Date: 23-07-2016
Time of day: Afternoon - evening
Location: Ilfracombe
Mark: Capstone
Low Tide: 02:44(0.88m) 15:00(1.03m)
High Tide: 09:03(9.04m) 21:24(9.21m)
Time fished from: 15:20
Time fished to: 22:10
Weather: Overcast and beginning with a steady breeze that died down for most of the session. Light rain at the end of the session.
Sea: Clear and choppy with a swell increasing from 1ft to 4ft.
Method: feathering | float
Bait: 5 hook pink hokkai heads, 4 hook flashers | frozen mackerel strips
Caught (weight): 3 Mackerel (0lbs 6oz, Guessed), 5 Mackerel (0lbs 7oz, Guessed), 6 Mackerel (0lbs 8oz, Guessed), 4 Mackerel (0lbs 10oz, Guessed), 4 Mackerel (0lbs 12oz, Guessed), 2 Mackerel (1lbs 0oz, Guessed) | 2 Pollack (0lbs 4oz, Guessed)
The Session: The wind was quite strong when I arrived and a buoy was preventing casting along some of teh rocks so I almost just went home again. It was the sight of seeing someone further along teh rocks catch a small fish that I decided to still give it a go and set up slowly because the water level was still low. I was by the buoy so I had to take care where I cast because to the other side of me was rock and weed just under the surface. I needent have worried though because my first cast resulted in a bumped off fish and my second a single mackerel. Through most of the session I continued to catch mackerel up to three at a time and gave a coupel to another angler, fairly new to shore fishing and not having tasted mackerel before. With about two hours to go I set up my float rod and gave it a go close in at a depth of around 8ft. I missed one bite and hooked a pollock on the next then left the float out as long as it didn't drift in to the line of my mackerel feathers. A little later I had the second and last pollock of the day just as a young family started fishing to my left. They lost both sets of their feathers so I gave them a couple of mine and a bit of advice about 'jerking' them up over the rocks near the end of the retreive to avoid getting snagged. A short while later the father pojnted to something in the sea to my right. It was a small sunfush swimming just a few feet away from the edge of the rocks. The sea conditions soon became far from ideal and the sea was beginning to surge over the rocks a good 15ft or more and so they decided to leave and try the beach. Just as they were leaving I had another mackerel and another one just as the last light went. I packed up and walked back to the car with aching arms but pleased with how the day went.
Tackle used (price) [ time since first used ]:
Set up 1: Rod: Shakespeare Omni Mackerel 10ft 2 piece Fixed spool (£16.95) [ > 2 years 5 months ] Reel: Abu Cardinal 176 SWi Fixed Spool (£34.99) [ > 1 years 8 months ] Line: Maxima Chameleon 20lb (£17.99) 600m Lure: 4 hook flasher
Set up 2: Rod: Shakespeare Alpha X Travel 11ft telescopic Fixed spool (£16.99) [ > 3 years 0 months ] 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 3:
Set up 4:
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