November Review

Well what a mad crazy busy month November was. Between fishing, work and helping my wife with the Christmas market I’ve barely had time to take breath.

Fishing wise the month actually started pretty slowly. The opening weekend I had commitments in the evening so was restricted to a couple of short daytime sessions in what was pretty grim weather, strong winds, big swell and really cold. I opted for a couple of short mullet sessions around the harbour that only produced a few small thick lips and a solitary snipe.

Next was a session on the north coast with the big rods. The swell was still really big so choice of venue was extremely limited. I managed to find somewhere I could tuck in that was just about fishable and had plenty of action from the off from Conger with a couple of slightly better ones amongst the usual straps both landed single handed with a landing net which was entertaining in the swell. These the best of them at 15-8 & 18lb.

Then it was time for the annual Bass festival which also serves as the penultimate round of the Bass on measure. I started on the Friday night with a session on the lures. At the 5pm start it was still a little on the shallow side where I was so instead of starting on the soft plastics I opted for a hard lure – an IMA Hound 125F Glide in silver scales for those interested. 2nd cast in I had a hit but failed to hook up, promising. Next cast and I’m hit again, this time connecting with a fairly small fish. After a spirited scrap I had the first fish of the session at 48cm, not a monster but at least it was a fish to register for the BOM.

It then went quiet so I moved along to the next point and 2nd cast again I got hit by what felt like a much better fish. It made a couple of really strong runs before it was close enough to see, I turned on my headlamp and was a little surprised it wasn’t a big bigger. I managed to slip it in the next In between the swells, a slight improver of 53cm.

I then had 3 small fish in quick succession as well as a few other hits before it went quiet and it was time to move along again. Next stop and 2 more small fish straight away before it went quiet again. One last move to an area I don’t normally fish but the tide was so high by this point there was enough water to have a go and second cast again I got hit. This fish was much slower just a few head shakes, no real runs and I was a little surprised to see the best fish of the night when I turned on my headlamp. A quick scramble down the rocks with the net and a long lean fish just under 61cm, a possible contender for a prize.

What a cracking session, 8 bass, 7 on the hard lure and just 1 on a sidewinder skerries.

Next was a stupid o’clock bait session that turned into a complete dogfish fest, so much so that I gave up early and was back in bed by 4am.

I then opted to give the remainder of my bait to dad to have a go on the beach while I returned to have another session on the lures. It’s rare for me to go back to the same mark in 2 consecutive days but they were there on the Friday so I felt it was worth another bash. Sadly I should have listened to myself because I never had a touch. Amazing the difference from one night to the next. That was the end of my Bass festival weekend, I had a family meal to go to on the Sunday evening so didn’t expect to be able to make the weigh in. That was however cancelled at the last minute so I made it down to see what had been caught. To my surprise I had the biggest lure fish so won the lure section as well as coming equal first in this round of the BOM.

Here are the full results from the Bass Festival.

Next session was another session on the rocks with the big baits which turned out to be quite a session. It started how these sessions often do with plenty of small eels before a much more positive bite which resulted in me lifting into what felt like a much better eel. I was fishing fairly light as was mainly targeting a Huss so took it easy. It was quite difficult to judge how big it was going to be because there was a really big swell still running and I was playing the swell as well as the fish. When I eventually managed to get it to the surface I couldn’t see it clearly in the swell but I thought it was around 20-25lb, a good eel these days. I started to make my way down towards the water, or as close as I could get in the swell and grabbed my gaff only for it to get tangled in my landing net which was laying alongside it! I’ve got the rod in one hand, the gaff in the other and I’m somehow trying to untangle the net. The eel then made a couple of strong dives taking a fair bit of line while I’m still trying to free my gaff! Eventually I get the gaff free from the net but now I have the challenge of landing the eel. The swell is coming around the corner washing the eel about 15 yards away from me, then I’m winding like mad to keep in contact as the backwash then drags it about 15 yards the other way. I know if I’m patient and lucky I might get one chance at this. I must of had the fish in the swell a good 10 minutes before a tiny window of opportunity and I didn’t miss my chance. As soon as I felt the weight on the gaff I thought it might be a bit bigger than I was expecting. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a big eel but I fancied it had to be close to 30. Well I wasn’t dissatisfied when the scales settled at 38-0, my best eel for many years and my first Conger club medal for quite a while. Amazingly this was the day after a wrote my previous post about trying for a conger club gold. It may only be another silver medal fish but I certainly wasn’t complaining.

I put the rods back out while I enjoyed that big fish buzz that doesn’t happen very often and marvelled at how lucky I had been to land it singled handed in those conditions. Next bite and it was the target species Bullhuss albeit only a small one but another species ticked off for my species hunt.

Rods back out and it’s not long before I’m in again and this one feels a little different. On the surface I spot the telltale reflection of the eyes from a better Huss, I decided not to chance my luck with the swell again and dragged it up with a big wave holding my breath it didn’t spit the hook as they so often do. This one was a better fish of 8-15 and my 20th club weigher of the year for the Sinkers, always a nice target to reach.

Rods back out again, the left hand one goes but it snags me and I snap out. I decide with the way the swell now is it’s time to reluctantly call it a night. While I’m sorting my gear out the second rod goes and I’m in again! This feels heavier and on the surface I can see it’s a bigger Huss, looks a good double. I wait for the right swell but my luck runs out and the trace parts as I’m dragging it up in the swell. I had rode my luck all night so couldn’t really complain and amazingly all this happened and I was back home by 8.30pm, what an amazing few hours fishing.

Following on from that lovely eel I had to get out and have another go but this session reverted to type with tiny strap eels and dogfish plaguing the baits.

I then had a small window on a Sunday afternoon and as the wind had swung east and the swell had finally dropped I decided to try for a late season mullet on the north coast. I had my first bite which I missed after about 40 minutes of chervying but next cast I hooked the first fish of the session, this spirited thick lipped just over 2lb.

I thought that might be it as you often get 1 fish on the rocks and that’s it, but 20 minutes later the float goes down again and I had a slightly better one of 3-4.

I then hooked one that put up a really weird scrap which made sense when I netted it and saw it was foul hooked. I then had another about 2lb before this one of 3-5

By this point I was running out of daylight fast, I had one more drop right under my feet where I could just about see my float, and down it went again. After a cracking scrap I slipped the best one of the session into the net at 3-13.

I did think about slipping the float off and fishing straight up and down as they were clearly there but I was already running late so decided to call it a day. 6 fish in a little over 2 hours was great sport. Oddly in the past where I have fished the north coast at this time of year for mullet you catch very few fish but they are generally good fish. So unusual to catch so many. oh and I even had a black bream.

Next was a session at St Catherine’s Breakwater with dad as he was keen to try and get a club weigher Conger for the year which needs to be over 12lb. It was just like old times, a horrible night with strong winds and heavy rain and dad and I the only two idiots stupid enough to be down there. I opted to fish for Ray, just catching the usual Pout & Dogfish as well as a few Black Bream and a surprise Bass about 2lb. I lost a couple of eels on the Ray gear that bit through the trace. Just when I was thinking of calling it a night I hear a shout from dad and he has an eel that looks like it might just make it. After a bit of a dance it was in the net and it felt like it had a bit of weight. Sure enough it was mission accomplished with this one of 12-15.

Then it was time for the last round of this years Bass on measure. I had only weighed in 4 rounds so was keen to at least try and get a 5th fish as only your best 5 rounds count. I was too distracted by Stingray in the early rounds to be competitive but a decent fish could still see me finish with a respectable total. This round also coincided with the first weekend of the Christmas market so time was going to be squeezed. I started on the Friday on the lures, I figured I had 1 hour and 10 minutes before I had to make a dash up the cliff to pick my wife up. I had a small fish of 40cm, not big enough almost straight away so was optimistic of a weigher but that was the only action of the session. I decided to go back early morning, personally I always prefer the morning tides but it was just a single fish session again, this one an angry fish that wouldn’t relax on the ruler but just scraped the 42cm minimum. It always amazes me when I catch a 42cm fish how small the minimum landing size is, it really is a small fish.

I then decided on a daytime low water session on the beach. It turned into a proper gruelling session. Firstly I really struggled to dig bait and managed just 60 small lugworm. When I arrived at the mark the weather was nothing short of atrocious. It was so windy I could barely open the van door and the rain was torrential. To make matters worse it was freezing. I decided on taking absolute minimum amount of gear, no tripod just a rod, a few bits of tackle, a ruler and my bait clipped to my waders. It has to be amongst the worst conditions I can ever remember fishing in. My hands were so cold I could barely bait up. Every time I reeled in my bait was gone and the trace wasn’t crab chewed so I felt I was getting bites I just couldn’t tell in the wind. I stuck it out probably as much because I couldn’t face the walk back up the beach as much as anything but I did feel my best chance of a fish would be just after the turn. Sure enough just after the low I had my first definite bite, when I wound down there was a fair bit of weight but I wasn’t sure if it was a fish or weed. About half way in I felt a kick and knew at least some of the weight was a fish. As it got closer in I got a bit more control in the wind and it began to actually feel like a reasonable fish. It then kited straight past me and looked pretty decent, I slid it on to the beach, a really solid fish in great condition. I didn’t have any scales but at 63cm in great condition it must of been pushing 6lb. A quick measure and back it went while I headed home for a hot shower and a coffee, frozen solid and soaked to the skin. Why do we do it!

I was unable to make it to the weigh in as I had to pack my wife’s stall at the Christmas market up but when the results went up I was equal first for the round and a late rally over the last 3 rounds had seen me finish with a respectable final score of 279cm.

Sadly work then totally took over and I only managed one very short session on the lures during the remainder of the month which was a blank.

December looks like continuing to be very busy with both work and two more weekends of the Christmas markets so fishing time could be a bit limited. It is however the start of a new club year on 1st December and next weekend is the inter club challenge match so plenty to look forward to.