Catch Report - Ilfracombe - 23rd June 2018 (8)

Date: 23-06-2018

Time of day: Morning - evening

Location: Ilfracombe

Mark: Capstone rocks and the pier

Low Tide: 09:06(2.34m) 21:31(2.32m)

High Tide: 02:48(7.75m) 15:26(7.68m)

Time fished from: 11:00

Time fished to: 22:30

Weather: Very sunny and warm with an occasional breeze.

Sea: Very clear and almost flat.

Method: float

Bait: Frozen mackerel strips

Caught (weight): 3 Pollock (0lbs 6oz, Guessed), 2 Pollock (0lbs 10oz, Guessed), 2 pollock (1lbs 0oz, Guessed), 1 Corkwing Wrasse (0lbs 8oz, Guessed)

The Session: I got out for a casual float fishing session travelling light just in case a lot of other anglers had decided to enjoy the weather and I needed to move around. I arrived and managed to set up on the rocks at a spot where casting would be easy and the pollock would likely be coming to as the sea level rose.

The tow varied from left to right and at first it was like fishing a fast flowing river, having to cast every few seconds, but I know that this mark will produce pollock that will take the bait very quickly after casting so every one still had a chance of a fish taking it.

The first two hours were biteless and I chatted to another angler as he caught several dogfish and a smoothound. Some entertainment while waiting for bites was provided by a boat race that was taking place today. Around 1pm, as the tow slowed and the float stayed where it was cast I had my first bite but it was quick and I was unable to strike due to the float resurfacing before I could react. After casting out again it soon did the same but again I missed it. The next bite, although after a longer time was more positive, in fact I was reaching for a drink as I looked and couldn''t see my float any more. I scouted around thinking I had just not remembered where it was and then the rod tip bent round. The fish made a dash down to the weed rack that was below where I was casting and as I lifted it up and reeled in it also made a good attempt at diving behind a small rock shelf that was now providing cover for the fish as the tide had risen a lot. It was a nice size, around 1lb, unfortunately deeply hooked so I cut the line.

I missed another bite shortly after and it was almost an hour before the next which was like the previous one I caught and again a pollock, as expected. It too put up a good little fight on this fiberglass rod. Less than 10 minutes later the third fish was landed, then a smaller but really nicely coloured fish, and two more, meaning most the fish were taken within half an hour (14:36 to 14:59), possibly indicating it was a shoal moving through the area.

That was it for this mark. The bites stopped and after high tide the tow here makes it almost unfishable so after chatting for a while longer, the boat race and watching crowd on the pier had dispersed so I moved with some other anglers down to the pier. When I arrived I went to the left of the lower pier and float fished mostly close in, sometimes my hook snagged the wall of the pier. There were plenty of small fish around and some had been caught in prawn traps so they were identifiable as small Pouting and Whiting. Occasionally fiah a little larger could be seen moving around below, taking little pieces from my large mackerel strips.

Aside from a couple of missed, very quick bite I had nothing until a very odd bite where the float stopped steady and just ''shook'' I pulled the rod up and at first I thought a bigger than usual pollock was hooked but then saw it was a Wrasse. Although I tend to take any information that puts fish into catergories of different strict habits with a picnh of salt I wasn''t expecting a wrasse on mackerel as I had been told they were unlikely to take them in strips.

Some families were looking around the pier and I was pleased to be able to let two young boys see the wrasse while they were questioning oter anglers about fishing. Back it went and then I had to wait 2 hours for another fish. Not that the time went slowley, it was fun on the pier, lost going on despite the lack of bites. One of the people I was fishing next to, Robert had a Spotted Ray and so did another angler, so going by other reports aswell, they were around in some numbers now.

Once darkness had fallen I packed up in the very last bit of light and walked back to the car contemplating how quick this long time fishing had passed and how I should return to getting out float fishing a lot more again.

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

Set up 1: Rod: Shakespeare Omni Mackerel 10ft 2 piece Fixed Spool (£17.95) [ > 3 years 11 months ]

Reel: Leeda Icon 5000 Fixed spool (£35.18) [ > 4 years 5 months ]

Line: Daiwa Hyper Sensor 20lb (£12.95) 635m

Hooks: Sakuma Stinger 2 (£15.00) 100

Hooklength: Maxima Clear 15lb (£4.00) 100m