Catch Report - Unnamed - 27th June 2019 (4)

Date From: 27/06/2019 17:00:00

Date To: 27/06/2019 23:35:00

Time of day: Afternoon - Evening

Location: Unnamed

Mark: Beach

Low Tide: 07:41 (2.63m) 20:13 (2.72m)

High Tide: 01:16 (6.05m) 13:50 (5.89m)

Weather: Sunny with a strong wind from behind

Sea: Very clear with small waves rolling for around 60 yards

Method: Ledger (homemade pulley rig) | Ledger (homemade pulley rig)

Bait: Whole frozen small sandeel | frozen peeler crab

Caught:

The Session:

I tried a new mark today because the wind was quite strong and in the direction that made nearly all my previously fished marks unfishable. I was on holiday from work during this week so I wanted to get out and it was an opportunity to try some of the local coast that I have not fished from before.

I had checked out one mark before arriving at this one and felt the wind was too strong to fish in. A last minute decision on the way back home made me turn off and take a look at this one.

The wind felt less strong here so I decided to give it a go, setting up my usual ledger rods to try for Smoothhound and Ray. I needed to wade out a good number of yards so I was just beyond the back creaker and able to put the bait another 80 assisted by the wind a bit. While I waded out I saw a fish shaped like a sole scurry away and bury itself as well as lots of smaller fish like sandeel and possibly bass or mullet they were in just a couple of feet of water.

As I was at a new mark I was able to pass the time by taking photographs and examining the shoreline a bit while waiting for bites. The first fish was a dogfish which I didn't really know had taken my bait, I just noticed that my line was going to the water at a different angle that I cast it at. As it began to get dark I was hoping that fish would start biting and I wouldn't just end up with the one.

Once the sun had set and the tide bagan coming back in I saw the tip of the rod baited with crab tremble and then it began to bend downwards looking like it wont stop, so I lifted the rod hard to try to ensure I collapsed the spikes on the grip lead but it didn't work. I could feel the fish pulling though and As I began reeling in it came off the hook. I reeled the bait in and struggled to do so with the spikes digging into the sand. When I recast I left the spikes hanging down so they gave just a little bit of help in holding the bottom.

After what felt like 10 minutes the rod tip began to show signs of a fish taking the bait again and the movement became a hard pull again. I missed it somehow. The next fish I hooked but again, it came off quite quickly.

The fourth fish I managed to hook. The tide was coming in quick over the flat sand now and after a few minutes bringing it in I had to move my tackle far back before unhooking the fish. The fish was a nice size, one of the biggest I'd had so I was happy now. The problem though was that I was out of crab and the wind had seemed to increase in strength very suddenly and it nearly blew over my tripod. I decided to put the bit of crab that was left on the hook back out while I began packing the other rod away. It was not much larger than the size of a penny. I had barely had time to reel the line on the reel of my other rod when the tip began bending down a few times. I picked up the rod and waited until it felt like the fish was giving a big pull and I struck.

I could not tell how big this fish was until I got it close. It didn't fight very hard so it didn't feel big but it turned out to be the biggest I've caught to date. I recast the bait which was still on the hook after I weighed it and it was taken by a dogfish almost immediately. The wind was now howling and almost blew my camping chair away so I decided the forecast had been badly wrong and I decided to pack up. I wasn't really bothered being out of bait anyway as I'd caught two very good fish.

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

Set up 1:

Rod: Daiwa Seahunter X 14ft 3 piece Fixed Spool (£60.00) [ > 1 years 2 months ] Reel: Wychwood Riot Fixed Spool (£39.99) [ > 1 years 0 months ] Line: Maxima Chameleon 20lb (£17.99) 600m Hooks: Sakuma Manta 2/0 (£13.05) 100 Shockleader: Gardner Slinky 60lb (£6.99) 100M Hooklength: Sunset Amnesia 40lb (£4.50) 100m

Set up 2:

Rod: Daiwa seahunter Z 13ft 2 piece MFS (£42.99) [ > 1 years 7 months ] Reel: Shakespeare Agility Surf 70FD Fixed Spool (£39.99) [ > 5 years 2 months ] Line: Maxima Crystal Ivory 20lb (£14.08) 651 yards Hooks: Sakuma Manta 2/0 (£13.05) 100 Shockleader: Gardner Slinky 60lb (£6.99) 100M Hooklength: Sunset Amnesia 25lb (£6.25) 100m