Date: 24-07-2016
Time of day: Afternoon - evening
Location: Ilfracombe
Mark: Capstone
Low Tide: 03:26(0.97m) 15:41(1.21m)
High Tide: 09:45(8.91m) 22:08(9.01m)
Time fished from: 16:40
Time fished to: 21:50
Weather: Overcast with light rain to begin with, changing to variable strength wind from behind or the left and some sunshine for the last 2 hours.
Sea: Clear with a swell of 2ft increasing to 5ft or more later on. Lots of white water.
Method: feathering | float
Bait: feathers | frozen mackerel strips
Caught (weight): 4 Mackerel (0lbs 6oz, Guessed), 4 Mackerel (0lbs 7oz, Guessed), 2 Mackerel (0lbs 8oz, Guessed), 2 Mackerel (0lbs 9oz, Guessed), 3 Mackerel (0lbs 10oz, Guessed), 5 Mackerel (0lbs 11oz, Guessed), 4 Mackerel (0lbs 12oz, Guessed), 5 Mackerel (0lbs 13oz, Guessed), 3 Mackerel (0lbs 14oz, Guessed), 1 Mackerel (0lbs 15oz, Guessed), 1 Mackerel (0lbs 16oz, Guessed)
The Session: I cast my mackerel feathers straight out as far as I could and did the ususal 'sink and draw' method. The second cast produced a fish, as did the fifth and I knew this was going to be a good session. Over the next 5 hours I was catching mackerel, sometimes 4 a cast and some of them were very hard work to bring in. An angler I met a couple of days ago turned up and so I took the opportunity to set up my float rod for him to have a fish with. Once I had set it up I said to just flick it out a rod length or so and he should get something. He was surprised when he did, so close in and it wasn't long before he had another pollock. Both were about 4oz. I lost a set of feathers after what seemed like getting a take 'on the drop' and the fish snagging me. Once I had connected another rig it then appeared to be some time before I had any more fish. However once I hooked three more I had a string of hook ups in quick succession, some were small so I put them back. I was given my float rod back as teh other angler left and I left it to one side for most of the remainder of the session. I continued to fish until near darkness when my line snapped at the lead weight, so I fished float for a few minutes but decided to pack up as there was a lot of white water due to the sea surging over the rocks a good 15 foot or more. I watched and chatted to another angler for a while before going home.
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 flashers, 4 hook tinsel, 5 hook luminous hokkai
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)
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