Catch report - Ilfracombe - 17th July 2016 (6)

Date: 17-07-2016

Time of day: Afternoon

Location: Ilfracombe

Mark: Capstone

Low Tide: 10:58(2.21m) 23:19(1.99m)

High Tide: 04:53(7.67m) 17:19(8.03m)

Time fished from: 11:50

Time fished to: 17:20

Weather: Overcast with periods of sun. A steady to strong breeze from left to right.

Sea: Very clear and beginning fairly flat but a swell of up to 5ft by the end of the session

Method: Float

Bait: frozen mackerel strips

Caught (weight): 1 Pollack (0lbs 4oz, Guessed), 1 Pollack (0lbs 5oz, Guessed), 3 Pollack (0lbs 6oz, Guessed), 1 Bass (1lbs 8oz, Guessed)

The Session: I was fishing with a friend and began by setting up a float rod while my friend went and got some food. I fished until he returned, with the usual strip of mackerel, 1cm thick and hooked through the dark skin. The depth was set at around 8ft deep and I cast around varying the distance from a yard or two, to 30 yards, or as far as I could get the float to go. The line was a little difficult to control in the wind and finding a balance where the wind and undertow cancelled each other out so the float stayed still, was difficult, so it was quite like river fishing, with regular casting. Once we had both rods set up we continued with the same setup, the bait varying in size as we just added more strips, or replaced strips as they fell off the hook, which happened a lot with my friends bait which I put down to his lack of experience causing just a bit too much strain on the cast. I was dissapointed that it took 2 and a half hours for a bite to come as despite the wind pushing to the right the conditions were nice. I would have also prefferred the first fish to go to my friend, not that I was displeased myself as the float just didn't do what it should have done in the swell and so I reeled in to a nice bass. The next fish came over an hour and a half later and only after I changed my depth to around 18ft. I then had 3 more pollock in the next 15 minutes and I changed my friends setup to the same depth. It was then that thankfully my friends float had disappeared and he reeled in a nice sized pollock, the biggest of the session, that bent the rod fully over as he lifted it over the edge of the rocks. It was hooked deeply but looked ok so I cut the line rather than kill the fish. Half an hour later I landed the last pollock, smaller but just as welcome took my bait and not long after we packed up. We both enjoyed the day and my friend was pleased with catching his first sea fish. We were also both a little surprised we had been fishing for so long.

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

Set up 1: Rod: Shakespeare Omni Mackerel 10ft 2 piece Fixed spool (£16.95) [ > 2 years 7 months ] Reel: Abu Cardinal 176 SWi Fixed Spool (£34.99) [ > 1 years 10 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 ] Other2: Fladen Pencil Float 210mm (£2.00) [ > 1 years 11 months ]