Catch Report - Putsborough - 9th July 2021 (4)

Date From: 09/07/2021 22:30:00

Date To: 10/07/2021 03:25:00

Time of day: Night

Location: Putsborough

Mark: In front of Car Park

Tide Times:

Moon Phase:

Weather: Overcast, warm with a gentle wind from behind to begin with, then rain and a stronger wind by the end of the session.

Sunrise/Sunset:

Sea: Clear and mostly calm with clean waves up to 2 feet high rolling for around 30 yards.

Method: Ledger (shop bought up and over rig) | Ledger (shop bought pulley rig)

Bait: Whole Frozen Peeler Crab, Frozen crab cart | Frozen Whole Launce

Caught:

The Session:

I fished a local beach with the aim of finding out if there were any Smoothhounds or Rays about. I tried to arrive with 3 hours to go until high tide but got a bit delayed so by the time I parked the car I was around half an hour later than planned. There was no-one at the entrance building so I pulled up in the passing area where they will usually give anglers permission to park. I ensured I parked far enough up to allow any turning cars with caravans room to get past. If there is signs of any people still there I make a point of stopping at the Stop line and just asking if it is ok for me to pull up to do some fishing.

Although I was keen to catch and to see how the cart faired against the peeler crab I couldn;t be bothered walking to the far end of the houses so I walked down to the shoreline from the car park at a shallow angle so I was just in front of the first couple of houses.

The sea looked like it wasn't going to pose any problems. The tide wasn't too big so as long as I could wade out until I was standing behind where the furtherst waves were breaking to cast the baits around 70 yards I would be confident I was in with a chance of some fish. This looked to be a wade of around 60 yards from where my tripod was. As I walked out I saw the waves were breaking cleanly and with enough time between them to be ready for each one to brace myself just in case. Once I was past the area where they were breaking I stood and timed my casts so I would be able to turn and begin walking back just behind a swell.

As I was walking out and back I could see there was some weed around, mostly small clumps that shouldn't pose too much of a problem. With boths rods cast out about the 70 yards I hoped, each at a slight angle from the tripod I sat down on my seat box and had a cup of tea to get one in just in case it turned out to be a busy session. Just as I was finishing it I saw the rod that I had baited with a whole Peeler Crab bend down and stay in that position. I jumped up and grabbed the rod, noticed it was still in the position as I lifted it from the tripod and so I struck and felt both the fish pull back and the grip leads hold in the sand. This is what I don;t like about having to use grip leads, I believe they can supress a strike and cause the fish to just feel enough resisitance to alert it to spit the bait, or it just allows me to put enough force in the strike to pull the bait out of the fishes mouth. However this time I could feel the fish was hooked and was coming in quite easily. It was difficult to tell exactly when I would see it in the surf and with there being some moments where the line felt like it had gone slack I sensed I would lose the fish at some point until I suddenly noticed it was just in front of me. It was a small Smoothound which seemed to want to fight more now it was in a few inches of water than it did when it was first hooked.

So with a fish on the first cast, although not an instant bite, gave me hope of more being around. But I thought it might end up being unlucky that I only brought a few peeler crabs and two cart wings, giving me around 7 baits. I had brought no squid which would have made a substitute if I ran out so I took off the remainder of the crab from the hook and kept it just in case I ran out. I figured if I did this each time I could maybe get an extra bait by the time I used the last one. It began to rain aroud now, light at first and occasionally stiopped but it was constant and a bit heavier by the end of the session.

I waded out again, the sea in the same condition as earlier so easy to get the bait out again. I then checked the Launce on the other rod and found it to look untouched. I recast that and sat down and waited again. Again, after around half an hour the crab rod tip began showing signs of a bite and I picked up the rod and held it out to my left hand side and waited until the fish pulled it in such away it felt like it wasn't going to stop and that would be my time to strike. This fish took a while to do that and there were moments where I could feel nothing, thinking it had left the bait but it eventually made its run and I was able to strike cleanly and bring in another fish which weighed exactly the same as the first one.

After recasting with a new bait I began to see both rods showing gentle movements that were not in time with any waves or swell. I figured it was crabs picking at the bait and before long I reeled in the Launce and could feel the dead weight of a spider crab on the end. I hoped there weren't many out there but when I reeled in the crab bait that too looked like it had been taken by crabs. I decided to check the baits earlier after the next cast to make sure I wasn't leaving them out too long with barely anything left on the hooks. Not long after putting the crab bait back out though, this time a bit of the cart, the rod tip showed movement that was definitely more than a crab though, but then showed nothing else. I decided to check the bait and could feel something on the hook which was a small Conger Eel, better than a spider crab but not really the fish I wanted with so little crab bait.

The rain continued to get heavier and the wind picked up a bit more. It was not too uncomfortable though and now I was out and catching fish it would take a bit to make me pack up anyway. I usually hate fishing in wind and rain but as the wind was behind me I would stick it out as long as I could.

I put out another bit of crab cart on that rod and it wasn't long before it was taken by another Smoothhound, this one was a bit bigger and took the bait and ran with it immediately. I wodnered if this was because the cart was soft so the fish didn't need to test it like they would a normal peeler crab.

Once I put that Smoothound back I noticed the line on the other rod had gone slack. I picjked it up and reeled in a bit of line until I thought I'd reeled in all the slack and it went slack again. I repeated that and then decided to strike and was bemused at there being no weight to pull against. It soon become clear that my rig wasn't attached to my line any more and when I got it reeled in I saw that my shock leader was also gone. My mainline was cleanly cut through. I checked the end with my hands and it felt a little rough but not so bad I'd have thought it was too damaged. I often find that when I check my line closely anyway, what first feels like damage is actually dirt stuck to it. I wondered if there was a spider crab out there that managed to snip though my line after getting it caught in its claw.

Thw idn was a bit stronger again by now, the rain was constant. I put out my second from last crab bait and also a new Launce after setting that rod up again. I waited for quite a while for a bite but had none and I kicked myself when I reeled in the crab rod to check the bait and saw it was gone. When I baited up with the last piece of crab cart and got that back out the rod showed a good bite again within 5 minutes of sitting down. By the time I grabbed the rod the fish was making off. This was the crab cart again and as I struck this fish felt much bigger and I had to give it line straight away. But then it just came off. I was down to my last pieces of crab so I put on the last bits of peeler crab I had and put the bait out as far as I could. I gave this cast 15 minutes before reeling and and deciding to call an end to the session. I had almost already decided to come back again tomorrow with more crab.

If this small experiment was indicative of anything, the bite on the crab cart was very bold compared to the peeler crab, it was not conclusive due to the small amount I had but it could be the case that crab cart will allow the fish to take the bait quicker and more boldly due to it being softer. What was certain though is that Smoothhound, well, 2 at least will take bait that has been in the freezer for 3 years, and possibly even been taken out and refrozen.

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