Date: 13/09/2015
Time of day: Afternoon
Location: Ilfracombe
Mark: Capstone
Low Tide: 00:37(1.30m) 12:47(1.20m)
High Tide: 06:58(8.80m) 19:10(9.00m)
Time fished from: 14:05
Time fished to: 18:10
Weather: Sunny but cloudy with a strong wind from right to left and a small shower.
Sea: Flat to begin with and quite clear close in, but murky further out, an increasing swell over the session with spray up to about10ft high
Method: Lure | Float
Bait: Homemade mackerel feathers | Frozen mackerel strips
Caught (weight): 1 Pollack (0lbs 4oz, Guessed)
The Session: I had high hopes of getting some mackerel for winter bait when I arrived as the water was clearer here than I had seen in previous months. I began with the mackerel feather rod and cast it continually around 60 yards, only left them to sink a bit before retrieving. Unfortunately I had no takes at all. I lost one set due to not thinking properly and I pulled the rod back while pointing it into the wind - the line wrapped around the rod and I couldn't free it without letting the line go slack. The rig snagged and I pulled back to loose it at the leader knot. After that I pointed the rod tip in the wind direction while retrieving so as to ensure the wind blew any slack line away from the tip. After about one hour I also tried a float rod. The mackerel I had for bait was a refrozen one that was just turning brown on the belly. Things were quiet on the float rod too, with one quick bite that I missed and another near the end of the session that I hooked and landed. I took a walk along the top of the rocks and picked up a large length of tangled line and a plastic tub that I found to contain a freezer bag full of mackerel. I was dissapointed that the line looked like it had been discarded by being put under a protruding rock. I scrunched some newspaper that I found around it and put it in the bin on the main pathway.
Tackle used (price) [ time since first used ]:
Set up 1: Shakespeare Omni Mackerel 10ft 2 piece Fixed spool ( £16.95 ) [ 1 year 9 months ] Leeda Icon 5000 Fixed spool ( £35.18 ) [ 1 year 8 months ] Maxima Chameleon 20lbs ( £17.99 )
Set up 2: Shakespeare Alpha X Travel 11ft telescopic Fixed spool ( £16.99 ) [ 2 years 3 months ] Lineaffe SX50 Fixed Spool ( £10.00 ) [ 2 years 4 months ] Maxima Chameleon 20lbs ( £17.99 ) Sakuma Circle 440 2 ( £5.55 ) Maxima Chameleon 10lb ( £4.99 )