April Review

April started for me with round 3 of the BOM, an extended 4 nighter over the Easter weekend. Thursday night was a beach session with worm to try and get a qualifier early on. It was a pretty quiet session with only 2 Bass caught, the biggest just scraping the 42cm minimum.

I didn’t have too much time over the weekend so Friday was a short daytime session over the low. A quick pit stop to dig a few lugworm before a couple of hours wading over the low. It was windy with a fair swell so it was going to be one of those sessions where you have to have all your gear and bait strapped to you and hold the rod. Not easy fishing. First cast I had a decent bite and connected with what felt like a reasonable fish. You always get a great fight in such shallow water, it’s a lovely way to fish. It turned out to be a 54cm fish which was badly hooked so I decided to keep it for dinner since the ban was now over. I put it in the bottom of my landing net with a bungee to keep it safe, clipped the net back on my dry bag and cast back out.

I then had what started as a schoolie rattle before a nice slow pull down and I was in again. This felt a lot heavier and was quite slow moving. At first I thought it was a smaller fish and a lump of weed, but then it surfaced about 30 years away and I could see it was a good fish. As I got it close in I could see the hook right on the edge of the lip and I had to somehow get my net unclipped and net it with the other fish already in the net. Luckily the hook held and I managed to net what looked a really nice fish. A quick walk back to dry land to measure and photograph my fish, a solid 70cm weighing 8lb exactly, a nice surprise for the middle of the day.

After a few minutes to recover off she swam.

I carried on fishing but in the time I’d spent sorting out the fish they had passed through and I only managed one little schoolie before it was time to pack up.

I was unable to fish on Saturday and opted for a Tope session at St Catherine’s on Sunday night which started well with a couple of decent sized Black Bream for fresh bait but only managed a couple of Dogfish. TBH our Tope fishing sessions are still very much done in hope rather than expectation but you have to keep trying.

I didn’t fish on the Monday but did manage to make it down to the weigh in where there were 3 fish over 70cm with the best this fish by James Bertram of 72cm to take the round win.

Then it was time to start my annual hunt for a decent Stingray, first bash was unsuccessful with the exception of this nice 5lb Bass that was safely returned.

Then it was time for something a little different. A friend had some relatives coming over from Australia and the teenage lad was a keen angler and wanted to try and add a few new species. It’s a tall order to make daytime fishing in April look exciting compared to Australia but I did my best. The weather didn’t help and the first date pencilled in came with force 5-6 westerly winds. St Catherine’s was the venue of choice and Cam fished well and managed 5 species, Ballan Wrasse, Corkwing Wrasse, Pouting, Dogfish and Conger.

Cam was telling me about the trouble they get with huge Stingray and how they desperately try to avoid them, which I seem to find pretty easy lol. He was then telling me how some guys catch the smaller ones for bait and use steaks of them for Tiger sharks which they Kayak their baits out for. What a different world.

Cam then fancied a bit of lure fishing which on a dead nip in the middle of the day was likely to be pretty slow. We started on the Bass with no sign of life before trying for a few Wrasse managing just one about 2lb.

Then it was already time for the 4th round of the BOM, the last before the summer break. I have to confess I couldn’t resist trying for the Stingray in the warm conditions on the off chance of a bycatch Bass. First night was slow with just little Bass but the second night I had a classic slow pull down followed by loads of slack line and when I caught up with it I was in to my first Stinger of the year, albeit only a small one at a touch under 9lb but at least it’s a start.

The weigh in for the BOM was again impressive with 8 Bass over 60cm, the biggest this one of 68cm for current champion Daniel Bryant. It’s been a fantastic start to the BOM this year and it’s looking like something like a 65cm average will be needed this year.

Next was a short session for a Gilthead which was really quiet followed by an experimental Stingray session in a new area that was a total blank.

That just left time for one last session so I decided to try for a Mullet for a change. After a slow start I finally had a proper bite and was in to a really hard fighting average size fish of 2-10. I fished on for quite a while without any further sign of life. I put my rod down to grab a drink and sure enough the float disappeared, I grabbed the rod and was surprised to manage to hook the fish and it went off like a train. After what felt like an epic battle I slipped a fish just over 4lb into the net hooked in the chin explaining the fight and the fact I managed to hook it.

April has seen some truly exceptional fish caught by other Anglers. For me top of the pile is this incredible new Jersey record Stingray of 42lb caught by Sam from the Beneath The Waves YouTube channel breaking Jersey’s longest standing shore record which has stood for an amazing 71 years. I think we were all expecting it to go at some point as they become more numerous and it will be interesting to see just how big they get.

Not far behind has to be a massive shore Bass for Leigh Mullins of 13-8, a double is a dream fish for most anglers but a “Teenager” is a truly special fish, and a well deserved one for a top Bass angler who puts the hours in.

And if that isn’t enough Leigh’s dad and local legend Steve managed a new PB Stingray of 32lb another well deserved fish.

For those that have asked, dad is doing well after his knee replacement and in the last couple of days has gone back home and started driving, I don’t think it will be too long before he has the rods out.