Catch Report - Ilfracombe - 3rd April 2021 (9)

Date From: 03/04/2021 14:30:00

Date To: 03/04/2021 17:30:00

Time of day: Afternoon - evening

Location: Ilfracombe

Mark: The Pier

Tide Times:

Moon Phase:

Weather: Cloudy and sunny with strong wind from behind but dying down later in the session. Feeling cold

Sunrise/Sunset:

Sea: Clear but choppy with a 2ft swell

Method: Ledger (shop bought pulley rig) | Ledger (running ledger) | Float | LRF

Bait: Whole Frozen Launce | Half Frozen Mackerel | Frozen Mackerel strips | Tiny Frozen Mackerel bits

Caught:

Session and Lifetime Statistics:

The Session:

I went to my local pier for the first session after the fishing break forced by another lockdown as I lived just too far from the sea.

I intended to set up as many rods as I could to get the most out of the day but as there were a few people there already when I arrived I set up one distance ledger, one close in and a float and lrf rod for close in work too.

The wind was frustrating to begin with, it was strong and mostly blowing in our faces. I had to keep everything pinned down or held tight as I set up. Eventually out went the distance ledger with Launce on. I cast it around 60 yards into the wind and had to drop the rod tip so it pointed down to the water and feather the line as the weight hit the water, to slow the amount of excess line that paid out from the rod tip.

Next was the float rod which I just dropped a few yards from the edge of the pier set at around 12 feet deep and then I set up the LRF rod and also dropped the bait on that right down the edge of the pier. I left the setting up of the Conger rod until around an hour after I had been there.

Apart from the occasional dip of the float there was no activity for over an hour and a half and as I half expected it was on the LRF rod. I felt a couple of gentle vibrations through the rod and after a pause there was another so I just lifted the rod and felt the fish on the end. It was a Rock Goby which I caught several of last year. Once it was photographed and put back I hoped there would be more and as I was trying between the wooden struts along the pier I saw my float go under for a moment and so ran back to be ready if it went again. It did so after a few seconds and so I reeled in and could feel the fish was quite small but a very welcome catch.

As the session progressed I checked my distance ledger rod bait and it was mostly untouched. I had to reel in and recast due to passing boats a few times too but each time the bait was still there and eventually with the LRF rod showing the most promise I just left the other rods as they were and concentrated on the smaller fish. Other anglers were doing poorly too.

I ended up managing to catch a couple of Pollock, some more Gobies and some Sand Smelt on the LRF rod before failing to get any bites for an hour or so and then I decided to pack up. When I reeled in my other 3 rods they all had bait still on them.

It is still early in the sea fishing year and the water is still cold. Barely anyone else caught and so the few small fish I had showed that LRF was a good method to try on the day.

Tackle used (price) [ time since first used ]: