Cod Fishing, Dungeness

The Good, The Bad And The........Allright

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Beautiful Dungeness

The clocks have gone back, and winter is finally here, the winds have picked up, with strong South Westerly gales and the sea has been turned into mud soup, Cod season is now underway, and just like many others I couldn't help but go a little fishing mad with the lure of a big Cod. This blog is over 3 short, 3 hour sessions, that were all about being flexible, watching the weather and hitting the beach during the calm periods of the storms, and by calm I mean a very modest 20mph wind which makes fishing difficult, but not impossible.  I really wanted to fish Dungeness, it can throw up a real monster at times with some luck. Dungeness had low tides all week in the evenings, so finishing work at 5pm and heading straight to the beach, put me right on my mark to fish over low water and into the start of the flooding tide. The weather was right, the tides were right, what could possibly go wrong?

Big Leads And Bigger Baits

Well my first session could well have been my last ever! if I wasn't so keen on angling. Seriously windy and everything I did resulted in snapped lines, components breaking, getting hooks stuck in my fingers, knocking over my tackle box, rigs getting tangled every cast, it was all thrown at me this night. I nearly gave up when the wind blew a spare rig which resulted in a size 8/0 hook going through my bib and braces, 1 tracksuit bottoms and 2 sets of thermals, to embed itself in my shin, as I walked away from my rod stand to which the rig was attached, it fell over on top of me throwing my 2 rod on the shingle as I screamed obscenities, really I was beat!, with 6 rigs lost or ruined by tangles I called it quits and just for more for the mix, I went on a 100m sprint to attempted to catch my bucket lid which the wind blew down the beach like a bicycle wheel at great speed till it disappeared into the darkness. Round 1 was definitely a win for the Cod, although a dreadful session, I had caught about 20 Whiting, mainly on live bait rigs, and I even managed to hook a Cod of about 3lb, which I lost in the surf, thankfully days like this are rare.

It's A Start

It didn't take long for me to get back out there, a lull in the storm and with a spare Friday night whilst my Mrs was going to her office Xmas party, I set off to Dungeness again, this time for revenge! or at the least to still prove I could fish. What a difference!, the weather forecast was all wrong, it had gone from rain and 50mph gales to not a cloud in the sky, and absolutely no wind in the few hours it took me to drive there, this was a beautiful calm, cold and starry night, the sea was brown and angrily moved about with powerful swells, conditions couldn't be more perfect for Cod or angler. With renew faith and optimism, I set about fishing Size 8/0 single clip down rigs baited with 2 lug tipped with a whole squid head, I wasn't going to play about with big baits and bait elastic, a conscious decision made due to the havoc it caused me the previous session. my plan worked well, I was organised, quick bait ups and a seriously lack of Whiting about, gave me ample time to relax and eagerly watch the rod tips for the tell tale knock of a hungry Cod.

Biggest Of The Trio

It wasn't long, at low water as the tide stopped whilst it turned I had my first Cod bite, I waited a while as the rod tip kept nodding just to make sure the fish had taken the bait, then lifted the rod, nothing!, oh well, but very exciting to see big slow deliberate pull downs on a dead still rod tip, rather than the wavey wobble of the wind and constant rattle bites of Whiting. It was a good start at least, and my optimism wasn't mislead, all in all I had 7 good Cod bites and landed 3 Cod, the first was tiny and must of been just under 1lb Which I released, the second went 2lb 15oz and the third was 1lb 7oz, both keepers for the pot. Although not big fish, this was as good as its ever been for me, I was a happy angler. I believe that I had missed so many bites because of the lack of current which would of forced the fish to grab the baits hard, rather than what I believed they were doing, which was mouthing the bait and dropping it when they felt any resistance, the single hook wouldn't of helped either, all things to consider on my next session. But what a lovely night, and to be fair after staying on a hour longer than I should of, the cold at about 2 degrees which felt more like -2 actually got the better of me, with work early the next day I had to call it a night.

Rigs A Ready

The third and last session was again at Dungeness, but in a third location. and I was to start fishing during the day, weather was breezy, and had warmed up enough for Sarah to come along, It was nice to have the company, and had asked her if she could do some filming and take pictures for this blog, as waiting for a random passing strangers to stop and ask to take pictures seemed a bit odd, but that's my hang up, as everyone at Dungeness seems to be either be a fisherman or photographer, both of which wouldn't mind taking a picture I'm sure. I would be fishing low water, but with the missed bites last time, in the back of my mind, I had made up 3 new rigs, opting for pulley pennels with size 6/0 and 3/0 fished with large Cuttlefish, Lugworm and Squid, I was going for the one big fish. the session started off different, maybe because it was daytime, but no Whiting but I caught 4 Dogfish in a row, all with eyes bigger than their belly's.

Big Old Pout

Still I didn't mind catching the Dogfish, dusk was at low water, and that was when I really expected to catch a Cod or two. I was right!, dead on cue, a few firm tugs of the rod tip resulted in a small Cod of about 1lb 6oz, I released him with great anticipation to catch a bigger one. Unfortunately it didn't happen, the rod was still most the night, I think my camera woman  knew something I didn't, and promptly disappeared to go source her own Cod from a local pub, ready cooked in batter!. Although no more Cod for me, I did catch some rather large Pouting whilst it was dark, And with all my bait used up, I happily packed up to join Sarah in the Pub. I have to say, this year has been a good year for Cod, considering I've only caught one a few years ago. All over the South East people have been catching lots of Codling with the odd big one showing. I wonder if these the same micro Cod that I caught in Hythe during the spring? I'd like to think so, and if these fish manage to dodge the fishing trawlers, we could, fingers crossed, just maybe, be looking at a really good Cod season with these fish between 5lb and 10lb in 3/4 years time.

Best Of The Bunch

Bass Fishing, Dungeness

Bass Fishing Gone Right

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Its been a while since my last blog, and for that I apologise. There are a few reasons for this, the 1st being I have just got married to my beautiful Sarah, We married in the Old Lighthouse at our special place Dungeness, followed by fish and chips and a music festival with a fire circus, absolutely brilliant! And 2nd, I just haven't caught a fish for a long time, several blanks on the beach in the UK, followed by more blanking during a weeks inshore fishing in Croatia, followed by even more blanking during a week in France Carp fishing, seriously you couldn't make it up, but it is fishing!, and sometimes fate maybe playing games, which you just have to trust will workout.

What A View to Awake To

With the impending winter season, the UK sea angling community are waiting with anticipation of the impending Cod season, with sea temperatures dropping, big SW gales battering the south coast, stirring the sea thick with mud and food that feeds the hoards of Whiting that arrive for the winter which in turn brings the big Cod under the cover of darkness within casting distance of the beach, but wait!..... on your marks....get set.....NO!, not quite yet, we are in the midst of an Indian summer, the sea still warm and clear full of small fry and mackerel, the winds not even strong enough to stir a pot of Tea let alone a sea, and glorious sunshine with a night time temp of 16 degrees Celsius. Really? no good for Cod, but rather nice for October, This changed my plans slightly, actually, quite a lot, to be honest, but after some consideration it seemed realistic that there was a chance of Bass, Codling, and I was betting on a few late Dover Soles.

Wee Tiny Pouts

I decided to fish in front of the power station at Dungeness, mainly because I would be fishing over low water and this area would still be fishable and give me the widest opportunity to catch 1 of my 3 target species. We arrived at our mark about 10.00pm, an hour and some later than I planned mainly due to a road closure and the vast array of badly placed diversion route signs that had me driving in circles around Ashford, I think the work men were having a laugh when they put them out! We arrived undeterred we set up base camp on the high tide mark, but rather than start fishing, Myself and Sarah took our time, relaxing, cooked some beef burgers on a petrol cooker, sank a few beers and cheeky premixed cans of southern comfort and watched the stars whilst reminiscing what we had done 5 weeks earlier in the towering lighthouse which stood out above the high shingle wall which protects the power station. It was about midnight that I set the rods up, and made my way down to the surf which by now was about 40 meters in front of us.

                      

Big Bait For A Big Fish

Using my Greys Centuar TSX paired with Shimano Ultegra for the distance rod, and a Shimano Biomaster 8000 for the near rod. I cast out the distance rod as far as I could, a pully rig with 1/0 pennel hooks baited with a small lugworm sausage tipped with half a squid head, a sized down Cod set up, and on the near rod I used a boon rig with 3 size 4 short shanked hooks baited with 1" sections of lug designed for Doversole. within seconds the near rod was rattling away, and small 5" Pouting and a little larger Whiting were constantly attaching themselves to my hooks in pairs, whilst the far rod was slower, still produced Whiting, I lost count of the number of fish I caught, but kept up the work rate in the hope that something else would eventually get to the bait quicker than the abundant Pouting and Whiting. They didn't ! and within 3 hours had devoured 40 black lugs, 10 salted old lug and a box of squid. With the shortage of bait, I had a plan, and the last two fish I pulled ashore, one being a Pouting and a Whiting, ended up being attached by the nose to a large 6/0 circle and cast back out as live bait on a running leger. The rods were quite for the next hour and the only excitement now was the occasional rattle on the rod tip from the live bait, and the shooting stars, which every time I saw one, I wished for a big Bass or Cod, as I had definitely lost the bet of catching a Doversole by now.

A Dream Come True, 5lb 9oz of Bass

With a few hours sleep, I awoke to almighty racket, the wind had picked up and a fairly large surf coming up to the high tide mark was hitting the single with a thunderous slap, as I looked out of the beach shelter, all I could see was lots of birds sitting on the water, whilst others were noisily squawking and diving around them only yards in front of our camp, as I looked closely, I saw shoals of tiny fish about 4" long, swimming out of the front of the waves like surfers fleeing for their lives. With only a single mackerel left for bait, and luckily for me me, just a gut feeling made me buy it the night before. I grabbed a rod with the live bait rig from the night before, And hooked a large chunk of mackerel to the circle hook and cast out about 10 meters into the feeding frenzy, and waited, the birds and small fry was slowly working its way along the beach, and just as I considered following the frenzy down the beach, the rod tip dived down hard, some line was taken, confirmed with the rapid clicking of the drag, then it slack lined, I grabbed the rod, reeled in to take up the slack, then lifted the rod firmly, but gently. I thought my lead had been buried at first, but with a constant pressure on the rod tip I watched as the line kited from left to right about 20 meters then the tell tale knock knock as the fish shock its head confirmed that I was in. The fight was quite short lived due to the range I was fishing, but several times the fish was left on the shingle by the surf but was able to to propel itself back to the surf in a few inches of water. I tightened the drag and the third time with the rod tip lowered to the side I pulled in time with the surf and slid the new PB onto the shingle above the high tide ridge.

Circle Hooked Perfectly

Sheer uncontrolled excitement took over me, this fish had been a long overdue, the amount of time, over many years that I have put into fishing for Bass with lures and big baits close in, up until now had all proved fruitless. But now it had come good within 10mins of awaking, during one of the most beautiful sunrises that I've seen in a very long time, and also a very big payback for the few months of blanking. Maybe it was the shooting star wishes, maybe it was wedding gift from the sea, or maybe it was just fate, either way I was in the right place just at the right time and this fish meant a lot more to me than any other I have ever caught. the uncontrollable passion and sheer excitement as I landed this fish would have put Robson Green to Shame. I have now doubled my PB Bass, willey Bass of this size have managed to outwit me and elude me for years and years and is such a very special capture for me, and it's picture will very deservedly take pride of place being centre stage on my wall of fish pictures.

Dover Sole Fishing, Hythe

Bass Fishing Gone Wrong

Hythe, Kent, UK

 Rocks Atract Fish And Swimmers Alike

Just a short blog for a short session, having had a few hours spare to fish I decided to take the light spinning rod out and try for a Bass, I headed to Hythe, having picked up a score of Lugworm just in case, and glad I did, I had been given advice from the local tackle shop to try around one of the rocky outcrops. The tide was about half way down by the time I arrived, the water was more coloured than I expected, but I carried on with the plan. Using my Snowbee Sea Bass Special and Shimano Stradic 5000 loaded with 20lb Power Pro braid with a 15lb flourocarbon 1 meter long leader I systematically went about using the whole contents of my lure box giving each one at least five casts, from spinners to hard lures and rubbers to spoons, the only excitment I had was nearly falling off the slippery rocks.

New PB Sole, On A Spinning Rod?!?

Due to swimmers deciding that the 2 miles of empty beach wasn't good enough for a swim, just like fish, they headed to the features to bath and scare any bass away from your swim, never caught a swimmer before but I could of. With the loss of emthusiasm I headed for a burger van and had a cold coke. I decided that it was too much a nice evening to go home early, so decided to move along the coast to the next rocky outcrop. And apon arrival, guess what? I drove 1 mile along an empty sea to get to the next mark only to find a fluff chucker (fisherman fishing for mackerel with feathers) casting in and around several swimmers! I have to admit I started to walk back to the car, when I changed my mind and decided to bottom fish as far as out as I could cast with the light spinning rod, just to outrange the swimmers. I used a 3oz lead on a running ledger, and pennel mounted a single Lugworm on size 1/0 hooks. With a almighty cast with the short spinning rod I managed an impressive 35meters. and set the rod down using the exposed rocks as a improvised  rod stand. About 5 minutes later I had my first bite, reeling in to find a 1lb 6oz Dover Sole on the end of the hook, not a Bass but even better eating, some would say. After a few missed bites I conected with a bigger fish that put a big bend in the tiny rod, another Dover Sole and my biggest ever at 1lb 14oz and 44cm long. At this, I decided that was enough fishing for today. I didn't get my target species, but I ended up with 3 Dove Sole, a new PB and enough of the best eating fish I know, to make myself dinner for 3 nights! Funny that's exactly how long the Mrs is away, fending for myself in style! ;)

5* Eating A Fresh Dover Sole!

Catfish Fishing, Furnace Lakes

Fish Aint Heavy, That's My Brother

Furnace Lakes, Horsham, West Sussex, UK

Camp Catnip

Thinking ahead to an upcoming trip Carp fishing in France and sorting through and maintaining my tackle got me all excited, I've mostly been beach casting this year, and although I'm thoroughly enjoying the thrill of trying to catching as many species as possible, the lure of trying to catching a giant freshwater powerhouse was too much, of coarse I mean the Wels Catfish, I had landed a 27lb last year, and as happy as I was, I knew this was a just little one, but now I wanted a bigger one! With only a few hours notice I set about making some some rigs and getting the tackle ready and even buying a day fishing licence online for my 3rd rod as my licence only covers 2 rods. Tackling these big fish with 3 rods in the water can be tricky, and I was concerned that I would need help, so was happy that my brother Scott was able and wanted to come, a keen fisherman himself, I couldn't wait to spend some time with him at my favourite fishery, knowing that he would have a very good chance to beat his PB which stood at 9lb, I was just as excited for him as myself.

Space Filling Picture, That's All

We left early to arrive early, Scott got a swim straight away, whilst I waited a few hours, for the swim next door to become available, which gave me a chance to spend some time talking to other anglers, and find out what, where and how fish were being caught, all seemed good, with Carp and Catfish coming out all over to the tactics I was prepared for. I decided to fish 2 rods for Catfish, and 1 for Carp. The Catfish rods had 20lb mono mainline and the rigs were made from 40lb catlink braid to protect against the sharp rasping teeth of the Cats, with a size 1 pellet hook, baited with 2 x 20mm Halibut pellets, or donkey chokers as we like to call them. The carp rod was 15lb mono mainline to 18lb soft braid and size 8 hook baited with a single 15mm innovate cream crunch boiley. I decided not to bait to much and opted only to use a pva bag of assorted mixed size pellets each cast for the Catfish, and catapult 10 or so boileys out every 20 mins over my Carp rig, both tactics had worked well in the past, and it seemed like a logical starting place.

Fish Hooked, Well Done Bro!

It wasn't long before we was getting action, frustratingly I had 2 clear runs on the Catfish rods but didn't connect with anything, and Scott had the same on his Carp rods, I had said to him earlier to only expect to catch 1 fish, and possibly loose few, I could sense his frustration, and thought that the missed runs and quick bites were probably little Bream toying with the large baits, I was wrong!, as we watched his bobbing repeatedly bounce up and down once again, I shrugged my shoulders and said "why not, hit it", he did, and the rod pulled right round into a big arch as he connected into a large fish on his Carp rod, but adding to his frustration after a 5 minute fight the Catfish's teeth cut through the braid. A little later I had managed to connect in a fish after a big run, but as big as the run was, it only resulted in a small 5lb Catfish, but at least I wasn't blanking. Then almost immediately my Carp rod tore off, with a screaming run, I struck and played a very large carp which I estimated at over 30lb only to have him spit the hook on the 4th attempt at landing him, No! was this my one chance missed? It was getting late, but I was still confident as we had dusk, night and dawn yet to come and there seemed to be a lot more runs than on previous trips.

Wakey Wakey, Not A Dream!

Just before dusk Scott had hooked into a big fish, this time it was on a Catfish rod so there was little chance of him loosing this one the same way again. and he didn't. After a very careful fight, he had landed his first ever Catfish, jumping from a 9lb PB skipping all doubles and twentys going straight into a new PB of 30lb 4oz. Whatever happened now he was one happy man! Optimisticly I refreshed my baits and recast all 3 rods just before it got dark, but I had noticed that it had gone really quiet and it stayed that way without a bleep from the bite alarms deep into the night. I had just fallen asleep when I was awoken by a slow gradually run on my Carp rod , bolting out of bed in sheer panic mode probably still somewhat asleep I struck and hooked into a large fish. It seemed to be a Catfish, and didn't seem to know or care it was hooked, and swam about 50m  into the corner of the lake at a ridiculously slow pace taking line at 1cm per sec, I've seen faster snails if im honest. I just couldn't stop or turn him! putting as much pressure as I'd dare on the lighter Carp rig, I played this fish for nearly 20 minutes very tentatively, and had visions of the fish cutting through the braid like a mincer, I wasn't wrong, ping the line went, and once I reeled in, I could see the splaid end of my braid rig which was now half it's length, sods law!, and angrily I thought out loud "couldn't you of picked up the baits on either of my 2 other rods?" Although my luck was being kept at bay, Scott's wasn't, and during my fight had hooked and landed his second Catfish weighting in a at 22lb. luckily having just about finished re baiting and casting all my rods, the heavens opened up in a torrential downpour, not only dampening my spirits, but forcing me back into my sleeping bag and closing the door of my bivey, seemingly ending the nights fishing.

37lb 14oz PB Wels Catfish, And My Biggest Ever UK Fish

After 4 hours sleep, I awoke to full daylight, the rain had stopped, and the rods seemed exactly as they were before I went to sleep., I Reeled them in and found they were all still baited, at least I hadn't missed anything. With only a few hours left to fish,  for the last time I refreshed and recast all three rods. I had taken a stroll to Scott's swim to use his cooker and make myself a morning coffee and a tasty porridge, when I could hear an bite alarm "Is that mine?" instinct just made me start to run with porridge in hand, galloping along still unsure whether it was my alarms, but when I realised it actually was one of my bite alarms, I speeded up into a 100 meter sprint that Linford Christie would of been proud of. Still with porridge in hand I struck my rod, which had been deftly cast underneath a overhanging willow tree. I was on! I knew it was a Catfish straight away by the way the fish was in no hurry and the occasional pinging of the line as the fish curled and spun in the water. and I was confident now as this was on a Catfish Rig, but I wasn't in any hurry, this fish didn't want to come out and play, opting to sit at home under the overhanging tree, and I wasn't going to bully him out, so patiently I waited, just keeping the pressure on, even having time for Scott to spoon feed me the rest of my porridge like a baby, because my hands were busy holding the rod., cheekily saying "Feed me, I need my strength." personally I was just grateful that I actually got to eat it whilst it was still hot. It took about 10 minutes before the fish decided to move out from hiding, and as he attempted to swim along the far bank, I was able to slowly tease him across the lake and into my landing net. I had done it on my last cast a new PB weighing in at 37lb 14oz, and the biggest fish that I have caught in the UK, and yet again I have left Furnace Lake with a new record, and even better, 37lb is still just a baby, so I still got a perfect excuse to return! Hmmm.... and don't think I've let you off Mr Carp!

Goodbye From Me, And Goodbye From Him

Dover Sole Fishing, Dungeness

Sole Searching

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Not A Bad View

It's been a very long time  since I last caught a Dover Sole, which was back when I was a little kid, being taken to Dover by my Father and fishing off a sea wall throughout the night, happy memories of not being able to see over the wall, and having the fights of a life time, only to realise that you had caught a plastic bag, the constant hissing of a ferociously burning Tilly lamp eerily sending long scary shadows adding to a uncomfortable feeling, and of coarse the big scary Lice which scampered all over the concrete structure making you wonder what may crawl over the sea wall next, and at times, nearly freezing to death in high winds on stormy winter nights with the relentless ringing of rusty bells, attached to every rod tip with a stinky bait stained wooden peg. It's really quite amazing that I still remember those sessions from so long ago, and the memories and images those trips instilled in my mind, all exaggerated by my young inexperienced mind, are something that I'll never forget. And to think that's not even mentioning any fish!.  So with a few reports of them showing around Dungeness, it was time to reacquaint my self with one of the most expensive flat fish around, and attempt to add another species to my list.

Little Hook For A Little Mouth

I arrived at Dungeness at 8am, just in time for the bait shop to open and picked up a just score of black Lug, plenty of bait for what i needed, for the 6 hours session. I had decided to only fish 1 rod, my 14' Vercelli Spyra Fiamma coupled with a Shimano Ultegra 10000 XS-C loaded with 20lb Power Pro braid, I wanted to just be able to concentrate my effort on the one rod, which makes for a easier fish, as I was feeling quite tired from work. My rig was a simple 2 up 1 down flapper, which would ensure my baits were firmly on the sea bed which is most likely to attract a bite from a Sole, and to match their tiny mouths I used short shanked size 4 hooks, baited with a 1/3 of a Lugworm. Using a breakaway 5oz lead would help me hold bottom and keep the bait still allowing the Sole to pick up the scent and find the bait as they are not visual hunters, the only chink in the armour was that it was daytime, and these fish are normally nocturnal, but with a spring tide and coloured sea combined with a cloudy overcast day, I felt confident that I would be able to catch one.

Shingle Camo Dover Soles

I was into the fish from the off, tiny Dabs, Flounders and Whiting by the pair, flicking the bait gently out no further than 60 meters, I had caught about 18 fish, the tide had turned and was on the rise, I was struggling to hold bottom in the current, the colour of the water started to clear, even the sky had cleared to reveal a scorching hot sun, this didn't forebode well for catching a Sole, but then a bite that was clearly very different to the rest, and again the rod tip violently rattled into a big curve, thinking a Bass bite, I picked up the rob and gently lifted into a fish, I knew something was on, but what?, it felt bigger than normal, and I couldn't believe my luck when I saw a flat fish skimming across the sea into the surf, Yes a Dover Sole! and not a bad size either weighing 10oz and 35cm long it was a plate sized keeper, my target fish caught, and just in time, the water was now crystal clear with the sun burning down and now the tide was in full flood, all the fish seemed to disappear, leaving me searching near and far for bites. I even tried feathers for Mackerel over high water, but alas no more fish, not even a bite. It had been a lovely day compared to the incorrect weather forecast, and the lack of bites for the most part gave me plenty of time to enjoy the peace and quite, relax and catch the sun, of coarse I didn't mind, I had already got what I came for, another species for the list, taking my year tally to 17 species caught from the shore of Kent, and a dinner that would cost a staggering £20+ in most restaurants, happy days :)

Sabiki Fishing, Samphire Hoe

The Species Hunter

Samphire Hoe, Dover, Kent CT17 9FL, UK

After a stormy day putting a stop to my fishing plans, but by lunch time it had turned to sunny and hot, with only a pack of squid, and time running out, I decided my best option would be to return to Samphire Hoe in the hope to increase years tally on species. My plan was to fish 3 hours up and through high water till dusk, leaving most my tackle and fishing clothes at home, I pulled out my old Fox Warrior 12' rod, a carp rod with a 2.5 test curve, a light rod which I opted for, rather than a shorter spinning rod as the length meant that the line would be kept free from the wall when the rod was leaned against it as a rod rest, I paired the rod with a shimano baitrunner reel loaded with 10lb mono. I cut a sabiki rig with size 14 hooks in half so it had just 3 hooks left and baited them with squid tentacles, which looked fantastic, like a little fish which would of fluttered about in the current, Feeling the 1.5oz plain lead down to the bottom of the sea wall, I set the rod down with a gentle curve and put the bait runner on as I remembered nearly losing a rod here to a tiny Pollock.

Sabiki baited with squid tentacal

A Pouting Pouting?!?

Fishing was slow, frustratingly I had missed a few violent bites, As I very slowly worked along the wall trying straight down and out a little further about 5 meters from the wall attempting to find some fish, I didn't seem to matter, all was quite, but just as the tide turned, a rattle rattle on the rod tip followed by a pull down, I lifted the rod and was into a fish, a beautiful Tompot Blenny, and exactly what I was after a new species. the next few cast resulted in missed bites, but at least the fish were biting, and the third cast resulted in a Pouting, which put up a good fight on the light tackle, I was on a roll, and the next cast resulted in a small Corkwing Wrasse and again another new species for the tally. the flurry of missed bites and fish came to an end. It had gone quiet again, my rod had not moved for at least 20minutes, I tried jigging the Sabiki rig, bouncing the lead gently up and down off the rocks at the base of the sea wall, but to no avail.

Tompot Blenny

I set the rod down and became distracted with the beautiful view of the cliffs and watching other anglers, "Your rod!" shouted Sarah, I looked round to see the rod bending right over, I pick it up and gently lifted it up, oh no!, I'm stuck on the bottom, then it freed itself, then tap tap, and stuck again, It felt like a Wrasse darting into the crevasses of the rocks for safety, I pulled it free again, and the fish was still on, I could feel it tapping away, then it got stuck again, and again with a nervous pull I freed it up, but this time whilst reeling in I lifted the rod right up in the air and pulled what ever away as far away from the rocks as I could, bearing in mind I was fishing with tiny size 14 Hooks, which had allready been bent back into a curve several times by myself after getting straightened because of catching the rocks,
 

Corkwing Wrasse

I lifted the fish over the sea, I went to grab the fish and for the first time in a long time I recoiled. I didn't recognise the fish as it spun around. it kind of looked like a sea cucumber, but as it slowed down from its spin, I realised it was a flat fish curled up like a pirates map. what I had caught was a first ever for me a Topknot!, a very strange flatfish with a rather large protruding mouth. As I offered the unknown fish for a picture It clung very tightly to my hand using its side fins to form a kind of sucker, I later googled and found that the fish can cling to rocks even upside down in underwater caves where it waits camouflaged before pouncing of passing fish and crustaceans. And I must thank the anglers next to me who were kindly able to identify the species for me. As without them I may still be trying to find out.

Topknot, nice to meet you, you sticking around?

All in all, although it was a fairly quiet session, I had done exactly what I wanted to do, and that was to add new species to my shore caught year tally, which now stands at 16, which is no small feat considering that its not even half way through the year, and am well on my way to my target of 25 species caught in a year from the UK shore. There are many more species left for me to target, but I'm hoping for a few more surprises catches of unknown species that I may encounter on this challenge that are hopefully as strange and as fascinating as the little clingy Topknot.

Thornback Ray Fishing, Sandwich Bay

The One That Got A Ray

Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK

Magnificent View

My quest to catch my first ever Thornback Ray has been proving quite a difficult task, just this year alone I've had 5 sessions over two venues, twice at Sandwich Bay and 3 times at Herne Bay, I had fished day and night sessions without any luck hooking the odd Whiting here and there, except one session where I cuaght lots of Dogfish, so what had I been doing wrong? I'd mostly been using fresh Herring as bait, but reports were saying Bluey was catching better, I'd not found any Blueys untill now, but looking through a Pike bait pack in my freezer I realised that there was 4 halves of a bluey mixed in with some Sprats, Mackerel and Sardines, so now I had some bait, I also went from using size 4/0 pennel rig to a single 3/0 hook,to give better presentation.Was it the weather? I could not believe my luck as the weekend coming was my only weekend off in the month, allowing me to night fish and pick the tides, which was a perfectly timed rising spring tide, with high tide at 1.45am, a full moon and to top it off the weather was sunny with no wind meaning flat warm sea. This is as ideal for Thornback Ray fishing as it gets, So with all the signs there, I headed off to Sandwich Bay with sheer determination to catch my target species, I arrived at 10pm with the intention to fish till 3am.

Herne BayView From Bivvy

As I said before my plans don't always go right, in my hurry to go fishing, I had failed to notice that my scale batteries were flat and totally forgot to bring the camcorder, checking my phone I had 12% battery, maybe just enough for a few photos and a small video if I was lucky. But I didn't let this get me down because if ever there was a omen that I would catch a Ray then surly this was it. I fished 2x Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rod with a Shimano Ultegra XS-C 10000's loaded with 18lb mono, and my rigs were up and overs, with long 30lb snods with a single size 3/0 hook, I immediately baited them both up with chunk of Bluey put one to the horizon and the other at about 60meters, it wasn't long before both rods had registered attention, but the little rattling bites resulted in Whiting, the next few hours produced Dogfish and due to the tide starting to push through harder they were able to pull my 6oz breakaway lead free giving me a slack liner bite, and lot of excitement as each time I though this is a Thornback Ray, but not to be.

Where Are These Thorns

The tide was reaching high water and had started to ease off by now, still wondering and hoping that a Ray would be out there with my name on it. Then I noticed a boat coming along the coastline towards me, it was very close to the shore, but luckily went over both my lines, it then turned and headed directly at the beach 20 meters downtide of me, upon hitting the beach a large buoy was thrown over board, and the boat turned 160 degrees and powered away back out to sea. "Insert Censored Swear Words Here" I grabbed my first rod and reeled it in as fast as I could and saved the rig, but the buoy which was attached to a fishing net had now passed me at a range of 15meters and my second rod didn't have a chance. Totally dejected at the sheer disregard the boat had for me fishing, considering they could have warned me as they were well within shouting distance, but more annoyingly, I just had a long drift net floating across the whole bay in front of me, were there going to be any fish left for me to catch?.

My First Ever Thornback Ray

By now I was very despondent, having fished 4 hours and not caught a Ray, and now knowing a large drift net had just combed the sea in front of me, I couldn't even be bothered setting the second rod up, but I did manage to rebait and cast out my remaining rod. My attention soon turned to hunger, as in my hurry to go fishing I had not eaten dinner, but at least something went to plan, I was well prepared with kebabs and sausages which I started to cook on a little disposable BBQ, which whilst cooking gave me time to ponder at the beautiful stars in the clear night and the large red full moon rising above the horizon, well the fishing's gone wrong, but a BBQ on a beach on a night like this, drinking Jack Daniel's and Coke with my Mrs makes up for it for sure. I had just managed to turn my sausages a few times and I noticed a firm gentle pull on the rod tip, I look at the rod with little enthusiasm, I soon turned my attention back to the BBQ, but again a firm gentle pull followed by the rod tip snapping back to to a straight position, another slack liner, as I watched the line, it then got tighter putting a curve back into the rod which got bigger and bigger until the drag set in and started clicking releasing line, could it be?

A Pretty End To A Thorny Tail

I picked up the rod and gave the drag a quarter turn to tighten, and gently lifted the rod whist reeling in to take the strain, I felt a single thump vibrate down the rod, I was on and definitely a big fish! I reset my drag on the careful side, so as not to snap off, or pull the hook, and preceded to play the fish, this was clearly the biggest fight I had experienced sea fish in the UK, but the calm flat sea, and the fact it was dead on high tide with little tide meant that I could feel almost everything and a sheer pleasure to experience, it wasn't long before the torches picked out the nose of a Thornback Ray sticking out the water and then gliding on to the beach. Yes at last!!! I couldn't believe it,  the excitement set in, causing me to run around like a headless chicken looking for forceps and a cloth. It wasn't until I returned to the fish and pulled it a bit further up the beach I realised that this was quite a beast, and a angry one at that, it's tail covered in spiky thorns was trashing about violently and almost reaching its nose. But after some careful examination to see where I could get a hold of it without get spiked I turned the fish upside down which instantly calmed the fish down, with the mouth now exposed, I used long forceps to easily unhook the fish which was perfectly hooked. After a few, well lots of photos, I realised that this fish weighed a lot because I really struggled to hold the fish out away from my body to avoid any contact with the fishes thorns, I released the fish back into the lapping surf where it disappeared back out into the sea. I couldn't believe it, I was now over the moon! I had finally nailed my my first Ray even though my dinner was now a black smouldering mass surrounded by charcoal, I couldn't of cared less.

Dinner On A Perfect Night

I am gutted I didn't have working scales with me, not only had I caught my first Ray, I had done it in style with a large specimen, I have an idea about how much it approximately weighed as an experienced angler, and a fish lenght to weight convertor confirmed my guess to within 2lb. I'm very sure this is my first double figure fish from The UK shore, but the truth is the fish's weight will only ever be speculation, and I'm sure I would be extremely lucky to catch another of this size. I have the photo to remind me and the memory that I will never forget, the ups and downs and the effort over the years all came good in the end. As I said before with fishing, one fish can make a difference and whilst you got a line in the water anything can happen. I can now happily close the book on Thornback Rays and concentrate on other species, well at least till next time anyway.

Dogfish Fishing, Sandwich Bay

Ray Is In The Dog House

Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK

Flying The Flag

To be honest, my fishing plans at the moment are not going to plan at all, I've been on what feels more like a impossible quest now, to catch a Thornback Ray, whilst everyone else is enjoying lots of captures, PB's and record hauls, it's one nut that I'm finding difficult to crack. I'm sure it's just bad luck and maybe a few more sessions will show me the error of my ways and produce more than foul hooking a few hungry Pin Whiting on a over sized hook. And even though I've not achieved my goal of landing my first ever Ray, yet!, and yes I'm still optimistic despite 5 attempts this year alone,  that's not to say I havn't had a good days fishing, far from it! whilst all other fish seemed elusive one species was out to play, the Dogfish! and just proves that "Every dog has it's day"

A Small Fish To Catch A Big Fish

I arrived at Sandwich Bay at low tide, the plan was to to fish till high water to target Thornback Rays using big "up and over" rigs to keep the bait and 40lb snod pinned to the seabed, bait was fresh Herring and Mackerel with squid and sand eels to use as cocktails, these were to be mounted on 3/0 penal's, I used 18lb main line to 15lb to 70lb tapered leader, but I cut the first 3 meters off so the leader, so it actually started at about 18lb to match my main line. and using my Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rod with a Shimano Ultegra XS-C 10000's which would give me a good cast with a 6oz lead and medium to large bait. The sun was out, the wind was barley a gentle breeze and reports had been good so with confidence I put one rod out as far as I could cast, and the other fished shorter at about 70m, the rigs settled nicely and I set the rods with a slightly bigger bend in the tip, and awaited the tell tale Ray slack liner.

Who's A Good Boy Then?

The rods had been out 10mins without so much as a twitch, and I was setting about baiting another 2 rigs so I could swap over and recast immediately giving me more time in the water. then the close in rod tip took a dive, and then again, and again, not the biggest pulls but definitely a fish, I waited for the bite to develop, as I read that rays can be missed due to early strikes as they can cause a lot of false bites as they settle on the bait and rig. As I finished baiting the second rigs, the second rod was doing the same, I couldn't wait any longer, it had been too long anyway. As I lifted the rod gently into air, i then took the strain and waited whilst the lead popped out, yes I could feel a weight on the end, I tentatively set the drag and proceeded to reel in, was it a Ray, maybe but no pulling back, weed? no about 20meter from the shore line I saw what was on the end start bouncing across the surface and I immediately recognised it as a dogfish, and quite a big one at that. Well that's all I need to say about the session, for the next 3 hours, a fish every cast, and all dogfish, at mid tide the bites dried up and the rod stayed still and baits returned untouched, giving me time for a little snooze basking in the sun, and awoke to find a boat sailing across the bay proudly displaying the English flag, for St Georges Day.

How Cute Am I?

I had given it my best shot at catching a Thornback Ray, but they just didn't show. The Dogfish saved the day, I wasn't disappointed, and with 12 all over 1lb with the biggest at 1lb 15lb, put me landing approximately 18lb of fish, not bad by any ones standards. Dogfish or more precisely "lesser spotted dogfish" are the smallest member of the shark family to claim the coast of Britain as its home. I love Dogfish, But over the years I get the distinct impression that people either love them, or hate them. I've sadly seen piles of dead Dogfish on beaches where anglers seem to even resent putting them back in the water, for some inexcusable reason!, and thankfully less and less in recent years. Why? Are they a pest? No, how could you not expect a fish not to eat a bait you put in the water. Are they inedible? difficult to skin, yes!, but very much edible, they have no bones, just a central cartilage, and are perfect for children and anyone who's worried about eating bones. So what is it about Dogfish? and why would a friend, come fishing with me then describe his catch in the pub as "just got a manky Dogfish". Are they really manky? Of course not! It's their sleepy eyelids slowly opening and closing to show their beautiful reptilian eyes, that makes you realise that it isn't a fish, but a shark. And maybe that's the point! some peoples impressions of sharks tend to be more of big powerful predators with teeth, and something anyone would be proud to catch and brag about, so I'm wondering if the negative way some people talk about and treat Dogfish is just them showing their disappointment at catching this little, cute, sleepy, crab crunching, piece of sandpaper when unfairly comparing it to the likes of Jaws. But lets be honest, your biggest fish next time you go surf casting from the South East UK coast is most likely to be a ?????......yes you guessed it, a Dogfish.

Coal Fish, Dungeness

You Just Never Know What You'll Catch

 Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Having seemingly being forced at short notice to take my remaining years quota of holiday before the 1st of April or else lose it, left me with nothing to do except a bit of fishing, see life's not that bad! I have done a 6 hour session at Hastings resulting in Rockling after Rockling and to rub salt into my pain of catching these cursed creatures the wind was ferocious. having practically given up, I decided to fish a sabiki rig off a sea wall, baiting the hooks with very small pieces of lug worm, in a vain hope of catching something different, I wasn't disappointed! after a few minutes of the rig being in the water the rod tip bounced up and down, I lifted the rod and reeled in a small 10cm Pollock to my surprise.

And today I fished Dungeness beach, the weather was a lot kinder, the sun was out, the wind was calm and the fish were constantly throwing their selves on my hooks, what a lovely little session, 29 fish comprising of Dabs, three of which were keepers at about 30cm, Whiting, Flounders and micro Rockling, most of my bigger fish had all come from a single 1/0 hook on a running leger fished 20 to 30 yards out, I was hoping for a Bass. As I dragged 2 more Dabs onto the beach with my Continental rod, I saw my bass rod swing round to the left and bounce violently almost pulling the rod sidewards off the stand, in a fisherman's style panic I dumped the rod in my hands faster than a magician and grabbed the rod which was still bouncing and lifted into a bigger and harder fighting fish, which I was convinced was a Bass, But no! A Pollock? but something was wrong, the colour wasn't a Pollock's rusty brown colour, this was blue, It was a Coal Fish, a very rare catch in this neck of the woods, the first I've seen and my first ever Coal fish at 1lb 4oz.

Coal Fish at Dungeness - Species No. 12

This by its self isn't that strange, fishing always throws up the odd surprise, but now having caught my first 2 Pollock from the beach this month, the fact that lots of tiny Cod are still being caught along the coast, and that I have just seen my first Coal Fish which is seldom seen this far south is telling me this season is going to be very different, and for the better!! and I bet it's got something to do with the very mild winter and severe flooding and storms that constantly battered our shores for a few months, I know the commercial fishing nets have not been out during these months and some which were seemed to of been destroyed and washed ashore.  Either way, this seems to be good for the fishing, and my UK shore caught fish tally for the year all ready stands at 12, and with such a good start with so many species I cannot help myself! I'm setting a target of 25 UK species to catch off the shore, and with the summer species coming soon and with a little bit of effort I'm going to have a lot of fun trying to achieve this!

Bass Fishing, Weymouth

Double Bass Is Music To My Ears

 

Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth, Dorset. UK

Beautiful View, Preston Beach

A long weekend trip to Weymouth, and an opportunity to fish the famous Chesil Beach, but just like most my plans, they get twisted and changed, and this was no exception. I had done a quick recce of Several fishing marks including Chesil Beach, some rock marks off Portland and the North and South harbour walls in Weymouth where I watched 4 anglers try their best to catch something else other than a crab, and due to recent weather and winds, I had come to the conclusion that Portland and even more disappointingly Chesil Beach were practically unfishable due to the gigantic waves and ferocious swell which was littering the beaches with 1000's of unopened but waterlogged cigarettes, dog food and even fetter cheese, which were obviously the consequence of the recent storms or flooding claiming someones cargo. Having come to terms with the fact Chesil was off limits at least for the time being, it was time to get some advise and local knowledge, I went to Weymouth Angling Center, where luckily and almost to my disbelief I was advised to fish for Bass from Preston Beach about a 1 minute walk from my hotel door.

Benny The Blenny

I arrived at my mark at 3pm with the intention of fishing till dusk which coincided with high tide, armed with my 14' Vercelli Spyra Fiamma coupled with a Shimano Ultegra 10000 XBS loaded with 15lb mono, 15lb to 50lb tapered leaders and a simple running ledger with a plain 4oz lead and a single 1/0 Mustard Big Gun hook on a 1 meter 10lb flowing snod. I had almost kicked myself after leaving the tackle store as I had taken frozen Peeler crab even though I was told they had live ones, remembering the unsuccessful Smooth hound sessions that I had in the past with poor quality washed out frozen peeler crabs, but these frozen peeler were top quality, once defrosted they were still juicy, orange in colour and even come ready peeled! they even restored my faith in frozen baits, well a little,  I'll still try to avoid frozen baits if I can.

Biggest Bass Of The Day

Baited up with a whole peeler crab wrapped with bait elastic holding it into position on the shank of the hook, I cast out about 40 yards into the sea, a bit further than I would have done for Bass, but I knew from a earlier visit at low water this was a clear patch of sand and small rocks and would give be the best chance of not snagging on the larger weedy rocks and boulders which surrounded it. After a few little taps and knocks keeping me focused on the rod tip, it slammed down hard and then started to bounced violently, a classic Bass bite, I gently struck, and immediately could feel the knocking of what was on the end, my first cast had resulted in a beautiful little school Bass of about a pound. I rebaited and recast to the same spot, no longer than 5 mins waiting and the rod slammed down hard again, followed by a big wobble, I struck, and attempted to reel in, but a loop of line had gone under the spool, as quick as I could, I pulled line off the spool and untangled it from the shaft of the reel. I took up the slack and lifted the the rod putting a curve back into it, and luckily the fish was still on, it was another Bass, this one was bigger at 2lb 4oz and a new personal best for me.

Big Balls For A Tiny Pollock

The rest of the session was quite, the Bass had disappeared, only leaving the crabs to pick the bait off the hook sending tiny tell tale vibrations up the line to the rod tip, whilst moving my bait with each cast trying to locate some fish I managed to foul hook a tiny Blenny, not quite what I was after but something different and a very pretty little fish. After no joy fishing close in just managing to not lose any tackle to the rocks, I was down to my last Peeler crab, I had decided to cast this as far as I could. As soon as I settled the rod in the stand the rod tip rattled, tiny little rattles, I wasn't sure if this was the current, and was reluctant to reel in as it was my last cast. My rod tip had now been intermittently rattling away for 10 minutes, I was now sure it was a fish but it had to be very small, I reeled in, I couldn't feel anything fighting on the end, but I wasn't surprised to see a small silver fish wriggling away on the end of the big hook as I swung the rig towards me, I thought the fish was a familiar Whiting, but upon closer inspection and under shot lower jaw of the fish, I then realised that this was in fact a tiny Pollock, and a 3rd new species this session taking this years tally up to 10.

Asian Cigs Washed up At Chesil 

This had been a lovely little session, fishing a unknown location and not only managing some fish, the view over to Weymouth with Portland in the distance during the sunset was breath taking. And whilst the rod stood still my attention diverted to scanning the beach for hidden fossils amongst some of the most beautiful stones and rocks that I have ever seen which make up the Jurassic coast of South England. The weather had been extreamly changeable, from sunny with blue sky to overcast and rain within minutes of each other, whilst the clouds raced across the sky in the strong off shore winds, and for once and a welcome change, I was sheltered behind some cliffs, over which a kestrel was hunting, Sarah managed to get some magnificent video footage of it hovering watching the ground for prey to attack. I did get to visit Chesil a few days later and have a few casts, but even though the wind had gone, the swell and waves were still rough, and even as far as I could cast and with the stand on the high water ridge, I could not get past the violent surf, which threw the heaviest 6oz breakaway leads and my continental beach caster which I had bought with me around like rag dolls. Which left me returning to Preston beach where I caught one of the biggest 3 Bearded Rockling I've ever seen at 14oz. But one day I'm sure I'll return to fish Chesil, but better equiped and with a bit of luck the weather will be on my side.