Driving Me Up The (Gynn) Wall

30th July 2020 by Mike Duddy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 🙁