Date: 27-05-2017
Time of day: night
Location: Ilfracombe
Mark: The pier
Low Tide: 01:28(0.41m) 13:51(0.41m)
High Tide: 07:50(9.73m) 20:09(9.73m)
Time fished from: 23:10
Time fished to: 03:00
Weather: Cloudy with hardly any wind. Fairly warm.
Sea: Choppy with a swell of a few foot. Clear.
Method: Ledger (homemade pulley rig with rotten bottom) | ledger (running ledger) | prawn trap
Bait: Frozen sandeel | frozen squid | frozen mackerel head, frozen squid pieces, frozen sandeel
Caught (weight): 1 Dogfish (1lbs 0oz, Guessed) 1 Spotted Ray (4lbs 0oz, Guessed), 2 Dogfish (1lbs 0oz, Guessed) | 1 Dogfish (1lbs 0oz, Guessed) | 1 Dogfish (1lbs 0oz, Guessed)
The Session: I set up in the middle of the lower pier and cast my first rod as far as I could, baited with a sandeel. I was setting up my other rod when I noticed the tip of my cast rod bending right over. I lifted into a very heavy feeling fish. I believed it was a conger eel due to the steady but strong pull backwards that it was giving. I played it for about 10 minutes before asking assistance from nearby anglers to set up my landing net for me. One of them tried but couldn;t and they all stood around the railings looking down at what I saw to be a very big spotted ray. I commented that it could be 10lb and I said I needed to be careful because I was using 15lb hooklength. I knew I had to work the fish around so it was over the steps so I could walk down them, probably getting my wellies filled, to lift the fish out. As I was doing so one of the other anglers said that teh fish had gone. I couldn;t understand what he meant because I could still feel it. He said it again and as I walked forward to take a look over the edge he held the end of my line up to me and said the hook had gone too. It was this moment I saw his other hand was holding my weight and this is why I thought the fish was still on. This angler had grabbed my line and tried to lift the fish up the wall, causing the line to snap. I was pretty annoyed at this, having played it well to get it this close. In my mind I claimed the fish as I was sure I would have landed it had he have not tried to lift it out, however after checking their common weight and seeing the record at being just over 8lb I cannot really claim the fish to be 10lb without a verified weigh of the fish. I had a few more bites over this session, only one produced another ray which I guessed at 4lb. I failed to weigh it due to being eager to get my bait back in the water to maximise real fishing time. When all the other anglers here had packed up I moved along the pier and managed a dogfish on the rod baited with squid. During teh session I lifted my prawn trap 4 times and found a dogfish in it on one of the lifts. I packed up still annoyed at the loss of what was a very good fish and the lack of knowledge from another fisherman of how to set up a landing net and also to know to not risk lifing a potential 10lb fish using just 15lb line.
Tackle used (price) [ time since first used ]:
Set up 1: Rod: Daiwa Seahunter X 14ft 3 piece Fixed spool £64.07 [ > 2 years 11 months ] Reel: Daiwa Crosscast S 5000 Fixed spool £48.99 [ > 2 years 1 months ] Line: Maxima Hi-viz 20lb £13.95 Hook: Sakuma Circle 440 2/0 30 £8.26 Hook: Sakuma Manta 1/0 10 £1.99 Tackle: Maxima Clear 15lb 100m £4.00
Set up 2: Rod: Shakespeare Omni Beachcaster 14ft 3 piece Fixed Spool £26.95 [ > 0 years 9 months ] Reel: Mitchell 667FG Fixed spool £23.90 [ > 3 years 8 months ] Line: Maxima Chameleon 20lb 600m £17.99 Hook: Sakuma Circle 440 1 30 £6.05 Hook: Unbranded Baitholder 4/0 50 £3.99 Tackle: Maxima Clear 15lb 100m £4.00
Set up 3: Tackle: cord 50m £3.99 Tackle: Fladen Prawn trap large entrance £8.49