Total sea fishing november 2014 uk

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ROUGH GUIDE TO BASS EDITOR PAUL DENNIS BRUSHES UP HIS BROKENGROUND BASICS

STEPS TO REEL PERFECTION PETER THAIN SHOWS HOW TO OVERHAUL YOUR MULTIPLIER

BEACH BUDDIES ANDY WEBB PICKS UP SOME TIPS FROM DORSET’S FINEST

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TACTIC 7 TOP TIPS FROM DANNY WICKS ON HOW TO CATCH MORE BASS FROM BAD-WEATHER MARKS

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ROBIN HOWARD REVEALS TOP BLUE WATER FISHING ON A BUDGET

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NOVEMBER 2014

EDITOR’S

Editorial

Do you have an opinion you want to share with the sea fishing community? E-mail paul.dennis@dhpub.co.uk

I don’t think I’ve ever had a day’s fishing and not come back without my head buzzing with ideas on how I could have done at least one thing better.

On one of my most recent trips it was quite a sad outcome that prompted some of my postsession musings.

I’d been out for an early morning bass jaunt with top angling guide Robin Howard on his local stomping ground of Brighton.

We were going rough-ground bait fishing for bass, a first for me, and, I’ll be honest, left to my own devices I wouldn’t have dared put baits into the places that Robin suggested.

As well as being a superb guide, Robin is great company. He fishes hard, too, which suits me. He’s always up for ‘one last cast’ even if experience and good sense tell him differently – we are rather similar in that respect.

On the day in question – which you can read about in full detail in this issue – I landed a cracking bass just shy of 5lb. It was an absolute beauty and, I suppose, a good eating size. However, I wanted to put it back.

Unfortunately it didn’t pan out like that. The fish was so deeply hooked that even as Robin got to work with his long-nosed pliers, he told me that the outcome was not likely to be a happy one.

Robin managed to remove the hook – cutting the line wasn’t an option as it had sealed the fish’s stomach – and we did our best to get the fish to recover: a good burst of highly oxygenated surf, then a rest in a decent-sized, deep rock pool, and we crossed our fingers.

After an hour or more of rest, with the tide coming further in, we faced the bass into the surf again to see if it had the energy to kick away. Sadly it was a lost cause.

“Well, we know the risks when we go fishing,” said Robin, philosophically. But it didn’t make me feel any happier.

Okay, the fish didn’t go to waste and it was indeed a good eating size, feeding four people.

But all the way home I was wondering about whether I should have hit the bite earlier.

Looking towards future rough-ground bass sessions, it’s a no-brainer for me – at the first positive indication I’m striking. I don’t care if I miss the bite or lose the lightly hooked fish of a lifetime; I’d rather put them back alive.

I know that there will always be the odd fish that inhales the bait so quickly that, like that bass, it won’t survive. But I’ll feel better in myself if I do what I can to prevent it – short of stopping going fishing of course.

Another thing that has got me scratching my head is the topic of plastic booms – the tube variety, both plain and rather more sophisticated, and in a variety of lengths.

EDITOR’S COMMENT

Total Sea Fishing ISSN 1461 - 622X Website www.totalseamagazine.com Editor Paul Dennis t: 01327 315414 e: paul.dennis@dhpub.co.uk Sub Editor Dean Kirkman Creative Director Mark Grafton Head Designer Fiona Brett Design and Illustrations Rebecca Abbott

ADVERTISING Business Development Manager Karen Biggs t: 01327 315426 m: 07929 007852 e: karen@dhpub.co.uk Production Manager Paul Evans Production Supervisor Neil Brooks Production Controller Lea Terry Production Design Supervisor Stephen Jorgensen Production Designer Steph Horn

Publishing Publisher David Hall Managing Director Sean O’Driscoll Operations Director Roger Mortimer

Contact DHP

I might be just a clumsy so-and-so, but every boat trip out where I’ve used them I’ve managed to break at least one. With the line running through them it’s an inconvenience rather than a ‘lose the lot’ job, but it’s still annoying.

Having to re-rig eats into your fishing time – and I’m never quite ready in time for the start of the next drift, thanks to hurrying too much and being all fingers and thumbs!

Really I’d like to get hold of some hollowtube metal booms for the sake of durability and potentially fewer tangles, but the only ones that I’ve seen are a bit short for what I want.

I’ve only seen them in 14cm and 21cm lengths and I think that a 30cm version would be better. Anyone know where I can get some?

Tight lines.

t: 01327 311999 f: 01327 311190 DHP Correspondence David Hall Publishing Ltd, 1 Whittle Close, Drayton Fields, Daventry, Northants NN11 8RQ Subscriptions Manager Louise Dalmedo Subscription & Back Issue Queries t: 0845 345 0253 Unit 8 Earlstrees Court, Earlstrees Road, Corby, NN17 4AX e: subscriptions@dhpub.co.uk Lines open 9am-5pm Monday-Friday Reprographics Manager Derek Mooney Repro Assistant Adam Mason Printed By Southernprint t: 01202 628300 Distribution Seymour Distribution Ltd 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT t: 020 7429 4000 Total Sea Fishing is published by David Hall Publishing Ltd Website www.davidhallpublishing.com The advertisements and editorial content published in this magazine are the sole property of the publisher and may not be copied or reproduced without the prior permission of the publisher.

14,531 likes

Paul Dennis

Total Sea Fishing 3

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19/09/2014 14:23

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER 2014

Do you have a story you want to share with the sea fishing community?

E-mail paul.dennis@dhpub.co.uk

ROUGH GUIDE TO BASS

06 12 17 23 29

TSF editor Paul Dennis targeted broken-ground bass on bait.

CATCH SCENE The month’s best catches landed by YOU.

FESTIVAL FEVER Lure guru Steven Neely reports on the Irish Bass Festival.

BACKUP FOR BASS Danny Wicks reveals a venue that beats the badweather blues.

WIN! GEMINI GLOW-IN-THE-DARK RIG KIT AND ACCESSORIES The exciting new Gemini glow-in-the-dark range has got everyone talking, and we have 10 rig kits plus full accessories to win in our easy-to-enter competition!

FIRST TIME AFLOAT

30 33

Sea angling novice Adam Mason went afloat… and is now hooked!

THE ACADEMY

Increase your knowledge with the TSF Academy – packed with tips, tricks, skills and advice for ALL levels of sea angler, and including our new casting clinic.

33 Specimen Hunt…

How To Catch Specimen Bass On Lures 36 TSF Rigs…

Build A Versatile Clipped-Down Rig 38 Casting Matters… A Simple Self-Service Guide To Multiplier Reels

TSF ANSWERS

44 48

Got a problem or a question, or do you just need some advice? The TSF experts are here to help.

BEACH BUDDIES

Catching in company hit the spot for Andy Webb when he visited a top Dorset mark.

GEARED UP!

54 60 62

Rods, reels, great gizmos and more, all feature in our must-read sea-gear section.

SKIPPER’S SPOTLIGHT Meet the skipper of Newhaven’s Yellowfin, Kurt Lander.

ON TEST Paul Dennis teamed up a top-end Shimano rod and reel for a rough-weather session.

4 www.totalseamagazine.com

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19/09/2014 14:24

NOVEMBER 2014

CONTENTS

WIN ON THE WEB

65 66

Register on our website, www.totalseamagazine.com, and you can win brilliant prizes every week – as well as getting the most from the coast.

HITTING THE HORIZON Our full roundup of the latest tournament casting results from the UK and Ireland.

PIER POINTERS

70 76 80 82 84 90

Persistence paid off for John Lewis as he targeted a popular pier.

BOAT TEST TSF picked a lucky number with the affordable Pioner 13.

REVVED UP TSF got in tune with the Yamaha F40.

KAYAK KORNER Top safety tips for kayak users.

FABULOUS FIFTY

Ally Cambell reports on the 50th Western Isles Open Boat Champs.

THE ANGLING TRUST SAYS…

David Mitchell, the marine environmental campaigns manager for the Angling Trust, is impressed by Ireland’s fisheries management.

92 98

BLUE WATER ON A BUDGET – PART 2 Angling guide Robin Howard enjoyed some more affordable big-game sport.

GET TO KNOW… New TSF contributor Danny Wicks reveals all…

Total Sea Fishing 5

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19/09/2014 14:24

SHORE

BIG BASS

BASS TSF editor Paul Dennis hit some rough-ground bass.

F

acebook messages from top angling guide Robin Howard are always succinct and always welcome, especially if they read: “Conditions will be perfect for big bass on Friday.

Can you get down here by 5.30am?”

My response, naturally, was that it would be rude not to.

In the event, thanks to a ludicrously early ‘rush hour’

on the M23 in the Gatwick area, then a long 40mph ‘crawler’ section, I didn’t quite hit the 5.30am start time.

However, we still had plenty of time to do ‘great deeds’, with Robin doing a video shoot with big bass the target.

I met Robin, his faithful companion Hasina, and cameraman Dave Hall and we quickly loaded up the gear and set off to a favourite

rough-ground spot of Robin’s near Brighton on the East Sussex coast. At this point I should point out that Hasina is Robin’s ‘puppy’, though whether you can call a five-yearold German Shepherd x Japanese Akita a puppy is open to debate. She had spotted that Robin was getting ready for a fishing trip and was determined to accompany us, which was no hardship for any of the

Due to the size of the bait and where it was being fished, it was almost certain that any bites were going to come from bass.

Robin goes in to retrieve the hook from a bass that really wanted the bait.

parties concerned.

Unloading at the car park, Robin discovered that he had left Hasina’s lead and water at home, so while I struggled into chest waders (I must get some new ones) he motored back to pick up the missing items.

On his return it was a swift yomp to the near-at-hand mark, made even easier by the ultra-light tackle load that we were taking.

I’ve been out with Robin before, and he is an absolute master of trimming down kit to the bare essentials without forgetting any of it (dog leads and water apart); it’s something that I really must get into. Having ‘Tardis-like’ pockets is a big plus, but,

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24/09/2014 11:09

BIG BASS

Job done! A nice bass will put a smile on anyone’s face.

SHORE

that apart, Robin managed to fit leads and the like into a small bucket. I couldn’t help but be impressed.

Bait fishing for big bass was the mission, and, with a fresh onshore breeze, a lively surf was running over the rough ground.

Robin described and built the rig to be used for the cameras, then demonstrated the baiting-up process with a whole squid.

Due to the size of the bait and where it was being fished, it was almost certain that any bites would come from bass, with the outside chance of a silver eel if I was unlucky, so there wasn’t much chance of a by-catch species hunt.

I’ll admit to being surprised by our choice of bait, but looked at in depth it made good sense.

A whole squid made a big, attractive bait with decent movement, and it was pretty crab resistant.

The other point is that bass visiting rough ground and rock gulleys in a decent surf are fish on the scrounge. They’re looking for food items dislodged from the rocks and aren’t too particular of the provenance.

They aren’t keyed into certain baitfish types or sizes, as can be the case when actively hunting in clear water, so ‘matching the hatch’ isn’t important.

The rough ground is a well-laid buffet table that the bass are visiting. They will have their preferences but an easy meal is unlikely to be ignored.

Our backstop bait option was peeler crab – if we needed it, and if we could find some among the rocks.

The downside of using this deservedly highly rated bait is that it would make the catching of silver eels much more likely.

I’ve nothing against silver eels, but they weren’t what we were after, so anything that reduced the chances of catching one was very welcome.

Total Sea Fishing 7

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SHORE

BIG BASS

Robin Howard explains how to put a simple bass rig together, while Dave Hall catches it all on camera.

The setup was an unfussy running paternoster with a 5oz lead and 6/0 Mustad Viking 79515 Uptide hook on a 5ft hooklength of 20lb Amnesia line.

Oddly, for rough ground, which we were fishing right in among, rather than past, Robin had decided to use a grip lead.

“It’s a six or two threes,” he said.

“A grip lead can snag, but a plain lead can roll into a snag, so, on balance, I go for the grip lead.

“Losing leads is part of the game – the trick is to come back down on a low tide and get them all back, and often more besides,” he explained.

Rather than use a dedicated rotten bottom for the lead link, Robin tied in a simple granny knot to provide a break point if the lead became snagged.

The rod was a Cinnetic Black Bass Explorer, which is light enough to hold and easily capable of launching the lead the short distance required. There were no

tripods involved in this fishing; bites had to be hit before the bass dropped the bait or ran off and dragged the lead into a snag.

With the whole squid launched about 30 yards out into the breakers, which took a bit of doing into the facing wind, I assumed the position, rod pointing skywards with my index finger hooked over the line feeling for a bite. I glanced down to check the time on my watch – it’s a habit I’ve had since my match fishing

days when time and motion were everything.

In fact, the whole process quite took me back to match fishing for bream on the swimfeeder on the upper reaches of the River Trent!

Just like in those days, I was expecting to feel a rattle first, but rather than a drop-back bite as a ‘slab’ dislodged the swimfeeder, I was expecting to give line by dropping the rod tip, to lower resistance and encourage the bass to take the bait properly.

However, I was also aware that the first indication might be a totally confident pulldown if a fish hit the bait hard; yet another reason for keeping a good hold on the rod.

The bonus about touch legering is that you don’t have to get a crick in your neck from looking upwards at the tip of your rod all of the time – “god spotting” as the late Frank Barlow used to call it.

You get just as early a notification of interest through your fingers, and then you can take a look at the rod tip to confirm developments.

By nature I’m a busy angler – always wanting to try to make things happen if they aren’t happening – but I do

The lead is dropped out between the second and third breaker.

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BIG BASS

SHORE

Baiting Up With A Whole Squid Baiting up with a whole squid on a single hook can be tricky, but Robin Howard has an easy, foolproof method that is quick to carry out.

Use the hooklength to tie two halfhitches at the tail end – roughly where the hook enters the squid. This helps secure the bait.

04

Remove the ‘quill’ from the squid – this is optional because a bass will take the squid anyway, but it makes baiting up easier.

01

One man and his dog – Robin waits for a take.

05

The bait is secured and ready to go.

02

Insert the point of the hook – a Mustad Viking 79515 Uptide 6/0 – about half an inch from the tail end of the squid.

03

Thread the hook down through the squid, then push the point through the head to finish hooking.

recognise the need to ‘sit on my hands’ at times to allow things to develop. I suppose that one of the key things about this is to know when to fidget and fiddle about with things, and when not to. It’s an ongoing lesson that I’ve been learning all of my angling life, and I’m still no nearer to mastering it.

I don’t know about you, but I find that the first five minutes after I’ve made the first cast and everything has settled into place seem to drag on forever. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve had bites, hooked hardfighting fish and landed them after quite a struggle, allowed them to rest while I readied the weighing paraphernalia, weighed, photographed, rested and returned them, rebaited and cast back in, then settled down and looked at my watch to discover that only 10 minutes have elapsed since my first cast hit the water.

By contrast, if I’m really in sit-and-wait mode, once the first 20 or so minutes have passed, the remainder of that first hour seems to fly by. But

it’s not been time wasted.

If I’m not holding the rod I’m readying another rig, or two, or three, almost always with slight tweaks and often with minor variations in bait and presentation. I’ll always have a duplicate of the first one in case it turns out to be ‘magic’, but if it hasn’t produced I’m afraid it gets the David Moyes treatment.

Holding the rod obviously takes rig fiddling and the like out of the equation – but it doesn’t stop you thinking about doing it!

Anyway, the first few minutes are always filled with expectant concentration, before the confidence oozes away and those “it’s going to be one of those days” thoughts seep in to replace it.

So, I was watching the rod top and it felt as if an hour had gone by. I was keeping the line well out of the water to reduce weed problems and wave action that could potentially dislodge the lead.

The line felt nice and tight, but was it too tight? Had the lead got itself fast? Was the bait hidden? Was the bait Total Sea Fishing 9

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SHORE

BIG BASS

still on?

It’s wonderful how the mind works during those first two minutes!

Okay, so maybe not an hour had passed, but surely 20 or 30 minutes had elapsed before I felt, and saw, a rattle on the rod tip.

It pulled down an inch or two then resumed its position.

A small fish?

I wasn’t sure. It felt a weighty sort of rattle if you know what I mean. There was substance to it. It didn’t feel ‘tinny’ like pin whiting or small bream rattles do, but I remembered that I was using unfamiliar tackle, so I could have been mistaken. In any event, the rattle hadn’t developed and it had ended before I’d had the chance to give line.

Only 15 minutes later (surely it must have been 15 minutes?) there was another,

more confident rattle, a rattle that lasted long enough for me to lower the rod tip to horizontal to allow the fish line.

I lifted the rod tip back up gingerly, and as I felt the rattle again I swept it back in a strike.

There was a hefty thump as the rod met solid resistance, then it arced over even more as what I hoped was a decent bass shook its head in anger and slewed sideways across the tide.

This wasn’t the sort of environment in which to let the fish get the upper hand; I’d got strong terminal tackle and I used it.

Not being familiar with the rod, I couldn’t gauge the size of the fish that I’d hooked. It could have been 2lb, it could have been 20lb. Somewhere exactly in between would be perfect.

Suddenly all went solid as

the lead caught in the rocks.

I kept a tight line and the bucking fish kicked the lead out, pulling the rod tip down again as it fought in the surf.

It was closer to the shore now but I still couldn’t see the lead, in spite of the water being less than five feet deep.

The lead snagged again, and this time it needed a bit more persuasion to get it to spring free. The line felt weightless, but the fish had moved towards me and as I reeled in it kicked hard against the rod tip again.

At last I could see the lead link, with the hooklength changing direction this way and that with bewildering speed as the bass darted around in the shallow water.

A flash of spines, a flash of silver – it wasn’t a monster but it was a decent fish.

When I’d hooked it I hadn’t shouted “fish on” to alert Robin and Dave – I didn’t

want them coming over to find an angler wrestling with a silver eel or, even worse, winding in a fishless line with the tale of one that had got away.

With the bass in a gulley alongside the finger of rock that I was standing on, I started to entertain thoughts of how I should land it.

“That looks a nice fish,” said Robin, who had materialised at my shoulder, having crossed the rough ground in record-breaking time.

“I was just tying up a rig for my rod and Dave told me that he thought you had a fish on – then we saw your rod buckling and I got over here as fast as I could,” he added, while expertly hand-landing the fish.

I looked at my watch.

Ten minutes had passed.

Winding up the pressure with Robin’s dog, Hasina, in close attendance.

10 www.totalseamagazine.com

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CALLUM’S CORKER Who: Callum Davis What: 8lb 2oz bass Where: Newhaven Nine-year-old Callum, from Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, put the adults to shame when he landed this corking 8lb 2oz bass while on a trip out of Newhaven, West Sussex, on his uncle Ian’s new boat.

The bass is a PB for Callum, who actually had a 7lb 6oz fish only minutes earlier.

Both fish fell to float-fished pouting livebaits on a drifting boat over a near shore wreck in 20 feet of water.

It turned out to be a real red-letter day for Callum – who had only ever caught a few mackerel from the beach before – as he also bagged a number of bream and pouting, along with the bigger specimens.

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HOO-RAY FOR HARRISON Who: Harrison Evans What: 14lb 4oz undulate ray Where: Old Harry Rocks, Dorset Harrison, from Bridport, Dorset was well chuffed with the capture of this 14lb 4oz undulate ray – his first – during a trip out to a mark just off Old Harry Rocks in Dorset on Piscary, skippered by Matt Rowe.

The fish was taken on a large strip of mackerel, which was presented on a 3/0 half-circle Varivas hook using a 20lb/30lb Abu Conolon rod, an Abu multiplier reel, 30lb braid and a 4ft, 70lb flowing trace holding an 8oz weight.

For More Info Log On To www.totalseamagazine.com

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19/09/2014 14:27

SPONSORS CATCH SCENE

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CATCHSCENE

TOP TURBOT TRIP Who: Kevin Renton What: 8lb turbot Where: Newhaven Kevin, from Chelmsford, Essex, landed this 8lb turbot, the biggest of a 35-fish haul on a recent trip that he and three mates made aboard Ocean Warrior 3, skippered by Dave Elliot, out of Newhaven, West Sussex.

The fish fell to fresh mackerel strip fished on a 25lb fluorocarbon leader and a 3/0 circle hook.

On the tackle front, Kevin fished with an Abu Suveran Evo 20lb-class rod and a Fin Nor MH16 multiplier reel loaded with Crystal braid.

Nigel, 55, from Mill Isle, County Down, Northern Ireland, hauled in this massive 240lb porbeagle shark – his first – during a trip out into the North Irish Sea on Predator, skippered by Hamish Currie, out of Red Bay. The big shark fell to a live coalfish, which Nigel fished on a Fenwick 15lb/40lb Stand Up Stick and a Shimano TLD reel loaded with 50lb Sylcast mono. The fish was the only one taken on the day.

GIANT GARFISH Who: Neil Patey What: 2lb 4oz garfish Where: Skerries Banks, Devon Neil, 42, from Dartmouth, Devon, nearly doubled the weight of his previous garfish when he landed this 2lb 4oz specimen for a new PB. He was fishing a mark on the Skerries Banks – off the Dartmouth coast – on a boat skippered by Les Barnes when the slimline specimen picked up his live-sandeel hook bait.

The fish was played on a running-leger setup, fished on a carp rod and 10lb mono, and was part of a busy day’s action that included 50 plaice to 3lb 6oz, plus red gurnards, dabs and mackerel.

PREDATOR VERSUS PREDATOR Who: Nigel Ritchie What: 240lb porbeagle shark Where: County Antrim, Northern Ireland

RARE RECORD Who: Philip Lewis What: 2lb 14oz megrim Where: West of Lundy Philip, from Bristol, landed this 2lb 14oz megrim from a mark 20 miles west of the Isle of Lundy while on a shark fishing trip on AlyKay Too, skippered by Dave Roberts. The West Coast & Watchet SAC member hooked the fish – a new record for the Bristol Channel – on a frozen-squid bait mounted on a Mustad Sealite trace.

The successful gear included a Penn Inxs 419 uptiding rod, an Abu Ambassadeur reel, loaded with 20lb Ultima Red Ice line, and a Drennan fluorescent shockleader.

PUTNAM’S PENZANCE PB Who: Simon Putnam What: 6lb brill Where: Penzance Simon, 37, from Maldon, Essex, landed this stunning 6lb brill during a recent trip out on Robin ‘Chippy’ Chapman’s Bite Adventures from Penzance.

The big specimen is a new PB for Simon, beating his old best by 3lb.

The fish was taken during an annual five-day trip to the west coast of England, where Simon fished a mackerel on a flowing trace on light spinning gear.

www.shakespeare-fishing.co.uk Total Sea Fishing 13

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CATCHSCENE

YOUR LATEST CATCHES

SPONSORED BY

PB PLAICE OF PENZANCE Who: Danny Curtis What: 6lb plaice Where: Penzance Danny, 57, from Bournemouth, Dorset, had a successful trip to the West Country, with this PB 6lb bream taking top honours on Colin Penny’s Flamer IV off Penzance.

The fish was taken on 8lb-class gear with a short trace fitted with loads of coloured attractor beads and a size 2/0 Sakuma Stinger hook baited with a ragworm-andmackerel-strip cocktail.

JACK’S JERSEY JOLLY Who: Jack Gavey What: 6lb 15oz thin-lipped mullet Where: Jersey Jack Gavey, 65, from St Helier, Jersey, has upped the British Boat best (subject to ratification) with this cracking 6lb 15oz thinlipped mullet.

The fish was taken aboard a private boat, skippered by Derek Hane, where it fell to a ragwormbaited spoon, and, as you can imagine, it put up a spirited fight on Jack’s lightweight Shimano rod-and-reel setup.

GOT A PICTURE? SEND IN THE FORM TSF has teamed up with top tackle manufacturer Shakespeare, and is giving you the chance of winning some fantastic tackle prizes just for sending us the details of your recent catch.

What we consider to be the best catch of the month will win two packs of superb Devil’s Own Hellfire Worms and Hellfire Shads worth £13.96, as well as a spool of red Beta monofilament line worth £5.

The senders of every other catch picture we print will receive a pack of Devil’s Own Hellfire Worms or Hellfire Shads.

But that’s not all, because every three months the three Catch Of The Month winners will be put into a draw where one of them will win more than £250 worth of Shakespeare rods, reels and line, including the Agility and Sigma brands.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of getting your hands on these superb tackle prizes is send us a good-quality picture of your catch and complete the form below. If there are any other interesting facts about your catch you wish to include, simply jot them down on a piece of paper.

You should send your entry to: Shakespeare Catch Scene, Total Sea Fishing, 1 Whittle Close, Drayton Fields, Daventry, Northants NN11 8RQ, or e-mail high-quality images to: paul. dennis@dhpub.co.uk.

We can’t guarantee to use every picture we receive but we’ll do our best to get you in your favourite sea angling mag.

Good luck and good fishing; we hope to hear from you soon!

All e-mails and letters must include the details below to be considered for inclusion.

ENTRY FORM Name & address:

Postcode:

CASTING FOR A COUCH’S Who: Jon Hocking What: 7lb 4oz 10dr Couch’s bream Where: Penzance Jon, from Penzance, Cornwall, has set a new Cornish Boat Record for a Couch’s bream with this cracking 7lb 4oz 10dr specimen, which is also a new record for his club, Mounts Bay AS. The fish was taken during a trip out on Penzance-based Bite Adventures, skippered by ‘Chippy’ Chapman, and it fell to a mackerel fillet – fished on a 2/0 Sakuma Manta Extra hook on a 30lb mono trace.

The fish was tamed on an Abu Suveran 10lb-class rod and a Penn Fathom 12 reel loaded with 20lb braid.

Age:

E-mail: Occupation: Day tel/mobile number: Species caught/weight: Date caught: Venue/name of boat: Name of skipper: Bait or type of lure: Tackle used: Previous best: Any other fish caught:

Please e-mail digital images as large as possible, WITHOUT enhancements, to paul.dennis@dhpub.co.uk

www.shakespeare-fishing.co.uk 14 www.totalseamagazine.com

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SPONSORS CATCH SCENE

YOUR LATEST CATCHES

CATCHSCENE

PENNY-WISE PLAICE Who: Ian Nash What: 6lb plaice Where: Weymouth

MULLET-MASTER MATT Who: Matt Elmy What: 6lb 6oz mullet Where: River Blackwater Estuary Matt, 30, from Maldon, Essex, landed this specimen thinlipped mullet during a recent trip to the shores of the River Blackwater Estuary in Essex.

The 6lb 6oz specimen was taken on a handmade lure fished on light spinning gear, which gave Matt some real rod-bending action as he tamed the fish.

Ian, 64, from Templecombe, Somerset, latched on to this super 6lb plaice – a new PB – during a trip out on Colin Penny’s Flamer IV out of Weymouth, where he presented a ragwormand-Ammo-squid-strip cocktail hook bait on a drift over mussel beds.

Ian’s tackle for the trip was an 8lb-class setup, which included lots of coloured attractor beads and a baited size 2/0 Sakuma Stringer hook.

CatchClass SECOND-CAST SUCCESS Who: Jayden Anderson What: 3lb 4oz bass Where: Holderness Coast, East Riding of Yorkshire Ten-year-old Jayden, from Hull, bagged this excellent 3lb 4oz bass on only his second cast of the day during a recent shore trip to Dimlington on the Holderness Coast.

In fact, it was the only fish of the day, but Jayden’s smile says it all.

The fish was caught on half an unwashed squid fished at 60 yards on a 2/0 pulley-rig setup.

NICE SURPRISE FOR JOE Who: Joe Ellery What: 4lb 2oz black bream Where: Porthcurno Ten-year-old Joe, from Nansough Wartha, Cornwall, latched onto this ‘surprise’ 4lb 2oz black bream while out on a cod fishing trip off the south Cornwall coast.

Joe was fishing from his dad’s boat when the big specimen homed in on his baited-feathers setup.

The fish was brought to the boat using a Savage Gear 8lb boat rod and an Okuma Classic XT Pro reel loaded with 12lb braid and a 16lb mono leader.

The trip also produced cod to 6lb, plus plenty of pollack and mackerel.

BIG MATCH BASS Who: Anthony Le Huquet What: 11lb 2oz bass Where: Jersey Eleven-year-old Anthony, from Jersey, bagged this fantastic 11lb 2oz bass, which was the biggest caught in the recently held Jersey Open Shore Fishing Competition on the Channel Isle. Unfortunately it couldn’t count in the event because his dad helped him land it.

However, this is still a terrific catch for an 11-yearold angler.

The fish fell for a head of fresh mackerel set on an 8/0 hook fished off a breakwater at St Helier.

www.shakespeare-fishing.co.uk Total Sea Fishing 15

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24/09/2014 14:16

IRISH BASS FESTIVAL

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Lure guru Steve Neely reports from the Irish Bass Festival.

H

ave you ever wanted to fish some of the best bass coastline in Europe, meet lots of like-minded anglers, have a laugh and potentially win shiny prizes? Then look no further than the three-day Irish Bass Festival, which is run by tackle shop Absolute Fishing, based in Tramore, Co Waterford, Republic of Ireland. This was its third year, having started in 2012, and, as always, the event’s organisers, Cian O’Halloran and James Barry, put in a lot of hard work.

The concept of the festival is to promote recreational, catch-andrelease lure fishing for bass.

Fever

Each entrant receives a welcome pack containing information on the area, a personal ID-number card and a measuring stick. Prizes are broken down into four categories – longest fish, junior and senior, second-

Inland Fisheries Ireland has also been taking the opportunity to provide scale-sampling packs to anglers to help gain a further understanding of the bass being caught in the area. This information

Lures, Fiiish, Anyfish Anywhere, Daiwa and many more, you know that the prizes are going to be topnotch. However, for most of the entrants it isn’t about the prizes, but simply catching bass and having a laugh.

The amount of coastline in the immediate area of Tramore is staggering – beaches, bays, coves and estuaries all hold these mighty fighting fish. longest fish and best overall three. To register a fish, you must photograph the bass on the tape provided with your ID card, clearly shown, and no distortion made to the fish. Each entry is then verified using hi-tech computer software.

is key to developing a good understanding of bass feeding habits and reproduction trends, all of which helps to strengthen the argument for an increased minimum landing size and bag limits.

The sponsors vary from year to year, but with big names such as Top Water

The Fishing Technically you can fish anywhere along the coast of Ireland, as long as you are back at the shop for the official closing time to register. Any fish that are claimed after the time are not counted. The amount of coastline in the immediate area of Tramore is staggering

This bass nailed a Fiiish Crazy Sandeel.

Tot TTo Total ottal o al Sea Se Se ea a FFi Fishing is sh shi hiing h ng 17 17

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IRISH BASS FESTIVAL

– beaches, bays, coves and estuaries all hold these mighty fighting fish and you simply don’t know where that next monster will pop up.

I’ve been fishing this part of Ireland for a few years and every time I go back I discover a little more and have my eyes opened to what is arguably some of the best bass fishing in Europe.

The majority of the coastline sits under high cliffs, which give way to rocky, weedy, shallow ground that simply screams bass. Plenty of bouldercovered bays, peppered with gulleys, make it the ideal hunting ground for these spiky predators.

Of course, it all depends

on the conditions. A light southerly wind is ideal because it starts to fizz up the ground and gives that all-important life in the water that bass love to feed in. Unfortunately, the last two years we’ve been given perfect ‘holiday’ weather, with scorching-hot sun, bright blue skies and flatcalm seas – great if you want to sit on a beach and read but not for us die-hard bass anglers who like it a bit rough!

In saying this, there have still been cracking fish caught and with persistence and hard work some lads reaped the rewards.

Steve and Nick Bennett putting in the rod hours.

My Festival Experience We arrived in Tramore around 10am on the Friday and we knew that it was going to be a roasting day.

It had already hit 28ºC on our journey down but spirits where high because we had a long weekend of bass fishing ahead of us. After a muchneeded cup of coffee at Absolute Fishing and a quick catch-

up with Cian and James, we set off to assess the conditions on the coast.

At first sight it was placid and, to be honest, it really wasn’t ticking any boxes, so we decided to go and explore and scout out some new ground. Leaving the gear in the car, we hiked over fields and under electric fences looking for access down to the stunning ground below us. Eventually we found what looked like a way down

to some pretty awesome boulder fields. The tide was just sitting slack at dead low so we headed back to get the waders and rods and made our way back and down to the newly discovered ground.

There was a fair bit of floating weed in close but casts at distance seemed to pick up less. I was fishing with an IMA Salt Skimmer and as I watched the lure zigzag across the top of the water I could see the

This schoolie grabbed an IMA Salt Skimmer.

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IRISH BASS FESTIVAL

dark shadow come cruising behind it. I kept working the lure in a methodical manner as the bass proceeded to make several attempts at a smash and grab, each time exploding on the surface.

Sadly, after three attempts it failed to hook up and lost interest.

It was looking promising but we fished on for a few more hours with no joy. In my eyes, though, it wasn’t a failure because we’d discovered a new mark and raised a few fish so the spirits were intact and we set off to check in at our accommodation.

Later we headed out to a mark on a dropping tide, which coincided with dusk – perfect! We set off from the car and made our way onto the mark, watching a few mullet swirl as we walked; it was an encouraging sight.

Again I was using top-water lures like the IMA Salt Skimmer, the Tackle House Vulture, the

SHORE

Steve’s father with a perfect small bar of silver.

Seaspin Pro-Q 90 and the Xorus Patchinko 100. As I watched a few mullet breaking the surface, a few feet behind I noticed a different disturbance and the telltale spikes of a bass’ dorsal fin. I flicked the lure over the top, let it settle and worked it back – fish on!

It was only a schoolie but anyone who’s used surface lures knows that any topwater action from bass is great fun.

My father nailed another one of a similar size about 20 minutes later and after a few quick snaps it was slipped back to join its mates.

Meeting Up With Fellow Bass Nuts Of course, everyone would like to win the big star prize but for the majority of anglers the event is really a huge social gathering. For us it’s always a great time to meet up

with some of the GB anglers who come over each year for the festival. For example, we’d been fishing a mark for a few hours when I met up with fellow TSF contributor Nick Bennett.

An IMA Salt Skimmer lure.

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IRISH BASS FESTIVAL

We had a good chat about all things lures and bass before hitting the water hard for a another few hours to see if we could tempt another bar of silver.

Not long after that, Dorset fishing guide Mark Padfield and his friends Richard and Joe turned up. I had met Mark the year before and we instantly picked up where we had left off, talking about the season past and trying to right all the wrongs in the lure fishing world. For a while the bass fishing took a back seat as we stood up to our chests in water and simply talked endlessly about our beloved sport.

It was great to meet Richard Cake from the custom-rod-building company, Dorset Fishing Rods. Mark had one of these custom DFR rods, which I was lucky to have a wiggle with – wow! It was a serious bit of kit and for a custom-built rod it is not as expensive as people first think. So if you’re considering a new rod, or fancy something that little bit special, then I highly recommend checking out his work at www. dorsetfishingrods.co.uk.

A Difficult Few Days Over the duration of the competition we struggled with the conditions, and I don’t mind admitting that! It wasn’t that the bass weren’t there, but simply getting them to take a lure with any confidence was a challenge.

It was frustrating to see bass rise to top-water lures or have them follow the shallow divers but that is fishing sometimes and you simply have to accept that it isn’t your day. We had tried the usual tactics of night-time and low light but sadly it didn’t go our way.

This Year’s Winners After the final entries are registered on the Sunday afternoon and verified, there is a prize giving held at a local hotel. Here the winners

Senior winner, Steve Jones.

Festival organiser – Absolute Fishing, Tramore.

of the different classes are announced, the ‘black stuff’ flows and the stories of big bass go on into the early hours!

The results of the 2014 Irish Bass Festival.

Best three combined Carl Tunstil (195 centimetres) Senior winners 1st: Steve Jones (78 centimetres) 2nd equal: Mick Larkin and Mark Padfield (71 centimetres) 3rd: Declan Halpin (70 centimetres) Junior Winner Darragh McCarthy (78 centimetres)

What A Way To End A Bass Trip – Double Hook-Ups! After waking up with a slightly dull head from a few Guinnesses the night before,

we set off for the last session of our trip. After thrashing the open coast all weekend, this time we decided to give an estuary a blast to see if it would turn up trumps; what a good call that was!

The conditions had improved, mainly due to the westerly wind that had picked up and the dull and overcast sky. The tide was dropping and we were waiting for the fish to show up. We rigged up with Fiiish Crazy Sandeels in the new gold colour and began to bump them in the current. A few friends who had the same idea as us joined us. It wasn’t long before the rods started to slam over and chaos ensued. For a brief period the bass were feeding hard and at several points two or more of us had hooked into fish at the same time;

it was mad. This is what bass fishing should be like, a bunch of lads out having a blast and smashing a pile of fish.

We all managed to get a few and with more than 25 fish between us, all photographed and released, we walked back to the car with grins on our faces and on a bass high. All of a sudden the last three days of hard slogging disappeared. In fact, I think it made it more enjoyable; we had worked hard for it. I’m not saying we deserved it because noone ever ‘deserves’ a fish but sometimes sticking at it and giving it your all results in something special; this was one of those occasions.

For any of you bass anglers out there who fancy a change of scenery coupled with a good social weekend, then keep an eye out for details regarding next year’s festival.

CONTACT Absolute Fishing W: www.absolutefishing.ie T: 00 353 (0)51 393559

20 www.totalseamagazine.com

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19/09/2014 14:31

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15/04/2014 15:52

ROUGH-WEATHER FISHING

SHORE

Backup

For Bass Portsmouth’s Danny Wicks explains how a bit of thought and preparation put him on to some excellent sport.

H

ave you ever got to a chosen venue and the conditions just haven’t played ball? You end up with the wind in your face, weed up your line and before long you’re debating whether or not to pack up your gear and head for cover.

Well I’ve been in this situation many times, so I decided to find myself a safe haven for when the weather

doesn’t permit fishing my favourite beach marks.

It got me thinking about deep-water ferry channels plus the small channels, banks and estuaries that run off these. Then I remembered the doublefigure bass being caught from them over the years.

Harbours and estuaries also provide cover from strong

onshore winds – they also provide some good sport with bass. There’s always somewhere to find that offers a comfortable mark to fish, no matter what the wind and

weather may bring.

The best thing to do is to get down to visit the marks at low water. This will give you a great view of everything that would be under the water that you wouldn’t normally be able to see, which will include features, gulleys and snags.

Finding the gulleys at low water will provide you with an edge when fishing the harbours or estuaries

A nice bass for Danny, proving that his backup venue is a winner.

Total Sea Fishing 23

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24/09/2014 11:12

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ROUGH-WEATHER FISHING

because this gives you an idea of the distance and direction that you want to be aiming for when you cast, as this is where the bass will be patrolling, looking for any scraps that find their way down and get trapped in the gulleys.

I basically use the same principle as if I were fishing for bass from the shore where you would cast a bait just behind the breakers in the gulley parallel to the beach. But in the case of a harbour or estuary, the gulleys run in all directions at various distances, so this is why it’s best to observe and plan at low water.

Living so close to Portsmouth Harbour, I got to work on finding some decent-looking marks there, for when the weather tried to scupper my fishing plans.

I walked the shoreline of parts of the harbour looking for potential spots that are accessible to fish in comfort.

After finding a few locations dotted around the harbour that really took my fancy, I then had a back-up plan of where to go when I find myself in the situation of ‘fish hard or go home.’

Sooner than I expected, I got the chance to give them a try.

The A good weather selection wasn’t of baits is playing the essential. game for a session arranged for myself and Leslie Crawford on the shingle at Gilkicker Point in Gosport, so it was a day Peeler crab where we would ready to us e. put the wheels of the backup plan in motion. Instead of the alternatives of trying to stand strong and fish an uncomfortable session, or heading for the nearest burger van for a cuppa, we decided to head for cover and fish a mark inside Portsmouth Harbour.

We decided on a mark behind Whale Island, just to the right of the M275 heading into Portsmouth.

With a short walk and a Even modestly wade through some water sized bass have under the bridge, we began big mouths! our trek round the island to

I struck into a decent fish, then the adrenaline kicked in as I was into my first bass of the day – a fine-looking specimen of 1lb 15oz. our destination for the next few hours.

When we arrived it was plain to see that there was plenty of life present in the water, with the fisherman’s best friends doing their duties, a dozen birds diving to collect baitfish just 50 yards out. “A great indication,” I said to Les. The targets for the day were bass – and

The harbour provides welcome shelter from the worst of the wind.

lots of them hopefully – with the chosen baits being ragworm and the ‘caviar’ for bass, prime peeler crab from Allan’s Marine.

Having arrived at the mark at 2pm with high tide being 5pm, we quickly got set up. Rigs for the day were pretty basic in design, being single-hook clipped-down rigs with 1/0 hooks and light hooklengths of 15lb Amnesia line. I like to keep rigs simple when

fishing for bass, with a onehook clipped-down doing the job that it’s asked to do.

The first baits were soon in the water, and after scouting the low tide a few days before, I knew where I was going to be casting. There was a wide gulley around 60 yards out with a branch of thinner gulleys forking off it, so I decided to try to land my bait at the top of the wider gulley just where the other gulleys entered.

I opted for peeler on one rod and rag on the other, and started with plenty of rattles on the worm rod, but nothing connected apart from a few pesky baitrobbing hardback crabs that absolutely stripped the worm in minutes.

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ROUGH-WEATHER FISHING

Surely the ‘caviar’ of sea baits – peeler crab ready to be cast out.

After a 20-minute wait on the crab rod, it was time for me to switch on as I had something taking an interest.

With a good pull-down and some strong, hard tugs, I struck into a decent fish, and then the adrenaline kicked in as I was into my first bass of the day. It was a fine-looking fish of 1lb 15oz – a great start to the session and a good confidence booster.

With Les also having lots

SHORE

Ragworm produces a smaller stamp of bass.

of bites, we knew that we were in for some more fun.

I quickly baited up with another peeler crab and put it out to the same spot. After taking in the scenery of some Royal Navy vessels, I saw Les jump up from his seat and grab his rod. He’d had a big slack-line bite, which suggested a good fish, but no sooner had he wound down and lifted into the fish than it was off. Les was devastated

Staying Safe

As well as providing good fishing, the scenery inside Portsmouth Harbour is interesting.

Once you’ve found a mark, make sure that you also visit it at high water to ensure that you don’t get cut off from the rising tide and that you always have an exit if needs be when you are fishing there. The sea pushes fast into harbours as it funnels through the channels and can quite easily catch you out.

If fishing from a wall section, you need to watch your footing because these can be very slippery. I usually wear waders around harbours, because not only does this provide me with protection from the water and mud if I have to walk in the sea or on wet ground, but it also gives me a fair amount of grip compared with plain training shoes.

It’s always good to prepare yourself in the best way possible.

Total Sea Fishing 25

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SHORE

ROUGH-WEATHER FISHING

Les Crawford with a small schoolie that fell to ragworm.

TOP TIPS Locate your marks at low water to find gulleys and features

01

02

Always plan your trip well, including clothing and footwear

03

Be sure that you have an easily accessible route out at all times

04

Ensure that you have enough room to cast that doesn’t put others in danger

because he felt that it was a decent fish, but for some reason it wasn’t to be.

There’s no rest for the wicked, though, and it wasn’t long before I was into another bass on the crab rod… and this one really hit the bait hard.

After a good fight the bass was at my feet. I initially thought it was going to be at least a 3lb fish from the way it fought, but once weighed it touched 1lb 12oz – very deceiving.

High tide arrived and it was a fish a chuck, with small schoolies for Les and the bigger catches of the day going to myself, but we were both being kept busy, which is what we wanted.

I ended up with four decent bass up to 2lb on crab, with both of us managing lots of schoolies on the worm baits.

All in all it was a tremendous trip that certainly proved the worth of having a back-up venue for when conditions put your first choice out of the picture.

05 06 07

Use simple rigs

If you can, try to get some peeler crab Check for conservation areas

A comfortable spot for two anglers, enabling plenty of water to be covered.

26 www.totalseamagazine.com

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22/09/2014 10:01

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24/09/2014 11:08

GEMINI GLOW-IN-THE-DARK

COMPETITION

WIN A GEMINI GLOW-IN-THE-DARK RIG KIT

We have fantastic Gemini glow-in-thedark rig kits plus full accessories to give away to 10 lucky readers!

HOW TO ENTER JUST CALL THIS NUMBER

09012 932306 AND ANSWER THIS SIMPLE QUESTION CORRECTLY...

t’s the tackle advance that has got everyone talking, and now you can be among the first to rig up with these amazing luminous terminal-tackle items.

Our winners will receive a comprehensive range of Gemini glow-in-thedark products, from a full assembly kit, including 10 Breakout heads, 40 standard Breakout grips, long tail wires and glow-inthe-dark PVC tubing, right down to glow-in-the-dark

I

Splashdown Solo bait clips.

Here is what our 10 lucky winners will get: • 1 x Gemini glow-in-the-dark assembly kit (standard grips/long tail wires – for making your own Gemini leads) • 1 x Gemini glow-in-the-dark tip tape • 1 x Gemini glow-in-the-dark disgorger • 1 x Gemini glow-in-the-dark Splash Down Solo bait clips (five in a packet)

According to www.gemini-tackle.co.uk, in which decade did the company start designing and producing top-quality terminal-tackle items?

A: 1970s B: 1980s C: 1990s Alternatively, you can send your answer on a postcard to: Gemini Glow-In-The-Dark Competition, Total Sea Fishing, 1 Whittle Close, Drayton Fields, Daventry, Northants NN11 8RQ. CONDITIONS The competition will run from noon on October 10th, 2014. Calls will cost £1.03 from a BT land line. Calls from other networks or mobiles may cost considerably more. Please obtain permission from whoever pays your phone bill. Winners will be selected at random from all correct entries received by noon on November 14th, 2014. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Total Sea Fishing 29

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24/09/2014 15:01

BOAT

SEA FISHING NEWBIES

e m i T t s Fir Having never sea fished before, TSF staff man Adam Mason and four friends decided to give it a go while on holiday…

A

recent holiday in Bridport, Dorset, with my fiancée Sarah Southam and friends Adam ‘Stix’ Mills, Paul Thomas and Leanne Johnson presented the opportunity for us to try something different.

Although I work for DHP in the reprographics department and have dealings with all of the “At last!

A fish for me!”

magazines in the company’s portfolio on a daily basis, I’m not an angler. In fact, out of the group, Paul is the only keen angler, coarse fishing on a regular basis.

Following a brief discussion, it was decided that a spot of sea fishing was a good idea and we agreed to give it a try.

On a gorgeously sunny morning the five of us

chose the services of the charter boat Jolly Dodger.

It’s well known in the area and celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, of River Cottage TV show fame, has used it.

Our first port of call, excuse the pun, was Angling Centre in West Bay to check in and purchase our bait for the day. We settled on the standard ragworm and frozen squid and then walked around the picturesque harbour to where the boat was waiting.

At 10am the skipper arrived to take us and six other guests to the boat to hire our rods and set up.

Despite having never sea fished before, Paul was quietly confident of catching. Sarah and Stix had extremely limited experience of canal fishing but Leanne and I were complete novices.

At approximately 10.15am, Jolly Dodger headed out to the open sea.

With zero knowledge or ability I decided that I would box clever and ‘double’ my chances by baiting up with both ragworm and squid.

Well at least I was putting some thought into it! Paul and I helped the girls bait up – such gentlemen – and then cast out and sat back to await the action.

I have to admit that chilling out on the open sea in glorious sunshine with a

30 www.totalseamagazine.com

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SEA FISHING NEWBIES

BOAT

Leanne Johnson shows how it’s done by actually holding her dogfish.

Paul Thomas is the first to catch, landing a dogfish.

cold beer and special friends was incredibly relaxing. Now all we needed was to catch something.

It was actually one of the other paying guests who had the first bite and managed to land a ray.

One young lad, who was aboard with his family, caught at least seven fish.

He’d obviously done it before. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! A few others were catching, too, with various species coming on board, including mackerel.

Rather annoyingly, a smug Paul was the first of our group to catch, landing the first of many dogfish. It was a decent size, too, measuring at least two feet, and was returned safely to go about its normal business.

We were hoping to land something that could be prepared for an evening barbecue but, alas, the dogfish became a running theme.

Then the moment that I had been waiting for came about – Sarah caught one.

This obviously meant that I could now fish properly. I have to say that she made a bit of a girly song and dance about the entire procedure, but the skipper very kindly gave her a helping hand.

Even when I was trying to take the pictures she looked like she was rehearsing a Michael Jackson dance routine.

Next to catch was Leanne, who, despite her

apprehension, managed to hold her dogfish.

Paul was in yet again and landed another dogfish of a similar size. It could have been the same one for all I know. Perhaps that was it; maybe there was just one dogfish swimming around and constantly being caught!

Finally, with just 20 minutes to go, I had a bite.

Although it was a relatively easy task to reel him in, it was a little trickier than I expected. Once I’d landed him, Stix did the honours with the camera and I then released him safely.

Unfortunately, Stix failed to catch, which was a shame. I do have to say, however, that he seemed more than a little content just sitting in the sun with a cold beer.

Jolly Dodger then made the homeward journey and when we finally docked we thanked the skipper for a thoroughly enjoyable and educational trip.

That evening we decided on a barbecue on Eype Beach. We may not have had fresh fish to cook but while reflecting on what was a highlight of an incredible holiday with great friends, beautiful weather and gorgeous beaches, burgers did the job nicely.

I would wager that that will not be our last sea fishing excursion. It really is a superb way to relax and enjoy a different environment.

Roll on the next time!

Total Sea Fishing 31

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SP PECIIMENHUNT

A

Ten pages of unmissable advice 33 Specimen Hunt

38 Casting Matters

How to catch your best-ever bass from the shore.

Peter Thain explains how to service a multiplier reel.

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36 TSF Rigs Learn how to build and use a one-hook clipped-down rig.

Shore Record: 19lb 12oz – John Locker, Portsmouth, 2012

SPECIMEN HUNT

Specimen Target Weight: 8lb

SHORE BASS TSF lure expert Steven Neely provides some pointers on sorting out big bass on his favourite method.

Bass Hotspots The bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is widely spread and found around the British Isles and Ireland. However, it’s most common in the warmer waters of the south and west.

Although fewer in number, the bass can be caught on the east and north coasts, and as far up as Scotland, often surprisingly late in the year.

Overfishing has reduced bass stock levels, and because of this the movements and distribution of the species has been well studied through tagging programmes and the like. These have revealed a tendency for mature bass to return to their preferred haunts following migration to spawning areas.

Larger bass tend to be solitary outside of the spawning season, and it has been suggested that in some cases they may be territorial. Certainly, spots of ‘real estate’ that have a history of producing big bass are historically well known, suggesting that bigger fish will take up residence in such

areas, but singly rather than in numbers.

However, the presence of smaller school bass in an area does not indicate that bigger fish will not be present. As with most species of fish, the smaller, more numerous and nimble fish often get to the bait first.

Ground Feature The bass is a very mobile species and can be found over all types of ground, from muddy estuaries to rocky ground, and all sorts of sand and shingle beaches in between. However, although it’s generally to be found where there’s a wealth of feeding opportunities, it

does have a natural love of structure, be it man-made or natural, with rocks and reefs often favoured.

Any ‘structure’ that stands out from its surroundings is worth investigating. Anything that channels water and increases flow rates is also worth investigating as this can oxygenate the water more.

A big lure-caught bass is a prize capture – and check out that ‘fizz’ in the background.

Total Sea Fishing 33

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SP PECIIMENHUNT

A dull, overcast days will also produce. If you’re using lures then you’re relying on sight feeding to a large extent, and in very bright conditions it can be the case that bass, particularly the big, wily old fish, can see a bit too well to be fooled!

Bass can even be caught on lures at night, as long as the lure is worked slowly enough for them to home in on… and this can be very slow indeed.

With a floating lure, just the odd twitch now and then can be enough.

A bass will only discover the truth of a lure by taking it.

Lures

Bass always love ‘fizz’ and big bass especially like it when the water is churning, because well-oxygenated water allows them to hunt for longer. The turbulent water also provides some cover from above, and the fish feel less vulnerable then. Under these conditions bass will come into extremely shallow water to feed, so don’t look for deep water; instead look for structure, rough ground and gulleys.

Seasons September and October are traditionally big bass months and they usually produce large numbers of fish and of a good average size.

However, water temperature can play its part, with a cold snap reducing chances.

Tides Tides either side of a spring work well; not always at the peak but, say, building tides or just after a spring. These often seem to produce the best results for bass fishing as a rule. Bigger tides bring the fish up and over the rougher

ground, gulleys and up into estuaries etc. They also push the baitfish onshore or dislodge crabs and other food from gulleys.

Tackle I use a range of rods in the 7ft to 9ft 6in categories, rating on average between 5g and 28g casting weights.

These are all more than capable of landing big fish.

I use 20lb braid and 20lb fluorocarbon leaders.

Leaders should be on the long side – 10 to 12 feet for big fish, both to keep the lure away from the more visible braid and to provide a little extra protection from rubbing on rocks and suchlike.

Big bass won’t give up easily but should be played hard, especially in snaggy areas. I use a relatively tight drag and try to gain control of the fish from the start.

You need to dictate to the fish which way it goes, and not the other way around.

However, sometimes you will have little choice but to let a big fish have its head,

but letting a big fish run you around rocks and take line endlessly will result in a breakage. There’s also the danger of the fish becoming too tired, meaning that it will not return to the water in tiptop condition.

Double check all your knots before you go out and use strong, sharp hooks.

Maintain your kit because you don’t want it to show any weakness should you hook the fish of a lifetime.

Tactics There’s no doubt that lowlight conditions are best for targeting big bass, so the evening and early morning are key times, although very

Big fish of most species are lazy, and big bass are no exception, so often it’s not so much about the lure but rather the way that it’s fished.

Big bass don’t get to be that size without being efficient in their feeding – they don’t charge around expending energy unnecessarily, so slowly fished, weedlessly rigged soft-plastic lures can appeal to big fish.

It’s true that bass can only discover the real truth about a lure by taking it, but softer lures do allow you an extra split second while the fish makes up its mind as to what it is once it has inhaled it. If you’re fishing the lure slowly, takes can be more gentle than you would expect to come to a quickly worked lure that the fish has to slash at.

Shallow-diving plugs worked very slowly at night can also produce great results, as they usually have a bit more fish-attracting rattle to them, which can draw ‘an indiscretion’.

Soft lures like the simple Wave Bamboo Stick can work very well fished on a weedless hook.

34 www.totalseamagazine.com

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SP PECIIMENHUNT

6

A

Tips

Location, Location, Location

Conditions Big spring tides are often good times to start as they will bring baitfish closer to shore and bring big fish further up gulleys and suchlike.

Moon phases go hand in hand with tides. Some people prefer new moons or full moons – it’s personal choice really.

Many big bass are caught in winter when the water temperatures are lower, but the chances of getting one on a lure are dramatically increased if the water temperatures are higher. The fish will be more active and willing to pursue the lure. At the magic 12oC is really when it all starts to happen.

Bass love fizz! Onshore winds are often favourites to generate the motion in water that bass love to feed in.

The super-oxygenated water allows them to hunt for longer and also helps disorientate their prey.

This may sound obvious but many people overlook the simple aspects and overcomplicate matters.

Use past knowledge and experience on where you’ve seen, heard of or caught big fish before. Bass will operate in patterns and big fish are territorial so they’re likely to have set hunting grounds or favourite lying-up spots like a specific gulley or rock.

If you can crack finding the big bass then you’re halfway there.

Preparation Pays

Lure Choice

This is the time when you want to be 100 per cent sure that you’re properly tooled up for the job. Ensure that all your gear is functional – this means smooth reels etc; the last thing you want is the reel seizing in the middle of a battle. Check all your main lines, knots and leaders to ensure that they’re in top condition and don’t rush tying your knots! Replace any rusty or weak hooks before your trip.

Be sure to have all other tools at hand, such as a headlamp, pliers, Boga Grip etc, and make sure you know where they all are – put them in a logical spot that’s easy to access.

Make sure that you’ve assessed the ground that you’re fishing and have a predetermined spot to land the fish. You don’t want to be starting to think about all this when you have a big bass just a few feet from the shore. Run through a few scenarios in your head to prepare yourself for when the time comes.

The ground and the conditions in which you’re fishing will determine your lure choice in terms of style, profile and colour. If you’re fishing a big surf then maybe you will need heavier lures like jigs or sinking plugs to hold in the backwash.

Whereas weedy shallow gulleys and reefs will be more suited to shallow divers and weed less soft-plastic lures. Perhaps the bass commonly feed on mackerel – so matching a lure to the size and colour might prove to be the key. Stop and think about it first; don’t just tie on a lure and blindly chuck it out.

Bigger lures, worked slowly, can sometimes produce larger fish, but don’t be fooled into thinking that a big lure equals a big fish. This is not always true. Big bass become selective and wary, and sometimes smaller, more natural lures can turn up trumps.

Be Adaptable Fishing is never predictable. You can have all this planned to a fine art but nature has a way of changing it all in a heartbeat.

But don’t be deflated; stay flexible and adapt. The new circumstances that you’re presented with could perhaps be better than the ones you had planned for.

Persistence And Patience Big bass don’t come easily. Some of you will be lucky and nail one in the first few sessions, while others could fish a lifetime and never catch that dream fish. This doesn’t make them bad anglers, though. No-one deserves a big bass; it’s a privilege that some of us are graced with. Stick at it and perhaps one day your efforts will be rewarded.

Total Sea Fishing 35

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TSFRIGS

CLIPPED-DOWN

Build Sequence

01 South coast shore expert Danny Wicks applies a few tweaks to a popular longdistance rig.

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his one-hook clipped-down rig is as simple as they come. It’s very effective for distance casting and is very easy to build. In this respect it’s an ideal rig for anyone new to constructing their own rigs, especially as it has built-in adjustability.

Stating the obvious, although this is rated for distance casting, you don’t have to be hitting the horizon to gain benefits from this rig. It helps prevent baits from getting blown apart on the cast, and because it’s aerodynamic it is very good in either a headwind or a wind from the side as it aids distance and accuracy.

This latter point is often overlooked by shore anglers, who can become obsessed with sheer distance, but putting the bait in the right spot, such as in a food-trap gulley or depression for example, will catch you lots more fish.

Accuracy is also important when there are areas that you want to avoid!

Although on this particular example I’ve specified a relatively small hook, you can use a bigger hook, or a Pennel setup, for bigger baits and bigger fish.

I use the SRT spring on this rig to keep things nice and streamlined and to make sure that everything stays clipped up during the cast. It also has the benefit of ensuring that the hook releases on impact.

To secure the SRT spring to allow it to tension while clipped down, I tie two stop knots underneath the bead below the SRT spring. The stop knots allow you to position the components near the top of the rig body, and because the rig isn’t fixed in position with crimps, this allows you to perform a quick-and-easy changeover if you need to replace the hooklength, as you can adjust the stop knots to suit the length of snood used.

On the hook snood itself I use a sequin as a bait stop with a stop knot above it; this allows the sequin to be adjusted to match the size of the bait being used

Take a length of 60lb Asso shockleader line and tie on a Gemini Genie 80lb main-line swivel. Then slide on a bead, a small swivel, another bead, a Gemini Genie SRT spring and a third bead.

02

At the bottom end tie on a Gemini Genie Swivel ‘N’ Link clip to the other end of the rig-body line, then clip on a Gemini Splash Down Solo bait clip.

To secure the SRT spring to allow it to tension while clipped down, tie two stop knots underneath the bead below the SRT spring.

03

For the hooklength use 20lb line and tie one end to the small swivel above the SRT spring.

04

Components 60lb Asso shockleader rig body 20lb Amnesia hooklength 1 x Gemini Genie Swivel ‘N’ Link 1 x Gemini Splash Down Solo bait clip 1 x Gemini 80lb main-line

swivel 1 x Gemini SRT spring 1 x Gemini 45lb snood swivel 3 x beads 1 x 1/0 Kamasan shortshank hook 1 x 6oz lead

05

Slide on a sequin, then tie a Kamasan 1/0 short-shank hook, followed by a stop knot above the sequin.

36 www.totalseamagazine.com

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TSFRIGS

A

SWIVEL BEAD BEAD

SWIVEL

SRT SPRING

BEAD

TWO STOP KNOTS

SEQUIN SWIVEL LEAD LINK

GEMINI SPLASHDOWN BAIT CLIP

HOOK

Total Sea Fishing 37

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CA ASTINGMATTE ERS

A

SERVICE WITH A SMILE Master caster Peter Thain shows you how to service a used-andabused multiplier reel.

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he reel featured here is my practice casting reel, an Akios 656CTM. This is a particularly scruffy example that has been thoroughly abused and neglected for the last four years. This neglect was completely intentional...

I wanted to see just how

much this reel could put up with before failing. As far as I’m concerned it passed the test with flying colours, and after such sterling work it deserves a treat in the form of some TLC. Pretty much every reel follows the same basic format. Once you can take

one apart, and successfully reassemble it, then you can service just about any reel.

With regular maintenance, reels like this will last almost indefinitely. You may have to replace parts as they wear, but once you’re familiar with where everything goes, it becomes a simple task.

01

02

03

04

Begin by removing the right-hand side of the reel from the cage by undoing the three outer screws.

Be careful that the circlip doesn’t fly off when removing it.

Barring an accidental soaking or sandstorm, a full strip-down only needs to be done once or twice a year, and bearings cleaned and relubed maybe once a month. It doesn’t take long, and stands you in good stead for tinkering with tournament reels further down the casting road.

The left-side bearing can be accessed by removing the ratchet/levelwind drive cog.

The bearings are usually a very tight fit in the spool, and require you to manufacture a special tool to remove them without damage. It takes minutes to make, and only needs a pair of pliers and some stiff wire.

38 www.totalseamagazine.com

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CA ASTINGMATTE ERS

05

06

07

The next circlip removal is done by inserting a small screwdriver into one of the two gaps and turning the screwdriver slowly until you feel the circlip move clear of the pin.

I place a thumb or finger against the back of the clip, applying gentle pressure while easing the clip free. This prevents the clip from springing off and disappearing into ‘another dimension’.

08

09

10

Pop the bearings in a container (glass or ceramic; not plastic) and place them in a well-ventilated area before introducing the solvent.

Unscrew the end tension cap to free the spindle from the reel. It’s held in place by a small plastic clip; sometimes it retains the spindle, but most times it doesn’t.

A

The handle is the next thing to come off, and this is achieved by undoing the small screw that holds the locking plate in place. Remove the plate; then you can undo the nut that holds the handle in place.

The handle can now be removed, followed by the small spring washer and star drag.

Remove the spindle, as this will allow you to place the endplate on a flat surface, which makes the rest of the dismantling easier.

Total Sea Fishing 39

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A

CA ASTINGMATTE ERS

11

Two screws hold the side plate in place. Simply undo the screws and lift the side plate off. Everything will stay in place, allowing you to continue dismantling the reel at your leisure.

12

13

The next things to come off are the drag washers. Pay attention to the order that they’re placed in, and if you have a memory like mine, lay them out in the correct order so that there are no mistakes during reassembly.

14

15

16

Remove the pressure plate that holds the pinion assembly in place.

There are a couple of washers on the outside of the anti-reverse bearing. Remove these, noting which way around they are so that you can access the bearing.

With the drag components out of the way, the main gear simply slides off.

Then remove the pinion holder.

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CA ASTINGMATTE ERS

17

Now the pinion holder has been removed, everything else just lifts off, leaving you with a bare base plate and lots of bits. It’s now time to start cleaning things up.

18

19

The next task is to unclip the pinion gear from the holder, before soaking both it and the main gear in solvent to remove the old grease.

20

21

22

Add a drop of grease on the spool release mechanism to help smooth its travel across the base plate, then add some to the pinion holder before clipping the pinion back in place.

A

Some solvent can be used to remove every last trace of dirt.

Squirt some grease up the inside of the drive shaft (it doesn’t take much because it will spread around as you turn the reel handle), then slide it back into place.

Locate the pinion holder back on its mounting pins, then follow this with the pressure plate. Apply some grease to the teeth of the main gear, and slide it back into place.

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CA ASTINGMATTE ERS

A

23

24

25

Replace the end cap, star drag, washer and handle, then, using the flat side of a screwdriver, pop the circlip back into place. Add the retaining nut, plate and screw and you’re finished with the gearbox.

26

27

28

Now replace the drag washers... in the correct sequence.

Add a light smearing of oil to the outside of the bearings to ease their way back into the spool, and, making sure that they’re square to the spool, press them back into place. Replace the ratchet/levelwind cog, drive plate and retaining spring, and the spool assembly is complete.

Now all you have to do is add a little grease to the antireverse bearing before replacing the side plate.

Now it’s time to reassemble the spool and bearings.

With the bearings still on kitchen roll, add no more than a drop or two of oil to them.

I cleaned up the cage, removing all the black rubber particles from four years’ worth of thumbies, with an old toothbrush and some hot water. A quick polish with a dry cloth, and you can see the results here.

42 www.totalseamagazine.com

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22/09/2014 09:15

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TSF ANSWERS

Q&A

ANSWERS Got A Question? Do you want to ask our panel of experts a question? E-mail paul.dennis@dhpub.co.uk

SWIVEL

Tangle Troubles

BEAD

BEAD SWIVEL LEAD LINK

METAL BOOM

LEAD

SWIVEL

SWIVEL

BEAD

LURE On a recent boat trip I was getting horrendous tangles on a flying-collar rig – how can I avoid these?

Bill Boon, via e-mail

Q A

Paul Dennis says: I’m feeling your pain, mainly because, like a lot of anglers, I’ve been there too! I think some tangles are almost inevitable, but ‘real good ones’

can seriously reduce fishing time and make for a very frustrating day.

In my experience the worst problems occur on very deep drifts, and there are a number of factors in play that produce tangles.

First off, the deeper the water, the longer the paternoster boom you need, to keep the lure well away from

the main line. This is also the case when using heavier leads, for example in a strong tide run. The heavier lead falls faster with the snood and lure well above it, getting ever closer to the main line, with tangles the almost inevitable result.

So what length of paternoster boom do you need? Around 14 to 15 inches

would be my suggestion.

The material used is also important.

You can buy hollow-plastic booms that are longer than this, but the problem with these, especially with a heavy lead, is that they can flex upwards as the lead descends, again putting the snood and lure in close proximity to the main line.

I’ve also had them break at the point where they are bent and the swivel is locked on, which is inconvenient.

For this reason, ‘old school’ wire booms can be a better bet, as they are more rigid, keeping the snood and line apart. Wire booms of 14 or 15 inches aren’t as common as plastic booms, but they’re worth searching out.

To reduce spin on the lure, which can also cause kinking and snarl-ups, try to find booms with swivels attached to the end of the boom arm.

Another good trick is to use a short snood of heavy, stiffer line tied to the boom swivel, then tie a swivel to this, with your normal-strength snood to the lure tied to this. The extra swivel helps reduce lure spin, while the length of stiffer mono also helps keep that all-important gap between the lure and the main line.

Lead spin can also contribute to tangle problems, so a link swivel to the lead is also a good idea, especially if you’re using a short rotten-bottom link.

A final tip for when you’re constructing the rig is to give the snood mono a bit of a stretch to remove the line memory of the spool that you take it from. If the line is straight and free of coils to start with, it does give you a fighting chance of avoiding subsequent tangles.

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TSF ANSWERS

Ready-To-Go Baits I get a bit frustrated by having to put bait wraps together to rebait on the beach as it bites into my fishing time. Do you have any solutions?

Les Gladwin, via e-mail

Q

A

Danny Wicks says: Time is precious when fishing, especially while ray fishing at a low-tide mark – you know the sort, where you’re always on the move to keep up with the tide.

Last year while fishing for thornback rays at Hill Head, Gosport, I was constantly on the move chasing down and retreating from the rising tide. I had my box there with

my cutting board, sandeel, bluey and knife and scissors on top of it, and having to cut and wrap a cocktail with every cast, my bait ended up defrosting quickly and not being of the quality that I wanted, due to it losing a lot of valuable juice and oil while being wrapped together.

I decided that next time out I would prepare my wraps a few days beforehand and freeze them. It has made life a lot easier for me, and I’ve detailed the process below.

Now, you’re probably thinking: “But what happens at the venue – the wraps will just defrost anyway and lose the juice again.”

Well, I use a small, widemouthed, stainless-steel thermos flask that fits nicely in my tackle box.

What I do is remove the lid from the flask and place the flask in the freezer with the wraps. Then, when I’m ready to use them, I put the wraps in the freezing-cold flask and replace the lid.

The first time I tried this out, the baits stayed frozen throughout the session. Not only did this give me a lovely presented bait ready every cast, it also saved me a lot of time.

There was no mess or stress – and it’s a great warmweather tip too.

How To Prepare Your Wraps For Freezing The things that you’ll need are a chopping board, a filleting knife, some scissors, foil, sandeel, bluey, bait elastic and a flask.

Q&A

Q

When I’ve been feathering for mackerel for bait I’ve sometimes caught scad – are these any good as bait because most skippers just discard them?

Trevor Kirk, via e-mail

A

The main reason that they’re discarded is that there’s usually no shortage of mackerel, which is viewed as a far superior bait. To an extent it depends on which species you’re targeting and how you intend to use the bait.

For example, if you were after turbot and brill, a mackerel strip is a good alternative to launce or sandeel, but a silvery strip of scad might be worth a try because it’s often the white belly flesh of mackerel that is favoured.

For congers and ling the high oil and scent content of mackerel makes them favourite bait, but a less flashy pout fillet can sometimes work better and produce bigger fish, so, again, scad need not be totally ruled out as a bait option.

I’m interested in taking up lure fishing but the price range of the rods is vast – is there any advantage to buying very expensive ones?

Connor Kiteley, via e-mail

Q 01

02

Remove the head and tail from both to get the scent flowing.

03

04

05

06

Take a sandeel and a bluey.

Wrap the sandeel and bluey together with bait elastic to produce the cocktail.

Wrap the cocktail in a small square of foil to prevent freezer burn and place it straight in the freezer.

Fillet one side of the bluey.

Here you have your bait, fresh from the flask, clipped down and ready to cast.

Yes there is, but for someone just starting in the sport it’s perhaps best to look at the lower-priced models until you decide what you really need, and what suits your style. Rods in this price range will still be very usable and allow you to fish effectively.

So, what do high-end rods give you extra? Well they’re usually built on lighter, slimmer but stronger carbon blanks and are usually stiffer.

This allows them to recover more quickly during casting (the tip stops bouncing), which can add a few yards to your distance.

A

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Q&A

TSF ANSWERS

Crabtastic Baiting I’m very interested in the rig that Brian Price revealed for fishing live hardback crabs from the shore in the recent (October) issue of TSF – but is there any other way of doing it?

Donald Bauer, via e-mail

Q

Danny Wicks says: The first thing to do is to go and have a quick 10 minutes turning over rocks to collect some hardback crabs for your session. It saves a lot of money on bait, and with the way the smoothhounds can turn up mob-handed you can quite easily go through 20 peeler crabs in a couple of hours, which can be very costly if you’re buying them rather than collecting your own.

The money that you save can then be spent on the luxuries – such as tackle in your local tackle shop, which keeps everyone happy!

To bait up with a hardback can be a little tricky because it’s different from using a soft

A

peeler as the shell stays on the crab. The first thing I do is remove the two back legs of the crab and force the hook point through the back socket and then out through the opposite socket, then secure the crab on the hook with some elasticated cotton.

You need to be careful because you have to make sure that you leave the other legs and claws intact so that the crab is still mobile enough to move on the sea bed, as this is what attracts the hounds through the vibrations and puffs of sand that the crabs

kick up. You also need to be careful not to be nipped by the angry crab while securing it to the hook!

One thing worth remembering is that you don’t want the crab to be too mobile, otherwise it will bury itself in the sand. A hound is easily capable of digging a crab out, but it will pick up the easier meal every time.

Until the pack arrives and sport becomes fast and furious, it’s a good idea not to leave the bait out for too long because it gives the live crab more opportunity to dig itself in.

Taking off a couple of legs does reduce the crab’s chances of doing this, and it also ensures that there is more scent leakage, which will also attract the attention of the hounds.

Although this is primarily a bait for smoothhounds, you will also pick up other species such as bass on hardback crabs – if they can get to the bait first!

Crown Of Thornies I’d like to catch a decentsized thornback ray from the shore. What time of the year is best, and do you have any tips for the bigger fish please?

Ken Cardwell, via e-mail

Q

A

Brian Price says: As with any species it can depend on your locality in respect of what exact time of year you can expect the biggest fish to come into range.

Obviously the weather can play a big part too. Having said that, I’ve actually caught thornback rays in every month of the year, but if it’s the specimens that you’re after, the time of year can be critical.

Generally, the thornback season proper starts in March as the fish start to move inshore in numbers to spawn, although the early fish tend to

be the smaller males.

In my experience May is the peak time for the biggest fish, always females, which come inshore to spawn and then to feed, before moving back out to the deeper water again.

In regard to specimen size, I rate any shore-caught thornback over 12lb as an excellent fish, and if you get one up to 15lb this counts as a real specimen. The biggest I’ve seen landed weighed in at 16lb 1oz and was caught by my brother.

Baitwise, preferences vary from area to area, but I’ve found both bluey and launce to be very good. Either of these can be fished on their own or as a cocktail wrap. A wrap of either launce or bluey including a strip of squid can also be a great thornback ray catcher.

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TSF ANSWERS

Q&A

Q

What’s the best lure colour for wreck fishing?

Joe Herman, via e-mail

A

Making Scents What’s the best bait to use to create a scent in the sea in order to attract and catch fish, plus how often should I cast to keep the scent there?

Ray Fry, Coventry

Q

A

Paul Dennis says: That’s quite a short question but it requires more than a short answer! First, it depends on which species you’re targeting, as some species tend to react to certain bait scents in preference to others. A good example of this would be smoothhounds and crab baits.

Like most species, hounds can be taken on a variety of baits, but for consistency, peeler or hardback crab wins hands down. There’s also some evidence that they can be selective regarding the actual species of crab, with velvet swimming crab very highly rated by some anglers as THE best.

Staying with hounds for a moment, frequency of casting

is largely dictated by frequency of bites, because when a pack moves in, action can be fast and furious – in these cases, when action stops it’s likely to be due to the shoal wiping out the easily available food and moving on to find more easy pickings.

Fresh baits are usually rated as best for most species, but there are notable exceptions, with sticky, old, black lug being highly rated for dabs.

There’s also some mileage in the theory that frozen mackerel can be more effective than fresh under some circumstances, as the freezing then thawing process allows a faster flavour/scent leakage due to the breakdown of the mackerel flesh. However, this would be a case where frequent bait changes would be in order as the scent would tend to be lost fairly quickly.

Some species of fish have been used in laboratory tests to determine which food items grabbed their attention fastest.

This is done by adding bait

to water to achieve a known level of dilution, then piping the scented water into a fish tank and noting the reaction of the fish.

Sole formed part of one such study, with the interesting result that this species, which is normally targeted with worm baits, actually reacted fastest and most vigorously to water scented with mussels.

While most anglers who target sole may take some convincing to switch from worm baits to the oftunderrated mussel, there are some who have been tipping their worm baits with mussel, and enjoying the catching edge that it brings, for many years!

Looking across the diverse range of sea baits as a whole, I think that most anglers would plump for fresh peeler crab as having the most popular scent for the widest range of species, as there are few that will turn their noses up at a well-presented peeler.

It varies from trip to trip and even from drift to drift, which is why we collect so many different colours!

Colours less often carried that are worth adding to your box are black and neon pink, with black lures being very effective on some occasions.

More important is how you fish the lure. Most skippers will suggest how many turns of the reel handle to make once your lead hits the bottom, but it’s always good to mentally count the turns to see if any pattern develops as to when fish are hitting the lure. For example, if they’re hitting the lure regularly between 10 and 15 turns then there’s not much point in retrieving more if you don’t get a take; just drop it back down and start again. Be aware, though, that this hot zone can change, so experiment with that and the speed that you reel in, before hunting for a more ‘attractive’ colour of lure.

ANSWERS

ASK THE TEAM A QUESTION If you have a question for the TSF team, send it to: TSF Answers, Total Sea Fishing, DHP Ltd, 1 Whittle Close, Drayton Fields, Daventry, Northants NN11 8RQ. Alternatively, you can e-mail questions to paul.dennis@dhpub.co.uk.

Total Sea Fishing 47

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SHORE

FISHING CHESIL BEACH

Andy Webb visited iconic Chesil Beach with some members of Chesil Beach Fishing forum.

John Bentley had a cracking session, topped off with this double-figure undulate ray.

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FISHING CHESIL BEACH

SHORE

Derek Smith rowing across The Fleet.

T

here are numerous ways to broaden your angling horizons. Social media has never been better, with Facebook and Twitter, groups, websites and fishing forums, all of which are full of great fishing information, helping you get started and

the westward border, the beach forms a straight line along the coast that encloses The Fleet, a shallow tidal lagoon.

After work on the Wednesday evening I headed to Bridport, to pick Derek up from his home. Also joining me for the trip was

park we were greeted by Stu, and we walked down the slope to where Rich had the small boat ready for us.

As we approached the large shingle banks of Chesil, we could see movement in the water in front of us, which turned out to be small mullet playing about

Derek’s rod gave a good sign of a classic bream bite – a nice powerful pull-down. The fish wasn’t the biggest, but a good start. catching fish on new venues.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d get together with some anglers from a southwest fishing forum.

After a phone call with Dorset angler Derek Smith, a trip was arranged for the coming Wednesday evening, when I would meet up with Derek and three other members of the Chesil Beach Fishing forum, the creator of the group, Rich Camilleri, and fellow members John Bentley and Stu Andrew, to target bream.

The venue we were to fish would be the famous Chesil Beach. It’s a shingle beach stretching for around 18 miles. At the eastern end of the beach at Chiswell and against the cliffs of the Isle of Portland, the beach curls around an area known as Chesil Cove. Heading along

Southwest Threesixty sea angling team member Scott ‘Bulletpoint’ Mills, who was very much looking forward to targeting bream.

After reaching Derek’s home and loading his fishing gear into the car, we headed to Abbotsbury to stop off at the tackle shop and collect our bait of fresh ragworm, unwashed squid and mackerel, the latter to be used to target congers later into the evening.

Upon reaching the tackle shop we were greeted by Rich.

With bait on board, we headed off towards the mark, where we would load our gear into a small boat and row out across The Fleet.

Then we would take the short walk up and over the shingle banks to fish.

Arriving at the car

in the shallows. We quickly unloaded the fishing equipment and Derek travelled back across to pick up Stu, while the rest of us walked over the shingle slope.

On reaching the top I looked across the long stretch of the beach as the light easterly breeze

hit my face. It was a fantastic sight and the beach seemed never-ending. I walked down to the water’s edge and headed to the left, setting up base camp with Scott to the right of me and Rich to the right of him.

I soon had both rods set up with two Portsmouth loop rigs with size 1/0 Cox & Rawle hooks, which I baited with ragworm tipped off with a small slice of squid.

After the first cast I could tell that we were fishing into a great depth of water, due to the length of time it took my weight to touch bottom.

With nine rods out between us, it wasn’t long before we had our first fish of the evening. I watched Rich’s rod arching

Rich Camilleri soon landed a nice tub gurnard.

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FISHING CHESIL BEACH

over as I ran across the shingle towards him to take some photos and stood at the water’s edge awaiting the first glimpse of his catch.

I was surprised when we were greeted by a beautifullooking gurnard. As I took a few photos, Rich unhooked the fish, which had taken his rag-and-squid bait, and returned it to the water.

As I was making my way back to my rods, Rich shouted over: “Another fish Andy.” I went back and he was already bending down unhooking a red mullet, which he put straight back to fight another day. That was two species in two casts and neither of them were what I was expecting. I wondered what was going to happen next, or if I’d ever get the chance to get back to my rods!

It was around 6.30 pm at this point and with high tide around 10pm we had a good few hours on the incoming to try and pull a few fish out.

I sat and chatted to Derek, who told me stories of the venue and past fish that he and his friends had caught.

We’d just been joined by forum member administrator John when Derek’s rod gave

a good sign of a classic bream bite – a nice powerful pulldown. He lifted his rod and started to gain line on his Penn 515 reel and moments later we saw our target species appear on the surface; not the biggest of bream but a good start.

Derek mentioned how nice they are to eat but with the fish only being small he let it return to the sea.

I started to make my way down towards the far righthand side of the beach to talk to John, who had set up on the end. He was using a pair of AFAW Tournament Match rods with Penn 515 Mag multiplier reels. He was using a three-hook loop rig, armed with small hooks that he was loading with rag tipped off with squid.

As John stepped forward to cast I made my way back to my rods, where Scott kindly pointed out that I had just caught a gurnard. Well I would have but the sight of my rod tip knocking away was too much for Scott to ignore, so he brought the fish in and let it go.

Things started to

Scad also featured on what was turning into a species search.

really kick off at this point, with everyone pulling out fish. Bream, gurnards and scads were coming out every cast and I found myself running across the shingle to take photos of the guys with their catches more than doing any fishing.

At last I got a five-minute break and as I returned to my rod I noticed slack line on one of them.

With rod in hand I started

Derek hit the species target with this small bream.

50 w www.totalseamagazine.com ww www ww.to ww .to .t tottal ta allsse a sea ea e am mag ma aga ag azi az zziin ne e.com cco om om 50

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FISHING CHESIL BEACH

SHORE

A small ray for John early doors.

to gain line and could feel the tip start to arch over with the sign of a fish on the end. Moments later I landed a small smoothhound of around 3lb that had taken my bream bait. Derek took a quick photo and I returned the hound to fight another day.

I rebaited and as I was just about to pick my rod up to cast, I heard shouting from the lads down the far end.

John had hit into something that was definitely not a bream.

As I watched his rod tip arching over, I placed my rod back into the tripod and ran across the shingle with camera in hand. Stu was at the water’s edge ready to land John’s catch and as I approached I could see that he already had a ray of around 4lb to 5lb in his hands. On getting closer I could see that it was an undulate ray, a species that I’m yet to catch.

He carefully unhooked it and after a few quick snaps released it back to the sea.

Back to my rod once again, I wound it up and put the bait out. I was waiting for the weight to hit bottom when, once again, I heard Stu shout: “John’s in again.”

“You don’t need a gym

membership when fishing with these boys Andy,” Scott shouted, as he watched me running like a racehorse along the shingle.

“Very funny,” I thought, “but very true.” These guys had promised us fish and had delivered tenfold. By the time I got to John, who was a good 80 to 90 yards away from my rods, he had already landed his catch, the second smoothhound of the evening, around the same size as mine.

With darkness approaching, things started to slow

down a little as the tide ebbed. Derek and I started to set up our conger rigs and loaded whole mackerel flappers onto 7/0 Cox & Rawle hooks.

I hadn’t had my baits out long when I heard that John was in

A small smoothhound was a surprise catch for Andy.

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FISHING CHESIL BEACH

A doubleshot of dogs for John.

again. As I approached him I could see that there was a very impressive arch in his rod as he pumped it to try and lift the fish from the bottom; all the signs of a good ray, which had everyone’s full attention. It was another fine undulate ray that appeared on the surface, a great catch that impressed me more because it fell to a small three-hook loop rig loaded with rag and tipped off with squid to attract the bream.

We were all guessing its weight as John picked up his scales, which the fish brought down to a smashing 10lb on the dot. There were big smiles all round.

With rays about I quickly wound in my bream rig and put on a pulley rig armed with two 5/0 hooks and put on a big rag-and-squid bait on that I put out at distance.

I was hoping to catch my first undulate ray.

However, it didn’t seem to be the night for me because the fishing quietened down, with only John pulling out a double-shot of a smoothhound and a dogfish and Stu a surprise codling.

I was told that they haven’t seemed to disappear from Chesil this year, which the guys said was very strange and had never happened

before. They put this down to the big storms that we had at the start of the year.

With the time approaching midnight, we loaded our gear back into the boat and said our goodbyes to the lads. With the car loaded, we made our way back towards Bridport for a bite to eat and fuel for the car.

I learnt two other things about this area. The first is

that Bridport’s kebab house does a mean kebab and the second is don’t run low on fuel after 11 pm because the nearest place to fill up is Dorchester, which is 18 miles in the opposite direction! Nevertheless, after the session that we had just had, it was worth every mile!

The Chesil Beach Forum History Rich Camilleri started the forum in August 2008. It currently has 259 members and the member count is kept low with regular removal of those who don’t post regularly. This helps Rich and the other guys running the forum to keep the catch reports flowing.

On average, six new topics are started each day and around 70 messages are posted. The forum also supports Julia’s House through its charity specimen competitions, which run for the entire year.

Julia’s House is a Dorsetbased charity that provides support for children and families. The children are generally suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

Since the guys from the forum started running these competitions in 2011, they’ve raised around £3,400 for this charity. Be sure to check out and chat with Rich and the other members of the forum at www.chesilbeach. forumotion.net.

Stuart Andrew with a brace of red gurnards.

52 www.totalseamagazine.com

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24/09/2014 14:56

GEARED UP!

GEARED

UP! TO WIN THIS SEEE PAG 65

Shakespeare Salt Pulley Rig Beads Nice and simple but well designed, these beads have countersunk line holes to protect the line and ensure that it passes through easily.

The swivel is strong and the price is pretty good, too, as you get 10 to a pack.

They’re worth a look if you’re starting to knock up some rigs for the winter’s codding.

Shakespeare T: 01665 602771 W: www.uk.purefishing.com RRP: £1.50

CONTACT

Shimano Aernos 3000SFB Reel You get a lot of power for your pound with this cracking reel from Shimano. Excellent build quality comes as standard, of course, but as part of the package you get five shielded stainless bearings and an extra-shallow spool, as well as a spare cold-forged aluminium spool.

This model is a cracker for LRF (light rock fishing) work; being compact and nice and light, it will be superb for braided main lines.

It’s also a very good-looking piece of kit with an eye-catching gunmetal and red livery.

Shimano T: 03330 333 48 88 W: www.shimano.c om SSP: £84.99

Penn Rampage 20lb/30lb Boat Rods .

Most boat rods these days come in two pieces, with the tip section fitting into the butt. However, this can make transportation a chore with some models.

These Penn Rampage boat rods are four-piece designs and each one comes in a good-quality carrying case to prevent damage – a very nice package at a tempting price point, which is the same across all models.

In spite of having four sections, the action of each rod is still superb, thanks to the special-mix 24-ton carbon blanks, which are lightweight and slim with fast tapers.

There are three rods in the range, covering 12lb/20lb, 20lb/30lb and 30lb/50lb classes, with lengths of 7ft 8in, 7ft 6in and 7ft 4in respectively.

Each one is fitted with Fuji ‘O’ rings with an EVA foregrip and an aluminium reel seat, while they all look very classy and are built to last

CT CONTA

Penn 71 5 6027 m T: 0166 .purefishing.co k .u w w w : W 79.99 RRP: £

54 www.totalseamagazine.com

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24/09/2014 11:14

GEARED UP!

TACKLE

CONTACT

Vass T: 01908 56 1560 W: www.vas s-uk.com RRP: £10

Plano Prolatch Rig Box This clear-plastic rig box from the wellrespected Plano range has a wealth of adjustable compartments so that you can store a good range of rig bits, or even lures at a push.

At around an inch deep you don’t have to delve too far to get at those small pieces of kit that ‘we can’t do without’.

The latching system feels nice and robust and should last well, while the clear design means that you can see at a glance what’s in the box, allowing you to quickly grab the bits that you need, or decide on the ones that need replacing.

Vass T-Shirts Vass is renowned for the quality of its waders and angling smocks – basically anything that keeps you dry. Well now it’s applied the same quality control to softer goods in the shape of T-shirts.

There are five colours available – red, navy, khaki green, chocolate brown and black – all in topquality cotton. Naturally, the Vass logo is prominent – but why be shy when you have a good design?

At just £10 a pop, not only do they look good, they’re very well priced too.

Plano T: 03330 333 4888 W: www.shimano.com RRP: £8.99

Dag Pike Book: Be Your Own Boat Surveyor Anyone considering buying a boat needs to understand that there are a whole load of questions that need asking before parting with their ‘hard earned’.

This impressive volume tells you exactly what you need to be considering and the information therein will repay the price of the book many times over.

Covering every part of a vessel from hull to deck and through electronics, engines and fittings, ‘Be Your Own Boat Surveyor’ is essential reading for anyone who owns a boat or is thinking of becoming an owner. Indeed, if you read no more than the chapter entitled ‘The 10-Minute Survey’ you’d have got your money’s worth.

Easy to follow, ‘Be Your Own Boat Surveyor’ runs to 196 pages and is £16.99 well spent.

It’s available from dhpbookshop.com or all good chandlers and bookshops.

Shakespeare Rubber Rig Stops

CONTACT

DHP Bookshop ISBN-10: 1472903676 79 ISBN-13: 978-14729036 com op.

W: dhpbooksh RRP: £16.99

These rig stops can be used instead of Powergum knots if you’re fishing a sliding float, and that’s probably what most anglers will use them for.

However, they have other uses, too, allowing you to micro adjust rigs if you use a couple in place of a crimp, with less fiddling about than when using a piece of neoprene tubing.

They grip well yet can be easily moved up and down the line with a little pressure.

Use two in tandem (or more) for heavier-duty work to prevent slippage.

They’re easy to fit, unobtrusive, and you get 20 per pack.

Shakespeare T: 01665 602771 W: www.uk.purefishing.com RRP: £0.75

Total Sea Fishing 55

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TACKLE

GEARED UP!

Vass Vass-Tex 305-5 Layer Tough Breathable Chest Waders Breathable waders keep you dryer by preventing moisture buildup from perspiration – the same perspiration that can leave you as damp at the end of a long day as if you hadn’t worn waders at all.

Most breathable waders are designed for game fishing, but the new Vass-Tex 305 5L breathable waders have been designed and developed for the rough and tumble of sea fishing, meaning that they should last well.

They use the highly rated Vass boots at the base, meaning that you don’t need to buy wading boots as extras, and they’re rated as more waterproof than other breathable waders.

To make sure that they’re up to the job, Vass has used the new Vass-Ultra technical seam, which is a 25mm triple-seal non-stitch design. They also feature reinforced knee sections for added durability, and a choice of boot soles, including the famous studded design.

Reeds Book: Reeds Nautical Almanac 2015 There’s an argument that says all a small-boat owner needs in the way of reading material is a set of tide tables for their local port. However, there are few skippers who wouldn’t find use for a copy of the boat owner’s annual ‘bible’ – the Reeds Nautical Almanac.

The near 1,200 pages (including the bundled Reeds Marina Guide) cover coastal waters around the whole of the UK and the European coastline from the tip of Denmark right down to the Azores. It includes 700 chartlets, 7,500 waypoints, international code flags, tide tables, and information on the weather, streams, safety, communications and much more. Each year more than 45,000 updates are incorporated and even at its full price of £45 it has to be considered a good buy for the well-travelled skipper.

A digital version is also available for the same price (iPad and PC) but, bought in this format, you only get access to the content for the duration of a 12-month subscription. It’s a handy way of accessing the book, but even if the content ‘dates’, I don’t like the idea of being blocked from something you’ve paid for just a year and a day later. With the paper version it’s always ‘yours’.

It’s available from dhpbookshop.com or all good chandlers.

CONTACT Vass 561560 T: 01908 s-uk.com as .v W: www £249.95 RRP: From

Tronixpro Full Winder Pouch You can’t beat these for keeping your rigs nice and neat, and they’re useful for shore and boat anglers alike.

To make things easy there are 10 colour-coded winders already installed, so it’s nice and easy to remember which rigs are stored where. Spool them up by breaking strain or rig type – the choice is yours. You can even store multiple rigs on each winder.

They come in a soft pouch, too, and it features a clear label window so that you can make a note of which rigs the pouch contains. It’s a simple idea, nicely executed.

CONTACT

Tronixpro T: 01903 732567 W: www.tronixpro. com RRP: £5.99

TO WIN THIS SEEE PAG 65

DHP Bookshop ISBN-10: 1472906993 ISBN-13: 978-1472906991 W: dhpbookshop.com RRP: £45

Tronixpro Baiting Tool If you’re all fingers and thumbs when it comes to baiting up, this simple tool from Tronixpro will be a real help.

It comes with full instructions and makes whipping baits together and onto hooks a whole lot easier. It’s one of those things that will make you wonder how you managed without it.

CONTACT

TO WIN THIS SEEE PAG 65

Tronixpro 67 T: 01903 7325 ro.com xp ni tro w. ww : W RRP: £3.99

56 www.totalseamagazine.com

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GEARED UP!

CONTACT

TACKLE

TO WIN THIS SEEE PAG 65

Shimano T: 03330 33 3 4888 W: www.shim ano.com SSP: £45.99

Daiwa Tournament Fluorocarbon Line Ideal leader material for a variety of species, this high-specification Japanese fluorocarbon line is available in breaking strains down to 4lb, which puts it right into LRF (light rock fishing) territory.

It’s not all fine stuff, though, as it goes up to 30lb, which is great for heavier work.

Boasting excellent abrasion resistance, it comes on easily-packedaway spools of just 30 metres, which show off its lack of memory. It’s one of the more supple fluorocarbons that we’ve come across, too.

Shimano Nexave 3000SFD Reel If you’re on a budget, the Nexave 3000SFD reel looks a very tempting prospect.

It’s a lightweight reel but has three ball bearings plus a roller bearing for smooth performance.

This new model is a nice-looking reel, too, and it comes with an aluminium spare spool, which is a nice touch at the price point.

A good, compact reel offering excellent line lay for longer casts, there are plus points in abundance.

And with a suggested selling price of well under 50 quid, it doesn’t hurt the wallet.

Daiwa T: 01698 355723 W: www.daiwasports.co.uk RRP: £9.99

Daiwa Sandstorm Waist Pouch You can fit a surprising amount into this handy waist pouch, which is crammed full of features.

Measuring 25cm x 18cm x 8.5cm, it has a spacious zipped main compartment, a zipped flat front pocket ideal for rigs, plus a zipped front pocket work space. It also features two spool holders with feed holes for easy access to leader material and two zinger links to keep tools easy to hand and secure.

The rubberised fabric liner should keep the contents dry, while an adjustable buckle strap with a cushioned belt grip will make it comfortable to wear.

TO WIN THIS SEEE PAG 65

Asso Big Catch Fluorocarbon Line

CONTACT Daiwa 355723 T: 01698 co.uk aiwasports. .d w w W: w .99 RRP: £24

This tough fluorocarbon line is ideal for boat or shore work in rough situations, as well as for the sharp end of flyingcollar rigs and the like from boats; if you’re hauling big cod and pollack, this is up to the job.

It will also do the business for tricky shore species like clear-water bass or plaice, in situations when they can maybe get too good a look at your end rig.

Available in breaking strains from 20lb to 30lb, you get 50 metres on a spool, which is a lot of end rigs.

Asso T: 0800 8496806 W: www.assouk.co.uk RRP: £10.99 for 50 metres

Total Sea Fishing 57

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WEB GUIDE

SHOPPING CENTRE

Shopping

Centre TSF brings you an essential guide to the best sea fishing websites.

Contact Karen Biggs on 01327 315426 karen@dhpub.co.uk RETAILER

CLUB

A specialist in lures for fishing for bass, cod, pollack and wrasse.

Providing a high-quality charter-boat fishing service for its members throughout the UK.

www.bass-masters.co.uk

www.urmstonseaanglers.com

RETAILER

www.bhg-marine.co.uk

RETAILER

www.gerrysfishing.com Providing everything you need for your fishing – both in store and online.

www.fishingmegastore.com Glasgow Angling Centre is one of the largest online tackle dealers in the UK.

RETAILER

TRIPS

www.lighttacklesportfishing.co.uk

www.artoffishing.co.uk

Due to relocation, stocks of outboards, RIBs, kayaks and much more are available at up to 50% off.

RETAILER

The best light rock fishing (LRF) specialist.

Providing day bass fishing trips, with the services of an expert skipper, along with all the best gear.

RETAILER

www.gerryslurefishingtackle.co.uk Now providing all that’s required to take up the fastestgrowing branch of the sport.

RETAILER

www.grampianfishing.com A long-established business, originator Jim Somers invented the famous Grant Vibration Green Heart rod.

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SHOPPING CENTRE

MANUFACTURER

www.tronixpro.co.uk Visit the website to view the full product and brand ranges.

WEB GUIDE

MANUFACTURER

FORUM

www.shimano.com

www.anglinganswers.com

An international manufacturer and distributor of the finest fishing equipment and accessories.

Join the sea angling community and have your questions answered by TSF’s experts.

HOLIDAY

MANUFACTURER

www.dintur.no

www.abugarcia.com

www.vassrainwear.co.uk

Spectacular shore fishing holidays in Flatanger, Norway.

For generations, anglers the world over have put their trust in Abu Garcia for tackle that withstands the toughest tests.

Top-of-the-range rainwear, light-duty and heavy-duty, that will keep you 100 per cent dry for all angling occasions.

MANUFACTURER

MANUFACTURER

RETAILER

www.sidewinderlures.co.uk

MANUFACTURER

www.gamefairdirect.com

www.wsbtackle.com

The best sea lures, guaranteed to help you catch every time.

The wholesale expert in a large variety of fishing tackle.

The Scottish Borders’ premier supplier of quality sea fishing tackle and outdoor accessories.

FORUM

www.worldseafishing.com A comprehensive forum with up-to-date fishing reports and blogs.

To promote your website here for only £20 per month, call

KAREN ON

01327 315426

To see more of the TSF recommended websites, plus our blogs, weekly competitions, fishing reports and daily news updates, visit our website!

We’re on!

Facebook And Twitter too!

@TotalSea

www.totalseamagazine.com

Advertise here FOR JUST £20 per month p058+59_TSF_10_Shopping Centre.indd 2

22/09/2014 10:15

SPOTLIGHT

KURT LANDER

SKIPPER’S SPOTLIGHT

KURT LANDER In this series we talk to a different charter skipper each month. They tell us about their angling background, how they started out in the industry and how their fishing fares throughout the year. This month it’s the turn of Kurt Lander, skipper of Yellowfin out of Newhaven.

I

started fishing at about five years of age with my dad and granddad on the River Severn for barbel and chub in my summer holidays.

As I got older my dad started to take me sea fishing off the beaches and rocks in Wales, then down to Devon and Cornwall on family holidays. It was in Looe in Cornwall that I had my first taste of fishing from a boat, a small wooden self-drive vessel.

I was instantly hooked on fishing afloat!

As a teenager I started to go out on charter-boat trips, which eventually led to me getting my first boat in 1993 – an 18ft sea nymph that I towed to different ports on the south coast for a day’s fishing.

I eventually bought an old wooden 30ft boat. I’m no mug when it comes to boat maintenance and refitting, but that one needed so much work to make it seaworthy, and along the way gave me so many personal troubles that it just had to go!

Meanwhile I’d been crewing on charter boats and this paved the way to the thought of me becoming a charter skipper myself, so I took all the necessary courses in order to achieve my goal.

In 2004 I got the boat that I now charter, Yellowfin. She is 38 feet long with a beam of 12 feet and twin engines, and is a very stable boat. Since I first bought her I’ve refitted her extensively so that she now has 80 feet of rail space to fish from, with plenty of room for

anglers and all of their gear.

We usually start fishing long-distance wrecks for cod and pollack from mid to late February, with bass in March through to the end of April.

When some summer species start to show we can fish marks a little closer in where we catch ling, bream and conger eels.

From mid to late summer we target brill, turbot and rays on the drift. We also anchor on wrecks and fish with baits for congers, ling and bream from late summer up to the end of September.

From October to December we usually go ground fishing for cod with cuttlefish and squid baits.

Many people say that they have the best job in the world, but I’m genuinely one of them.

I love being out at sea – every day is different, from what you catch to the weather and the people you get to meet.

Some skippers don’t fish, but I love to have a go if there’s room on the boat.

Catching good-sized pollack from deep-water wrecks on a light rod with braid is my favourite kind of fishing. You get to feel every headshake and dive that the fish makes.

Bream fishing is also fantastic on light gear.

We have top-quality rods and reels on the boat for hire, and a skipper and crew who will help you with your setup and throughout the day.

Tea, coffee and Cup-a-Soup are free to all, and we have a toilet on board, plus rod rests, bait and a filleting table, along with Icytec cool boxes for

your catch.

Yellowfin has full, up-to-date safety equipment on board, and a good-sized roof to offer protection from the great British weather.

Fact File Boat: 11.5m twin-engined Hire tackle: Yes Help and advice: Yes M: 07731 465992 E: yellowfincharter@hotmail. co.uk yellowfinskipper W: www.charterboats-uk. co.uk/yellowfin/

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WEYMOUTH ANGLING CENTRE

ADVERTORIAL

The Tackle Shop With More Of Everything…

W eymouth Angling Centre (WAC), in Dorset, claims to be the south coast’s finest specialist tackle shop, offering the very best for boat and shore fishing, and is 100 per cent committed to providing the best-quality service.

Established in 1996, the shop quickly proved too small to cope with demand, so in 2011 the business moved into the existing 12,000 sq ft premises on Edmund Street, just a short cast from the harbour.

When you walk into WAC, you immediately notice the vast range of rods, reels, terminal tackle and accessories, including an impressive wall stocked with more than 1,000 lures!

As well as a great choice of all the main tackle brands, WAC also has freezerfuls of bait and can supply fresh livebait if ordered in advance, including ragworm, lugworm, Devon peeler crabs and hermit crabs.

Naturally the staff are all anglers themselves and are happy to help with any information you need, whether about tackle, bait or where and what method to fish. In fact, it may be difficult to get away and go fishing, such is their enthusiasm and knowledge.

Although WAC is predominantly a sea fishing shop, it also carries a good selection of carp and coarse gear to cater for those keen

on the freshwater scene, and can advise on local fisheries and hotspots.

If you can’t get to the shop itself, WAC provides an excellent mail-order service, with free shipping to the UK mainland for all orders over £30. You can shop on the website – www. weymouthangling.com – 24 hours a day; it’s easy to navigate and constantly updated. It also has a wealth of information on boat fishing, upcoming competitions and events, and charter boat availability.

In fact, WAC also organises many major boat fishing championships and other matches, including the European and World Boat Champs. Upcoming events for 2014 are: • The Weymouth International Boat Angling Challenge (WIBAC), which

runs from October 20th to the 24th, with £15,000 cash and prizes to be won.

• Weymouth Angling Centre Chesil Beach Cod Open on Sunday, November 9th, with £1,000 going to the angler with the heaviest bag of cod and £500 to the one with the heaviest cod.

• Weymouth Pairs Species Charter Boat Open, on November 13th and 14th, with £2,000 cash and other great prizes to be won.

For further information on the events or to enter, please see the website or contact Andy Selby at wac@deepsea. co.uk or 01305 777771.

The shop is open seven days a week, 362 days a year, only closing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Opening hours are 6.30am to 6pm, although from December until March 1st the shop closes at 2pm on Sundays.

CONTACT Weymouth Angling Centre 2 Edmund Street Weymouth Dorset DT4 8AR T: 01305 777771 E: wac@deepsea.co.uk W: www.weymouthangling.com

“Before we even left port I had the chance to nip into the Aladdin’s cave that is Weymouth Angling Centre to pick up my bait. Inevitably I left with more tackle than I intended to buy and a much lighter wallet. I was lucky it was only a flying visit!”

Paul Dennis, Total Sea Fishing editor Total Sea Fishing 61

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ON TEST

TRONIXPRO SHIMANO ROD ENVOY ANDMULTIPLIER REEL REELS

SHIMANO Yasei Sea Bass Spinning Rod & Aero C14+ 4000HGFA Reel g Rod PRICE ea Bass Spinnin Yasei S 199.99 el RRP: £ HGFA re + 4000 4 1 C ro Ae 389.99 RRP: £

TSF editor Paul Dennis tried out two top-range offerings from Shimano.

I

t seemed the natural thing to do, to put together this high-end spinning rod and reel from Shimano to see how well they did together.

Each item represents a serious outlay, but tackle badgers who like consistency might be tempted to pair these items up. I don’t think they’d be disappointed.

The compact Aero C14 is a 4000-class reel with an oversized spool to aid casting, but the reel itself is actually pretty small, and weighing in at just 255g it balances very well with the light Yasei sea bass spinning rod.

The C14 in the name refers to the body material of the reel, which is light but has a very robust feeling. Housed within the body are six shielded bearings plus a roller bearing, which should provide some longevity to the reel.

Thanks to Shimano’s Aero Wrap system, the line lay is excellent. I dispensed with the spool reducer and used mono backing to pack the spool before loading it with 9kg braid. The HGFA model is the high-speed offering, so spooling up was fast and also very smooth, as you would expect at this price point.

I added a fluoro leader to

the braid and went fishing!

The Yasei rod is built on a very fast-tapered HPC 100 blank, so I was keen to see how well it punched out a lure. The rod has a white sighting ring near the tip, to aid accuracy in working lures and spotting bites, plus white graphics towards the butt end.

It’s not as garish as some lure rods, but is just blingy enough to make it a bit of a head-turner. None of this was going to help me catch any more fish but it might make me look as if I was serious about what I was doing!

The blank is rated at 7g to 35g, so will cope well with casting a very useful range of lures, while having enough stiffness in the tip to work them. This is an important point when you want to impart that fish-attracting kick to a surface lure, or add extra wiggle to a soft-plastic type.

The rod has K-type guides, which are very braid friendly, with the tip-ring being rated for reducing tangles. On the windy day that the first outing took place, this looked like it would be thoroughly tested.

I rigged up with a 26g Heddon Super Spook, which was well within the rod’s casting limits and hopefully

heavy enough to punch out across a blustery wind.

For those unfamiliar with this surface lure, it’s quite blocky and not the most aerodynamic. It still casts well but isn’t designed primarily for distance, so it would be a good test of the rod.

At 7ft 10in, the Yasei is a compact rod with plenty of poke. The lure worked the fast tip well and I was happy with the distance that I was getting with it. However, due to the conditions on the day, I will admit to wishing that the rod was maybe a foot longer.

Now, there is an 8ft 10in rod within this Yasei range, but it’s rated as a heavier rod, ranged at 20g to 60g. It might have been a better choice on the day, not only for additional casting power, but also for reducing the inevitable bow in the line more quickly and being able to work the lure more effectively when having to stand high off the water.

Having said that, the rod I was using had the balance I wanted and offered quite a bit more in the way of fun when a small fish was hooked. In the blustery wind the flat-top profile of the lower butt grip was a real bonus, adding control when working the lure.

The Aero C14 reel was faultless in casting and wobble free on the retrieve.

That extra speed was very useful in initially taking the unwanted bow out of the line, without overpacing the lure once everything was tight.

It wasn’t the best day to test the pair in respect of fish catching, my only victim being a tiny school bass attacking a lure at least as big as itself.

It wasn’t big enough to test the clutch, but I’m confident that it’s only a matter of time before I hook a bass that will.

However, the conditions certainly put that anti-tangle rod tip to the test and I have to say that it did exactly what it said on the tin – faultlessly.

The Yasei rod and Aero C14 reel were winners, with the reel a good match for any rod within the range. It’s an important consideration with a reel in this price bracket.

The combination was light enough to use all day without fatigue, with this being vital for a very active method with a lot of casting, plus plenty of additional arm action to work the lure.

Buying these would be a substantial investment to be sure, but a very sound one I’d say.

62 www.totalseamagazine.com

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The original

SANDEEL

This stunning and unique lure is a supernatural sandeel imitation.

These soft-bodied lures have the most fantastic swimming action, designed mainly for vertical fishing – but have also proved to be deadly as swimbaits and even for trolling.

• Customized Japanese Forged Carbon hooks • Real Sandeel swimming action and profile.

• Superb for Seabass, Cod, Pollock, Halibut and any other Prey hunting Predators!

Pack include: 2 Soft Bodies & 1 Head

/savagegear

www.savage-gear.com

eGet siWWeb beWWise teG PRIZES GALORE ON THE TSF WEBSITE

COMPETITION

WIN On The Web! www.totalseamagazine.com

Prizes Galore On The TSF Site

YOUTUBE

Check out our website, www.totalseamagazine.com, for all the latest goings-on, films and reviews. More than that, we are giving away brilliant prizes EVERY week. This month the prizes are:

TSF On Your Screen!

October 10th – October 16th Shakespeare Salt Pulley Rig Beads Worth £1.50 Well designed, these rig beads have countersunk line holes to protect the line and ensure that it passes through easily. The swivels are strong and you get 10 to a pack. These are essential rig bits if you’re intending to put together some rigs for the winter’s codding.

Check out our fabulous video footage of the TSF team and others enjoying great sport from shore and boat – which includes plenty of top tips and tricks!

October 17th – October 23rd Asso Big Catch Fluorocarbon Line Worth £10.99 This tough fluorocarbon line is ideal for boat or shore work in rough situations. Use it for flying-collar rigs and the like from boats for big cod and pollack – it won’t let you down.

For shore species like clear-water bass or plaice it will pull more takes than standard mono due to its low visibility.

Available in breaking strains from 20lb to 30lb, you get 50 metres on a spool, which is a lot of end rigs.

October 24th – October 30th Tronixpro Full Winder Pouch Worth £5.99 Don’t struggle to keep your rigs nice and neat; these winders make things easy and there are 10 colour-coded winders already installed. It’s simple to remember which rigs are stored where – spool them up by breaking strain or rig type and find them straightaway. The winders come in a soft pouch with a clear label window, so you can make a note of which rigs the pouch contains – simple!

JOIN US AND WIN EVEN MORE GOODIES Join the ‘Total Sea Fishing’ fan page on Facebook so you can be both a fan and a winner! Each month we will give away prizes for the most interesting comments. Post your catch reports here for all to see, and you can also make friends and chat away with 14,531 other fans worldwide.

PLUS we’re on Twitter too!

@TotalSea

October 31st – November 6th Tronixpro Baiting Tool Worth £3.99 This easy-to-use tool from Tronixpro is a real help for putting baits together. It comes with full instructions and makes whipping baits nice and neat then putting them onto hooks easy peasy. If you struggle to put together tidy bait packages, then this is a superb piece of kit.

And Finally Online…

• Great weekly and monthly competitions.

• See our new FREE online TV channel – TSFTV! • Check out the blogs from TSF staff.

• Don’t miss out on our fabulous subs offer.

November 7th – November 13th Daiwa Tournament Fluorocarbon Line Worth £9.99 As you’d expect from Daiwa, this is a high-specification Japanese fluorocarbon line. It’s available in breaking strains down to 4lb – useful for LRF (light rock fishing) fanatics – but also goes up to 30lb, which should interest boat and rough-ground anglers.

It’s a tough line with great abrasion resistance, and comes on small 30m spools. You can tell it’s top stuff because it exhibits no memory in spite of those compact spools, and it’s very supple too.

• You can now buy TSF as an app for your iPhone, iPad or Android device

Total Sea Fishing 65

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CASTING

HITTING THE HORIZON

Hitting The

Andy Miller brings you all the national and international tournament casting results.

KEY Assume all casts are pendulum style unless stated B (for back cast) or OTG (for off-the-ground) F/S = Fixed spool PBs in bold Court records in bold and underlined

Horizon SPONSORED BY

CIPS-F CIPS-FIPS-M -M 17t 17th World orld Cham Championship nship Montefiascone Montefi one Viterbo, Vit Italy – August 27th-30th

Suffo Sportsca Suffolk Sportscast Ipswich, Suffolk – August 2nd

Team Re Results

A total of 28 casters competed this day in a variable breeze that ended up southerly of between 4mph and 10mph. It was also sunny and very hot with high pressure.

Well done to Danny Moeskops on winning the day and thanks to all who travelled good distances to come and compete. Also well done to Danny Stone and Martin Osbourne on achieving new PBs. Caster 100g 125g 150g 175g Danny Moeskops 247.44 250.92 252.8 253.53 Lee Caley 230.24 251.79 Danny Stone 248.76 Duane Lockwood (B) 244.45 244.45 228.12 Steve Boyt (OTG) 243.55 226.25 Kevin Southey 243.50 238.88 232.47 Jay Lee 241.77 242.29 Andy Byrom 237.54 Ian Caley 237.03 226.85 Ronnie De Mulder 225.30 Warren Jarvis 224.67 220.00 Craig Buy (B) 221.60 Martin Osbourne 220.45 199.00 Paul Mayhew 214.26 214.60 203.37 Barry Desmond 213.06 Dennis Retter 205.13 211.66 194.85 190.59 Ricky Nash (OTG) 204.52 208.22 Adam Jennings 207.78 Dave Andrews (B) 206.90 Ron Archer 205.94 194.13 Neville Boby 195.15 Dave Venables 193.60 181.32 Barry Desmond (B) 153.10 Caster 300g Craig Buy (B) 176.63 Juniors 75g Jake Mayhew (OTG) 83.00 Distances in metres

Position Nation 1st Italy 2nd Argentina 3rd England 4th Italy 5th France 6th Japan 7th Belgium 8th Spain 9th Germany 10th Paraguay 11th Brazil

Team A A A B A A A A A A A

Points 3,944.69 3,870.13 3,765.69 3,816.92 3,762.53 3,640.37 3,637.62 3,585.87 3,484.85 3,407.83 3,144.11

1.0 – 1.0 – 1.0 – 2.0 3.0 – 2.0 – 2.0 – 1.0 2.0 – 3.0 – 5.0 – 5.0 5.0 – 5.0 – 3.0 – 3.0 4.0 – 4.0 – 4.0 – 6.0 8.0 – 6.0 – 6.0 – 4.0 6.0 – 8.0 – 7.0 – 7.0 7.0 - 7.0 – 8.0 – 8.0 9.0 – 10.0 – 9.0 – 9.0 10.0 – 9.0 – 10.0 – 10.0 11.0 – 11.0 – 11.0 – 11.0

Total 5.0 8.0 15.0 16.0 18.0 24.0 28.0 30.0 37.0 39.0 44.0

Individual Results (62 casters) Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 22nd 50th

Caster

Nation

Alessio Massa Francesco Di Gaetano Luis Solimeno Fabrice Roherig Matteo Monti Ignacio Anaya Filippo Montepagano Mirko Viani Nicola Bonelli Mario Montania Kevin Southey Luciano Kirsch Francesco Del Nero Jan Hinz Masaoka Tetsuya Steve Boyt Jay Lee Trasolini Sandro Sebastien Fabregue Christoph Fischer Duane Lockwood Dennis Retter

Italy

Best Cast (175g – 150g – 125g – 100g) 262.05 – 263.13 – 252.73 – 240.65

Italy

251.62 – 249.49 – 251.97 – 233.56

986.64

Argentina France Italy Argentina Italy Italy Italy Argentina England Argentina Italy Germany Japan England England Italy France Germany England England

248.45 – 258.95 – 248.39 – 229.72 256.23 – 251.23 – 241.39 – 229.18 246.98 – 252.78 – 246.03 – 230.69 245.77 – 239.39 – 246.08 – 239.62 251.84 – 250.43 – 241.73 – 226.03 246.93 – 231.32 – 249.66 – 238.19 245.26 – 240.02 – 248.34 – 231.25 238.21 – 245.11 – 242.36 – 233.02 245.56 – 247.92 – 238.93 – 226.27 239.27 – 236.20 – 239.83 – 239.76 245.66 – 246.99 – 228.30 – 233.31 246.74 – 243.35 – 236.93 – 224.96 234.69 – 237.60 – 238.54 – 235.82 239.21 – 241.44 – 232.15 – 230.40 244.03 – 238.05 – 231.55 – 221.43 237.95 – 236.02 – 228.49 – 231.56 243.82 – 240.02 – 221.81 – 224.29 245.04 – 208.81 – 245.42 – 230.38 248.21 – 238.88 – 230.02 – 211.64 206.35 – 203.44 – 209.29 – 191.22

985.51 978.03 976.48 970.86 970.03 966.10 964.87 958.70 958.68 955.06 954.26 951.98 946.65 943.20 935.06 934.02 929.94 929.65 928.75 810.30

Total 1,018.56

66 www.totalseamagazine.com

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CASTING

SPONSORED BY

UKSF Grand Prix 4 Huntingdon Racecourse, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire –August 3rd A sunny and dry day saw a temperature of between 16°C and 23°C, pressure of 1,009hPa and a variable wind of between 7mph and 16mph blowing south-southwesterly to southwesterly to west-southwesterly to westerly back to west-southwesterly and southwesterly.

Caster 100g 125g 150g 175g Danny Moeskops 247.52 243.80 251.89 Duane Lockwood 245.76 248.26 Jamie Blakeman 246.88 240.27 Owan Moyle 235.53 245.80 Andy Copping 239.55 229.60 243.00 Dave Richardson 238.36 John Hooley 235.00 226.32 Jay Lee 234.15 Steve Boyt 232.25 228.13 Matt Russell 227.23 229.51 Baz Blakeman 216.54 206.60 Ronny De Mulder 212.83 216.47 Kenny Shove 200.07 209.64 Barrie Davies 204.22 200.00 208.33 Andy Miller 203.55 207.28 Dennis Retter 201.89 205.20 Keith Carter 203.52 Kim Tester 195.86 202.50 Paul Mayhew 200.86 196.58 Stephen Derraven 200.67 Colin Howlett 199.13 Tony Weaver 190.59 182.91 Ricky Nash 182.19 Day Casters 100g 125g 150g 175g Mick Grant 247.54 Steven Swales 216.22 231.12 221.95 Chris Woodrow 221.50 Syd Burtcher 220.20 221.41 Andy Byrom 214.56 Distances in metres

NESA Kirkleatham Showground, Redcar, North Yorkshire – August 10th The casters experienced a southeasterly wind of between 7mph and 14mph, while it remained dry until midday when heavy rain halted play.

Caster 125g 150g Jamie Blakeman (OTG) 246.62 Owan Moyle 245.77 Steve Swales 235.08 Dave Sugden 233.45 Baz Blakeman 214.60 Bob Collins (B) 209.30 John Brimblecombe 206.76 Brad Kinnair (jnr) 206.03 Richy Ayres 201.55 Ian Miles 195.60 Simon Wells (F/S) 187.47 Phil Darby 182.85 Distances in metres

UKSF British Championship The best three from four results to count.

Caster GP1 GP2 Steve Lewis 50 50 Jamie Blakeman 49 49 Andy Copping 48 48 Jason Carter 47 45 Duane Lockwood 34 44 Owan Moyle 42 47 Jay Lee 45 43 Dave Richardson 44 42 Steve Boyt 39 35 Matt Russell 40 41 Garry Dickerson 36 37 Baz Blakeman 31 34 Kristian Leslie 33 39 Barrie Davies 29 33 Kenny Shove 32 32 Andy Miller 30 Kim Tester 26 30 Dennis Retter 28 28 Paul Mayhew 25 29 Alan Varley 46 46 Keith Carter 27 31 John Hooley 38 Iain Graham 41 40 Ricky Nash 24 26 Mike Dagnall 37 38 Kevin Southey 35 Tony Weaver 21 Colin Blackburn 27 Colin Howlett 22 Peter Thain 43 Adam Slack 36 Martin Cummins 23 -

GP3 50 46 45 49 44 43 48 47 41 42 38 40 36 37 35 34 32 31 33 30 39 29 28 -

GP4 49 49 50 47 45 44 43 42 40 41 38 39 37 46 36 -

Total 150 147 145 141 138 137 136 133 125 125 115 115 112 111 109 106 102 99 97 92 91 84 81 80 75 74 57 56 50 43 36 23

Kent Sportcast Tilmanstone, Kent – August 10th The 16 casters were met by a southeasterly wind veering to westerly of 10mph plus. Due to the rain, casting started about 10am in showery conditions with a cross-court southeasterly wind. After a few casts, heavy, intermittent rain made casting difficult until about 1pm. The wind then strengthened, varying from southerly to southwesterly as the rain cleared. It was then that the distances increased before the wind veered westerly by late afternoon, making the prospects of casting good distances impossible.

Well done to Steve Lewis on having the furthest cast of the day and to those casting PBs. Caster 100g 125g 150g 175g Steve Lewis 262.60 Danny Stone 249.75 Ian McHaffie 240.38 Roly Cannon 227.68 Darren Brooks 223.00 226.00 Dan Theobald 226.00 Derek Regan 204.00 216.00 John French 205.90 Paul Chapman (B) 199.00 185.32 Keith Bartlett 197.00 John Swinerd 170.00 Mick Rowley (OTG) 152.00 Caster 300g Roly Cannon 177.00 Danny Stone 172.00 John French 150.15 Distances in metres Total Sea Fishing 67

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CASTING

HITTING THE HORIZON

Westward Casting Association Cardinham, Cornwall – August 10th

Ramsey Angling Club Casting Tournament Ramsey, Isle of Man – August 16th

The 17 casters were greeted by a high west-northwesterly wind of between 10mph and 20mph, but also had heavy showers to contend with.

The day was dry, with a southwesterly wind of between 15mph and 25mph.

Caster A Copping M Russell A Slack P Jones J Hooley N Bragg J Hocking V Lea N Jones M Benfield W Harwood D Retter J Curtis S Derraven B Harvey Distances in yards

100g 296

286

125g 296 297 293 291 289 278

150g 307

175g

282 279 288 280

256

270 268

250 237

262 256 246 241 224

238 230

206

A southeasterly to southwesterly wind blew of between 10mph and 20mph and it was very wet at times for the 22 competitors.

100g

125g

249.60 229.84 226.78 226.58 226.20 219.85 208.80

150g 255.75 255.47 250.60 240.00 240.20 228.32 221.89 215.31 217.78 205.00 212.20 197.45

175g 243.00 239.70

197.70 192.70 186.94 181.16

183.44 179.80

169.98

164.60 200g 205.10 204.50 50g 70.00

75g 81.00

Sussex Casting Club Steyning, West Sussex – August 10th Only four casters turned up to find a southerly to southwesterly to westerly wind of between 20mph and 45mph on a cloudy, heavy day of showers and low pressure.

It was great practice for the few who braved the storm!

Caster Marco Marsiglia Paul Macintyre Kim Tester John South Distances in metres

125g 237.10 228.00 205.00

150g 263-1-6 266-2-0 250-1-6 243-2-0 200-0-6 197-1-6 173-2-6 119-1-0

NESA Kirkleatham Showground, Redcar, North Yorkshire – August 31st

Norfolk Casting Club Bircham Newton, Norfolk – August 10th Caster D Lockwood (B) J Lee K Southey L Caley S Boyt (OTG) C Plumb W Jarvis P Allsop S Buttery (B) P Mayhew R Ward D Ward R Nash (OTG) K Bebbington A Green D Brown A Needham P Hurren (B) R Parker (OTG) Caster R Nash (OTG) K Bebbington Juniors J Mayhew (OTG) Distances in metres

Caster 125g 273-1-6 Andrew Dugdale Barry Sharpe 273-0-6 Mark Quirk Michael Rycroft Bill Harrison Ian Rycroft George Dugdale Jack Kissack (jnr) Distances in yards, feet and inches

150g 239.70

197.00

It was a dry day with a 6mph to 8mph wind blowing westerly to northwesterly to northeasterly to southeasterly.

Caster 100g 125g 150g 175g Steve Swales 237.93 Owan Moyle 225.08 Dave Sugden 224.10 Chris Woodrow 218.50 207.51 Bob Cillins (B) 211.80 Keith Carter 199.36 203.55 Brad Kinnair (jnr) 199.90 Lee Parker 199.46 Richy Ayres 199.16 196.25 Phil Darby 188.54 Tommy Harland (F/S) 179.48 Paul Randolph (F/S) 148.50 Wilf Curry 137.20 Caster 200g Lee Parker 166.70 Distances in metres

Kent Sportcast Tilmanstone, Kent – August 31st A score of casters were greeted by a west-southwesterly to northwesterly wind of between 10mph and 20mph on a mainly dry, sunny day.

Casting long distances was hard unless your name was Steve or Jason!

Caster Steve Lewis Jason Carter Danny Stone Steve Swan Darren Brooks Martin Osborne Roly Cannon Alain Campion Michel Legrand Tom Brooker (OTG) Alex Whittlesea Paul Chapman (B) Silvie Legrand (OTG) Martine Campion (OTG) Caster Roly Cannon Martin Osborne (OTG) Alex Whittlesea Distances in metres

100g

200.00

125g

221.50 213.00 211.90 210.16

150g 241.80 237.00 224.00

175g

210.00

206.00 209.60

206.10

178.00 180.20 114.00 104.50 200g

206.02 185.00 183.00 175.80

176.00

98.00 300g 176.00 170.00

169.00

68 www.totalseamagazine.com

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CASTING

SPONSORED BY

Norfolk Casting Club Bircham Newton, Norfolk – August 31st The 18 casters experienced a west-northwesterly going northerly wind of up to 10mph, with sunny periods.

Caster 100g 125g 150g 175g P Allsop 215.50 R Ward 214.30 K Bebbington 190.00 210.78 175.00 R Nash (OTG) 208.80 205.45 S Buttery (B) 205.62 184.55 D Ward 197.73 181.47 D Brown 194.04 N Boby 193.54 R Archer 188.77 191.92 M Holmes 189.95 185.98 S Markham 188.44 R Parker (OTG) 177.16 A Needham (OTG) 169.45 175.60 P Hurren (B) 158.80 154.92 158.55 Distances in metres

Surfcast Wales Pembrey, Carmarthenshire – August 31st The 14 casters discovered a west-northwesterly to southwesterly wind of between 9mph and 12mph on this dry day of 19oC with an air pressure of 1,019mb.

Andy Copping took the lead late in the day to hold off the Welsh resistance of Phil Jones and Neil Bragg. Caster of the day, though, goes to Meirion Pritchard for recording creditable scores on all four leads, with all casters having to contend with the changeable wind conditions throughout the day.

Caster 100g 125g 150g 175g Andy Copping 243.90 240.01 Phil Jones 241.01 Neil Bragg 240.40 238.04 236.01 Glyn Baldwin 237.30 Meirion Pritchard 221.80 234.50 235.10 223.94 Neil Jones 216.30 Kevin Shortman 211.70 Stephen Derraven 192.65 Distances in metres

Club Contacts Club

October 2014 12th 12th 12th 19th 19th 19th 26th 26th 26th

Suffolk Sportscast, Ipswich, Suffolk Kent Sportcast, Tilmanstone, Kent (check with organiser) Westward CA, Cardinham, Cornwall (check with organiser) UKSF Clubman’s Final – Huntingdon Racecourse, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire Weymouth CC, Dorchester, Dorset (check with organiser) Surfcast Ireland, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, Ireland Kent Sportcast, Tilmanstone, Kent (check with organiser) Suffolk Sportscast, Ipswich, Suffolk Surfcast Wales, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, South Wales (check with organiser)

November 2014 2nd

Sussex Casting Club, Steyning, West Sussex (check with organiser)

2nd

Colin Howlett 01603 872597

Anglia Sportcast

Dave Vicary 07786 616342 Malcolm 07967 361221 Green

Down Casting Association Kent Sportcast

John French 01227 360107

NWSA

Alan Varley

07927 565425

NESA

Will Powell

07584 126456

Scottish Surfcasting Association Surfcast Wales Weymouth CC Suffolk Sportscast Sussex CC

Steve Ratcliffe

E-mail colinhowlett@rocketmail. com

downcastingassociation@ gmail.com johnfr123@hotmail.com avarley300@hotmail.co.uk will.powell33@googlemail. com

Iain Graham 07917 131816 iain@planetseafishing.com

Simon Batey 07801 876309 simonbatey@surfcastwales. co.uk Shane 07768712123 shanei2198@hotmail.co.uk Inman lboyt@btinternet.com Steve Boyt 07764 950269 Marco Marsiglia 07748 084737 marcomarsi@hotmail.com stephenlemm@rocketmail.

East Coast Steve Lemm 07957 830183 com Casting Club Jody Lemm 07517 310574 jody.lemm@yahoo.co.uk

Ulster CC

Lee Galashan

Westward CA

Ian Ford

Sportscast Ireland

Paddy Cunningham

By e-mail please

9th 9th 16th 23rd 23rd 30th

jonny@ulstercastingclub.org Lee@ulstercastingclub.org www.ulstercastingclub.org

01822 617946 Ianford747@btinternet.com 00353-(0)879427645

Norfolk Simon Buttery 07742 173058 Casting Club Rusty Parker 07866 546678

sportscastireland@hotmail. com info@norfolkcastingclub. co.uk

Suffolk Sportscast, Ipswich, Suffolk Kent Sportcast, Tilmanstone, Kent (check with organiser) Westward CA, Cardinham, Cornwall (check with organiser) Weymouth CC, Dorchester, Dorset (check with organiser) Surfcast Ireland, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, Ireland Suffolk Sportscast, Ipswich, Suffolk Surfcast Wales, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, South Wales (check with organiser)

30th

Kent Sportcast, Tilmanstone, Kent (check with organiser)

December 2014 6th 7th

Suffolk Sportscast, Ipswich, Suffolk Sussex Casting Club, Steyning, West Sussex (check with organiser)

13th 14th 14th 14th 21st 28th

NESA, Kirkleatham Showground, Redcar, North Yorkshire (check with organiser)

Tel

UKSF

8th

Upcoming Events

Who

Suffolk Sportscast, Ipswich, Suffolk Kent Sportcast, Tilmanstone, Kent (check with organiser) Westward CA, Cardinham, Cornwall (check with organiser) Surfcast Ireland, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, Ireland Weymouth CC, Dorchester, Dorset (check with organiser) Surfcast Wales, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, South Wales (check with organiser)

28th

Kent Sportcast, Tilmanstone, Kent (check with organiser) Total Sea Fishing 69

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SHORE

PIER FISHING

Persistence Pays O T

he phone call from my good angling friend Dominic Patch was typically brief: “Fancy a few hours out wetting a line?”

“Of course, but where?”

A few locations were suggested, covering high and low tide marks, and we eventually decided on an easy one – Porthcawl Pier. It’s a place that I’d not fished for a good few years.

However, I remembered it as a good, consistent mark but one that could become busy.

We decided on fishing four hours up and three hours back down the tide if all went well. I agreed to meet Dominic there because he planned to arrive an hour early to guarantee us a good spot. As you’re all aware, with any pier it can become jam-packed with anglers.

I eventually got there just over an hour late due to traffic. After a short walk I was greeted by the sight of a good number mber of anglers dotted d along the high ledge and nd along the entire pier. Thankfully hankfully a few old fishing hing friends were occupying the pier and made a space for me to fish, which was a huge relief.

With the usual sual banter starting ng to flow, the topic ic turned back to fishing and what was being ng caught. The signs were not good, with only one small ray landed during the hour that Dominic had been there. I certainly had d my doubts

but there are no two tides that fish the same, so we were still looking forward to some sport.

On one rod I set up a pulley rig with two 4/0 Pennel-rigged Cox & Rawle hooks baited with sandeel.

The weight was a 6oz Gemini to cope with the powerful tide that is a feature of the pier. On the new Leeda Icon FS I set up a clipped-down rig with the same weight but with a full squid bait to see what the fish preferred.

The new Icon was very impressive and sent the full squid out with ease.

There was plenty of casting practice because the hungry crabs that were feeding there were stripping the baits.

However, Dominic dropped a dogfish at the bottom of the pier, showing that there were fish there. We just had to put up with the crabs until they moved away from our baits. Most of the other anglers had had enough at this point, though, and began to call it a day.

The first decent fish of the night. John landed this 8lb 7oz bull huss to set the ball rolling.

Dominic Patch with a good huss.

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PIER FISHING

On The Pier

SHORE

John Lewis took the easy option but ended up doing some hard graft.

This goby adds to the . tally of species landed

Total Sea Fishing 71

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SHORE

PIER FISHING

We now had the whole of the front of the pier to ourselves, while Steven Brown persevered with the mini species, picking up the odd goby and sand smelt every now and again.

Just as darkness approached I landed two dogfish in quick succession, one on the new rod and the other on the previous model. Dominic continued to struggle, while I continued

to keep feeding the hungry dogs.

While reeling in yet another dogfish I noticed a bite on the FS rod, which produced a huge bow of slack line. I was praying that it was a ray and passed the dogfish rod over to Dominic so that he could take over while I went to the other rod, winding down quickly to the fish so that I could set the hooks.

guiding the fish to the lowest point of the pier so that it could be handlined a short distance up the wall.

Thankfully it was hooked perfectly and it was quickly landed thanks to Dominic.

A few snaps of the camera and a quick weigh revealed a nice fish of 8lb 7oz. I was over the moon; the new Icon fixed-spool-version rod was proving to be a big hit!

Dominic’s turn came as

Double hook-ups were becoming regular with rays and dogfish, until high tide came and the fish then started to go off the feed.

Sandeel proves to be the best bait.

Dominic struck back with this 10lb 3oz smalleyed ray.

I told him that it might be a small ray because it kept deep all the way in, but what surfaced was, in fact, a bull huss. This was a surprise because it was caught on sandeel!

We worked as a team,

soon as I began with the usual banter of: “What you had then mate?”

His rod registered a typical pull-down and a slack liner.

After a good scrap and a good few pumps of the rod tip to get the fish off the

sea bed and gain some line onto the reel, the fish hit the surface 20 yards out. It was the first small-eyed ray of the session and our target fish was eventually landed.

We decided to have a guess as to the weight before it went on the scales. I was 5oz off from its weight of 10lb 3oz – a cracker of a ray.

I was thankful that I’d decided to bring the camera.

I nearly left it in the house because I wasn’t planning on doing a feature.

The fishing was on fire; we even had to cut the sandeels in half so that we could keep fishing.

I was still chasing my first ray of the session while Dominic landed three smalleyed rays in three casts. They were caught on a different rig from what I was using – a pulley dropper – so the fish were there, it was just a case of ‘when’ for me.

Luckily I carry a big selection of rigs and swapped one rod over to a pulleydropper rig baited with a single sandeel.

Just as high tide approached I was rewarded with a nice bite and landed a small-eyed ray of 7lb 3oz. Double hook-ups were becoming regular with rays and dogfish, until high tide came and the fish started to go off the feed.

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24/09/2014 11:16

PIER FISHING

Tackle And Bait

With teeth like this you can see how huss can bite through line.

A strong beachcaster is needed when fishing at distance, trying to locate the rays. They can be caught in large numbers, with five rays a session not uncommon. A strong fixed-spool/multiplier rod and reel would be ideal, loaded with 18lb mono lines and a longer-than-average shockleader.

The idea of this is to allow the fish to be handlined up if they won’t fit into a drop net, although you may wish to use a drop net to land fish. It’s also advisable to bring a rod stand in case the pier is full. Then you’ll be able to fish off the top ledge of the pier.

Ammo blue sandeels are deadly baits when targeting the rays but you can expect the odd turbot and the ubiquitous dogfish on these. Fresh/frozen crab works well and squid is worth a go. For the lighter approach, choose a standard carp rod and spinning reel loaded with 10lb to 15lb mono, either float fished over the edge or with a little weight and a size 2 hook. Small strips of ragworm or fish baits will get you on to the pollack, bass and mini species.

SHORE

HIT THE MARK PORTHCAWL PIER SOUTH WALES

Getting To The Mark To get to Porthcawl Pier, exit the M4 at Junction 37 then follow signs for Porthcawl.

When you get to the large roundabout outside the town, follow the signposts for the seafront. The pier will now come into sight. There are numerous free parking spots on the seafront but bear in mind that it can become very busy during summer.

About The Mark The pier is situated adjacent to Porthcawl Harbour. This is a productive location and can fish at its best four hours either side of high water. The pier can be a very dangerous place during heavy seas and high winds, with waves sometimes smashing into the pier and washing over the top, so the safer option would be to fish from the wall in these conditions.

During summer a wide variety of fish can be caught at this spot. Just to name a few, there are mackerel, dogfish, pouting, bass and conger eels.

During winter you can expect good numbers of whiting, along with some cod/codling. This is a good location to target specimen small-eyed rays and occasional smoothhounds are also caught here. © Crown copyright 2014 Ordnance Survey Media 022/14

At last! John got among the rays following a rig change.

Total Sea Fishing 73

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SHORE

PIER FISHING

This was a perfect time to try for a mini species, so I swapped my rig for an inline barrel lead, a small bead and a Gemini swivel. At the business end was a size 2 Octopus hook from the Cox & Rawle range and a strip of sandeel.

As soon as it hit the water I had a take, resulting in me dropping a small pollack. The next drop produced a goby; a quick photo was taken of this and it was released. That was it for the mini species for me because I noticed that Dominic was into a nice fish.

It was another huss and he had to steer it to the other end of the pier, out of the tidal rip.

Now the focus was on me because it was my turn to handline a bull huss.

I’ll be honest; I’m not the biggest fan when it comes

to handlining huss for the simple fact that they tend to bite through the line when I handline them for someone else.

That didn’t happen this time and I managed to get it up to the pier. It was another cracker of 8lb 5oz again taken on sandeel. After a few photos it was released back into the water as quickly as possible.

I glanced over to my rod and noticed a few pulls on the rod tip. It was another ray of 6lb that was photographed and released to fight another day.

The fish were certainly there in big numbers but as the tidal rip faded to next to nothing the fish retreated with the outgoing tide. A few ‘last casts’ only produced the odd bite, with one more dogfish landed and the crabs

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As usual, there was no shortage of dogfish.

making a comeback.

At this point we decided to call a halt. We had landed five rays, three for Dominic and two for me, plus two huss, a goby and 20-plus dogfish. A big plus for us was to use all the bait we took.

We got through four packs of Ammo blue sandeels and a box of squid. We headed

off the pier a happy pair of anglers.

I will be out again with Dominic; it was a pleasure to fish with him and catch up on old times.

Yet again Porthcawl Pier surprised me with the amount of fish we had that session. It’s an underrated mark by some, but not me.

Weather Watch Good weather sites to use are magicseaweed.com and the Porthcawl live cams. These provide an idea as to the state of the water, along with xcweather.co.uk and other internet sites. It’s not a good idea to fish here during strong winds because there’s a chance that you’ll become a victim of the sea.

The two hooks of the Pennel rig proved their worth.

74 www.totalseamagazine.com

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24/09/2014 11:16

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22/09/2014 09:59

BOAT

TEST: PIONER 13

BOAT TEST:

TSF took a spin in the Pioner 13, and discovered that there’s a lot going for this hot-moulded, plastic dinghy.

PIONER P 13 SPECIFICATIONS LENGTH BEAM WEIGHT MAX PERSONS MAX POWER

eople tend to look down their noses at roto-moulded boats; all except those who own one that is. Well more and more professional users are finding that the tough, plastic material is just what they need to stand up to the everyday rigours of a hard life on the water. The material has been used for boat building for about 40 years now; it just isn’t as fashionable as glass-reinforced plastic (GRP)

3.93M 1.55M 148KG 5 15HP

and requires greater initial investment, so it’s not the type of material that a small family boatyard would use, which is why GRP is so ubiquitous.

For the boat angler, though, a roto-moulded boat makes a lot of sense. It’s much cheaper to buy a boat of this type in the first place and they’re so easy to maintain. Repairs, if they are ever needed, can be carried out at home, and extra fixtures and fittings can be attached by using tri-fold rivets, which,

PRICING

for the boat, Package price rd and trailer: oa tb Yamaha F6 ou ing VAT. £4,395 includ

The Pioner has a purposeful look about her and she doesn’t disappoint in her ability.

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TEST: P PIONER 13

again, is an easy DIY job; this is just as well because these boats don’t come with many fittings as standard. You do get plenty of storage in watertight bins, though, and an ‘unsinkable’ boat.

Pioner is a Norwegian company and its boats are built to exacting Norwegian safety standards, which is reassuring and reiterates the sturdiness and capability of these boats. They have some really nasty conditions in Norway and have to build their boats strong and safe.

The high freeboard keeps the boat riding high and dry, while the hull shape, although not the quickest in the world, will ensure that you stay upright; an adult can stand on the

gunnels with no fear of the boat tipping over.

The whole concept is to make owning a boat easy and to reduce the need for high horsepower. The Pioner 13 is quite happy being powered by an easily carried and mounted Yamaha F6 outboard engine with a built-in petrol tank, although it is possible to mount as big an engine as a 15hp with a remote fuel tank, which can be stowed in the lockable aft seat locker.

Having had it out in Chichester Harbour, though, we don’t think it really needs a 15hp; if the F6 is a little slow for your needs, then a 9.9hp would be a useful step-up to take without breaking the bank.

The stowage is provided by

BOAT

The tiller steering allows more room in the boat. You can see the broad beam that gives her the stability.

CONT

ACT ABC Mari ne, Pepe Boatyard, Mill Rythe Lane, Hayl ing Island PO 11 0QG. T: 023 92 46 1968 W: www.ifi tfloats.co.u k

To TTot Total otta o all Sea Se Se ea a FFi Fishing ish shi s hing ng 77 77

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BOAT

TEST: PIONER 13

The main storage box in the aft seat. It’s lockable and will take a remote petrol can.

virtue of lockable bins in the aft and centre seats. Each bin is very water resistant and is ideal for keeping a spare jumper or your rain jacket in safely out of the way. The fittings are limited to handles fitted to the inside of the boat and a pair of rowlocks. There is also a moulded bow eye for attaching a permanent bow rope to. Anchoring will have to be done by tying your anchor warp to one of the handles in the bow, which is not ideal but will suffice in sheltered water.

You can put bags and tackle boxes on the moulded floorboards, which consist of longitudinal ridges to allow plenty of depth for water to run down into the bilge sump aft. The boat is self-draining while under way; you can open the internal bung and let accumulated water run out as you motor along.

Alternatively, a bilge pump

could be installed to pump out over the side. Most people will take a bailer and just scoop the collected water out of the sump.

The forward seat is moulded into the bow and adds to the built-in buoyancy but doesn’t provide any storage. With a seating capacity for five adults, the Pioner 13 has plenty of carrying capacity, so with just two anglers on board there’s plenty of spare capacity and space to actually fish, even with a tackle box apiece in the boat.

One of the aspects of boating that seems to be lost nowadays is the skill to row a boat and troll. Well the Pioner 13 rows very well and comes equipped with its own pair of oars. The beauty of rowing is the lack of disturbance caused in the water; for trolling plugs in shallow water it’s a technique that cannot be

beaten, not even by an electric motor. I like trolling a baited spoon for flounders, and the Pioner 13 is ideal for this. Of course, you wouldn’t want to row very far or in a fast tide, but as a silent method of sneaking into a backwater creek for spooky mullet, or slowly working across a shallow rocky reef, don’t discount it. We pulled the oars for about half a mile out and then back again and got a good feel for the boat. It’s surprising how easy she is to row, but in any kind of wind those high sides are going to tell on your fitness.

The ride comfort is great; the boat lifts over waves cleanly and the planked effect provides lift and keeps spray down. Even in short, windblown chop, the boat sits well and provides a dry ride. The little motor pushed it along at a stately 6 knots without wringing the life out of the engine; at full chat she only did an extra 1.7 knots anyway.

Running the engine at around half to two-thirds throttle will provide the greatest fuel economy and engine life, while also preventing the driver from getting white knuckles from vibrations.

The reassuring security offered from the stable hull shape and dimensions – she has a beamy nature that provides a rock-solid feeling of safety – will ensure that newcomers to boating are not put off. If taking youngsters out for their first boat fishing trip then you need that reassuring feeling to make sure that they enjoy it, rather than simply endure it.

The moulded bow seat and step. It’s a shame that there are no bow fittings.

The boat comes complete with plastic rowlocks and oars for manual power.

The middle seatbox is reinforced with aluminium cross members and is lockable.

At a steady pace the Pioner leaves little wake, making her ideal for those stealthy quests in shallow waters.

The plastic handles are fixed on with self-tapping screws and are a bit flimsy. Better fittings would be TSF’s first modification.

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19/09/2014 14:44

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24/09/2014 14:16

REVVED UP

TEST: YAMAHA F40

Yamaha F40 This month TSF looks at the lightweight, mid-range Yamaha F40 outboard.

B

y today’s standards the F40 seems positively small, when there are V8 monsters of 350hp out there, but the fact is that the main bulk of engines sold are in the middleweight bracket. Well the F40 is a compact motor with big-engine attributes.

The ethos behind the design was reliability, ease of use and fuel economy.

The lightweight aspect of the F40 makes it fit into the portable category of outboards and so it’s available with either a tiller arm or remote steering for permanent mounting.

Outboard theft has become prevalent, with even boats on deep-water moorings being targeted.

Yamaha has recognised this and has made it much more difficult for wouldbe outboard thieves by the implementation of its immobilising system called Y-COP, which stands for Yamaha Customer Outboard Protection. The electronic fob used is like the immobiliser for road vehicles and prevents the engine from starting without the dedicated unit initiating the electronic systems at the mere push of a button on the fob.

To ensure first-time starting, the multi-point electronic fuel injection

and computerised enginemanagement system sets the timing and fuel mixture at the optimum regardless of the situation, even on the coldest of mornings.

The ability to move the goalposts provides high torque at lower revs combined with high-power output at higher revs and the fuel consumption is optimised across the rev range with clean, efficient combustion. The ignition is transistorised, too, rather than capacitor stored, for even more accurate ignition delivery.

Not many people realise the depth of the research that goes into outboardmotor design. Yamaha has developed its own alloy, YDC-30, which is the first line of defence against corrosion. Zinc coating and a five-layer epoxy paint system complete the cosmetic protection to ensure that the engine remains looking good for years. The internal water corridors and critical parts are made from stainless steel, and the whole engine is protected against galvanic corrosion by a series of strategically placed sacrificial anodes, including within the cooling passages.

The electric trim and tilt is operated via a button or switch on the tiller handle,

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TEST: YAMAHA F40

or via the combined gear and throttle-control lever for remotely steered applications. On the tiller steering there’s a single lever that adjusts the steering stiffness; this is a useful gadget that prevents the over-steering situation you get when the steering is very loose. You can make life easier for yourself by increasing the tension on the steering to hold the boat on course more easily, allowing you to tend lines or unhook fish and simply reduce driver fatigue.

The power trim allows the boat handler to adjust the angle of attack to suit the conditions; it even allows a negative trim angle to help keep the bow down when using the boat solo to ensure that it’s kept correctly trimmed, which provides better acceleration and greater control of the boat on the water. The trim can be

raised for running in very shallow water, too, which is a useful feature of an outboard.

The three-cylinder engine has a 120-degree crank, which helps to smooth out vibrations, and is compact and lighter than a four-cylinder design with a proven track record of reliability. The greater power-to-weight ratio helps to make your fuel go further, too. Keeping the weight down is achieved by a new cowling that also acts as a sound dampener and has an air-ducting flow from the sides and stern to keep the intake noise to a minimum, ensuring whisper-quiet running.

A wide operating-rev range with maximum power made from 5,000rpm to 6,000rpm makes this a very versatile engine and it’s used for both leisure and professional use, often in a twin-rig configuration

STANDARD EELS

Available in the following sizes: 50mm, 65mm, 95mm and 180mm

REVVED UP

Technical Specifications Engine type

Four-stroke

Displacement

747cm3

Number of cylinders/ configuration

Three/in-line, SOHC

Bore x stroke ratio

65mm x 75mm

Prop shaft output at mid29.4kW/ 5,500rpm range Full-throttle operating 5,000rpm – 6,000rpm range Lubrication system

Wet sump

Fuel induction system

EFI

Ignition /advance system TCI Starter system

Electric with Prime Start

Gear ratio

2:1 (26/13)

on inshore rescue boats especially. There’s a choice of propellers to suit every application and the low-rev torque and 2:1 gear ratio

allows the motor to spin a wide-diameter propeller without labouring, for displacement hull use, and is ideal for fishing boats.

DELTA SKALLIWAG EELS

Available in the following sizes: 90mm, 130mm and 170mm

DELTA TACKLE FOR THE BEST IN ROD LIGHTS, PARAVANES AND ARTIFICIAL EELS

PLEASE CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION

deltatackle@xln.co.uk / www.deltatackle.co.uk Total Sea Fishing 81 p080-081_TSF_11_Revved Up+Delta.indd 81

22/09/2014 13:05

BOAT

KAYAK KORNER

KAYAKKORNER Safely anchored and waiting for a bite

SAFETY FIRST AT ANCHOR Top advice for staying safe while enjoying your sport.

A

nchoring is probably the most dangerous part of kayak fishing, especially if there’s any appreciable tide run. When anchoring from a kayak there are a few things you need to consider in order to prevent unexpected upturns. The first of these is how to actually rig the kayak so that it can be anchored safely at all times.

Many kayaks aimed at the fishing fraternity have what is known as a cutter stern, meaning that they have a pronounced skeg, which is the flat keel extension at the back end. The surface area of the skeg is as large as, or larger than, that of a paddle blade, so it has an appreciable effect on the way that the water interacts with the kayak; not so much when paddling forwards, but when the water flow is reversed, as it is when we sit at anchor.

Kayaks are different from boats in that we don’t have the luxury of being able to move around in them and are fixed facing forwards; even when sitting side saddle with all the kit stowed astern it is better to fish over the bow.

For this reason we anchor from the back, rather than

the front as per convention.

With the water flowing over that deep skeg there can be a tendency for the kayak to corkscrew in the waves as the anchor line pulls the stern down. If the anchor trolley is not mounted right on the stern, this corkscrew action can result in the kayak being turned over (which has happened to quite a few), such is the force generated.

With the anchor line carried right to the stern, this turning action is removed, so the first thing to ensure is that your anchor trolley is mounted as far to the stern of the kayak as is physically possible.

Many people make an anchor reel to store their anchor line on; this is a revolving drum with a handle to make recovery easier.

Other people use a wooden, or plastic, frame to wind their anchor line on just like a handline. The business end should consist of a length of suitable chain, of a couple of metres at least, ending in a small anchor. Various sizes and styles are available; something between 0.75kg and 1.5kg as a maximum will be fine.

Again, there are various

ways of setting the anchor up to trip should it get fouled. Most use a small cable tie to attach the head of the anchor to the chain, with the shackle attaching the chain to the bottom of the anchor. If the anchor gets stuck, a good pull on the line will break the cable tie and allow the anchor to come free, upside down.

The trip must be set so that the anchor is not pulling on it in normal use, otherwise the anchor can trip when you least want it to.

The act of anchoring is simple enough, but there’s one thing to remember: you must avoid having the kayak at anchor when the anchor line is anywhere towards the centre of the kayak, both when dropping anchor or when recovering it. This is fundamental because the pressure of the tide against the side of the anchored kayak will cause it to capsize so fast that you won’t know what has happened! With the anchor line leading from the end of the kayak, this will not happen, so always have the anchor line leading from the stern before dropping or lifting the anchor.

To safely anchor the kayak, clip the anchor line through the carabiner on the anchor trolley; this is simply a convenient way of being able to lead the anchor line and remove it for stowing.

The anchor trolley is then shuffled to the stern, before the anchor is put over the side. The anchor can then be lowered to the bottom safely and the line paid out; you need to let out at least three times the depth of water to ensure that the anchor will hold, then tie the anchor line off.

Recovering the anchor is a reversal of this process. Start by hauling in the anchor line, without bringing it forward from the stern. It’s a bit awkward but it’s safe. Like playing a fish, lean forward and recover line as you sit back, and repeat the process until you feel the anchor break free. Then you can just wind the line in. Once the anchor chain hits the carabiner you can shuffle it forward to the cockpit and unclip it to stow it all away.

You must avoid having the anchor line leading away from the middle of the kayak at all times – this is where the danger lies.

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22/09/2014 09:18

ADVERTORIAL

GERRY’S FISHING TIME FOR REVOLUTION! Gerry’s Fishing has all the essentials required to make your next trip to the coast a winner. Not only can it provide top-class tackle, it also has some great package deals available to guarantee more value for your hard-earned cash.

There’s been a revolution in lure rods recently – so just check out some of the range that Gerry’s stocks, along with some more great product deals below…

Century Eliminator T 1000 RRP £624.99 Our Price £540

This rod is a BEAST, ideal for all you kelp-jungle/ rough-rock-mark anglers. This rod will stop just about anything. But don’t think that because this rod has power to burn, that it’s not castable.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The rod is designed to bend and recover gradually, releasing its power right through the casting process, providing a smooth yet powerful cast right through no matter what casting style you use or if you’re using a fixed-spool reel with braid or a multiplier reel with mono.

Match this with a low-diameter blank and the ability to handle large baits and big leads at long range and it should appeal to anglers who fish the harshest of conditions but still want a rod that’s comfortable to use.

This rod deliverers in every way.

Features; • Gearbox-design autoclave technology • Casting weight 4oz-8oz • Length 14ft 10in

• 2 equal sections • Century rod bag • Factory finished in metallic red, black and white edges • Fuji K-guides • Etched stainless-steel trim bands on upper and lower butt sections • Japanese shrink tubing grip handle • Century moveable reel seat • 3m of reflective tip tape

Vass Tex Team Lightweight/Breathable Smock Red/Black. Our Price £69.95

Imax Aquanaut 2pc Breathable Flotation Suit RRP £249.99 Clearance Price £119.99

Vass is, as you may know, proud to be involved with many national and internationl fishing teams. Inspired by working with these knowledgeable anglers, Vass has developed this 175 lightweight breathable smock to cope with all the demanding conditions experienced by these top angling teams.

Hence the name ‘Team Vass Smock’.

It features a wide collar, tough fastening press-studs and a larger-thannormal hood (allowing extra room when wearing a warm hoody and peaked cap). Vass purposely hasn’t used a winter lining in this range so it can be used through the winter or summer, leaving the wearer the choice of layering underneath.

Chest size in inches: S (36-38), M (38-40), L (41-43), XL (43-45), XXL (46-48), XXXL (48-49)

Where safety is concerned, why compromise?

This suit is the first of its kind to conform to CE ISO 12402-5 international standards so can be used in worldwide situations with confidence. It has very high levels of buoyancy, but still remains incredibly lightweight and easy to wear. It’s also breathable so the sweat wicks away, keeping you dry inside as well as out! A very smart-looking suit with a soft-touch outer shell, this has got to be one of the best suits we’ve ever sold!

Look closely at the sizes because IMAX is slightly bigger than most with its sizing!

Chest sizes in inches: S (29-36), M (37-42), L (41-46), XL (45-50), XXL (4954), XXXL (53-57)

Just look at the features •Colour: red/black •Reflective shoulder print •Reflective arm print •Quad-welded seams •Fold-out storm hood with upgraded drawcord •Large front pocket with Velcro and funnelled storm flap •Elasticated cuffs and lower hem •This garment is metal free to ensure no parts corrode during use •Extended body length for improved water run-off •Quick drying after a wet day!

•Machine washable

Features; • Incredibly lightweight • 100% waterproof • Soft-touch breathable outer shell • Highly breathable low-density buoyancy foam • Abrasion guard reinforced knees, seat, elbows and shoulders • Large zipped handwarmer pockets • Silicone pull tabs on storm flaps and pockets • Highly reflective piping • Safety whistle • 3-way ergonomically adjustable hood for unrestricted view • Heavy-duty shoulder straps on bib ‘n’ brace

CONTACT To view the whole rang e, visit: W: www.ger rysfishing.co m or www.gerryslu refishingtackle .co.uk T: 01524 42 2146

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19/09/2014 14:45

BOAT

MATCH FISHING

Stornoway’s

Fabulous Fifty Scotland team captain Ally Campbell reports on the 50th Western Isles Open Boat Championship.

I

t was with great excitement that this year Stornoway Sea Angling Club hosted the 50th Western Isles Open Boat Championship. For the last 50 years this competition has attracted anglers from all over the UK, and this year was to be no different. This competition is well known on the match circuit and is highly coveted by anglers across Scotland especially.

In its 50th year the club had pulled out all the stops to bring as many anglers to the island as possible to celebrate the event, and a 40-strong field headed to the Outer

Hebrides to enjoy the rich fishing, beautiful scenery and a very warm welcome.

I am, of course, going to be biased in my views but I sincerely do believe that this is the best open boat competition running in Scotland at the moment, and believe me I told everybody I knew to attract them to enter. In the end we had anglers from as far south as Liverpool travelling up to the event. The main open two-day competition is preempted by the single day Highlands & Islands Open on the Thursday and, therefore, the majority of the anglers arrived on the Wednesday for the registration for both events in the clubhouse on the Wednesday night.

Stornoway Sea Angling club has facilities that would be envied by any club in the UK, with a large two-storey clubhouse fitted out with public bars, a dance hall and

Gillies Mackenzie was in contention after landing this turbot

kitchens, and it also owns its own 34ft charter boat. This provides an excellent base from which to run an event and, with the help of local club members, registration was enjoyed in the clubhouse with a few refreshing pints of beer to follow.

Thursday morning came around with a blistering clear day to look forward to and weather conditions not often seen in this part of the world. Instead of the usual heavy waterproofs before you board the boat it was suntan lotion all round – a welcome change.

The single-day Highlands & Islands Open day is a targeted event, where only flatfish and rays count on the scoreboards. Therefore the four boats, SYSAC II, Rebecca Ann, Nimrod and ORCA III, all headed round to fish the sheltered and sandy Cliff Bay around six miles from the event port of Carloway on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis.

This large bay is around 60 feet deep with a slight trench in its centre and a gradual drop-off into deeper water outside the bay.

On the outward edge you traditionally catch mostly rays with the odd bonus megrim or turbot. On the shallower grounds you can still pick up rays but with more dabs as well as the odd

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MATCH FISHING

Steve Burns with a colourful tub gurnard.

plaice and small turbot. This meant that the boats would work all the angles through the day to get the anglers a good mix of fish.

It proved to be excellent, with plenty of fish coming to all the anglers throughout the day. The mainstays for all the anglers were spotted rays with the odd cuckoo ray and some thornbacks mixed in, with a steady stream of dabs jumping on as well.

However, the key to winning the competition was to pick up the elusive megrim, plaice and turbot.

On SYSAC II it was local angler Hector Low who did exactly this, picking up lots of rays, including one of the few cuckoos, while also getting a useful turbot.

Meanwhile, on the other three boats it was visiting anglers Micky Duff, Scott Gibson and Stevie Burns who took the top positions on their respective boats.

The key was actually getting your baits just the right size to pick up as many rays as possible, while also making sure that you had a chance of hooking one of those elusive other species.

A roughly 6ft-long threedown rig with fresh mackerel baits of around three inches on a 1/0 Aberdeen hook was the general rig of the day that did the bulk of the damage.

However, the best catch didn’t end up being a flatfish at all; in fact it was a 5lb 12oz tub gurnard that fell to Scott, which, if ratified, will be a new Scottish Record – an excellent achievement.

Back ashore the anglers were treated to homemade soup and snacks in the clubhouse, which were quickly snaffled up by the many hungry mouths. I do believe that it’s the first time I’ve ever seen anybody eat four bowls of soup in a row without taking a break! The ladies who made the soup should certainly take this as the highest compliment possible.

While the soup was being devoured, the local club

BOAT

Joe Campbell with a double-shot of cuckoo and spotted rays.

statistician was calculating the overall standings, and when the boat winners were compared it was Scott who took the competition, with Micky in second place, Hector in third and Stevie fourth.

After a few swift pints for the anglers on the Thursday night it was looking like it was going to be another cracking day at sea on the Friday for the start of the Western Isles Open proper.

This competition has traditionally been based on achieving a good mix of both species, size of fish and numbers of fish and, as in previous years, this leads the boats to the mixed hard and soft ground around four to six miles offshore. This ground is generally made up of a sandy bottom with odd areas of shingle and hard peaks.

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BOAT

MATCH FISHING

Scott Gibson landed a potential Scottish Record tub gurnard at 5lb 12oz.

What’s such fun is you don’t know if you’re going to bring three haddock to the boat or a cuckoo wrasse, red gurnard and megrim in one go.

This area is generally fished on the drift and, being in 30 fathoms and full exposed to the Atlantic weather, boats usually drift at around one to two knots across this ground. This meant that all the anglers had to be prepared with rigs that could catch anything from ling and pollack to megrim, dabs and haddock, with three hooks catching three different species not uncommon.

This is what I think makes this competition so much fun: you don’t know if you’re going to bring three haddock to the boat or a cuckoo wrasse, red gurnard and megrim in one go.

So, with all the anglers aboard the boats, we set sail

at 9am in anticipation of a great day’s fishing. Lines down was at 10am and it was immediately obvious aboard the boats that our usual style of fishing wasn’t going to work, as with zero wind and no tide, the boats were essentially anchored to the spot.

This provoked the anglers to change from fishing for the usual mixed species to targeting dogfish of both the lesser-spotted and spurred variety. There were still the usual suspects mixed in with the catch for the day, but instead of the usual odd ‘LSD’ coming to the boat, anglers were bagging up, with Scott on the Rebecca Ann having 29 alone for the day as well as a conger eel

(on the drift). Aboard Nimrod I managed to win the boat with a healthy number of LSDs but also by targeting spurdogs.

Almost all of the spurdogs in this area are easily into double figures and therefore even though anglers are only allowed to count five, they’re still worth a lot of points on the scorecards. In fact, fishing for spurdogs in this area I usually use a threehook paternoster rig with 4/0 heavy-gauge hooks and 100lb line straight through to cope with a hard day lifting three double-figure spurdogs at a time!

Aboard SYSAC II, local angler Gillies Mackenzie took the boat with a similar catch to Scott’s, while Peter Redshaw took ORCA III, which, with its larger size, had drifted faster and caught a mix of haddock and gurnards for the day. As with the Thursday night, it was back to the clubhouse for exceptionally cold pints to quench the thirst, and some more lovely soup.

The four boat winners were ordered up, with Scott again in the lead, Gillies second, myself in third and Peter fourth. However, with several anglers finishing with scores of 80 per cent or above, the championship was still wide open.

Day two of the Western Isles Open started a bit earlier on the Saturday morning, with different weather conditions. It was going to be wet day with a wee breeze to move us along a bit quicker, which was very welcome.

Peter Redshaw won the Western Isles Open for a record sixth time.

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MATCH FISHING

BOAT

Nikki Thompson (left) won the Ladies’ Championship.

Willie Carr with a fine turbot.

However, it must have been the early start that caused me to have a few issues because halfway out to the marks I realised that I didn’t have my weight bucket aboard with me, and a swift ‘at sea’ cargo transfer of ‘halfa-tonne’ of lead had to be performed from the boat that was carrying my lead bucket.

I gave many thanks to the skippers for performing an expert manoeuvre without sending my leads to the bottom of the Atlantic!

I was aboard ORCA III for the day and Angus, the skipper, took us to a whole host of marks, where we caught more than 15 species for the boat, including cod, haddock, whiting, megrim, coalfish, dabs, grey/red/tub gurnards, scad, mackerel,

rays, ling and poor cod, with more than 60 fish to three of us.

Unfortunately the true effect of the early start only became apparent to me around midday when the heavens opened up and I reached for my waterproofs – they were nowhere to be seen.

I think I remember one of my fellow anglers on the pier at the end of the day commenting: “You look like a drowned rat.”

It was a lesson for me and all the others – always check that you have your gear with you before you set sail, as I was reminded by every man and his dog throughout the day!

On the fishing side, myself, overnight leader Scott and

Nimrod was Ally’s berth for the first day, when he got into contention by winning the boat.

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BOAT

MATCH FISHING

Junior Champ Scott Yuillie picks up his cheque and trophy

The spacious Stornoway SAC clubhouse hosted the prize giving.

All the trophy winners from a hectic extended weekend’s fishing.

Steve Souter were neck and neck all day until we hit a big patch of cod with around 20 cod to a man in 90 minutes. Steve fished very well over this period and managed to edge ahead of both myself and Scott to take the boat win.

Back ashore we needed to see if either of the other boat winners from day one had won their boats to take the overall win.

First in was Gillies on SYSAC II who had been beaten by another top local rod Joe Campbell.

Apparently Gillies has requested that nobody every mentions the word ling to him again!

The final boat ashore was Nimrod, with Peter aboard, who confirmed that he’d won the boat. Upon hearing that all the other boat winners had failed to replicate him, Peter knew that he was the Western Isles Open winner for a record sixth time. This is, indeed, an excellent achievement by Peter in what is historically one of Scotland’s hardest open competitions.

With Peter winning the competition again, all the anglers were sent straight home to get washed up and tart themselves up for the evening buffet, prize giving and dance in the clubhouse.

A big thanks must go here to the ladies from the club who put on an incredible spread for 40 anglers and another 30 invited guests, with local seafood (very kindly donated by Macduff Shellfish Ltd) and cold meats as well as sweet treats going down a storm with all in attendance.

Following the prize giving and buffet, a local band, Tosh & Tonkan, got the party started with more than 100 folk taking to the dance floor by the end of the night and enjoying a great time. I must say that I woke up less than fresh on the Sunday morning, so it must have been a good competition.

A final word of thanks must go to all the sponsors, which help make the competition what it is, in particular 2020 Renewables, the headline sponsor, and Lewis Wind Power, the champion sponsor, with each

The companies 2020 Renewables (top) and Lewis Wind Power (bottom) each donated £1,000 to the competitions.

donating £1,000 to the club and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local council that supported the competition.

The club will be organising the 51st Western Isles Open on July 9th, 10th and 11th of 2015 and if you’re interested in attending then please get in touch via sysacmembership@hotmail. co.uk or the Facebook pages.

RESULTS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Peter Redshaw Ally Campbell Derek Yuillie Gillies Mackenzie Scott Gibson

Ladies’ Champion Nikki Thompson Junior Champion Scott Yuillie

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24/09/2014 14:57

THE ANGLING TRUST SAYS…

IRELAND ENVY

Ireland Envy David Mitchell, the marine environmental campaigns manager for the Angling Trust (AT), discovered that the UK has a lot to learn from Ireland where fishery management is concerned.

T

he wilds of Ireland’s west Cork coast are nothing short of spectacular – long peninsulas fingering out into the Atlantic Ocean, creating inland seas dotted with craggy islands not unlike the Norwegian fjords.

Places like the Sheep’s Head peninsula, where I found myself fishing last month, are on the very limit of Europe’s westernmost point and about as remote and rural as you can imagine. It was with some surprise therefore that, on a typical Irish day – the torrential rain was blowing horizontally into our faces from the Atlantic – we came across a party of Dutch anglers conger fishing from a secluded jetty into the deep, clear waters on the peninsula’s south coast.

A few minutes of fishing small talk and it transpired that not only had these anglers travelled from the Netherlands to fish this apparently unremarkable mark, but the number plate on their car indicated that they had driven here, albeit with the help of a ferry or two along the way!

Travelling east on a mission to hunt down a minor obsession of mine, a gilthead bream – for which some of the beaches and estuaries of Cork have become famous – we encountered more anglers, and discovered that our Dutch conger catchers were not alone in travelling to Ireland.

Over the course of three days we encountered more Dutch as well as Italian and French anglers. Why had so many anglers travelled so

David caught a small strap conger in the company of some visiting Dutch anglers.

far, at such expense, to fish?

The answer is straightforward and predictable to anyone who has fished in Ireland themselves – what drives (literally, in the case of our Dutch friends) anglers to Ireland is to experience a quality of fishing that they simply cannot get at home in the ‘sterile’ waters of the North Sea or chronically overfished Mediterranean.

Many of them travel specifically for the bass

fishing, which Ireland has become famous for since the ban on commercial fishing following a collapse in the fishery in the 1980s. Others travel to Ireland for the variety of species that can be caught from the warm waters of the Gulf Stream that run past Ireland’s west coast.

The Irish Government has recognised that these travelling anglers bring into the country an injection of hard cash, and the country already does a great job

of supporting anglers (aside, perhaps, from the provision of bait – see below) and making them feel welcome, despite a new policy recommendation on bass published by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), which says: “The angling tourism sector, particularly IFI and Failte Ireland, should continue to work together, to identify needs/areas of growth and improve information and infrastructure for domestic and tourist anglers.”

When was the last time you noticed a party of anglers from overseas fishing in the UK? My guess is that you can’t recall an occasion, and the simple answer is that the quality of the UK sea angling experience is not currently strong enough for the UK to be able to compete with Ireland, Norway or the USA as a sea angling tourism destination.

I have one word of warning for anglers travelling to Ireland, though – the fishing might be of a better quality but things can be as fickle in Ireland as anywhere else and conditions play just as much a part in your success there as they will do here in the UK, so be prepared.

I spent eight hours flogging the estuary at Courtmacsherry with every lure known to humankind, only to blank and then be told: “Yeah, you’re really only gonna catch on livebaits today, and you’re gonna have to dig your own.”

Remember what I said about bait provision? God bless the UK’s tackle shops and bait diggers!

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19/09/2014 14:46

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24/09/2014 15:01

SHORE

FISHING ABROAD

Fishing On A Budget Instead of just dreaming about fishing some blue, crystal-clear waters for exotic species, angling guide Robin Howard did something about it…

Hiroshi Okamoto managed to get among the bonito once conditions improved.

S

t Valentine’s day, lovers’ day, call it what you will, on ‘Windy Island’ (one of the many nicknames for Fuerteventura) was simply another fishing day.

Up before the first glimmer of light, I discovered one of many reasons why everyone should have an unpaid personal assistant: tea made, and two slices of still pipinghot cheese and tomatoes on toast. Sarah Perrin was clearly in even more of a

hurry to get to the fish than I was.

The morning session ended with a complete blank for Sarah and myself. We maybe had two taps, once again meaning that two Savage Gear sandeel bodies were ruined. The fish here are seriously well armed.

Returning an hour before darkness we had a little success, with a smallish barracuda for me and at least five or six good pulls not resulting in connection, but

from the damage to the lures these were also barracuda.

We retired for evening San Miguels, unsure of when we would be fishing again; the forecast showed big winds for the next few days.

At about this point, Sarah came down with the same bug that I’d been fighting off since my arrival. It’s a result of modern aircraft travel I think; there’s not much space for avoiding a cold bug. It clobbered her hard, and I found myself out on the

rocks alone for a couple of days.

Well, I was never really alone. Fishing is extremely popular out here, with both holiday-makers and locals alike. So there was always someone to chat to.

This was how I learnt another lesson about bonito.

I managed to hook one, battle it and beat it to the edge. Holding it on a tight line, it was now just a matter of waiting for a decent swell to lift it up on the edge. A

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FISHING ABROAD

some serious weight on the end of my line. Then it decided to head left. I simply had to watch as the reel shed another 50 yards of line, although the fish was running parallel with my position. Then it simply went slack. Thinking I might have frayed off on the rock, I reeled in. But that wasn’t what had happened at all. Instead, the 80lb fluorocarbon carbon leader had been bitten through.

I thought that maybe it had been a shark, or perhaps one of those bluefish that I’d heard so much about. Had it been daylight, I think I would have gotten a glimpse. So, I guess I will never know.

Again, this remained the only connection of the session.

With the first guests

Sarah Perrin with a small rockfish on a day that is too wild for lures.

chap fishing to my right said something to me. I didn’t quite hear what he’d said and I looked up. A small swell dropped away, and I hadn’t compensated for this, because I didn’t see it happening. As I looked back, I had the instinct to duck slightly, as my SG sandeel head came flying back at me minus the body, and the bonito. You need to focus 100 per cent at this stage folks. My learning curve was massive, and mean.

The Cinnetic Explorer Black bass was proving its worth as an all-round rod.

It’s a very heavy lure rod, but also a perfect touch-legering tool for those days when it’s simply too windy to throw out a lure.

By February 19th Sarah had recovered enough for a

SHORE

It made a long run, of maybe 70-plus yards, before I could turn whatever I’d stuck the SG sandeel into. It turned and I reeled like crazy. short morning session. On arriving at the mark, she realised that she’d forgotten her drink. She set back off for it, while I began fishing in complete darkness. Second

cast, and, instead of a slam, I felt a ‘heaviness’. This got heavier, so I struck… and then all hell broke loose.

It made a very long run, of maybe 70-plus yards, before I could turn whatever I’d stuck the SG sandeel into.

The fish turned, and I had to reel like crazy because whatever it was now headed towards me at full speed. I caught up with it and put some pressure on to get it away from the craggy bottom as best as I could.

I felt that there was

Richard Heasman is delighted to have broken his duck with a barracuda.

arriving that afternoon, thoughts turned to the evening time. We were expecting Dave Grinham, proprietor of the Tackle Box in Brighton, and his lifelong friend Hendrik Baghdasarian. This set into motion the routines gleaned from the previous fortnight. Lessons learnt so far were that, just like back in sunny Sussex, pre-dawn and sunset sessions were the ones to focus on.

This would suit Dave and Hendrik just fine because they were not so much here for the hard-core fishing but just as much to relax and simply enjoy a change of scenery. This was just as well, because their trip was badly curtailed by the weather.

They did manage to get barracuda each, with Dave bagging a particularly good one. It was also during this week that Sarah happened to catch what was perhaps the biggest barracuda of the Total Sea Fishing 93

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SHORE

FISHING ABROAD

Once they arrived, the bonito came thick and fast!

entire trip, which was a real beast of a fish by European standards.

By the time that Dave and Hendrik departed, and we prepared to welcome John Parsons and Richard Heasman, bonito were bothering me. They were really the star attractions, and we had now mastered the barracuda, with them becoming regular catches on the days when the winds allowed fishing. But of bonito we had not seen a sign. David and Hendrik said their goodbyes, and Richard and John arrived to be greeted with tales of woe. Although the longterm forecast was much improved, only time would tell.

Two more days were lost to swells. On the second we returned to the safe beach, for some bait fun, including attempting to catch mullet in a lagoon on the fly. By cheating, with bread pellets, some small mullet were landed by John, and a better one, of maybe 1½lb, was lost.

Richard, Sarah and I found some more small rockfish by touch legering, and Richard lost what we suspect was an octopus when fishing

a horse mackerel bait into the lagoon. It was fun, but overshadowed by the fishing that we should have been having.

The next day, the forecast for both swell and wind was good. Perhaps, finally, we could unleash the new guns, who were desperate to have a go for the ‘real’ fish.

And luck was with the new guns. Within an hour of setting out, John was the proud owner of the second bonito of the trip, while Richard bumped a ’cuda, which gave him a taste for things more powerful than he would usually encounter on a lure rod in the UK. Breakfast, now mostly taken in the Trafalgar Café post morning session, was enjoyed with inner peace returning.

All too soon it was time for Sarah to return home. Even unpaid PAs have real jobs and real lives to lead. I truly couldn’t have thanked her enough for holding my hand through the first few weeks.

But now, finally, I had the confidence to proceed. And all was not lost, because the new ‘house mum’ arrived on the evening flight, another fishing-obsessed female, Erin Campbell, although it has to be said that her cheese toasties are not a patch on Sarah’s.

Fishing-wise, however, her timing was excellent. The fishing picked up a lot. More fish were showing, especially lots of barracuda. The bonito, however, were still

teaching us lessons, along with the bluefish.

Here’s one lesson to take in: do try to land your bonito fairly quickly, because nothing excites huge bluefish more than a bonito in distress. I had one chomped in half, and Erin had one de-tailed and badly scarred.

Oh, for more time on ‘Windy

I managed a bluefish, got to marvel at its teeth and, best of all, appreciate its flavour – it has to be one of the best fish that I’ve ever tasted.

This modest bluefish put up an awesome scrap – its bigger brothers were prone to hitting bonito on the way in.

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FISHING ABROAD

Erin Campbell with a night-caught ’cuda.

Island’. How exciting would it be livebaiting a whole bonito in front of the sea caves?

However, such thoughts needed to be dismissed, because with the hustle and bustle of guests arriving and leaving, we needed to stay with the programme. Erin was there until the final day, which was one constant, but, in the meantime, Tony Geal, Jason Welfare, Hiroshi

Okamoto, Graham Poulter and Charlotte Victoria were all accommodated at temporary Fishyrob HQ. And fish fell.

I managed a bluefish, although not one of the bonito-munching size, and got to see what all the fuss was about. As well as it battling way out of proportion for its size, I got to marvel at its teeth, and, best of all, appreciate its

flavour. It's one of the best fish that I’ve ever tasted, although perhaps the chef had a lot to do with that. The chef, of course, being myself.

Lizardfish turned up on one day, while Couch’s sea bream fell to Alec and Graham when they float fished prawn baits deeply.

More bonito and barracuda were also caught.

During the penultimate week we really got to see what the island had to offer. There were five days of virtual calm, with the swell dropping out for the last three days. Hiroshi and Jason were the lucky anglers present when this happened, as well as Erin and Charlotte.

One momentous morning I was lucky enough to witness Hiroshi land no fewer than three bonito in a two-hour spell of activity, plus more were lost. My own score climbed, and barracuda were suddenly being thought of as something of a pain,

SHORE

denying the bonito the lure as both were tracking the immature sardine fry.

The crystal-clear water did permit me to watch their behaviour around the lure, though. And one thing that I realised very quickly is that they track it, following it nose to tail, far more often than I could have possibly imagined.

Those early bangs that we couldn’t connect to, I put down to us not finding the optimum speed to induce a take, which was faster than I would use for bassing in the UK. But the fact that they would inspect the lure so closely was spooky.

They would even swim eye to eye with the eel, really checking it out. The impression given was one of intelligence, of capable thought…

During these same few days, Erin managed to land something that I had hooked and dropped (well, one ran off down a ledge in a swell) twice, an octopus.

She also had the pleasure of seeing a whale blow way off

The fearsome teeth of a ’cuda make short work of soft lures.

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FISHING ABROAD

… and in close-up damage is even the more scar y.

The bluefish damage to this bonito landed by Erin is all too apparent…

in the distance, and we also witnessed dolphins leaping in an immaculate sunrise.

And every day was supposed to be like this.

The idyllic conditions left us on the last week, when, as luck would have it (Fishyrob luck), my partner in sportingfish.co.uk arrived to film what should have been the product of all lessons learnt. The wind then proceeded to blow until the afternoon before the morning when we were flying out.

It was all hands to the pump. Charlotte, Erin and I hit it hard, to salvage the video (although I already had many hours filmed on my GoPro). Erin did well in the afternoon, with a nice barracuda landed, while I hit and lost two bonito on

the trot. Nerves were fraying.

We dealt with them in the usual way, with perhaps too many San Miguels in the Dog and Duck.

The final morning dawned absolutely perfect. There was fish activity as, slowly, immature sardines came down the tide. They were relaxed, and feeding happily at first, then after 10 minutes they began to group up, forming black balls in the crystal-clear water. First to attack were tiny mackerel, then, next, there were bigger splashes and fast strikes. It had to be… it was…

As my Savage Gear sandeel crashed down for the 50th time, it was arrested in its descent by a fast, large, toothy mawl. Finally – a bonito for the ‘proper’ camera. And as if to get me hooked on its fishiness for life, there was a second

10 minutes later, and 10 minutes before the absolute latest that we could allow ourselves to leave without missing our flights. That thought did cross my mind.

The forecast for the next seven days was for

more of the same. A typical Fuerteventuran winter had finally appeared. But I had too many commitments to reshape.

With a heavy heart I left Erin and Charlotte checking in to the all-inclusive hotel across the road, where they were to enjoy a rod-free end to their trip, and I headed for the airport with Dave.

To say it was with a heavy heart is really an understatement. The people, the place and, most importantly, the fish had affected me a lot. Returning to the UK to catch plaice while waiting for the squid to arrive did not appeal at all.

Only with the arrival of the bass did I finally track down my mojo once more.

Be careful should you be inspired to head out there, though, because many people, once bitten, sell up and move on out…

Erin managed to outdo everyone by landing an octopus.

Tony Geal looks like he’s falling in love with this bonito.

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24/09/2014 11:17

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22/09/2014 13:05

INTERVIEW

DANNY WICKS

GET TO KNOW…

Danny Wicks Where were you born and what are your earliest fishing memories?

I was born in Portsmouth in 1985 and can recall watching my dad leave the house to go fishing when I was young. I always wondered why he went as he never came home with anything for the table, but one day he brought back a lovely flounder, which my nan cooked, and from that day on I wanted a piece of the action and to catch some fish myself.

My dad used to take me fishing on South Parade Pier in Portsmouth and I was hooked. To paraphrase a well-known saying: “Give a boy a fish, feed him for a day, but teach him how to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.”

Who were your early influences?

They say that you follow in your father’s footsteps and, again, my dad was my influence. I recall his stories of not only the fish he’d caught but the laughs he had on the beach as well.

Who are the three people you would most like to have dinner with?

My nan and pops who sadly passed a few years ago, and Eddie Murphy.

What’s your favourite venue and why?

This is a close call between Barton on Sea, as this is where I had my most-prized catch, and Chesil Beach, as this is where I had my biggest fish this year. They’re both great and rarely disappoint.

If you had to spend the rest of your life fishing for one species with one bait/lure, what would it be?

It would have to be bass. I love bass fishing and the fight

Top south coast allrounder Danny reveals all about himself.

I recently bent my baiting needle, and I need to purchase a new one as soon as possible.

What’s the main quest that keeps driving you on?

Not knowing what or how big the next fish will be, and to help and advise others that may need advice and to see the rewards.

they give. The bait I would stick with would have to be a sandeel-and-bluey wrap.

Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

Yes, my unfulfilled passion is fishing the southwest and west coast of Wales for tope. I’ve been trying for years to catch the species but have had no joy locally; I believe that if I head to Wales it will put the odds in my favour.

Can you cook and, if so, what’s your signature dish?

My signature dish is gurnard with a tomato-and-lemon dressing. Mmm… I can taste it as I write this.

to keep going with it. I then had one hell of a bite and a big run, which had my rod bending more than I’d ever seen it before, but the old hooklength gave way around 20 yards out. Could it have been that tope I’m longing for?

What’s been your proudest moment/s?

My proudest moments have been providing a life to my two children

What was the last film you saw?

Jaws 2.

What’s been your most embarrassing moment?

Fishing at Browndown Beach, Gosport, and calling everyone over screaming: “I’m in and it’s big.” Then I pulled in half a tarpaulin. Everyone had a good laugh and joke about that.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

I don’t really read books as such, but the best read by far for me monthly is TSF magazine.

What sport would you have played if you hadn’t taken up fishing?

Another sport I was pretty good at while growing up was football.

What’s your biggest regret?

I was fishing for hounds back in 2012 at Bracklesham Bay. I’d been fishing for a while and had caught a lot of fish ranging from 9lb to 12lb. I could see that my hooklength looked a bit worn but decided

What item/s of fishing tackle couldn’t you live without?

It would have to be bait elastic and a headlight.

What item of tackle have you lost or broken that you wish you could have again?

Have you an unlikely interest outside of angling?

I would have to say cooking, and although some find it stressful, I find it very relaxing and therapeutic.

What’s your favourite fishing memory?

This was when Lee Burling, a friend of mine, organised a charity meet to raise money for the RNLI. Not only did everyone there catch lots of fish, but there was also lots of money made for the institution.

What’s been your scariest fishing moment?

We have a trip every year to the Isle of Wight to fish Chale.

The descent down the cliff is very scary to deal with while carrying your box and rod bag.

What’s your favourite music to drive to?

My favourite driving music is Oasis.

What’s your biggest fish?

My biggest fish to date, which I caught this year from Chesil Beach, is a 16lb 12oz undulate ray.

What’s your best catch?

My best catch is my 11lb bass from Barton on Sea in 2012.

Bass of this size tend to be very few and far between, and releasing the fish was just as rewarding.

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