Spring part 2, Cornwall Special

Utopia

The side door of Keith's van slid open. I tumbled out from the pitch black into the carpark and for a moment my eyes struggled to adjust to the intense blazing sunlight framed by a vivid cerulean sky.

An hour later......

My eyes closed the distance between the horizon and my resting place, feasting on the vast expanse of Prussian blue water. As my field of vision got shallower the colours in the water separated. Rich sparkling azures and cobalts interspersed with glistening jades and teals. Almost directly below me the amazing clarity of the water became apparent, the bottom clearly visible in ten feet of water. Inch thick fronds of rubbery dulse languidly appeared from my perch before sweeping back out of sight. A watery wonderland as far as you could see and beyond. It was a beautiful place to be.

A quick glance to my right revealed a t-shirt clad, sunglasses wearing Dave and an equally febrile Andy, both great friends. Behind me was another of our friends-  Lee, looking perplexedly in his bag for inspiration. Beyond Lee and up on a plateau were the chaos twins, my Labradors. They have long passed the quizzical stage where they wonder what their consistently odd owner is up to and basked appeasingly in the glorious mid-morning sun.

Looking down below me the water level suddenly dropped four feet, no warning, nothing, before rising again slowly. Despite being slightly disconcerted I lowered my bait down. The weather was perfect, the scenery was out-of-this-world and I was sitting with my mates and being watched over by my beloved dogs while doing the thing I love. Mrs P was forty miles away happily travelling at sixty mph down a zipwire. Knowing she was keeping herself entertained was the icing on the cake. Life doesn't get much better than this I thought to myself.

And then it did. I had a bite.

What goes on tour.....

There were fourteen of us that made the long journey down to Cornwall. I wont spoil it for anyone that was there or is thinking of going by detailing every aspect of the trip (including trip organiser Andy getting horrifically drunk) suffice to say it was a marvellous experience. I can show you what we caught though and I do have one more story to tell a bit further down. Also I'll give you the heads up on some tactics to use if you do find yourself down there. As ever I will also tell you how you can do it on the cheap. It's well worth bearing in mind none of the people you are about to see are dedicated sea anglers. Most of us used coarse tackle. Rock fishing really is quite simple and one of the most magical forms of angling.

My best Wrasse of the trip. 3lb 10oz.....

One from a rainy first day....

Note the big fins. Wrasse frequent areas where violent wave action dislodges food hence their large fin area and powerful tails....

Martin with the biggest of the trip. He actually saw it move into the little cove he was fishing. He dropped a bait in front of it and moments later all hell broke loose. 4lb7oz....

Keith with a beautifully marked example......

A 3lber in the sunshine.....

Looking rather pleased.....

Patrick with a mean greeny.......

 Carl with a shiny little fella.....

Yes alright Carl, you caught it on a lure, we know.....

He's boring us now........

Hapless Drennan Cup also-ran Mike with one of the smallest of the trip.......

 Dave with a three pounder......

And another from David Wrasselhoff.......

Another one from Martin....

Lee with a fine example and on a lure too.....

Jamie highlighting that size doesn't matter.....

Nate bringing up the rear.....

Some rockpool action. Don't ask me what Jamie is doing, we disowned him shortly after seeing his antics......

Blenny Hill......

Mike with what looked suspiciously like a mini wolf fish.......

Blenny Henry....

Ewok Nate with Goby Wan Kenobi.......

Beach antics.....

One of many tiny Bass taken by myself, Dave and Keith.....

Carl with a lure caught Pollock........

And a Scorpion fish......

Myth becomes reality

On the second day I had to take care of the dogs. The rock mark we were fishing for Wrasse wasn't really suitable for them. I only had about 45 mins fishing time before they started to get restless. Luckily by the time we had all reconvened for lunch Keith was keen to try somewhere else. We'd both caught a few Wrasse so fancied a crack at something else. But what?

After a short drive we stopped off at Newtown Tackle for some advice. Various beach marks were discussed before he threw us a curveball. Apparently the local river estuary had been producing some Gilthead Bream. Neither Keith or I had ever caught one and after the tackle shop owner whetted our appetites with tales of fish to 9lb I soon emptied his fridge of Lugworms. "Set your clutches lads, they fight like hell," the owner cautioned as we left.

I can't say the estuary was particularly attractive but the lure of these strange looking fish intrigued us. Just the simple matter of catching one now I thought as I cast two rigs into some likely looking spots. Three very wet and hours later my interest was waning. Typically I then had a bite. The culprit was a tiny Wrasse. Keith then caught one. This coincided with not only the rain stopping but also the disappearance of seemingly hundreds of bait robbing crabs.

Another hour passed. The dogs had eaten three Jumbones each. I was done. I went over to Keith to tell him my desire to call it a day. We both resigned ourselves to the fact that the Giltheads would remain a myth. We agreed to give it a final ten minutes. They passed without incident. I was wet and extremely tired. I wound in one of my rods, took the lead off and split it down. As I was doing this I spotted a suspicious flat spot about halfway across the river. It was enough to see me quickly put the rod back together, bait up and cast to it. I was in the last chance saloon.

As we were still intending to leave I set about sorting all the bait out, throwing most of it in. Completely out of the blue I heard a crashing noise behind me. I looked over to my rods and they weren't where they had been all evening. The tripod had fallen over. I ambled over until I saw my recently cast rod scraping down the rocks towards the water. Something was attached! Was it one of the fabled Giltheads? You bet it was.......

Sadly that was the last fish we caught that day. Luckily for the locals though I put it back. I still cant get my head around sea anglers penchant for killing their quarry. A beautiful fish and yes, they do put up a tremendous fight.

Tackle and Tactics

It took me quite a while on the first day to get the hang of rock fishing. On one hand I'm still no expert but on the other it isn't rocket science. By far the most reliable bait for me was limpet. Simply take a small knife and prise them off the rocks. Scoop them out and fish them dropshot style. I found that bites were more frequent on a whole limpet, sac and all.

Location was a major factor too. Look for any deeper areas, undercut rocks etc. The presence of kelp seemed to be important too, something for the fish to hide in. Wave action too was a good indicator. If you found an over hanging rock with both kelp present and waves crashed on it there would be a Wrasse there, maybe more than one. I hooked four in four casts on day two all from the same spot. They do fight doggedly so make sure your clutch is set properly and try to get them away from their lairs as soon as possible, some of those rocks are sharp. A hook sharpener is useful too as they blunt easily in the harsh environment.

I used a 14-42g rod. Any medium action rod will do. Mine was a cheap DAM Yagi (around £30). It performed brilliantly. I coupled this with a 1000 size reel (Shimano Nasci), 0.10mm J Braid and a 10lb flouro leader. The hooks were size 6 or 4 Drennan Perch hooks. They are superb hooks that I use for many applications. I had been warned fishing over such rough ground might equate to a few tackle losses but I didn't lose a dropshot weight all trip. Take a range between 10 and 30g or anything will do, nuts, bolts etc. That really is about it. Nothing more complex than that. Just add a landing net and it's all you'll need......

Now I understand people's fascination with lure fishing. Indeed Carl caught two Pollock that nobody else managed on the trip. He was the exception though. The lure lads had quite a tough time of it. I take no pleasure in saying that. I've got thousands of lures, everyone caught me square in the wallet. When you're four hundred miles from home in a beautiful place for a limited time I want to realise the venues mysteries, straight away and frequently if possible. To my mind that means bait. The fact that it is completely free in the case of the humble limpet is a real bonus. I'd even go as far to say there isn't an artificial lure in the world more effective than limpets for Wrasse. It is what they eat. A no-brainer.

One last piece of advice is to find the local tackle shop. An invaluable source of information and of course, any bits and bobs you might need. You'll come away more knowledgeable and they'll benefit from your custom.

Some Photo's

Till next time...........

Spring 2017 part 1

 Mystic Phil

Two weeks before the end of the season, a Lincolnshire river......

Martin was upstream a short distance. I could see he'd just netted and weighed a fish after which he started randomly punching the air and beckoned me over. He peeled back the weigh sling to reveal a rather large Perch, 3lb 10oz and a new PB to be exact. Martin was very pleased with himself and after congratulating him I wandered off departing with the line...

"I'm off to catch a 3 11."

After a couple of moves and biteless hours I finally stumbled on a few fish. I let Martin do the honours with the weighing of the biggest one....

"You bastard! 3lb 11oz."

Martin with a 3 6 and the 3 10.

A week later we were both back with our friend Andy Wilson. Once again I had Martin in sight and a short time into the session things took a turn for the worse. I had one eye on my tip and one on Martin playing what looked like a decent fish. After good few minutes and with his net at the ready his rod tip sprang back as the fish shook the hook. Martin let out a mighty expletive. The serenity of a peaceful winters morning had been shattered. Birds took off from their roosts en masse, Andy and I winced before a deathly silence fell upon the three of us, punctuated every few minutes by more profanities and general sounds of disappointment from Martin's direction.

Ten minutes passed before anyone dared speak to him. I'm not sure my suggestion of "bad angling" helped an awful lot when I did. Anyway it set the scene for what happened next. I hit a tentative bite and a tense battle ensued. After a minute or so I knew it was a good fish. Martin shouted down- "Good one Phil?". "No Martin, not really," I lied. Not only was I keen to convince Martin I wasn't attached to anything special but also myself because I reconciled that if I did lose it I wouldn't be that bothered. I kept up the ruse even after I'd netted it, slipping it into the keepnet without a second glance. Some time later Martin did the honours with the weighing. 3lb 13oz and equal PB.......

With its mates.......

Andy also managed a lovely three pounder......

End of Season

A quick round up now of a few sessions on local Lincolnshire rivers starting with a couple of Roach. At the start of the season the big girls were a lot more willing than at the end. Any fish over a pound are still very welcome though.......

As are five pound plus Chub.......

Next up was a session after Perch while Benidorm Dave targeted the resident Pike. He had a great day while I struggled.

On the last day I had a frustrating morning targeting Chub before giving in and going after some Pike myself. A lean four pound fish......

Part of a six Pike catch. This lovely looking 13lb fish..........

Topped by a sixteen that I unfortunately failed to capture properly with the camera.......

The closed season

A surprise call from Dave Owen saw him express an interest in coming over and fishing a local lake for Roach and Perch. I elected to fish lobworms on the slider while Dave fished maggot feeders for the Roach. He could barely keep both rods in play as a precession of Roach came to the net. Sadly the average stamp was quite small. The big Perch were also being uncharacteristically elusive. I did manage to catch a good fish late in the afternoon though and Dave added one himself at last knockings. Mine was 3lb 4oz and my biggest yet from the venue...........

While Dave's was a couple of ounces short....

If you'd like to know more about the venue check out the next edition of Improve Your Coarse Fishing which is out on May 10th 2017. I did a feature there and I think you'll enjoy it. Many thanks to Dave and Antony for coming over.

A new challenge

Being a relative newcomer to the specimen scene I have a few gaps in my PB list which I am keen to fill. The first one I set about was stillwater Bream. I've had some great fish from small rivers upto nearly 9lb but despite fishing for so long I couldn't remember getting one over 5 or maybe 6lb from a stillwater. After much haranguing I finally coerced Andy into taking me to a large Lincolnshire lake which contains some great fish. Despite it being in my home county it was still a bit of a trek. We had two historic big Bream venues closer to me up until recently. The formation of lucrative Carp syndicates saw to the removal of many of the Bream. They are a nuisance you see. GCSE standard scientists believing that the decrease in biomass means larger Carp. Their size limitations are absolutely nothing to do with them laying almost completely dormant for much of the year due to them unnaturally residing hundreds of miles north of their natural range. Or maybe the Carpists just don't like being woken up at night. Either way, it's pathetic. Sadly it is happening all over the country.

Back to the quest. I met Andy around midday and set about choosing a place to fish. As I was there on Andy's invitation I choose a fairly bland looking spot next to him. I always relish a new challenge and starting spombing out my groundbait mix at around 75 yards. It took a while to become familiar with the spomb but I was soon winging it out fairly consistently. With around 6kg of mix out I placed two baits over the top, four grains of corn, two real, two fake.

It wasn't until the light faded that I saw any signs of life in my swim. A few liners at first and then a proper take. Unfortunately it wasn't a Bream, well not totally anyway. A hybrid of 6lb 8oz.....

Strangely after that the swim went quiet again. At around 1pm I had a screaming take and not having time to get my footwear on Andy found it most amusing to find me knee deep in water in the pitch black playing what felt awfully like my target species. As the fish got closer it became more spirited. When the light from my headtorch reflected back off a deep bronze flank in the gloom it was a great moment. A few twists and turns later and it was in the net. A new PB for sure. Andy put it in his Queenford retainer and we photographed it at first light. A male of 10lb 50z..........

Ready for spawning......

A special day

The guys at Specimen Hunting UK wanted to hold a charity match. Fortunately one of our members Will Barnard allowed us access to a very famous southern Stillwater complex. A place where if I were to get a Bream, it would almost certainly be another PB.

After a 3am start I arrived in North London a little early and was first in the café. Soon enough the others started to arrive- Will, Martin, Andy Wilson, Dave, Andy Loble and everyone's least favourite ginger- Mike Lyddon. With breakfast eagerly consumed we made our way over to the complex and set about chosing swims. Again Antony from IYCF was visiting so there will be a feature in July's magazine. I'll give you the brief highlights. Between us we caught several double-figure Bream and twenty pound Carp. I chipped in with a solitary Bream. A new Pb of 10lb 12oz. I caught it early in the evening so put it straight back. Sadly this means a fairly poor photo. Reason enough to try and better it really soon........

Dave with an 8lb male and Andy Loble with a magnificent 13lb female.....

I had to laugh at Martin on day one. He was in an area of open water and Will had told him it wasn't the best place to target Bream. He started off Roach fishing and that didn't quite go to plan. There was a Roach in his peg at one point, he saw a Cormorant catch it. Worse than that two others rushed over and the three of them fought over it. This almost completely disheartened him. "Can't be many left if three birds are fighting over one," he said. The best way I can describe him for the rest of the afternoon is like a lame racehorse plodding around the paddock while the rest of us waited expectantly for the race to start. He wandered around for a while and then we all had an Indian together. Shortly after this Martin came striding purposely past Will and I. "He's in the zone Will," I commented. "What do you mean?" Will asked. "Martin, he's decided he's going to catch something, I can see it in his walk.". And catch something he did. The biggest Bream of the trip. 13lb 10oz.......

A massive thank you to Will Barnard for letting us use the venue. We raised £335 for our charity. If you'd like to donate its a great cause.....

https://www.ponypartnerships.com/

SHUK round up

Pete Hebbes with a seasonal Catfish.....

 Mike Lyddon with his PB Orfe. 6lb 3.5oz.....

Dave Owen with a late season PB Trent Barbel............

Ash Bradley with his PB river Perch. 3lb 15oz......

Darren Clarke with his Pb Bream of 12lb 2oz.....

Nate Green with a 30lb Catfish.......

Will Barnard with a catch of big Dace....

That is just about as far as catch reports go. I've had an exploratory go on the beach and also been fly fishing. Nothing out of the ordinary to report but I had a great time. It's so easy to get obsessed with one particular style of fishing so why don't you try something different this spring?

Tackle Talk

As ever there has been a few comings and goings in the tackle room. I sold a large number of reels on eBay so treated myself. My much relied upon GTM 4010s have gone. To replace them I bought two small baitrunners. DL 2500 FBs. So far they have been a revelation. Very light and the lower gearing makes them more pleasurable to use at short range. I'm actually using them for float fishing, mainly for Perch. Aim to pay around £50 each.

Next up is a bit of an indulgence. I bought the slightly heavier and more robust X-Aeros which I've been using for light legering. The difference to the DLs is mainly in the rotor and spool design. I'll keep you posted on how I get on with them.

To go with my new reels I came across a remarkable rod. The problem I had to reconcile was the price for what I've always considered to be a brand that isn't as coveted as say Drennan and Daiwa. After much deliberation I put those doubts to one side and took the plunge. I've used it a few times now and it is a remarkable tool. The no-lock blank is brilliant for playing even small fish. It's incredibly slim and very, very light. It is so good, I now have two. The marketing garb recommends upto 12lb line which although I'm sure it could handle rather belies its delicate nature. Certainly the best big Perch rod I've ever used, I can't wait to try it out on some big Chub or maybe even Bream.  The Middy XK55 11ft World Pro. Aim to pay around £100. 

Long Term Tests

I have been using the ST1000 Baitrunners for a couple of years now. Initially I employed them for Pike fishing. Although they are the base model they have been absolutely faultless.........until I wanted to use them for Bream fishing where the lack of spare spools has been a bind. I contacted Shimano Felindre and they charged me £10 each for them plus postage. Now although they have performed impeccably if I were to buy again I'd get the DL's as they come with spare spools and therefore work out at a similar price. If you're on a budget and only need one spool then they are great reels. It always makes me laugh when people try and sell them second hand on selling pages for £40. If you shop around you can get brand new ones cheaper than that.

The Korum fibreglass umbrella has also been a fantastic bit of kit. It's light and it keeps me dry. That's all I need. The pole detaches from the centre if you want more room and it has a couple of peg loops to stabilise it. Three years of use and it shows no significant signs of wear. I haven't had to coat it, its still waterproof. No nonsense bit of kit......

Lastly we have the Korum Supa-Lite chair. Again, no bells and whistles, it is just a very functional piece of equipment. You can adjust it a small amount but often on steeper slopes I just leave the back legs folded up. It has proven to be very hard wearing. No signs of any tears or fabric degradation. I ended up hating my de-lux chair because it was so cumbersome. This has proven to be the perfect antidote........ 

Till next time.............