Date: 11-07-2016
Time of day: Evening
Location: Ilfracombe
Mark: Capstone - The Pier
Low Tide: 04:55(2.31m) 17:12(2.52m)
High Tide: 11:26(7.55m) 23:45(7.54m)
Time fished from: 18:20
Time fished to: 22:05
Weather: Cloudy and windy.
Sea: Murky at Capstone with a 5ft+ swell causing spray over 20ft. Calmer and clearer at the pier with a swell below 5ft near the entrance.
Method: Float
Bait: Frozen mackerel strips
Caught (weight): 1 Pollack (0lbs 4oz, Guessed), 1 Pollack (0lbs 6oz, Guessed), 1 Pollack (0lbs 8oz, Guessed)
The Session: The weather forecast was for a fairly strong wind and the webcams revealed pretty rough sea so I thought I'd travel light enough to float fish from various spots around ilfracombe until I found the fish. I began at Capstone and realised I needed to perform controlled casts feathering the line as the float came close to landing, so the line dropped to the surface in a small arc. Releasing the line from my fingers briefly to allow the weight to drop and then keeping the rod tip low meant I had mosts casts landing so the wind and opposite undertow, held the float in the same area for 1 minutes at a time. I could not get a single bite though and I took a few moments to drop my bait in a nearby rockpool and watched the blennies attacking the bait to see how they behaved. I even managed to pull the line hard at one point which caused the biggest blenny to leave the water and land by me on some weed before flipping straight back in the water, from then on this blenny just watched the others attacking the mackerel strips I dropped in there.
Tackle used (price) [ time since first used ]:
Set up 1: Rod: Shakespeare Alpha X Travel 11ft telescopic Fixed spool (£20.00) [ 1 day ] Reel: Lineaffe SX50 Fixed Spool (£10.00) [ > 3 years 1 months ] Mainline: Maxima Chameleon 20lb 600m (£17.99) Hooks: Sakuma Circle 440 size 2 30 per pack (£5.55) Hooklength: Shakespeare Omni-X Connect Clear 15lb (£5.49) Other1: Fladen Pencil Float 210mm (£2.00)
Set up 2: Rod: Shakespeare Alpha X Travel 11ft telescopic Fixed Spool (£20.94) [ > 2 years 3 months ] Reel: Lineaffe SX50 Fixed Spool (£10.00) [ > 3 years 2 months ] Line: Maxima Chameleon 20lb (£17.99) 600m [ > 2 years 6 months ] Hooks: Sakuma Circle 440 6 (£4.85) 30 [ > 2 years 0 months ] Other1: Maxima Clear 15lb (£4.00) 100m [ > 2 years 6 months ] Other3: Fladen Pencil Float 210mm (£2.00) [ > 1 years 11 months ]