Plaicehunter

My best advice about fishing Lanzarote is to contact Pete Berry - blumeeni on another popular sea fishing forum. Pete is an expat Welshman who lives near Playa Blanca and is the local expert. He has helped literally dozens of visitors to catch memorable fish from the shore, thankfully including me. The result is a WhatsApp group called Lanza Louts, guys from all over Europe with one thing in common: they have all fished with Pete. While he enjoys lure fishing from the shore (Pete doesn't do boats, though he has friends in Lanzarote who do), he catches most of his big fish on boga livebait. They include bluefish, bonito and barracuda, as well as predatory bream and dorado. I spent a week shore fishing in PB last February/March and caught lots of fish, including bonito of 11lb and 9lb on livebait. I hope to go again once Covid permits. And yes, do get a licence - best to buy online to save a lot of hassle! Hope this helps. PH

My best advice about fishing Lanzarote is to contact Pete Berry - blumeeni on another popular sea fishing forum. Pete is an expat Welshman who lives near Playa Blanca and is the local expert. He has helped literally dozens of visitors to catch memorable fish from the shore, thankfully including me. The result is a WhatsApp group called Lanza Louts, guys from all over Europe with one thing in common: they have all fished with Pete. While he enjoys lure fishing from the shore (Pete doesn't do boats, though he has friends in Lanzarote who do), he catches most of his big fish on boga livebait. They include bluefish, bonito and barracuda, as well as predatory bream and dorado. I spent a week shore fishing in PB last February/March and caught lots of fish, including bonito of 11lb and 9lb on livebait. I hope to go again once Covid permits. And yes, do get a licence - best to buy online to save a lot of hassle! Hope this helps. PH

These are pretty special! Hard to catch, hard-fighting and apparently delicious (I don't eat fish) PH

I don't bring conger into my 18ft open boat. I T-bar them off at the side if possible and cut them off only if the hooks are deep. Three of the four were lip-hooked fortunately! I did try to film one of the bigger ones, but playing an angry 6ft conger with one hand in a fast tide while holding a phone in the other hand is not easy! The video clip was too big to load on here. PH

A hectic four hours of uptiding on the Tamar today yielded four conger and some good whiting to 1lb 11oz. The first eel was around 10lb, but was dwarfed by the next, a real 'anaconda' of around 6ft long and very thick-set. A 'cod' on the whiting rod mysteriously turned into a 5lb eel as it surfaced in the fast ebb tide. And the final fish of the day was another whopping eel, which fought hard with crash dives, vicious head-shakes and vigorous spinning. The big eels came to whole joey mackerel baits on a pulley pennell, the whiting to a two-hook flapper baited with squid and mackerel pieces. Great sport not far from home! PH

A hectic four hours of uptiding on the Tamar today yielded four conger and some good whiting to 1lb 11oz. The first eel was around 10lb, but was dwarfed by the next, a real 'anaconda' of around 6ft long and very thick-set. A 'cod' on the whiting rod mysteriously turned into a 5lb eel as it surfaced in the fast ebb tide. And the final fish of the day was another whopping eel, which fought hard with crash dives, vicious head-shakes and vigorous spinning. The big eels came to whole joey mackerel baits on a pulley pennell, the whiting to a two-hook flapper baited with squid and mackerel pieces. Great sport not far from home! PH

A hectic four hours of uptiding on the Tamar today yielded four conger and some good whiting to 1lb 11oz. The first eel was around 10lb, but was dwarfed by the next, a real 'anaconda' of around 6ft long and very thick-set. A 'cod' on the whiting rod mysteriously turned into a 5lb eel as it surfaced in the fast ebb tide. And the final fish of the day was another whopping eel, which fought hard with crash dives, vicious head-shakes and vigorous spinning. The big eels came to whole joey mackerel baits on a pulley pennell, the whiting to a two-hook flapper baited with squid and mackerel pieces. Great sport not far from home! PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Despite a cold N wind and a small tide, I ventured out on a local estuary today. It was hard work, but I managed 9 schoolies, the best 46cm on a Flatbacker 110mm slow-sinking diver. It took me round a mooring chain, but luckily I managed to get both fish and lure back. I did have one fish and several missed takes on a Patchinko 125, but everything else was down deep. All bass were returned as usual. PH

It was like summer in November today at my local estuary. The sun came out, the wind dropped, terns were diving and bass started splashing on the top. They wouldn't touch a surface lure though, and the medicine proved to be a Komomo II Silver Scale retrieved with plenty of rod-tip twitches. The surface action lasted an hour, but I still managed to pick up a few more fish by moving around and trying likely spots. I finished with 30 fish, but couldn't find any bigger than 40cm. The Komomo is a great little lure, but the finish was pretty scuffed up by the end of the session and I'm not keen on three trebles, even though I crushed the barbs.This session was totally different from yesterday: the fish were in a different area and needed a shallow-running lure with a different retrieve. That's what makes bass luring so interesting! PH

Here in sunny South Devon, mackerel can turn up in any month of the year. However, my shore spinning session today at Beesands yielded just five garfish and a pretty tub gurnard. The two biggest garfish came home for whiting bait; everything else went back.
Not a thrilling report I know, but good to get out in the fresh air and paddle in the waves! PH 

It was like summer in November today at my local estuary. The sun came out, the wind dropped, terns were diving and bass started splashing on the top. They wouldn't touch a surface lure though, and the medicine proved to be a Komomo II Silver Scale retrieved with plenty of rod-tip twitches. The surface action lasted an hour, but I still managed to pick up a few more fish by moving around and trying likely spots. I finished with 30 fish, but couldn't find any bigger than 40cm. The Komomo is a great little lure, but the finish was pretty scuffed up by the end of the session and I'm not keen on three trebles, even though I crushed the barbs.This session was totally different from yesterday: the fish were in a different area and needed a shallow-running lure with a different retrieve. That's what makes bass luring so interesting! PH

It was like summer in November today at my local estuary. The sun came out, the wind dropped, terns were diving and bass started splashing on the top. They wouldn't touch a surface lure though, and the medicine proved to be a Komomo II Silver Scale retrieved with plenty of rod-tip twitches. The surface action lasted an hour, but I still managed to pick up a few more fish by moving around and trying likely spots. I finished with 30 fish, but couldn't find any bigger than 40cm. The Komomo is a great little lure, but the finish was pretty scuffed up by the end of the session and I'm not keen on three trebles, even though I crushed the barbs.This session was totally different from yesterday: the fish were in a different area and needed a shallow-running lure with a different retrieve. That's what makes bass luring so interesting! PH

It was like summer in November today at my local estuary. The sun came out, the wind dropped, terns were diving and bass started splashing on the top. They wouldn't touch a surface lure though, and the medicine proved to be a Komomo II Silver Scale retrieved with plenty of rod-tip twitches. The surface action lasted an hour, but I still managed to pick up a few more fish by moving around and trying likely spots. I finished with 30 fish, but couldn't find any bigger than 40cm. The Komomo is a great little lure, but the finish was pretty scuffed up by the end of the session and I'm not keen on three trebles, even though I crushed the barbs.This session was totally different from yesterday: the fish were in a different area and needed a shallow-running lure with a different retrieve. That's what makes bass luring so interesting! PH

It was like summer in November today at my local estuary. The sun came out, the wind dropped, terns were diving and bass started splashing on the top. They wouldn't touch a surface lure though, and the medicine proved to be a Komomo II Silver Scale retrieved with plenty of rod-tip twitches. The surface action lasted an hour, but I still managed to pick up a few more fish by moving around and trying likely spots. I finished with 30 fish, but couldn't find any bigger than 40cm. The Komomo is a great little lure, but the finish was pretty scuffed up by the end of the session and I'm not keen on three trebles, even though I crushed the barbs.This session was totally different from yesterday: the fish were in a different area and needed a shallow-running lure with a different retrieve. That's what makes bass luring so interesting! PH

Despite a cold N wind and a small tide, I ventured out on a local estuary today. It was hard work, but I managed 9 schoolies, the best 46cm on a Flatbacker 110mm slow-sinking diver. It took me round a mooring chain, but luckily I managed to get both fish and lure back. I did have one fish and several missed takes on a Patchinko 125, but everything else was down deep. All bass were returned as usual. PH

Despite a cold N wind and a small tide, I ventured out on a local estuary today. It was hard work, but I managed 9 schoolies, the best 46cm on a Flatbacker 110mm slow-sinking diver. It took me round a mooring chain, but luckily I managed to get both fish and lure back. I did have one fish and several missed takes on a Patchinko 125, but everything else was down deep. All bass were returned as usual. PH

Despite a cold N wind and a small tide, I ventured out on a local estuary today. It was hard work, but I managed 9 schoolies, the best 46cm on a Flatbacker 110mm slow-sinking diver. It took me round a mooring chain, but luckily I managed to get both fish and lure back. I did have one fish and several missed takes on a Patchinko 125, but everything else was down deep. All bass were returned as usual. PH

Despite a cold N wind and a small tide, I ventured out on a local estuary today. It was hard work, but I managed 9 schoolies, the best 46cm on a Flatbacker 110mm slow-sinking diver. It took me round a mooring chain, but luckily I managed to get both fish and lure back. I did have one fish and several missed takes on a Patchinko 125, but everything else was down deep. All bass were returned as usual. PH

Here in sunny South Devon, mackerel can turn up in any month of the year. However, my shore spinning session today at Beesands yielded just five garfish and a pretty tub gurnard. The two biggest garfish came home for whiting bait; everything else went back.
Not a thrilling report I know, but good to get out in the fresh air and paddle in the waves! PH 

Beesands is a lovely spot, though a slow drive from Plymouth. Apparently gar make good eating, though their green bones put some people off. I don't eat fish at all and usually put gar back, but kept two today for whiting bait as the dog has eaten all my mackerel! PH