daio web

With the hot high pressure recently and calm seas i thought it would be great to spend some time offshore. Leaving the harbour with some new gear/jigs to test out and needing a bit of content for a future article my hopes were high. 
I thought id start on the north wrecks to target the bass that should be there first and make my way down south after the pollock and then the cod at slack after flood. Every single mark, wreck, reef was netted and pots all over them. I was quite surprised as we are in the biggest springs weve seen for months!
I tried to pinch little drifts avoiding the gear on the bow or stern of certain marks and pulled out a few small pollock and a couple of schoolies before heading 25 miles further south to a little honey hole that has produced some really good specimens lately. I arrived to find 2 sets of nets up and down tide on this and they were a large spread with no way of drifting any part of the mark. I moved further east to its sister and to my surprise i found that had the same treatment. This sister wreck is not on any graph and is a little secret so i was surprised to find the commercials had put gear on it. I moved further south to a wreck that rhyms with curry’s to also find that with gear and pots on it. This one is a special mark in my eyes and so i roped up a bouy and just drove in circles collecting and tangling all the bouys in a heap and leaving them. 80mile trips to. Ot have one mark we can fish really crossed the line with me. I understand that they have to make there money but this is catastrophic. We have gear being dragged in every part of the bay and around the wrecks and then every single wreck is netted. I doubt we are going to see a very good season and its about as bad as anyone can imagine. I dont even think its worth filling the boat up again and have been thinking of taking it down to birth in cornwall and get away from this.
My explanation of my alarming whale rescue!—
I was returning home on one of the last sessions happily cruising along drinking coffee and eating gingernuts!
I was approaching the bay and had 5-6 miles to go and i see this thing yellow and disappearing in the troughs of the little swell we had. OMFG its a very intoxicated woman sitting on a yellow rubber ring made for kids lying back in the water and going turtle arms. She was propelling herself further out heading east! I came up to her and asked if she was ok? She casually explained her events of the day and said shes feeling a little tired !! Well you obviously need to come on board i said. She was very protective over the one item she had in her hands and that was duck tape. I asked her what that was for and she explained that she has a hole in her ring!! At this point i start to realise what im dealing with here and put the ladder down on the swim platform and hand her a rope to pull herself up. I had wondered if id get a 1000lb tuna through the shark door and im convinced it can now be achieved! After a brief discussion it was obvious that she was fuelled and she continued to jabber on looking through my fridge and helping herself to my mermaid gin i had won last month and my cigarettes. I bit my lip and met the rnli in the bay that were looking for her. I now believe that we really do live with some people that are just something else! From manchester and as big as they come! What a vile disgusting silly silly beast. She was handed over with her ring and roll of gaffer tape to the orange taxi service and i made my way to my birth!
 
Ill put a few pics below of some fish ive been playing with.  

Last minute dot com day off (think 11pm Sunday night!) and had the day off the next day…. So a plan was formed to head to Celtic deeps for the last of the porgies to see if they were around…. They weren’t…
Tally was half a dozen blues to 70lb so a slow day. That’s it for the shark trips until September earliest. Had a good run. Circa 20 porgies to 280lb (maybe a bit more) anf 40-50 blues to 160lb.
Time to save a bit of fuel money by staying inshore on the lures before maybe an exciting autumn… just depends if Welsh Gov get their CHART program off the ground….
Im not allowed to get my boat in the scheme but hopefully getting in on the training and working as crew in hopes that next year I’ll be in first place to get a license for my boat….
 

I was working from home on Thursday and was planning to spend the evening fishing from the pier, but i know i would be wishing i took the boat out - so i did just that. 
shut the laptop at 5 on the dot and headed for the marina. 
Pugwash has just had an engine service so wanted to a) run her in again, and b) build up some more solo confidence as I haven't been out on my own for a few weeks. 
plan - mackerel feathers on one rod over the side and a small lure/Jig/perk on the spinning rod as i drifted over mixed ground. 
not much to report other than it was a lovely evening and the feathers produced 4 mackerel - 2 monsters which got filleted up for colleagues in the office on Friday. 
lovely evening out!


 

Today was going to be just be a morning trip as it is spring tides, so we needed to be back on the slipway by 12:30, also I had to do the afternoon school run. The slip we use is pretty good, but on springs there is a 2 hour window when the water is just not deep enough to have a safe passage to the slip off the main channel.
Kyle and myself launched at 07:45, and we were undecided as where to go. We had already made a decision to give the 9 -12 mile inshore wrecks a miss due to the amount of netting that is going on at the moment.
Once out the navigation channel, we headed for the Orestone in search of Mackerel, as we had heard that there were no too many around at the moment.
Our usual mark produced on the first drift, with Kyle hitting a couple of whoppers with hokkai’s. However, he cheats, as he sits in front the panoptix screen and drops the hokkai’s right on their nose!
We stayed in that area picking up Mackerel and Scad (full strings sometimes) for most of the morning in the pleasant morning sun.
At about 11:00am we decided to make a 7 mile steam to the Parson & Clerk rocks, which was a quick trip as the sea was mirror flat. Here we found a few joey,s and not much else. A quick run to the Galicia wreck (about 2 miles) and I was dismayed to find 7 pot buoys and 2 nets !
Whilst at the Galicia another boat came to fish it, and he told us they had come all the way up from Dartmouth and found 12 out of 14 wrecks netted !
Time was now pressing, so we made our way back to the slipway for 12:30.
Total for the day was 48 Mackerel (all keepers) and probably a dozen Scad (they went back). A few of the Mack were monsters and therefore reserved for eating, the rest are in the chest freezer as bait.
A nice morning to be out, and we covered 24Nm ………………..
 
Kyle looking smug, using Panoptix to hit the Mackerel,

 
Net dhan's and pot buoys on an inshore wreck, and there was more behind the wreck !

 

 

Friday's plan was a morning session with @Saintly Fish and Leo chasing tope across the Spoils/Utopia/Pullar - the spring flood tide would give us a long drift across all three of these fishing areas, before dropping anchor at Utopia as slack water approached.
The early start had clearly befuddled Neil however as he arrived at the marina looking sheepish and bashfully confessed that he'd left his tackle box at home 🤦‍♂️. He's been angling for close to forty years so should really have had a better excuse up his sleeve than "I forgot it". Luckily I had just enough tope traces for us all.
We set off into lovely flat conditions at the very bottom of the tide, with only just enough water underneath us as we left the marina and went round to the fuel pontoon. They say a picture paints a thousand words, so I'll just leave it here with this.

Moving swiftly on, we left the harbour and feathered for a short while around the Forts but sadly the mackerel were mostly absent, with just one falling to Neil's rod. It would have to be frozen baits for us today then.
Off to the start of the drift and the conditions were great. I'd heard of some bigger species being seen and caught in this area recently so I'd brought along a shark rod, which was let out to see what was about...

After a short while Leo's rod has a storming take, stripping line at a rate of knots! He winds down into it and just couldn't slow it. In less than 30 seconds his reel was half empty so his father, in his (not so) infinite wisdom turns up the drag until we hear a "ping!". 😬😬
We were all gutted for Leo, and to be fair there was no stopping this take. We reflected afterwards that if the line hadn't snapped, his reel would be empty with still no fish and no more fishing either.
We fished on the drift fruitlessly for another few hours until the tide dropped, then anchored up over the deepest part of Utopia. Bites began to show, and a series of eels made their way to the boat. Neil even managed two fish on one hook!

We then saw a small pod of dolphins come past, only two or three animals but still lovely to hear and see them.
Shortly after, I connected with a nice bass of 48cm/1.47kg that I swapped with my fishmonger today for jumbo squid and scallops for the barbecue tonight.

And finally, I was back in the game with my favourite species - my first this season!

As the tide turned the wind picked up, so with white caps starting to show we headed home before the conditions got too lumpy.
No tope but a monster run and some fun fishing nonetheless. And even better, we all escaped the sun burn - slip, slap and all that. Better safe than sorry 👍

My first and best....
 

 

I was interested in a thread further down where @Andy135hope I got the name right, was asking about cod and in particular; "Back on topic for a moment, has anyone had any success bouncing a lure across open ground for cod, or only on wrecks? Thinking it could be a good technique to cover lots of ground to find the fish, rather than using a bait as long as yer arm to draw them (and every other species) in."
Rather than drag an old topic up I thought I would put in my two penn'eth in as they are my bread and butter and luring is my preferred method.
Generalisations first; cod like a buzzy, noisy, tail thumping lure but will take things like savage gear sandeel slugs that have little movement or water noise but that is usually during the warmer months. Baited hokkais, Muppets etc over broken ground will get plenty of fish but smaller specimens so if there is little doing then drifting with a set of these may help find or attract a shoal or individual fish. We had a sticky day recently when big baits nailed to the bottom were getting little interest but rods in the holders with Muppets were getting the fish.
Firstly "bouncing" a fish type lure. Generally I don't bounce unless I am not getting fish, or not seeing any on the FF I lower to the bottom and keep it as close as possible with just the motion of the boat to impart movement. If you see fish on the sounder wind up 5-10ft and then let it free fall back. I prefer to rig weedless as I fish mainly over rough ground and where there are likely to be pots and I don't miss many proper takes. These are the lures I use taken at random to show what I mean by noisy.

The pink storm shad is a summer lure put in to show the differences, the lengths are similar but the tails are not.

That's why I prefer the ones on the right and centre, good tail thumping action! I doubt that the sidewinder in the centre would be much use in deep fast water on its own but could be used on a flying collar rig. The spiky gets used by me on a cheburaska (Cheb?) rig but would also be ok on a flying collar, I also use it on a stand up jighead rig if I know that there are cod about but are being picky however it does get snagged up a lot so be warned. Last bit is about rigging, generally I use 30lb flouro trace with a crosslock link rated well above the trace, usually 35kg, but we used to get a few small ling in the early summer so I used to up the trace then to 60-80lb but most times fish are hooked in the scissors or front upper of the mouth.
Variation on the above which can get you a bonus Pollock if they are about or helps visually is to have a short dropper about 3" long 12-18" above the shad and I use a sandeel slug or sluggo etc on a worm hook, again to stop unnecessary snagging but also to assist in keeping it horizontal. I sometimes use two droppers if it is summer as I find that small 3-4" slugs work best but later on I will use single droppers with 6-9" slugs or curltail.
I will add more later when I get time about using creature baits and other rigs etc, hope you find it useful.

I’m not sure many cod about, usually a few whiting in the haven, some big eels too… I prob won’t do too many sessions in winter down there just the odd one or 2 and save my money for summer fuel instead 🙂 

Staying down west. I did 3 trips last winter, can’t justify mooring fees (I’d have to pay double fees for winter) or fuel. So I’ll leave it this year…. Maybe next year if fuel drops 

One day a Jew, a Hindu, and a scouser all arrived at their hotel to find that there had been a mix-up with the bookings, and that there was only one room left for them to share.
The manager explained that this room only had two beds, but that there was a barn at a neighbouring farm which the farmer, an old friend of his, would let one of them sleep in free of charge.
They complained a bit, but since there was nowhere else to go, the Jew graciously said he’d sleep in the barn.
The Hindu and the scouser were just settling down to sleep in their room, when there was a knock on the door. It was the Jew.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but there’s a pig in that barn and because I’m Jewish I feel uncomfortable about sharing the barn with it.” “No problem,” said the Hindu. “I’ll sleep out there instead.”
So off he went to the barn, leaving the scouser and the Jew to share the room.
They were just settling down to sleep, when there was a knock on the door. It was the Hindu.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but there’s a cow in that barn and because I’m a Hindu I feel uncomfortable about sharing the barn with it.”
The scouser grudgingly agreed to give up his bed and stomped off to the barn, leaving the Jew and the Hindu to share the room.
The Jew and the Hindu were just settling down to sleep, when there was a knock on the door.
It was the cow and the pig.😂😂🤣🤣😂😂

Me and my mate from work decided to do an all nighter (first time for me) on the reef near the Ore Stone just off Hope's Nose. We were a little late getting out and only managed 4 fresh macks for bait to add to 6 frozen and a box of squid. Finding a spot clear of all the lobster pot buoys put us in the middle of reef structure to the NE and S and my aim was to anchor just before dark and stay on the one spot knowing we'd swing around early hours when the tide flow ebbed. All that worked out well. It was a little unnerving and I was on high alert all night but we sent bait after bait down hoping for big conger and huss and maybe a thornie... even a bass 🤞
We did catch but it was strap eels to about 4lb, the ubiquitous doggies and a single huss about 1.5lb. I really did expect more. Maybe it was the spot we were in and I got it wrong 🤷‍♂️ (that wouldn't surprise me..).
When the dawn broke it was blowing quite hard from the N so we up anchored and went in search of some fresh macks which happily obliged so we had a reasonable fill for a good meal and plenty more bait for the freezer.
After that we headed N to the wreck of the Galicia to see if we could jig up a bass. We overtook a trawler from Brixham towing his gear across the bay as they do day after day 😐
Got to the wreck to find a string of buoys, one with a flag at the N end which was slightly annoying for positioning the drift (amateur potters?)  but we managed to do a few which only resulted in 3 small pollack and some more macks, no bass.
That was it, we headed in, glad to get out of the increasing wind and got back on the mooring with just enough water to tie up on a flooding tide.
No big fish like we'd dreamed of but plenty of macks (one chunk) to make it more worthwhile. To say it was tiring is an understatement but it was good fun ☺️
I learnt a lot from the trip which is always good and will do another night trip but plan things quite differently for the next one.
(I'm posting this without photos on my pc and will try and add some from my phone.... @Saintly Fishsays it's easier 🤞 but it is fathers day and my children very kindly bought me some cider and, the photos are shit anyway 🤣)
Edit: gone back to the 'old man' way of doing the photos.... gave up with the phone 🤣

the Ore Stone and home for the night

back beach rammed with peeps having a good time in the glorious sunshine

Wojciech with a strap (he does smile occaisionally 😂)

baby huss in a bucket

me with a decent mack, although looking at this pic makes me realise I should get someone with normal sized hands to hold them..... 🤣

I'm guessing that all areas are the same (but happy to be corrected (this time only)), the potters are only allowed to drop pots out side of the main channels. So, if you go out in the day time and lay a track on your plotter, as long as it's in the channel you'll be safe as houses following the same exact route back in the dark. 
Just turn all lights off around you, turn the plotter display down to low and then let your eyes adjust to the dark. First couple of times it's quite un nerving , but gets a bit easier the more you do it. 

Well, safety must come first so they made the right call IMO. Better to be on land wishing you were at sea...

They made the right decision, next year 🦈🎣

its better to be safe than sorry shit summer so far   weather is disgusting  our should i say gusting haha 

its better to be safe than sorry shit summer so far   weather is disgusting  our should i say gusting haha 

well done butt great report

I thought yesterday was a bank holiday so I kept the diary free and planned to go fishing. Then I found out it was just a normal day and you all had to work. So in the spirit of kinship and kindness, I went fishing for you all. 
The plan was to go after a new species, the stingray. I'd heard of a couple of spots that were capable of producing the odd one or two. 
So Sunday I went to the bait shop to see Bill the owner, I needed some weights and rag worm. 
We got talking and it came up that he was at a loose end Monday. So, I did what any decent guy would do and invited him to jump onboard Tarlach Too. I would have normally had Leo with me, but school was calling him... (much to his annoyance). The good thing about having a tackle and bait shop owner come fishing with you is that they have loads of the best freshest bait. Bill didn't disappoint. He bought along 4lb of large kind rag and about (from what I could see 40 peeler crab). We used none of the crab btw, didn't need to. 
We met at 06.30 and left Mercurys by 06.50. Headed to the mark and dropped anchor in 7ft of water right on the turn of the low tide. As it was a rising tide I let out a couple more meters of rope to soak up the extra depth as the day ticked on. The deepest we were in at the end was 3m. 
Bill started proceedings with a first drop bass of around 5lb, it quickly went back. 
Then I pulled in an LSD (oh fuck here we go was my initial thought), that was just 1 of 3 that we saw all day. 
My next bite was an impressive pull down and line started to exit my reel. I was convinced that it was a decent hound, but no. It was better than that...
A 13lb stingray was on the deck, my first ever, and what a fish. It doesn't look very pretty due to the fact that the tail had been docked and a large tope mouth shaped chunk was missing from his left wing. Either the tail and added meat he would have pushed 14lb. 
Not to be out done, Bill landed a stinger too, smaller thank good at 6.5lb but spirited it was. 

And that's how the day continued. In total we had 7 stingray (me 3, but the biggest), we had more hounds than I remember, again the biggest went to me at 13lb also. All were double figures, and in 7-8 feet of water they went ballistic, so much fun. 
As the high tide eased so did the bites, we upped anchor and set for home at 3.30pm. Both quite knackered and full of high spirits. We hoped to get 1 or 2 stingers, but 7 was a red letter day. 
I'll be back.

 

 

When I got home and told Leo all about it......... you can guess!!