,which is documented in an earlier post on Fish tales.Since then Mike and I have become good friends,I cant thank him enough for including me in his fishing adventures on the channel plus he cooks up a prime lunch every trip so big up Mike!

Our most recent adventure began with Mox turning up outside my house at 2am pumping out Dead prez at a very unsociable volume.We had to meet Mike at the Marina for 3.30am so we could get out before the gate closed at 4am.
I had barely slept but the prospect of a Big cod or a Blonde ray just about kept me on my feet,the forecast  looked spot on for a calm day afloat with nobody turning green.....hopefully,the tides also looked good plus we had a shit load of bait.
 With everything ready we made our way out of the sanctuary of the marina into the dark foggy abyss of the Bristol channel,Mike suggested we started on a spot not to far away and then make our way down when it was light and the tide was in our favour.We were soon anchored up and ready to start fishing,four rods were sent out all on simple running ledger set-ups with lug and squid cocktails whipped onto the ever reliable 6/0 Varivas big mouth extra courtesy of Veals.It was a very Erie experience being anchored up in almost total darkness,there was no wind and all that could be heard was the trickle of the tide as it scoured the flanks of the boat,that was until mikes ratchet let out a screech.He briefly hooked up to what he thought felt like a reasonable Cod.Not this time ay bud? the Dogs turned up for a bit then just before first light Mike and Mox both had a codling each,the fishing was very slow but it was still great to be out in good company on such calm conditions.

We headed off when the sun came up to an area noted for some good Ray,unfortunately there were Whiting  everywhere taking even the largest of baits,they were good sized fish mind,but we were after something flat with a spikey tail preferably over 20lb.We endured the whiting plague for a while but another move was in order.

Mike told us of a spot he had recently hooked into some big eels and had his hooks straightened,not the big mouth extra's I may add.anyway We made our way to the area, anchored up and started to fish once more.It became apparent that the Whiting were in force everywhere,unless the shoal followed us a couple of miles (joke) we each took them on huge fish baits intended for other species.Mox was rolling a cigg, meanwhile his rod started to nod alerting us to yet another whiting.Mox decided to leave it be whilst he smoked, a couple of puffs later the ratchet went ape shit,Mox flew to the rod but when he reeled in all he had on the hook was half a whiting,"looks like the congers are here" said Mike.The poor fish was re hooked to what was left and sent back down to the eels,the same thing happened but this time Mox hooked up for a minute or so before the bait was spat.There was nothing left of the whiting but a few mashed pieces and entrails....gory stuff,I went to put the kettle on but a very subtle bite started to develop on my rod.I picked it out of the rest and could feel a very gentle pluck,the sort you get from a tiny doggy.Anyway I wound down and struck to be met with a hefty weight...my rod was as bent as a nine bob note, "Conger on" I shouted as the fish took a load of braid from my cheap multiplier.I had to do some serious pump and wind shit to raise the beast up in the strong tide.I was shocked when I saw the size of its head as it breached,she started to spin up the line and I wondered if the snood would part. luckily I had brought my big boat net, mikes is about as useful as an ash tray on a motor bike.I grabbed the leader and dragged her up against the tide where Mox was waiting with the net.The next decision was to bring it on board or not,I had never caught a big eel so I thought fuck it,bring her on deck.After a bit of thrashing about I worked out how to safely pick up such a creature and found its gill flaps,unfortunately I put her back without getting a weight but at 5 ft long with a head like a staffy its safe to say its well into the 30 lb bracket.

I also managed a nice blonde and my first ever Spurdogs on a trip out of Ilfracombe with my pals Pete Gregory and Tom Collinridge....marvellous.

Til next time.

good luck

STRIPE HUNTERS

Hello to all

Happy new year to all my readers

Another year bites the dust,I cant believe its 2017.
I can remember the millennium celebrations as if it were yesterday,twatting around as a yoof drinking cheap cider on the streets...some proper jumpers for goal posts shit but 17 years later here we are.Time certainly flies and 2016 was no exception.

My slack attitude on last years blogging still leaves us with much to catch up on so lets go back to the Autumn,a great time for fishing for my most treasured species, the mighty Perch.
It would be fair to say that nearly all of my limited time has been dedicated to chasing the stripes,I just cant seem to get my pike head on at all, but then again who cares as long as enjoyment is paramount.

Anyway,The perch is a very versatile fish indeed.It lives in many environments and can be caught on loads of different baits and methods but perhaps the most exciting way of catching them is to lure fish.Myself and old Mox have been doing exactly that,we must have chucked more rubber at em than a bouncy ball factory!

We targeted an 80 acre lake that has recently opened a boat rental service for those wanting to fish for perch using lure fishing tactics.The lake reaches depths of 35 ft has a huge head of silver fish and lots of underwater humps and troughs,oh yeah and no Pike...pretty much the perfect place for old peter the perch to do some serious munching.We had some great fishing but we had to graft,it wasn't just a case of  random drifts and pub chucking lures here there and everywhere......we tried that but it didn't work.
Time was spent exploring using the echo sounder to pin point bait fish shoals and underwater features that perch would be drawn to.Once we had cracked that the results started to improve! one afternoon we found a very productive area where Mox whipped out a trio of 3 pounders and a 4 in the space of an hour or so I chipped in with a good 3 and a few sprats but Mox was on fire that day.

Other than the lure fishing I have also been sniffing around a few commercials,mainly when the conditions were to unstable for the boat fishing.But still,there's something nice about sitting round a quiet pond for a few
hours,here are a some crackers that had a taste for roach.

Til next time

Good luck