Fishing Fiend - Mad About Fishing

A Good Read ?

31st July 2020 by Mike Duddy 3 Comments

A Good Read ? Blogs have been shutting down faster than video rental stores.

When I started writing the Fishing Fiend Blog back in January 2008 blogging was a fashionable activity. Dozens of anglers were sharing their fishy activity with an eager readership, and popular blogs were getting over a quarter a million hits a year.

Inevitably, over time many blogs have fallen by the wayside as anglers have just got bored and moved on from writing their fishy ramblings for others to read. Blogging anglers (we are often a secretive bunch) also got fed up of being accused of sharing secret locations, baits, rigs etc in the hunt for online recognition. I always understood the roots of this criticism — but with me fishing the urban waters of Greater Manchester, there are not many secret venues in my neighbourhood to share.

When I do fish a venue that I think won’t benefit from being brought to the public attention in a blog post, I try to keep the location to myself, and am careful with photo backgrounds to ensure I don’t give too much away and put unnecessary pressure on a particular location. However, most of the time I’m not fishing sensitive locations so I am happy to share. Sadly though the vast majority of blogs have been either taken down, or not updated for years.

The particular blog that inspired me to start this one was called North Country Angler, whose author Matt stopped blogging a few years ago, much to my disappointment and of many others as it was a fantastic read. Lots of others have stopped updating their blogs too, and I was talking to an ex blogger the other day who took pleasure informing me that “blogs are a thing of the past” — and it got me thinking.

If blogs are a thing of the past – how come I still get tens of thousands of visits to this site per year. How come over the past 12 years I’ve had way way way more than a million page views. It’s got me thinking, scratching my head and questioning myself is my blogging just a habit and is it still relevant in a more modern sort of digital world. Is blogging just something that was a fad in 2008 and a few of us have clung onto in ever dwindling numbers as years go by? Are there better ways of sharing my fishing exploits ?

A great example of a blog that has transitioned with the times is Dannys Angling Blog – which started off in the old blogger written word format, but has now been complimented with a You Tube channel – Danny has now had over a million views on his video channel since it started 4 years ago. A brilliant achievement.

I must admit to you, that I now spend far more time watching angling on Youtube – than I do reading about it on other peoples blogs. And I suppose that this realisation has made me reconsider the way I blog, and the direction I want to take things in the future

There are great video blogs (Vlogs) around such as Totally Awesome Fishing Show, and The Fish Locker and then theres a vlog that has morphed into a fishing tackle brand, who use demonstrations of their tackle on video to promote their brand and drive tackle sales Cadence Tackle – it sort of makes me think that the Fishing Fiend blog that I’ve been writing for the past 12 years is becoming something of an irrelevant dinosaur.

To me — the Fishing Fiend Blog has just been nothing more than a great way of making new friends by sharing my fishy exploits, and various successful (species hunts) and unsuccessful challenges (Irwell Barbel Quests). I know that to some its a regular read, and to some a way of learning how to fish – and I’ve always been free with help and advice with those who have made the effort to contact me. However, — the most important thing is that I still really enjoy sharing my fishing experiences, and engaging with the feedback generated.

So…. whats the upshot of all this blog waffle…..

I’ve recently had a play around with a friends GoPro camera – and now I feel comfortable using it, and editing to an amateurishly reasonable level — I’m going to start sharing video alongside my writings – and I’m also going to be adding an online shop to the blog — so that people (especially new anglers) can buy the exact same kit that I use and catch fish on.

Tide and time waits for no man (or blog).

A page has been turned and a new chapter begins. A good read will soon be turning into a good watch and read.

The videos start next week, the online shop will be arriving soon.

Driving Me Up The (Gynn) Wall

30th July 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

I’ve had a couple of sessions recently at a new venue for me – the Gynn Wall in Blackpool.

Phil and I fancied a change of location, our enthusiasm for fishing at 5 Bar Gate near Cleveleys having waned somewhat recently after a few blank trips.

I blame the weather lol…. it appears as though every occasion I’m free to fish recently, a good westerly wind picks up, and it makes fishing on the Fylde Coast quite a challenge to say the least. And each of our last few trips has seen us fishing in less than optimal conditions with winds gusting to 40mph.

This years season hunt, and my target of 50 species in 2020 depends on me catching quite a few sea fish to compliment the usual freshwater suspects. And the Gynn Wall can produce a number of species that I haven’t managed to catch yet, such as Plaice, Grey Gurnard, Sole, Thornback Ray, Weever etc. So with it benefiting from good parking, a short walk, and close proximity to both a tackle shop and kebab shop its not a bad spot to spend an evening.

The Tide Races In Through The Gullies and Channels, And As Soon As The Water Hits The Bottom Of The Wall Its Time To Cast In

Wire Grip Leads – on a calm day a small blue 3oz lead does the job, these last few trips we’ve been having to use heavier red and green tops.

We’ve been using semi-fresh yellow lug from the local tackle shop as bait

Rods in but we’ve now had three trips that have been ruined by strong onshore winds, or more recently ruined by large rafts of floating seaweed that has been ripped up by the waves caused by the strong westerly winds.

Driving Me Up The Gynn Wall — The wind — its enough to drive me up the Gynn Wall !

So — over the last three trips I’ve caught a few fish, mostly whiting and dabs – but I’ve also had a Lesser Weever fish (The UKs only poisonous fish). The first time I’ve ever caught one, so a brand new experience for me – having to carefully unhook at fish that has poisonous spines in its dorsal fins. This little fella takes my running total up to 21 species for the year. Phil has managed similar but also picked up a couple of small Sole, one of my target species, making me very jealous.

A lesser weaver fish ... driving me up the gynn wall — A poisonous lesser weever fish, packs a powerful venom from the spines in its dorsal fin

Now Phil and I have had a few sessions on the wall, we are beginning to pick up a few pointers from other anglers. If we are after smaller fish such as sole, gurnards, plaice etc then we need to scale down our tackle and bait. We’ve also been using standard two hook flapper rigs, however looking online at photos of other anglers catches, it would appear that anglers who are using wire booms to hold a bait hard on the deck seem to be having much more success than us. Hopefully we will get a change in the weather to compliment our change in tactics. We’re gonna be back there soon using new rigs and ragworm as bait…. lets hope it does the trick…

I Smelt A Record But Let It Go

27th July 2020 by Mike Duddy 1 Comment

I Smelt a record but let it go — and that’s what truly happened.

A family weekend in Anglesey we stayed over on a cheap deal at the Caernarfon Travel Lodge. I knew that this was a family first trip, and that I would’t get much opportunity to wet a line, but considering the hotels location right on the Menai Straights, and with a fishing pier less than 50 yards from the hotels front door, I could hardly resist packing a rod. I also knew that my wife loves it when I take the kids off her hands for an hour or two, so I also took along a few small drop nets for a bit of crab fishing. We caught crabs (and plenty of them) in the evening, and then first thing the next morning I very kindly offered to take the kids out again while allowing my missus time to get ready for the day at a leisurely pace….

Drop nets for the kids, 0-9g Daiwa Megaforce for Dad, set up with a drop shot rig, a half ounce bomb, single size 12 hook and a bit of Berkley Gulp Worm for bait.

Size 12 hook, 4lb flouro, and some Berkley Gulp imitation worm

I got the kids set up and crabbing (and they were catching some crackers), and then I let play with the drop shot kit at the North end of the T shaped pier

Caernarfon Travel Lodge and Fishing Pier

The tide had just hit its low point and the flow through the Menai Straights was halted for a brief period, the kids were having a good time, and I had a few drops down next to the seaweed and mussel encrusted pier stanchions – I had no idea what I might catch from there, but the pier legs looked like a great fish holding spot and I’d read online whilst doing a bit of research that the Welsh shore caught record black bream had been caught from this spot a few years back.

After about 15 minutes of nothing, the tidal flow had just restarted, and I got that very welcome rat a tat tat on the rod tip, and I reeled up a fish that I’d never caught before – A Sand Smelt — so another notch on the species hunt taking my tally up to 20 for the year.

My First Sand Smelt — My first Sand Smelt

It was a lovely looking little fish, an iridescent lateral line sheen, and a virtually translucent back.

So after the kids had taken a look, and I’d taken a few pics, the fish went back, and I recast.

The first fish had come 2ft above the bottom, but as try as I might (well for at least 10 minutes) I could’t get any more interest. So I gave the reel a few turns of the handle to fish in mid water, and was immediately rewarded again with another rat a tat tat on the rod tip and this time reeled in the bigger brother/sister/cousin/friend of the first Sand Smelt.

Having no previous experience of Sand Smelt (and not that much experience as a sea angler) I just thought – oh a bigger one, how nice. I took a couple of poor photographs and let the kids drop it back in via their crab drop nets.

Only the next day when I did a bit of Google Research about Sand Smelt – did i discover that the British Shore Record for this species is only 6 and a half ounces — and the fish I caught was certainly around that weight.

Sand Smelt Fish — I Smelt A Record But Let It Go

Not that I’m that upset …. I very rarely weigh fish, as its the thrill and enjoyment of catching fish which is my main pleasure, rather than trying to beat number on a digital scale.

Any way — who want to have the words “Smelt Record Holder” after their name ?? Mrs Fishing Fiend who is already a regular complainer about fishing related whiffs would readily agree that I hold this title by default.

The session on the end of the pier soon ended, as the tidal current soon picked up pace, and started lifting the kids crab nets off the bottom,,, and then it was time to pack up and return back to the hotel.

The rest of the weekend was spent on various beaches on Anglesey with the kids… the weather wasn’t the best with a stiff south westerly wind, plenty of seaweed milling about in the surf would have put an end to any beach fishing, and fishing off the rocks would have been dangerous… a little family time is a good thing.

Out Fishing Again

19th July 2020 by Mike Duddy 3 Comments

Despite the recent bad weather I’ve taken every opportunity I can to get out fishing again.

My species hunt is progressing quite well, and I’ve been going out on a few sea fishing trips with Phil, and a couple of freshwater trips with the kids has seen me racking up quite a few more species.

After a nice chat about local fishing spots with my friend and master float maker Mike Cootes (who also has an excellent blog called Purple Peanut – click to read it) I was given heads up about a lake thats less than 20 minutes from home where I’ve never fished before… a small pond behind a factory, that Mike said was ideal for kids.

Tucked away behind a factory – a hidden gem

So Phil and I headed out one evening to have a look see — Phil with a pint of maggots …. Me with a tub of lovely lovely worm, my 13ft Drennan float rod, centre pin and a selection of Mikes lovely floats.

All set to fish with a selection of floats from Mike Cootes -aka “Purple Peanut”

Worm Salad — what fish can resist their charms?

Mike had told us that on a previous trip he had caught roach, rudd, perch, skimmers, crucian carp and tench … so we were quite looking forwards to trying out this new North Manchester venue. I set up fishing in a corner of the lake that was fringed with reed, and small lily pads, with a depth of four and half feet…. I set up my float rig about 3 inches over depth to get the worm bait hard on the bottom with the hope of a nice tench, and anything else that was interested. A small piece of worm section as bait with a size 16 micro-barbed hook, with plenty of chopped worm as a form of ground bait.

What fish can resist? I did snip off that ridiculously long tag once I’d cleaned my glasses and noticed it was there !

First cast — the float had hardly settled before a greedy little perch took my worm, then another, then another, then another then another ,,,, and so on until I was getting sick of the sight of them. So I upped the feed rate a little bit, to see if I could get any other fish species interested and to see if they might start to out compete the perch for the bait.

I fed off the perch with plenty of chopped worm, and the silver fish started to move in.

After the first half our of nothing but perch, the over feeding of the swim started to pay off. Once I hooked my first small roach, the perch disappeared and I spent the next hour catching small roach and rudd, and then a few nice skimmer bream.

A nice fish,,, but not there was no sign on my target species of the evening

Then, as we were getting towards 8pm and light levels were starting to drop the float slid away and I hooked into something a little more solid. I was rewarded by this wonderful little Crucian Carp — my first of the year and another entry onto my species list.

And then, back to the roach — but they had started to get a bit bigger, with a few fish pushing the 12oz mark.

And then, the float slid, I lifted into a fish, and my rod tip hooped over as a solid strong fish gave me the run around through the marginal reeds and lilies…. I had a hunch that it was a tench…. and after what felt like a couple of minutes (but probably a lot less than that) a lovely tench graced the net.

A Tench on one of Mike Cootes Tinca Sticks

I was thrilled. As the light started dropping as the evening drew to a close, we changed tactics and fished up in the water, spraying maggots and watching good roach swirl and pick up the baits less than 12 inches below the surface. We had a few more roach nudging the pound mark – but they didn’t photograph well with the flash of our cameras in the growing gloom.

I was delighted with the discovery of this little lake, my first ever visit despite its proximity to home. It just goes to show how theres always a surprise near to home if you are prepared to give small venues a try.

It was so good, I took one of my two little apprentices back the next day for an hours entertainment. I can’t think of a better venue to take kids for an hours fun.

I’m now up to 19 species for the year to date , as during the sessions on this little lake, I caught Perch, Crucian Carp, and Tench.

It’s great to be out fishing again after lock down ruined the spring. As you can imagine .. there are plenty more sessions and write ups on the way.

My progress can be checked against my Anglers Challenge page click the link here

Attack Of The Killer Crabs

3rd July 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

I’m relatively new to this sea fishing malarkey, and even fresher round the gills when fishing afloat. After weeks and weeks of stable high pressure over the UK the wind has turned westerly and the previously pancake flat sea turned decidedly lumpy.

I had a quick trip over to the Fylde coast again, only to be met with conditions like this…..

The Slipway At Rossal - impossible in a 20mph onshore wind two hours before high tide — The Slipway At Rossall – impossible in a 20 mph onshore wind two hours before high tide.

So seeing as though our slipway was far too dangerous to launch from, and there were waves crashing onto the beach at 5 bar gate nearby, and the sea was more than a bit lumpy further out at our chosen fishing location we decided to retreat back to the safety of the car and think about another destination for the day.

We could have fished at Marine Beach in Fleetwood – but we only had boat gear with us and not beach casters – so a quick return trip back to Manchester to regroup was necessary. In the car on the way back home, we briefly discussed driving across country to the East Coast near Bridlington as an onshore wind on the west coast would be an offshore wind on the East coast and the sea conditions might be a lot calmer. We were put off though by the long 3 hour drive. So back home it was. We also considered unloading all our sea kit, and swapping over to do a bit of fly fishing on Stocks Reservoir but we had loads of bait to use up which would otherwise go to waste.

A cup of tea and a sandwich later, Phil and I finally decided to have a try at Perch Rock at the mouth of the Mersey Estuary. We loaded up our beach casters, and an hour later we were set up on the beach for a 3 hour session – 2 hours down to low, and then an hour back up.

Setting up with the breeze at our backs - a lovely view of Liverpool Docks — Setting up at Perch Rock with the breeze at our backs – a lovely view of Liverpool Docks

Two rods set up, one with a two hook worm flapper, the other with a pulley pennel whole squid.

Everything looked perfect for a fish or two, the anglers to our left and right were catching Thornback Rays and Smooth Hounds so surely it was only a matter of time !!! — but you know how we roll on this blog — the only action we had for the first two hours was with the voracious crabs which were stripping our baits in less than 10 minutes.

It became quite frustrating, our rod tips in constant mini motion – not enough movement or rattle to strike at – and then to reel in bare hooks as a reward.

Full On Crab Attack – that was a lovely squid only 10 minutes earlier !

Eventually I got a nice positive rattle of the rod tip on my worm rod, and I landed this very welcome Flounder – my first Flounder of the year, and an addition to my Anglers Challenge

Sadly – that was the only action of a three hour session – the crabs were relentless – and they were stripping our baits before the fish could find them. The anglers around us were fishing crab baits – and they seemed to fair a little better catching a few fish, but getting through lots and lots of very expensive peeler crab bait.

As the day was still relatively early, and my wife and kids away for the weekend with the in-laws, I persuaded Phil to hang about for a bit, have some fish and chips and then hit the evenings high tide at Mariners Wharf on the other side of the Mersey estuary seeing as though we still had loads of bait left.

We have fished this spot quite a few times before and there is a noted snag which we avoided by a good 50 yards. Sadly it looks as though recent storms have washed a new one into the area, and both of us lost a fair bit of kit to a snag which we hadn’t encountered before.

If the snag didn’t get us, then Liverpools “Attack Of The Killer Crabs” did. Just like Perch Rock earlier in the day, they were relentless, even more so as they didn’t let go of the baits as we were reeling in.

Finally I had a bit of action – but not what I was expecting.

Well I wasn’t expecting an Eel – I’ve never caught one here before,,, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to catch one at the mouth of a river estuary.

A short time later, I had another tentative rattle of the rod tip, thinking attack of the killer crabs again – I lifted the rod, expecting to get very little resistance but was heartened to feel the thump thump thump of a little fish.

I swung it up the sea wall and here was a fish I’ve never seen or caught before… a Three Bearded Rockling. I’ve caught plenty of the 5 bearded ones before on the Fylde coast, but never a red/brown one of the three bearded variety. I was quite chuffed as this was the end of what had proved to be quite a tough (but enjoyable) day with three new species added to the Anglers Challenge List

Seeing as though I had a free weekend – I wanted to get as much fishing in as possible, so Sunday morning saw and early start, a meet up with Andy and a drive over to the East Coast with the inflatable boat in the boot of the car. There was a stiff offshore breeze of nearly 30mph — but being the idiot/novice that I am – I thought we would be fine sheltered in the lee of Bempton Cliffs near Filey.

Even when we pulled up in the car park, and got the kit ready it looked like great conditions for fishing but after launching and going out 500 yards offshore we soon discovered a racing tide running along the base of the cliffs and a big swell which was occaisionally breaking in the gusting wind. So… I’m not at all experienced on the sea.,,, Andy and I just looked at each other and said “Nahh we’re not having this” and turned round, packed up and went home again. Not a wasted journey, as I have learnt that safety first is the key, and strong winds and SIBs are not a good combination. I retreated to fight another day.

Bridlington Lifeboat in action as we were leaving – they had rescued a Kayaker who got into difficulty in the big swell (which you cant see from the angle of this photo)

So that was that …. 3 new species added to the Anglers Challenge list … and a few lessons learnt …. roll on next weekend and some more fishing

An Evening On The Prison Pond

27th June 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

I’m lucky enough to live close to a number of ponds that are manged by our fishing club. They were all terribly neglected for a number of years until the club took them on. Fish stocks were low, and anti social behaviour was rife (and still is to a slightly lesser degree)

One of the ponds was constructed behind Forest Bank Prison in Salford in the 1990s as a surface water run off pond – and as it collects run off water from the prison roof and car parks, its had inevitable water quality issues over the years.

The Prison Pond has now matured nicely (also known as Agecroft Pond), and both the club and the EA have restocked the lake in recent years with small roach, rudd, tench, bream and carp.

It’s not a heavily fished venue as the fish haven’t had the chance to grow to any size in this lake, so I thought I’d have an evenings fishing as see if I could hook a surprise or two.

The Prison Pond In Spring – Only a Small pond less than half and acre with 8 pegs

Obviously I’ve fished this venue a quite a few times before, and I know all the features, lake bed profile etc but I’ve never ever had a bag up session here…. but who knows what might happen this time following on from the restocking 18 months ago….the fish must have settled down by now.

The first thing I noticed was that there were masses and masses of fry in the margins ,,, which was a good sign that there was a healthy population of adult fish.

I set up to fish the pole at 11 metres as there is a 6ft deep bowl shaped feature in the centre of the lake, and put on a very light 0.2g rig with size 10 stotz strung out to fish a slow falling bait on the drop.

I also fed a bit of groundbait (Sensas Lake Black) on the swim slightly to my left at 10 o clock, and I put in a couple of pots of micro pellets on the swim to my right at 2 o clock.

So first put in, I had a very slight tremor on the float, and I lifted into this little scrapper of a Rudd, my first this year so another addition to my “anglers challenge list”

I had a few more roach and rudd in the first 20 minutes from the left hand ground bait swim, and then decided to rest it and move over to the pellet swim to my right.

Nothing on the drop, so I pushed the stotz about, and lengthened the rig to give me 2 inches over depth, to see if there were any bream or tench about ….. and still nothing. I stuck it out trying all sorts of little bite inducing variations for 20 minutes — but I could’t get a bite (despite there being indications of fish bubbling)

So – seeing as though this was a short session, I went back to my left hand swim to see if i could tempt a few more fish out of it now that it had been rested.

First put in, the float slid and I hooked a tiddler, but it was only when I swung the fish in that I realised I’d caught my first Dace of the year…. A Dace ??? how on earth did that get in there. And then I caught another tiny dace and another.

Maybe they had slipped in when the EA restocked, maybe they had arrived when the River Irwell had flooded a few years ago, maybe a naughty angler slipped a few …. who knows…. but we now have a pond with Dace in.

As the evening progressed the bites sadly became fewer and harder to hit, and then with rumbles of thunder and a summer downpour soaking me to the skin, I packed up after having had only a couple of hours fishing.

Anyway — look the prison pond up on the map, behind Forest Bank Prison… its a cracking little pond and bites are easy to come by.

I’ve now clicked another couple of species off my anglers challenge list taking me up to 13 — I am still very hopeful of catching at least 50 species (fresh and salt water) this year – despite the few months of inactivity due to lock down.

Bitterling and Bream

6th June 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

Now that we are enjoying nice long evenings I made the most of it and visited Pollys Flash (aka Kingsdown Flash) in Abram, Lancashire in search of a Bitterling to add to my species tally for the year.

Pollys Flash – my swim for the evening – I fished only 4 metres out between the reeds and the lily pads

I set up nearest to the car park (lazyness) but then the wind was right in my face blowing food down the lake into my swim (craftyness)

Before I’d even wet a line the bailiff was around asking me if I had an unhooking mat! and I was sitting no more than 10 yards away from the rules board — oops

Abram Fishing Club — DON’T forget your unhooking mat !!

To my shame I didn’t – and my protestations that I wouldn’t need one, as I was fishing for a species that grew to a maximum length of 2 inches fell on deaf ears…. I wasn’t allowed to fish without a mat. I’d even taken my mat out of my bag as I was leaving home, thinking that it was a waste of time taking it with me.

Seeing my rig – a size 22 hook and the tiniest piece of bread punch I think the man felt sorry for me, and he offered to go home (as he lived just around the corner) and bring me a mat from his garage. You might feel, as I did that this was a bit of overkill, but he assured me that using that rig and bait, in that swim I was likely to hook into a bream and he didn’t want me to put the fish at risk.

Fair play to the man…. I waited for him to nip home and bring me a mat before fishing..

Tiny hooks and tiny bait are needed to catch tiny fish

First cast I hooked a Bitterling !! I should have put it on the mat for a photo as it would have been funny, but in my excitement I forgot.

Anyway — here is a pic of the smallest and prettiest freshwater fish in the UK…

Bitterling – lovely aquamarine sheen along its flank — one of the UKs prettiest fish

Bitterling are a very unusual fish, in that they lay their eggs inside live swan mussel shells, and you can see the spawning protuberance in red (also called an ovipositor) which they use to deposit their eggs in the mussels in the photo above.

I was delighted to catch one so quickly and thought that I was going to be in for an evenings bagging up on mini fish.

Sadly that wasn’t to be.

Next bite nearly an hour later saw my elastic stretching right out and I landed this nice 3lb Bream — now I see why the bailiff was so insistent on me having a mat. It was a great scrap on very light tackle.

And then, apart from half a dozen small roach that was it for the evening

I was highly delighted to add two new species to my list for 2020 – Bitterling and Bream and it takes my total species on The Anglers Challenge up to 11 for the year.

Next weekend – I plan to have a nice long drive,,, and to try for a species I’ve never caught (or even seen) before. Hopefully I will squeeze in a midweek evening session somewhere — we’re in June now and I haven’t caught a tench yet …

And I won’t forget my unhooking mat!

Out On The Ocean Wave

1st June 2020 by Mike Duddy 1 Comment

Out on the ocean wave — SIB Fishing — well not really, being a bit on the cautious side of things I waited for a nice calm day and there was hardly a wave worth talking about.

There was however plenty of fishing and other goings on that are worth talking about.

I’ve taken a little inspiration recently and a shot of new enthusiasm for my fishing by having a read of this great blog by Scott Huchison called Something Fishy Going On

Scott first contacted me back in 2012 when I was doing my first species hunt, as I had caught Bitterling and Pumpkinseeds and he was keen to find out where he could catch them and what methods worked best. Scott has carried on his species hunting now has a really impressive tally from both UK and overseas…. well worth having a read through his blog …. you will never go on holiday without a rod again i promise you.

Anyway back to recent events … As I’ve said before I’m livening up my fishing by restarting my fishing list and starting again from scratch. This means I get the great fun of catching new and old species again, and scratching them off a list (ahhh…. simple pleasures)… Here is a link to my latest up to date list which shows the species I am targeting and when and where I’ve caught them. The list is for UK waters only.. I might start up a new list for “holiday fish” when I get round to it.

So, now my target species include both freshwater and salt species I have the great excuse to get out on the briny again.

I’ve had a small SIB for quite a few years. A SIB is a soft Inflatable Boat that can be rolled up and stored in a bag when not in use – as opposed to RIB – rigid inflatable boat – which has a rigid hull and can’t be easily transported or stored.

I bought the SIB to use for maintenance work on club ponds. I’ve only ever taken it out on salt water once before, and that experience put me off a bit, as my boat partner for the day discovered he suffered from sea sickness about 10 minutes into the trip which then had to be aborted. The boat is also quite heavy to handle, and carrying the boat and engine across a soft sand and shingle beach proved to be very hard work, knackering actually.

So after a gap of 12 months of not using the boat on sea I decided to have another try with a different fishing partner last weekend. And after a bit of “Facebook research” I discovered that by adding detachable wheels to the back of the boat I could move it from car boot to sea much more easily, and also discovered a number of easily accessible free to use slipways which put an end to trudging across soft shingle and sand dunes to access the sea.

All set up and ready to go – its much easier dragging the boat across the sand using the detachable wheels than carrying everything by hand.

Anyway – we set off at 4pm and with a high tide expected at 7.15pm we agreed to fish until 9pm so that the tide would still be close to the slipway and save us dragging the boat up across the flat soft sands.

As this was a second attempt at a first fishing trip, we set our sights quite low, going no more than 1km off shore before dropping anchor.

We had all the appropriate safety kit, life jackets, hand-held VHF radio, and a mate who was fishing on the beach who could keep us in sight all the time just in case something bad happened.

As it happened, we heard on the radio whilst driving to Cleveleys that a fishing boat had sunk earlier that morning with two angler rescued and another lost presumed drowned. As these tragic events had only taken place a few hours earlier less than 5 miles away it didn’t take long before we had an overhead visit from the coastguard rescue helicopter and an RNLI fast boat just checking that we were OK. A quick chat on the VHF radio, the sight of our anchor, life jackets etc they soon left us in peace to continue our day. Very sad that someone has lost their life in pursuit of a few fish, my heart goes out to the mans family.

There’s a chopper up there coming to see us.

Quickly followed by a visit from the RNLI inshore lifeboat

Anyway – about 4.15pm we dropped anchor and our lines went over the side.

Andy my fishing partner for the day dropped a string of feathers over the back of the boat whilst I was fiddling about baiting up a simple two hook flapper rig with black lugworm. He had a couple of rattles but they came to nothing.

I dropped my line down and was immediately aware that there was quite a strong tidal flow from right to left, and that i needed to increase the weight of lead I was using from 2 to 4oz in order to hold bottom. Weights changed I immediately hooked into a double of dabs. A species I’ve caught many times before but not in the last few months so they were of course very much welcomed as a new tick on my list. As was the inevitable dog fish that followed.

By now I was catching a fish a dab or a dog a chuck on the two hook flapper rig, but Andy had got bored of the small stuff and had baited up another rod with big raw freshwater prawns. It didn’t take more than 10 minutes before he had a solid take, and he hooked into something that started to take plenty of line off his reel. After a short sharp hard scrap a lovely Smooth Hound was boated, and I started to think about trying out a different technique to see if I could catch something bigger too.

So I set up another rod with a running ledger, a 5oz weight and a whole squid pennel rigged – maybe catch a ray, a bass or a hound.

Squid on a Pennel Rig – I need to buy some bigger hooks the lower hook was an 3/0 and was masked by the bait…. maybe a 5/0 next time.

Just like Andy a short time earlier, I cast down tide and to one side of the boat, and I could feel the lead bouncing across the hard sandy sea bed. Then tap tap bang, my rod tip slammed over and I hooked into a fish that set off like an express train. Thankfully, hooks, knots, line all held together and I soon boated this lovely Smooth Hound. My first ever hound – so a totally new fish species for me and I was thrilled.

We both fished big baits on Pennel Rigs until the bites started to dry up at high tide. Andy lost count of how many he caught between 5lb and 9lb. I had 4 of them to about 6lb on squid. Most of Andys fish were larger than mine and fell to whole raw large freshwater prawn or peeler crab baits.

I’m a bit mean when it comes to sea fishing baits, I think bait prices are extortionate especially peeler crabs which go for £1 each. So it really made me laugh when Andy said he was going to go for a double figure fish and lashed 3 crabs to a big hook, only to get a bite and then reel in a Dab on the end …. £3 for a Dab? It certainly made me chuckle.

As all this was going on…. I hooked into what I thought was at first a big dog fish – however as I got it closer to the side of the boat I realised I’d caught my first ever Tope. Not the biggest of Tope by any stretch of the imagination at only 2ft long, but a Tope is a Tope and it was a shark with teeth!

Wow — what a great day we were having… catching far more fish than if we had been standing on the beach with our beach casters (Phil who had remained ashore had only caught a single solitary Plaice – and no other bites)

However once the tide turned at 7pm, and the tidal flow from right to left slowed down, so did the bites from the larger fish. Andy persisted and had a couple more dog fish and hounds, but I switched back to the lugworm and two hook flapper rig and immediately started to catch Dabs, Whiting and Dogfish again

It was great fun, but with as the sun started to set, and the tide uncovered the base of the slipway we headed back home Happy, smelly and exhausted.

What a great afternoons fishing…. I’m getting to quite like sea fishing.

I’ve had a look at the tide times and heights for next weekend – and there are going to be a few really high and low tides on Friday and Saturday — I think I will come back with the kids and fishing nets to see what we can find at very low water.

Am now up to 9 species on my new list – I wonder how many is a reasonable target for 2020 ? I’m thinking 50 is possible with not too much effort.

Only Mad Dogs And Englishmen

29th May 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun, and only anglers take their kids with them fishing in it. Ha Ha.

Still off work on furlough and in charge of entertainment and education of my two poor kids.

So… yesterday looked like a great opportunity to spend some time on the beach at Cleveleys, high tide 3.15pm, and a chance to further indoctrinate the youngsters in a bit of fishing.

We picked up some bait (black lug) from the local tackle shop, and had a rod in by 2.15….. and then we waited, and waited. A small tide, scorching sun and the kids enjoyed playing and throwing in stones far more than fishing.

Fun Waiting For Bites On A Lovely Hot Day

Fishing 5 Bar Gate Cleveleys — My Little Apprentice

Then my wife turned up with fish and chips, the tide went out without us getting a bite and we just kicked back and enjoyed the day.

I didn’t feel too bad as there were more anglers out on the beach than I’ve ever seen before in my life… and we weren’t in a prime location…. those in the prime locations also didn’t catch..

At 8pm … Mrs Fishing Fiend returned home with the kids, and I met up with a couple of socially distanced pals to fish the low tide.

I’ve never fished a summer low tide here before, so it was good to meet up with someone with plenty of local knowledge as the tide goes out a long way, and there are plenty of gullies to endanger anglers if they back fill behind you as the tide rises.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, enjoyed the company, and enjoyed the blank saving micro whiting that committed hari kari on my rig just as it was turning dark.

It was a great evening to be out, nice and warm, a lovely calm sea, and a big learning experience as my mate Andy who is a local venue expert showed us how to do it as he caught this lovely 8lb+ Stary Smooth Hound using peeler crab and a VERY long cast.

Fishing Cleveleys Low Water — Another Sunset Shot – Usually Followed By My Latest Innovative Excuse For Blanking

Cleveleys Smooth Hound — Andy With An 8lb 12oz Smooth Hound Taken At Distance On Crab

Being shown the ropes by a venue regular is a massive help, and I now know whats necessary for me to get in among the fish here.

Anyway — I’ve added another species to my newly restarted species list – a Whiting – I’ve caught many of them before plenty bigger than this one, but maybe none of them were as welcomed.

I will be back soon and see if I can catch my first ever smooth hound… I just need to take the kids out to catch some crab baits and remember to take my chest waders (essential kit for low water fishing at this venue).

Back In The Saddle

27th May 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

After lock down I finally got out with a rod in hand last week – Back In The Saddle so to speak.

With kids in tow (I’m furloughed whilst my wife if doing double shifts for the NHS) I took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone – a long scooter ride along the sea front with the kids, followed by an hour fishing each side of high tide on the sea front at New Brighton, a great way to tire them (and me) out.

I managed to pick up a wrap of black lug from the local tackle shop, and decided to fish a two hook flapper scratching rig set up with small size 2 hooks and 1/3rd of a worm sections,,, hoping to get quantity rather than quality.

I didn’t bother with my full beach caster set up of 14ft rods and big reels – far too heavy for the kids to handle, so I used a 1.75lb test curve barbel rod and a trusty Okuma IBF50 reel loaded with 15lb braid. A two ounce lead saw a 50 yard chuck put me into the slight channel that runs in front and I was happy as I watched my lead and bait sail off into the distance. My first cast in nearly 3 months. No point in fishing two rods — when I have to keep my eye on two kids.

Nothing for an hour and 45 minutes apart from crabbed out baits – then just as I was cursing my luck and thinking a blank was on the cards – my rod tip wrapped round and I struck into a nice lively fish.

As I was with the kids – I let Tommy reel it in, and he wasn’t too keen to handle the fish as he saw the spikes/spines of his little schoolie bass… but little Kate was far braver and got the glory shot with the fish.

New Brighton Fishing Bass — A little school bass

They were very disappointed to see me throw it back in – as they wanted it for their tea – but this fish needed to grow another 4 inches before it was any where near being a keeper.

Nevertheless – general delight all round at our success, especially as anglers to our left and right were packing up without a bite.

I’ve had plenty of bass over the years, nothing spectacularly big but a fish is a fish no matter what size. And it’s a new fish to add to my newly restarted fish species list. My new tally now stands at 3 species !

Am off for another beach session tomorrow at Rossall – target species Stary Smooth Hounds, and anything that swims really.

I’ve got my eye on a bit of freshwater fishing the week after, my local waters have taken a bit of hammer since fishing has been allowed again, and I decided to take my time getting back on local venues.

Tight lines to all of you out there, and lets have a great rest of 2020.

Excitement Turns To Disappointment (again)

15th March 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

Ha Ha – silly me – Did I really go to bed last night thinking that I was going to have a great opening day but as so often happens pre fishing trip excitement often turns into post trip disappointment.

Whilst I was asleep – the heavens opened and local rivers were unfishable by the time I woke with at least 3ft on the Irwell and 2ft on the other smaller local streams.

What a disappointment.

So – with me being the martyr that I am, I took the family for a nice country walk instead. I should never have let my wife choose the destination – as she chose to visit Hardcastle Crags near Hebden Bridge – and I had to spend the day next to some classic Northern pocket water… deeply tea stained by moorland peat, beautiful Hebden Water — chocca with Spotties

Beautiful Hebden Water at Hardcastle Crags - a great value day ticket stretch — Beautiful Hebden Water at Hardcastle Crags – a great value day ticket stretch – I wish I wish I could have had a cast or two.

Arriving back home late afternoon – I threw the wife and kids out of the car and hotfooted off to the River Roch near Bury, hoping that the rivers would have fined down a bit during the day.

Sadly not, but seeing as though I’d made the effort to get there I decided to have a few casts anyway, and I worked my way up this run.

RIver Roch near Bury - this run is usually good for a few fish — River Roch near Bury – this run is usually good for a few fish

I used my go to combo of a scruffy black spider on dropper and an Irwell Imp on point. But the river was tinged brown with urban runoff, still 18 inches up and faintly wiffy of something I’d rather not talk about in polite company.

Irwell Flies - a scruffy black spider and an Irwell Imp — Irwell Flies – a scruffy black spider and an Irwell Imp

I worked my way up the run, and did well to avoid the rocks thrown at me by local “youths” but the fish showed no interest. Rather than hang about and be used as a human coconut shy I made my way around the corner to fish the Irwell at Dumers Lane.

When I got to the bigger Irwell – the water was still 2ft up, and raging through. Rather than waste my time wafting a fly around I just had a walk 500 yards downstream and back, and what I saw broke the heart of an Irwell loving fisherman.

Wet wipes and tampons adorning all the trees and riverbanks, and massive amounts of fly tipped rubbish on the river banks. The people of Bury should be ashamed of themselves, the Environment Agency should be ashamed of themselves and our local water utility company should hang their heads in shame as they make massive profits but leave our river in such a disgraceful condition.

I shall leave these two photos with you – they speak for themselves.

A Sewage Outfall plus wet wipe tree — A Sewage Outfall plus adjacent wet wipe tree

Little gifts left hanging in the wind - nesting material for our rapidly declining bird population — Little gifts left hanging in the wind – nesting material for our rapidly declining bird population

So sad – I’m going to make sure something is done about this 🙁 fuming is an understatement 🙁

New Season Excitement

14th March 2020 by Mike Duddy 1 Comment

As the coarse fishing season on my local rivers finishes and one chapter closes another trout season opens and a new chapter begins.

Fishing Fiend Junior V3 has been showing lots of interest in accompanying Daddy on the river bank this spring.

Not that I’ve been encouraging her interest (pink rod, pink reel, pink line, pink flies etc) but tomorrow morning, weather permitting, I shall be accompanied by an excited 5 year old casting for her first trout.

Getting Fishing Tackle Ready For The Morning

hot pink fishing combo — Hot Pink Fly Fishing Combo

Pink & Partridge - a new pattern — Pink & Partridge – a new pattern

My Daughter already has skills, I hope the rain gods are kind overnight and the river is fishable.

Bring on the 15th !

Lets hope the trout are as obliging

Waiting For The Tide To Turn

8th March 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

Blank sessions, missed fish, bloody mindedness, bad weather and bad luck.

A bad February rolls on into a poor start to the month of March.

The weather cleared for a day so I managed a session fishing the Mersey Estuary in Liverpool.

Low tide in the morning saw me fishing the low water mark at Perch Rock. Two rods out, one baited up with squid and black lug wraps on a pulley pennel rig, and the other rod a two hook flapper rig with squid heads as bait.

Perch Rock - A good low water mark — Perch Rock – A good low water mark

Nothing – I fished two hours down and an hour back up — not a tap, rap or knock apart from this rogue crab

I’d never fished this spot before, so it was quite an experience being at the mouth of the Mersey fishing as huge ships passed close by.

As the tide rose and pushed me up the beach and off the mark I decided to use up the last of my bait back at Mariners Wharf the scene of a couple of recent blank sessions…. Mariners Wharf lived up to my expectations and I had another bite free hour enjoying the view.

Fishing Mariners Wharf Liverpool — Mariners Wharf Liverpool

I’m sitting here this evening typing this up, I can hear the wind howling through the trees in my back garden and the rain starting to hit the windows…. is this bad weather never going to end ?? Is this run of bite free fishing ever going to end ?

I suppose now that I’m doing a bit more sea fishing I’m going to have to slip in a few more nautical turns of phrase.

So as far as my fishing luck is going – I’m waiting for the tide to turn…

Roll on spring and some good weather.

An Anglers Challenge

29th February 2020 by Mike Duddy 2 Comments

I recently read the great John Wilson autobiography “60 Years A Fisherman” – and at the end of his colourful lifes tale he concludes the book with two last pages consisting of a list of fish that he had caught – both fresh and saltwater.

John had managed to catch 217 species of fish from 22 different countries… an amazing feat.

101 from Freshwater and 116 from Saltwater

It got me thinking about my past challenges of trying to catch as many freshwater species as I could in 12 months (my best is 31 for those who are interested).

I’ve never really recorded sea species before, or logged the weird, wonderful and colourful fish I’ve caught on holiday, so haven’t the first clue as to how many species I’ve actually caught in my fishing life time so far.

And another thing – just how many species are out there to catch ?

Other “Bloggers Challenges” I’ve seen, anglers list various types of rainbow trout (tiger, blue, leopard etc) as different species – also carp – (common, leather, mirror, koi etc) where to me – these are just freaks of cross breeding – and should be just classed as a single species… and in coarse angling I can’t see how anyone can claim various cyprinid hybrids as species too eg, roach/bream/rudd etc.

So I’ve decided to start having bit of fun with a species challenge again. No time limit this time – but I will stick to UK only species – one that are listed by the UK Record Fish Committee. I’ve made a little chart below which I will keep updated and do a little write up on each species as I knock them off the list. I’m going to start recording my holiday fish too on a separate list – just for forms sake.

As it happens – as I am sure you will work your way down the list to see how many of these you have caught – I’ve managed to knock off 59 species in my angling life… how many have you got ? I’ve numbered mine down the list as it goes… I’m resetting to zero – and look forwards to sharing each capture with you in future…

You are welcome to join “The Anglers Challenge” — tight lines !

Freshwater Fish	Latin Name	Date and Location of Capture
Barbel		1
Bitterling		2
Bleak		3
Bream (Common)		4
Bream (Silver)		5
Brown Goldfish		6
Bullhead		7
Catfish – Wels		8
Carp common/mirror/koi		9
Carp – grass		10
Carp – Crucian		11
Carp – F1		12
Chub		13
Dace		14
Eel		15
Gudgeon		16
Ide/Orfe		17
Minnow		18
Motherless Minnow		19
Perch		20
Pike		21
Pumpkinseed		22
Roach		23
Rudd		24
Ruffe		25
Shad Allis	Alosa Alosa
Shad Twaite	Alosa Fallax
Smelt
Spined Loach
Stone Loach		26
Stickleback 3 spined		27
Stickleback 9 spined
Sturgeon
Tench		28
Zander
Game Species	Latin Name	Date and Location of Capture
Arctic Char
Grayling		29
Trout – Brown		30
Trout – Rainbow		31
Trout – Sea		32
Salmon		33
Schelly/Powan		34
Freshwater Species 42
Sea Species	Latin Name	Date and Location of Capture
Almaco Jack	Seriola Rivioliana
Angler Fish	Lophius Piscatorius
Bass	Dicentrarchus Labrax	36
Black Fish	Centrolophus Niger
Bluemouth	Helicolinus Dactylopterus
Blue Runner	Caranx Crysos
Bogue	Boops Boops
Bonito	Sarda Sarda
Bream – Black	Spondyliosoma Cantharus	37
Bream – Couches	Pagrus Pagrus
Bream – Gilthead	Sparus Aurata
Bream – Pandora	Pagellus Erythrinus	38
Bream – Ray’s	Brama Brama
Bream – Red	Pagellus Bogaraveo
Bream – White Sea	Diplous Sargus
Brill	Scophthalmus Rhombus
Bulll Huss	Scyliorhinus Stellaris
Catfish	Anarhichas Lupus
Coalfish	Pollachius Virens
Cod	Gadus Morhua	39
Comber	Serranus Cabrilla	40
Conger	Conger Conger
Dab	Limanda Limanda	41
Dogfish – Blackmouth	Galeus Melastomus
Dogfish – Lesser Spotted	Scyliorhinus Canicula	42
Flounder	Pleuronectes Flesus	43
Forkbeard – Greater	Phycis Blennoides
Garfish	Belone Belone	44
Greater Weever	Trachinus Draco
Greater Amberjack	Seriola Demerili
Guinian Amberjack	Seriola Carpenteri
Gurnard – Grey	Eutrigla Gurnardus
Gurnard – Red	Aspitrigla Cuculus
Gurnard – Streaked	Trigloporus Lastoviza
Gurnard – Yellow or Tub	Trigla Lucerna
Haddock	Melanogrammus Aeglefinus
Haddock – Norway	Sebastes Viviparus
Hake	Merluccius Merluccius
Halibut	Hippoglossus Hippoglossus
Herring	Clupea Harengus
John Dory	Zeus Faber
Ling	Molva Molva
Lumpsucker	Cyclopterus lumpus
Mackerel	Scomber Scombrus	45
Mackerel – Spanish/chub	Scomber Colias
Megrim	Lepidorhombus Whiffiagonis
Monkfish	Squatina Squatina
Mullet – Golden Grey	Liza Aurata
Mullet – Red	Mullus Surmuletus
Mullet – Thick Lipped Grey	Chelon Labrosus
Mullet – Thin Lipped Grey	Liza Ramada	46
Opah	Lampris Guttatus
Pelamid (Bonito)	Sarda Sarda
Perch – Dusky	Epinephelus marginatus
Plaice	Pleuronectes Platessa	47
Pollack	Pollachius Pollachius	48
Pouting	Trisopterus Luscus	49
Puffer fish	Lagocephalus Lagocephalus	50
Ray – Blonde	Raja Brachyura
Ray – Bottle Nosed	Raja Alba
Ray – Cuckoo	Raja Naevus
Ray – Eagle	Myliobatis Aquila
Ray – Electric	Torpedo Nobiliana
Ray – Marbled	Torpedo Marmorata
Ray – Sandy	Raja Circularis
Ray – Small Eyed	Raja Microocellata
Ray – Spotted	Raja Montagui
Ray – Sting	Dasyatis Pastinaca
Ray – Thornback	Raja Clavata	51
Ray – Undulate	Raja Undulata
Rockling – 3 bearded	Gaidropsarus Vulgaris
Rockling – Shore	Gaidropsarus Mediterraneus	52
Scad – Horse Mackerel	Trachurus Trachurus
Sea Scorpion – Short Spined	Myoxocephalus Scorpius	53
Shark (Blue)	Prionace Glauca
Shark (Mako)	Isurus Oxyrhinchus
Shark (Porbeagle)	Lamna Nasus
Shark (Six Gilled)	Hexanchus Griseus
Shark (Thresher)	Alopias Vulpinas
Skate (Common)	Raja Batis
Smoothhound (starry)	Mustelus Asterias
Smoothhound	Mustelus Mustelus
Sole	Solea Solea
Sole (Lemon)	Microstomus Kitt
Spurdog	Squalus Acanthias
Sunfish	Mola Mola
Tadpole-Fish	Raniceps Raninus
Tope	Gaeorhinus Galeus
Tosk	Brosme Brosme
Trigger Fish	Balistes Capriscus
Tunny	Thunnus Thynnus
Tunny (Big Eyed)	Thunnus Obesus
Tunny (Long Finned)	Thunnus Alalunga
Turbot	Scophthalmus Maximus
Whiting	Merlangius Merlangus	54
Whiting (Blue)	Micromestius Poutassou
Witch	Glyptocephalus Cynoglossus
Wrasse (Ballan)	Labrus Bergylta	55
Wrasse (Cuckoo)	Labrus Mixtus
Wreckfish	Polyprion Americanus
100
Mini Sea Species	Latin Name	Date & Location of Capture
Anchovy	Engraulis Encrasicolus
Argentine	Argentina Sphyraena
Barracudina	Paralepis Coregonoides
Black Fish (Cornish)	Schedophilus Medusophagus
Blenny-Black Faced	Triptarygion Delaisi
Blenny (Butterfly)	Blennius Ocellaris
Blenny (Tompot)	Parablennius Gattorugine	56
Blenny (Viviparous)	Zoarces Viviparus
Blenny (Yarrells)	Chirolophis Ascanii
Boar Fish	Capros Aper
Bream (Axillary)	Pagellus Arcane
Bream (Saddled)	Oblada Melanura
Butterfish	Pholis Gunnellus
Connemara Clingfish	Lepadogaster Candolii
Dab (Long Rough)	Hippoglossoides Platessoides
Derbio	Trachinotus Ovatus
Dragonet	Callionymus Lyra
Garfish (Short Beaked)	Belone Svetovidovi
Goby (Black)	Gobius Niger
Goby (Common)	Pomatoschistus Microps	57
Goby (Giant)	Gobius Cobitis
Goby (Leopard Spotted)	Thorogobius Ephippiatus
Goby (Sand)	Ctenolabrus Rupestris
Goby (Rock)	Gobius Paganellus
Pilchard	Sardina Pilchardus	58
Pilot Fish	Naucrates Ductor
Pipefish (Greater)	Syngnathus Acus
Pipefish (Snake)	Entelurus Aequoreus
Pogge	Agonus Cataphractus
Poor Cod	Trisopterus Minutus
Red Band-Fish	Cepola Rubescens
Rockling (5 Beard)	Ciliata Mustela
Rockling (4 Beard)	Enchelyopus Cimbrius
Sandeel (Corbins)	Hyperoplus Immaculatus
Sandeel (Greater)	Hyperoplus Lanceolatus
Sea Scorpion (Long Spined)	Taurulus Bubalis
Shanny	Lipophrys Pholis
Skipper	Scomberesox Saurus
Smelt	Osmerus Eperlanus
Smelt (Sand)	Atherina Presbyter
Smelt (Sand Big Scale)	Atherina Boyeri
Stickleback (15 Spined)	Spinachia Spinachia
Topnot (Common)	Zeugopterus Punctatus
Weever (Lesser)	Echiichthys Vipera
Wrasse (Baillons)	Crenilabrus Bailoni
Wrasse (Corkwing)	Crenilabrus Melops	59
Wrasse(Goldsinney)	Ctenolabrus Rupestris
Wrasse (Rock Cook)	Centrolabrus Exoletus
Wrasse(ScaleRayed)	Acantholabrus Palloni
48
Total Species 190		Fishing Fiend Lifetime 59

Piss Off February

24th February 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

Arrgghh – what a month 🙁

My "Not Impressed" look — My “Not Impressed” look

I can’t remember a month like it – rivers high, winds strong, tides all wrong, fish hooked and lost – just piss off February 2020 I hope I never experience another month like it.

It all started to go wrong at the start of the month when I managed to snatch a few hours on the lake behind my house. I had an hours circuit of the lake, flinging out a YoZuri floating minnow and had two pike roll over / attack the lure during the final moments of retrieve but neither time did I get the hooks to hold.

Another hours walk around the same lake the next day saw me change lure to a size 5 Ondex Red Tag – this time I only got one take from an unseen but solid fish. I was with my daughter Kate and thought it would be a good time for her to play and land her first decent pike, but as I turned round to call her over the fish shed the hooks. Gutted wasn’t the word it was a much bigger fish than usual from this prolific “jacks” pond.

Weather and work then put a halt to any further piscatorial activity – but did allow me time to thoroughly research the fishing in and around Minehead which was my half term destination with the family.

Online – it looked idylic – a fishing tackle shop on the harbour, and beaches that regularly produce decent conger, codling and rays during winter months, and a variety of skippered charter boats from Minehead Harbour. – What could go wrong ?? Ha ha..

So – on arrival at Butlins – I found it difficult to extract myself from the bosom of my lovely little family. Until Mrs Fishingfiend noticed my face getting longer and longer as the days passed. So… with spousal consent I was let off the leash for a few hours one afternoon. Tide was all wrong, tackle shop was shut for the day, the pebble beach turned into ankle breaking boulder beach, and using a whole squid on a pulley pennel rig – I launched a 6oz lead out as far as I could into the teeth of a Bristol Channel Force 7 hooley.

Now can you imagine my surprise when after about 45 minutes I got a tap tap tap on my rod tip.

Here’s a few photos of this lovely fishing spot (did I mention it started to chuck it down as I was tackling up ?) and then I’ll continue with the rest of this lack of fishy tale.

Gasworks Beach Fishing — Gasworks Beach Minehead – ankle breaking cobbles

A grand day to be out on the beach fishing

Anyway – thats enough of the view. My rod tip was tapping away so I struck and could immediately feel a good solid resistance. Yessss I’m in. I played the fish for a good 5 minutes and got it in to the surf/boulder zone.. It was a lovely ray, a good fish pushing double figures.. and then it disappeared from view and everything locked up solid. My rig snagged up tight in the rocks. I let the line go slack for a good while but to no avail. The tide was coming in fast so I cut the line and tied it to a rock – hoping that the fish might free itself and I would be able to hand line it in, or in worst case scenario – i could come back as the tide was ebbing and collect both fish and rig. I came back early that evening to check as the tide was going out – and there was no sign of line, rig or fish.

I carried on fishing until my allotted time was up – without any more fish action, but lost another rig at the end of my last cast and was pretty cold and wet by the time I retreated back to the car. All in all it was a pretty crap session.

Next day – the weather improved a little. So I again got the nod to have a few hours on the rods.

It was high tide at 5.30pm as i set up at 3.30pm on Blue Anchor Beach. This location had a flat sandy bay backed by a steep shingle bank – a classic high tide only mark. But with there being only sand in front of me I was safe in the knowledge I wasn’t going to lose much tackle to the sea. Again I used a single rod, squid as bait to a size 4/0 pulley pennel rig.

Lets cut to the chase… there were 4 other anglers on the beach – so I blanked in good company. Not a bite, a twitch or a sniff.

I packed up just after high tide just before yet another squall passed over…

A Squall Is Arriving – A sunset photo is a sure sign of a blogger having a blank !!

A good angler never loses his mojo though – so despite my lack of success I took the opportunity to take my family out for a bit of fresh air and a country walk to help them escape the wonderland that is Butlins at Minehead.

A short trip out to Bossington Beach (another local mark of note) was our destination. The wind took our legs away as we crossed over the top of the shingle beach bar. I took a couple of quick photos as an “aide de memoir” for any future trips to Butlins – but my daughter Kate who was celebrating her 5th birthday (take note of fairy face paint and fairy dress in photo below) soon persuaded Daddy that it was too cold and windy to explore any further.

The Birthday Girl out with Daddy checking out future fishing spots

Bossington Beach – Certainly Worth A Cast Or Two If You Are Nearby

And that was it. Piss off February 2020 – the worst fishing month of my life.

I did of course bag up as all good anglers do – and the kids had a great time catching some new species too

Fishing Fiend Species Hunter 2020

1st February 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

In past years I’ve had a lot of fun trying to catch as many freshwater species as I can in a calendar year. I have a list of 46 freshwater species and I think 2014 was my best year when I knocked 33 of them off the list.

As much of my fishing this year is going to be done during family sea side breaks and with the children in tow there’s not much chance me being able to do a targeted species hunt and I will be having to get my fishing in whenever the opportunity arises.

So this year it makes sense to change my targets a little and include sea species… this makes the potentially huge and an impossible task… so my plan for 2020 is to catch as many species as I possibly can – both fresh and saltwater and to have as much fun as I can in doing so.

So far, including the fish I’ve caught on holiday in the Canary Islands I’ve managed to bag 11 species.
9 saltwater and 2 freshwater.
I will keep a running tally at the bottom of each blog post until the end of the year
I wonder what a realistic target is ?? 40 species, 50, who knows?

One thing I do know ,,, is that I’m going to make a great effort to improve my photography skills. Fish are beautiful things, with many of them having surprising hidden colours if you look hard enough… I’m hoping to upgrade my skills from being a snapper to being a photographer too. A busy year !

Bradshaw Hall Fisheries Lake 1 is brilliant for kids — My Little Helpers

Sea Species in Green Freshwater in Blue Ornate Wrasse, Common Comber, Painted Comber, Madeira Rockfish, Anular Bream, Pandora, Dusky Grouper, Rockpool Blenny, Madeira Goby, Roach, Pike (running total 11 species in 2020)

In Search Of Pike

21st January 2020 by Mike Duddy 1 Comment

I caught some lovely small roach from a local canal recently as I’d promised to “bang out” half a dozen live baits for a pike session later that afternoon with a mate.

There hadn’t been a hard frost the night before, but the weather was typical winter Manchester, cold hard and grey. Conditions that a lot of anglers struggle with (noted by their absence from the bank)

So on arrival I set up 4 sections of pole, a 2g pencil shaped float, a size 20 hook – fed an almond sized lump of sloppy liquidised bread and sat back and waited for the fish to wake up for breakfast.

It took longer than I thought as this method of fishing can often produce instant bites – and after 15 bite free minutes I was started to have a bit of a panic that my bravado of “oh don’t worry I’ll bang out a few live baits in double quick time” was going to result in me having egg on my face.

Much to my relief, my float gave a micro dip — so I lifted and brought in a lovely little roach of about half an ounce.

The session then continued as expected with a bite every put in, using my smallest size of bread punch, and within another 15 minutes the larger 3 and 4oz roach had started pushing the micro roach out of the swim. If i had continued fishing for the rest of the morning I would have added a bit of crushed hemp to the liquidised bread and usually within the first half hour or so the roach of 8 to 12oz would again move in and bully out the smaller fish. But this was not to be, I only needed a dozen fish to share between the three of us pike fishing later that day.

The roach were in superb condition – with a lovely iridescent purple/blue sheen to their flanks, a bright red eye and not a scale out of place. Check them out in the pictures below. Small – perfectly formed – absolute beauties.

Roach - a perfect fish — Roach – a perfect fish

So – I took tremendous enjoyment from catching these small roach, but it got me thinking that only through having years of experience did I catch them. Casting my mind back to when I was a youngster I would have been on a certain blank session on a cold January morning like today. The reason why I caught over a dozen fish in less than an hour was quite simple. I used a float and shotting pattern that is incredibly sensitive and a hook length and hook that were a match for a roaches eagle eyes in the gin clear water.

I see so many anglers both young and old with an inch of thick float showing, hook lengths like tow rope and a hook big enough to be fishing paste on a commercial in summer. I with tackle shops would stop selling this stuff – or at least advise the anglers buying these floats on how to set them up properly.

So back to the fishing.. I then drove the 15 minutes further up the canal to our usual haunt to meet up with Phil and his new mate Dean. A new mate ??? is this some sort of piscatorial affair – should I carry on and ignore this turn of events – or demand a fishing divorce ? maybe a period of reflection and mate/marriage guidance is necessary – we obviously need some sort of counselling – probably best done in a pub over half a dozen pints lol

Anyway back to the pike fishing. I know a lot of people think that live baiting is a cruel form of our sport, but its something that’s never really worried me. I stopped using treble hooks many years ago, and when I live bait I used a single circle hook through the top lip of the bait. If I catch I catch…. if not the live bait is released and swims off to fight another day.

I also think that live bait out catches any other pike fishing method – and I’m out to catch fish.

I met up with Phil and Dean further up the canal and set up my my usual rig – see pic below. I’ve started using these Size 2 Sakuma Circle Hooks – and again I caught a nice fish with the hook lodged perfectly in the top of the fishes mouth.

Rochdale Canal Pike — Its a pity the sun wasn’t shining as the gold flecks around a pikes gill plates reflect spectacularly in the suns rays.

My Live Bait Kit is pretty standard – a bung, a weight, a wire trace (essential) and a single size 2 circle hook

As you can see – it didn’t take too long for the canal pike to oblige – and itch had been scratched – and after spending the rest of the morning chatting it was soon time to go home to the family for the rest of the day.

My next few trips out are going to be in search of cod – as its that time of year. There are quite a few marks to try on the West Lancashire Coast – and I’m also going to book myself onto a charter boat out of Fleetwood… looking forwards to sharing a few posts with you soon

Fishing Fuerteventura (again)

12th January 2020 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

Over the years I’ve had many happy holidays on the Spanish Island of Feurteventura, but have done very little fishing whilst there. The harbours are full of mullet which grow to huge proportions fed on the bread and pellets thrown to them by tourists, and the harbour walls home to a huge variety of brightly coloured semi tropical fish – but sadly most of these accessible areas are off limits to fishermen.

The only time I’ve ever taken fishing tackle with me to Fuerteventura was on my last visit in 2016 – but despite picking up a little local knowledge as to the hots pots for catching Bonito and Bluefish from the shore – the pressure of having a young family ( 12 months and 3 and a half years old) meant that the suggestion of going fishing for any length of time was met with a death stare from my better half. I did manage half an afternoons fishing (spectacularly unsuccessful) but at least i had the right lure, the right method and the right location – it was just that the time of day, the tides and the wind direction were all not in my favour – you can have a read about it here http://fishingfiend.net/holiday-fishing-fuerteventura/

Of course I ended up catching nothing but a cold, but did learn a lot about what to do and what not to do when restricted to short fishing sessions on holiday. I also had a great time messing about in rock pools with my young son Tommy catching all sorts of little fish, urchins, shrimps etc. Hopefully passing on the fishing bug to him at an early age.

Happy Times - sunshine, rock pools, fishing net — Happy memories from 2016 – sunshine, rock pools, fishing net

So fast forwards to December 2019 – it had been raining (or it felt like this anyway) for months, the weather was miserable, we had been expecting to spend some family cash on a house extension that never happened, and we were fed up. I asked Mrs FishingFiend how she would like to spend her birthday (1st Jan) and her reply was simply “on a beach!”

I didn’t need any more prompting, and with the thoughts of TUNA FROM THE SHORE” pinging about at the back of my head – I suggested that a return to Fuerteventura and a return to the lovely family (FISHING) friendly resort of Caleta De Fuste…. not only does it have everything for a young family it also has a fishing tackle shop with a very friendly owner called Aram who has a full range of tackle, bait and is free with passing on (some) of his local knowledge.

So… a quick online search for a last minute holiday over the New Year period ensued and by very good fortune we found somewhere within budget. Yee Haaa.. A quick chat with the missus about taking some tackle and being set free from family duties and YESSSSSSS space was agreed for two travel rods and a bag of kit.

I played my hand of cards.. no fishing suggested for the first few days of the holiday, and lots of family time… but then a quick nip into the tackle shop to buy a new lure set the agenda for the remainder of the holiday.

The coast around Caleta De Fuste is very rocky, and in places there is deep water very close to shore. These deeper areas mean that Barracuda, Blue Fish and Bonito are within casting distance of the shore – and if you take a look at videos on Youtube like this it really wets the appetite and makes you want to target these fish. The location where this video was taken is actually from the rocks in the centre of the resort. And only a 10 minute walk from where we were staying.

So, with the hope/expectation/ridiculous dream that I was going to catch something special I splashed out 22 euro on an imported Japanese Yo-Zuri heavy sinking minnow from the local tackle shop. It certainly caught the eye… but would it catch any fish ?

Yo-Zuri Minnow — Caught my eye but didn’t catch any fish

Well the answer is that it caught my eye, but not the attention of any fish. I fished this lure for an hour off a rocky point behind the Elba hotel without a touch. I’ll get my excuses in early again – wrong state of tide, wrong time of day lol. However, after being given an hour of peace and quiet the kids turned up and I received the scorn of my family for not catching. Especially when my 4 year old daughter managed to catch a wrasse from a rock pool with her bare hands. Ego shattered – I retired a beaten man to a local bar, bought a beer and watched the kids playing in a park.

To be truthful I was more than a bit peed off that I hadn’t had a touch… especially as there are so many fish on view in and around the harbour (no fishing zone) and on the main beach (another no fishing zone) where there are so many fish that if you chuck in a bit a bread you can have 100s of them swimming around you within minutes.

Caleta Beach Fish - 100s of mullet, bream and derbios — Caleta Beach Fishing – 100s of mullet, bream and derbios

So back to plan B brought a small telescopic travel rod with me, a small reel with 6lb braid, some 3lb flouro and a box of shads, dropshot lures and my secret weapon Isome Worm.

The next day, the family fancied a bus trip down the Island to the next main town called Gran Tarajal – and I stashed some kit away in the family beach bag.

Fishing Fuerteventura Again — An old telescopic rod and my shad kit

After a walk around the rather nice but dull port of Gran Tarajal, we hopped onto another bus to visit another little town called Playitas… Playitas interested me because it has a little pier/wharf where it looks as though fishing would be possible from the end, and also from some of the cliffs nearby.

I was right…. and quite delighted when we got there as it looked like a perfect spot for a bit of light lure fishing. First cast resulted in this little ornate wrasse.

And then came a succession of small fish to a variety of jigs and on the dropshot with Isome Worm

The kids really loved sitting down and catching these pretty fish

Especially when I started to catch a succession of these small Madeira Rock Fish…. which I didn’t realise had poisonous spines until someone told me later… They were pretty though

The best method by far was by using a small piece of Isome Worm on the dropshot rig – the fish absolutely threw themselves at it. I also had some other flavoured worm that was bright red in colour but the fish wouldn’t touch it.

Just sat on the end of the pier… loads of fish

Now that the kids had caught a few fish,, they fancied having a go for some more. So the next day we headed off to Puerto Del Rosario the Islands capital, to spend a bit of time on the beach and also so that Tommy and I could get our Saturday fix of football when we watch Rosario beat another local team 3-1 (2 sendings off, 10 yellow cards, a dodgy ref, and a very poor standard of football) which was great entertainment.

I had a look on Google Maps and it looked like there was good fishing into snag free water at the end of the rock groyne that protected the beach. See pic below

I fished off the end of this rock groyne while the kids played on the beach

Tommy and I had half an hour on the jig head shads me casting and him retrieving but we couldn’t get a touch, but as soon as I swapped over to drop shot Isome worm we quickly caught half a dozen of these small fish which I haven’t a clue what they were but have been told that they are

The rest of the holiday was spent playing with the kids on the beach at Caleta but I did manage an hour off the low rock ledge to the right hand side of the beach and had this lovely fish (again I have been told that it is a Dusky Grouper) on a small shad.

On the last day of the holiday, the kids fancied having a bit more fishing so I thought it would be good fun to have a see what was swimming in some of the bigger rock pools. The area north of the harbour in Caleta De Fuste has some smashing rock pools that are exposed at low tide… though great care needs to be taken with the kids not to let them too close to the sea as there was quite a strong swell.

So with a heavy heart – we went back to the airport, boarded our plane and returned home. I still haven’t managed to catch a large fish from the shores of Fuerteventura but I guess I never will when family time is the priority. Some early morning or late evening sessions would be necessary and plenty of time would need to be devoted to it…. which just doesn’t fit well with a family holiday with young children. Nevertheless it was a great way to start the year and I’m really looking forwards to more fishing adventures both alone and with my little fishing apprentices in 2020

Bringing Things Up To Date

11th January 2020 by Mike Duddy 1 Comment

Life sometimes takes over, and I don’t have as much time or inclination to write about my fishing trips as much I used to… that doesn’t mean to say I’m not going fishing anymore… I most certainly am … just in a slightly different manner than I used to before.

Most of my fishing over the last 6 months has been with family and friends, fitting in with others plans etc… And having a lovely young family I’ve no doubts that these demands on my will continue into the future… work, family life, kids football practice and regular Saturday morning matches, running and other family stuff is limiting my time on the bank.

Anyway enough waffle/excuses – here’s what I’ve been up to since my last proper post in June

In July – I organised a little fish-in on one of my favourite sections of the River Irwell – the river fished well for those who took part – with nearly everyone catching small roach, dace and chublets, and I had a couple of nice trout too – all on trotted stick float maggot.

Wonky Swims Adelphi — The Wonky Building Swims

Duddy Fishing Irwell — A Small Irwell Brown

Towards the end of July, I joined in the celebrations of my mothers 80th Birthday at the Low Wood Hotel at Windermere in the Lake District…. again family time as in the ascendancy but i did manage to have a few casts of the lure rod off the end of the pier outside the hotel, and managed to hook into a perch nearly every other cast. Nothing huge, with the fish all in the 6 to 8oz bracket.

My next trip out was entirely different – at the start of August I had an odd day at work, a mornings meeting in Crewe followed by an evening meeting in Liverpool… so naturally I filled in the gap with a little cheeky session on the Shropshire Union Canal at Audlem… I’d never visited this bit of canal before.. I just had a look on google map and thought I’ll try there….

So i pulled up in the car park of the Bridge Inn, Audlem – payed for a few hours parking and had a nice session using hemp and corn. Sadly there was plenty of boat traffic but happily the roach were obliging – and I managed to catch a dozen or so decent fish up to about 12oz.

Shropshire Union Roach — Shropshire Union Canal Audlem

Shropshire Union Canal Roach — Plenty like this to around 12oz

I packed up after a few hours – some great roach fishing from a new spot for me.

Next up was a long weekend with the family to Holyhead in North Wales.. I only managed a single sort session at the Trearddur Bay flag pole. Using the remnants of a tub of denrobena worms, I set up a simple two hook paternoster rig and cast out into the bay. I was amazed by the results, school bass, pollack and about 3 or 4 species of little wrasse. It was a bite a chuck and I was smashed up twice!. I’d never considered using garden worms before for sea fishing but its quite obvious that the fish don’t mind

Flag Pole Steps Trearddur Bay — A Nice Little Pollack – one of many fish on dendrobenas

Alas family commitments that weekend only allowed for a single short session – I fully intend to come back to this spot next summer with a slightly beefier set up and see if I can hook into the much bigger fish that were smashing me up.

So October half term was spent on a Caravan Break to Devon Cliffs Holiday Park in Devon. As my in-laws were joining us I had free reign to do a bit more fishing. The weather was terrible for most of the time we were there but I managed a couple of good sessions. A nice afternoon on the beach at Budleigh Salterton on lures we caught some mackerel and garfish.

Kate is now 4 and she has loves her fishing with Daddy — Kate is now 4 and she has loves her fishing with Dadddy

Next up was a day trip to Brixham.. and ” I was amazed to find boats offering mackerel trips” lol.. which i suggested to my wife that the kids might like….

Just like a well baited swim and well presented bait… she took it hook line and sinker … so an afternoons mackerel bashing ensued..

I was delighted to catch my first ever pilchard ! – an added bonus

Plus then of course the mackerel arrived and we filled half a bucket full

Using the mackerel we caught – I then had a few sessions fishing into the night off the beach at Budleigh Salterton again…. Using my two 15 foot surf casters, and 2 hook flapper rigs I banged out strips of mackerel into the distance and sat back and waiting to see if anything was biting.

Beach Fishing Budleigh Salterton — A nice evening on the beach

It took about 30 seconds before my rod tips began to rattle, I thought it was crabs at first as the bites were just little rattles rather than more powerful pulls on the rod tips. I soon realised that Budleigh Salterton after dark is Pout city as I caught dozens of the cheeky little bait robbers. I soon gave up using 2 rods as the bites were just too frequent, and I was getting double hookups nearly every cast. And then eventually got fed up of catching Pout themselves, so rigged up a pulley rig with a dead pout on the end to see if could catch anything bigger

And it didnt take long to get a really positive pull on the rod tip. The culprit was of course a bloody dog fish…. not a bad one… but it signaled time to pack up and go home. That was the end of my fishing for this trip

I then managed a few sessions on the Fylde coast at Rossall with my mate Phil, but sea conditions and tides weren’t in our favour and we didn’t catch very much apart from some 3 bearded rockling and a couple of dabs and plaice.

And I finished the year by having a few sessions on Drinkwater Park Lake, but despite using a variety of lures, couldn’t get any takes,, and this despite taking my “lucky charm” with me

So the year ended with weeks of poor weather,, and I just didn’t fancy getting out fishing that much… and the year ended as a pretty damp squib.

To sumarise the year,,, I got out a lot, but mostly with the kids. I caught lots of fish, including a few brand new species (Pout and Pilchard) but other than a HUGE tench which I lost at the net, I didn’t manage any fish of note.

Imagine my delight when Mrs FishingFiend suggested we visit the Canary Islands for New Year …. 🙂

Read all about it soon!

Tackle Shed

26th December 2019 by Mike Duddy Leave a Comment

I wimped out of fishing today. A slight tinge of boxing day hangover, and pissing down rain persuaded me to have a day indoors. (hence this post – and another to come shortly reviewing my fishing in 2019)

Mrs Fishing Fiend has been complaining recently about the smell emanating from my tackle shed so I’ve taken the opportunity to have a mid winter tidy up and to take stock of what I’ve got and whats to go on my shopping list.

I’m very glad to report that I think I need to buy more fishing tackle. My old friend Okuma Interceptor IBF50 has quite a bit of damage now after 17 years of heavy use. The bait runner tab at the back of the reel is half missing/broken and the bail arm spring has given up the ghost. I’ve already ordered a like for like replacement from Ebay as this Okuma is probably one of the best/most reliable reels I’ve ever owned.

I have this reel in both IBF40 and 50 size and have now decided to stock up on both of them before they get harder to source.

I’ve also got an old ABU506 closed face reel that has a slipping clutch and a chipped reel seat – this time to be replaced with the most up to date version. I received some tackle vouchers for Christmas and a new ABU is soon going to be on its way.

Other than that – my hook stocks needs replenishing, and my box of leads needs refilling. I have an over abundance of swim feeders but they should get thinned out over time. I also need to get the rings on my Drennan float master sorted out as there are a few missing through misuse.

Reels now oiled, and old bits of bait chucked in the bin. Am looking forwards to yet another great fishing year in 2020.

The marital disharmony has now been solved by the discovery and disposal of two packets of rotten worm that had been forgotten about at the bottom of my sea fishing box…. urgghhh