Carp Fishing, Sky Lake

"I Love It When A Plan Comes Together"

Sky Lake, France

 

Morning view from Sky Lake

After what seemed like months of preparation, re spooling reels, changing batteries, tying and testing rigs, and impromptu trips to tackle shops buying bits and bobs that I may or may not need,  The time had come for my second trip to Sky Lake in France, Following on from last year, whilst learning the ropes for big carp fishing, I managed to land a couple of carp which gave me a new PB of 37lb, but this time I was going more prepared with the knowledge,from last year. I had a plan, and knew exactly how I was going to fish, helped by the fact that I was fishing the same area as last year, and the plan was even flexible enough to make changes at a split decision. I was expecting more this year, and was very confident of beating my PB, even hopeful of a 50lb plus fish.

Three Rods For My Fish

The trip started in a bar in Dagenham, where I meet up with the same Essex boys that went last year, It was good to see everyone again and after the polite pleasantry's and a few beers the normal banter started to flow. and it wasn't long before all the gear was loaded into the minibus trailer and we were off to Dover. we arrived at Sky Lake at 6am approx, after having a quick cup of coffee and getting reacquainted with Rob, Andy and Bernice, I made my way to peg 10 "the woods". Immediately I noticed how hot it was, the forecast was 30 degrees all week and the sun shone straight into my face from the opposite bank, a far cry from last years wet and cloudy trip. I decided to set up my bivey late in the afternoon after watching the swim, so I could position it where it would be in the shade most the day, a decision I didn't regret.

Ready and waiting

In my fishing plan I had made quite a few little changes from last year, although my bait was going to be the same, "Innovate Kream Krunch 18mm boilie" fished with a pop up snowman, I increased the pop up size from 14mm to 16mm, this balanced the bait perfectly and when tested in the margins sank very very slowly just resting on the hook. this would give more movement to the bait to catch the eye of any close fish and offer no resistance when taken, hopefully giving me more runs. I kept the hooks the same, micro barbed size 8 curved shank, I purposely kept the 12" rig as simple as possible with only a small piece of tungsten putty about 4" from the hook, firstly to ensure the braid was pinned to the lake bed, and secondly to turn the hook on a take, hooking the fish in the bottom lip. Other changes from last year I made was the lead size, after fishing with "Rigmarol Free Fall Lead Clips", I realised that this was kind of a semi fixed rig, So I upped the lead size from 2 1/2oz to 3 3/4oz G-force flatn pear leads, beautifully camouflaged and giving extra grip to the lake bed, with the intention that it would help set the hook on a take. I also Used Korda Dark Matter tungsten tubing, which is so blatantly heavy, you can fish in confidence that it is firmly fixed to the lake bed, out of sight from the wary carp.

Fish 1: 18lb 5oz, 1pm Sunday

After a hour or so of using the marker rod, I had settled on a spot to fish, directly towards the lodge, 75 yards out, this was a large sand/clay spot, and about 5 yards pass a large bank of weed. I put my first rod 2 meters to the right of the marker and my second 4 meters to the right, and John fishing in swim 11 put two rods to the left of the marker. now rather than bait just the area we're fishing, and another part of my plan, I baited up to 10meters to the right of the marker. my reason for this was if my left hand rod had a run and needed to be recast during the night, I wasn't confident that I could cast 75 yards in the dark and put the rig in the 4 meter

Fish 2: 29lb 10oz, 4am Monday

gap between Johns rod and mine, so I could just cast another 3 meters to the right of my undisturbed rod and still be fishing in a baited area, giving me more chances of catching a fish. 6 kilo of boilies would be enough for the fish to stop and feed, but also keep them there longer as they would need more time to find and pick up the bait over the large area, giving me and John the opportunity to pick off more fish.

After the first 24 hours of fishing is was clear to all of us that the majority of the carp were shoaled up in the corner of the lake in

Fish 3: 35lb 9oz 7am Tuesday

swim 12, they were spawning very late this year due to a very long and cold winter,  no one was fishing in swim 12, and the group decided to leave it that way, mostly because it would of seemed rude not to fish your drawn swim, we had left all the corner swims free, with two fishing on each bank, which gives a lot more water for everyone to fish, It was better all round just to leave the fish undisturbed and in peace whilst they done their business, decides people were picking off the odd fish here and there, but I did wonder and hoped that they were going to move around the lake.

Stalking the margins

Well for the first few days it was very quiet with the only action being at dawn when the fish seemed to leave swim 12 and come through John's swim then through mine and then turn around and head back to swim 12, where we had managed to hook and land a few fish between us each morning, was the large baited area working, and stopping the fish going any further?, the fish definitely weren't crashing anywhere else on the lake during the night. Except I had noticed regular crashes during the day, to the right of my swim, and every time John walked the rigs out to our markers to clip the line at 75 yards, he disturbed fish

resting in the shade of the trees, I couldn't resist, from Tuesday I baited up the margin just 1 meter

Fish 4: 25lb 9oz Wednesday 3am

from the bank under a overhanging tree, with about 5 10mm Kream Krunch boilies every four hours or so, on Thursday I put a bait out which was a fluorocarbon combi rig with a critically balanced Innovate 14mm Jaffa pop up 20mm, fished slack line, the rod had only been out 40 mins and as I returned to put a few more boilies out, the reel began to click and line was being taken, as I reached for the rod I struck, I had hooked and landed 22lb 7lb mirror, somewhat of a sneaky daytime bonus fish.

Fish 5: 34lb 10oz Wednesday 4am

The nights for me and John had been quite steady with fish and missed runs, which kept us awake most the night resulting in us going to sleep earlier and earlier as the week progressed, as we both were getting tired, but Thursday night I awoke to what sounded like a domestic cat going for a swim, there was explosive splashing in the lake just left of our boat, I ran over to see what was causing the commotion, and realised that a large predatory fish maybe a pike or catfish was attacking my landing net which was in the water holding some live bait Rudd which we were fishing for pike with. I grabbed the net and attempted to scoop it

Fish 6: 28lb 10oz Thursday 3am

under the large fish which was still attacking the net. but It got away, then moments later, I could hear what sounded like a group of people walking through the woods behind us, inquisitively me and John headed into the woods to investigate. As I peered through the gate to the fishery I could see 3 wild boar, only little ones, Never seeing boar before, I had to get a closer look, they was not phased or bothered by us or the torches, John opted to stay put whilst I crept closer, the boars were really not bothered

Fish 7: 22lb 7oz Thursday 3pm

at all and had definitely seen me. but then I heard a very loud angry snorting to my right followed by hoofs being dragged along the ground, similar to a bull in my imagination, I looked round and saw a large dark shadow, was that the daddy boar? I wasn't going to find out, and in a crazy and comical Blair Witch moment, a terrified me, turned and run as fast as I could through the woods with my head torch light bouncing around, all the way back to my swim.

Fish 8: 22lb 1oz Friday 7pm

The last night was here, and although I had landed 8 fish I still hadn't beat my PB of 37lb, I wasn't giving up, the signs were good, early evening and fish were crashing all over the lake for the first time all week. In a last ditch attempt to bag a new PB, I fished all three rods to the 10 meter baited area in front of me but spread the gap between the rods by 5 meters. With leaving early the next morning we had opted to pack the bulk of our tackle away including the bivey, and sleep under the stars, a gnats dream

Fish 9: 38lb 1oz, Friday 11pm

and our worst nightmare, but It wasn't long before I was awoken by something different than the high pitched buzzing of a blood thirsty vampire insect, my bait alarm, bingo!  I landed a beautiful new PB mirror carp of 38lb 1oz. Unfortunately for John whilst the fish was being unhooked it had managed to splash water all over his sleeping bag, completely soaking it!, it was at least 5 meters away lol. After gaining confidence during the week I recast the rod back to where it was between my two other rods, two hours

Fish 11: 37lb 11oz, Saturday 5am

later, another run on the same rod. and a even bigger PB and my first ever 40lb plus fish was on the bank, a fish known as "The Pretty One" tipped the scales at 45lb 6oz. And again I recast the same rod to the magic spot, and again the bite alarm woke me up, I savoured every moment of the fight, knowing that this was the last fish I was actually willing to catch, I was so knackered by now, and before even landing the fish I had decided to call a end to the fishing. The last fish was a big common weighing in at 37lb 11oz.

Fish 10: "The Pretty one" 45lb 6oz "new PB" Saturday 2am

I had landed three of the biggest fish I have ever caught all in one magical night all on the one rod, how and why none of the other rods had runs is a mystery. I stuck to my game plan, it had come good and I smashed it on the last knockings. A night that I will never forget, it left me totally knackered, completely satisfied and absolutely ready to leave, this was without doubt the best fishing trip I have ever had and would like to say a really big thank you to John, with his help in clipping the line at 75 yards, landing the fish, one even from a boat in the dark, and taking photos and video footage, I know I would of struggled and not of landed half the fish I did without his help. The week really drummed it into me how much help is actually needed in fishing for big fish, All the guys made it a team effort  unselfishly leaving their rods for quite some time, with long walks to offer assistance to others that were playing fish, and hats off to them all. Because there is nothing better than sharing the excitement of a big catch with friends.

Catfish Fishing, Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery

Reward For Missing Cat

Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Slinfold, Horsham, W. Sussex. RH13 0QZ

Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery

A long wait for an exceptionally long and cold winter to end, and time to visit my favorite venue ever, for many reasons. Spring has sprung and with a three day holiday booked, it was time to return to Furnace lakes fishery. I had lost a monster Catfish here last season which I have blogged about on "The One That Got Away", I had one goal, to spend the next 48 hours and to try to hook then harder still, land the biggest Catfish I could, I was ready for revenge, but were the fish? I set off early to arrive at opening to ensure that I got a swim on Roman Lake, which holds the biggest head of Catfish at the venue, upon arrival at the cabin to pay my ticket, I was told the fishing's been really good, with lots of Catfish being caught, everything was looking up, even the weather forecast had gone from rain to sun with clouds. I made my way to my swim where I spent a hour watching the water for signs of fish, before having my gear transported to the swim in the quad bike service.

Ready, Set, GO!

I eagerly set up camp and my rods, using 3 x Fox Ranger  XTS 3lb test, matched with Shimano Super bait runners XTR 8000RA spooled with 20lb Korda Subline. My first rod was at distance tight against the island under a overhanging willow tree, a favorite spot, that had been successful for me in the past, baited with a 1" cube of luncheon meat. My second rod was baited with double 21mm halibut pellet, which I cast out tight to some reeds that a big fish was frequently disturbing. And for my third rod, I used my light spinning rod to float fish for live bait, and easily with every cast caught plenty of Roach and small Bream with a single maggot on a size 20 hook. After a hour I had enough small 5" Roach in the keep net, I now set up the third rod for live baiting on a dumbell rig which I fished in the margins. The day had gone quietly and not a bite, but fish were being caught elsewhere on the lake, and I was still confident of a catch.

Snotty Bream That Thinks He's Still A Skimmer

Night had fallen and I changed my live bait rig for a running leger hair rig, baited with 6 lob worms which I threaded onto the hair about 10mm at the head of the worm (if that's what you call it) and then injected a small amount of air into each tail, to make the 6 worms tails float and sway and wriggle vertically above the hook, it was very fiddly, and took way to many attempts, but once I got it right, it looked spectacular when I tested it in some shallow margins, how can a Catfish turn his nose up at that! I had one bite all night, and yes it was on the worms! I struck into what I though was going to be a big fish, and to my surprise a fish immediately surfaced during the strike, and then skimmed 3m across the surface before skidding onto the bank at my feet. I looked down, and was surprised to see a very sizable Bream, which tipped the scales at 4lb 8oz, Not the best way to land a fish, but a very welcome catch.

Its secret to power is from the long tail!

With the lack of any real takes during the night I felt the dawn, with its poor light, rising sun, mist still rolling like clouds across the lake and the incredible sound of the local wild life beginning to wake up, this had to be the time for a bite, but it didn't happen, after 2 hours of sitting by my rods in the damp cold after a very disturbed and excitable nights sleep left me very tired, so I decided to get back into the bivey and have a sleep. I must of only been asleep 30 minutes when I awoke to the sound of a screaming reel, Line was being stripped off the reel on the double halibut rod, the bobbin was on the ground and the bite alarm was silent! I never did work out why, it was turned on and I watched the line going through it just before striking. As soon as I struck I felt the rod pull hard and slow away from me in a very big curve, I was on and it was big!! line continued to be taken for at least another 20 meters before I even tried to take some line back. The adrenalin kicked in! this was a powerful fish! and memories of the fight with the lost monster last year came flooding back! my body began to feel the strain, catfish are very powerful! and patience is needed to land these fish, as we played the tick for tack battle of gain a few yards lose 10 yards, and vise versa, the shaking and big wobbles the fish puts through the rod as it twists and turns in the water was making me feel very nervous, but 15mins later I had done enough to tired the fish, and I had the biggest Catfish I've ever caught in the net! not only a 21lb 14oz PB Catfish fish for me, but the first fish I have caught in the UK that was over 20lb in 30 years of fishing!!

Donkey Chokers Aka Halibut Pellets

Buzzing with the excitement of the catch and covered in slime, I decided to go to the lodge for a wash and brush my teeth, on the way I spoke to several fishermen about their catches during the night, paying attention I learnt that no carp were being caught, and all the catfish were coming out on halibut pellet, and not from the shallow margins but from deeper water. and with several stories of braided hook links being severed by the tiny rasping teeth of the Catfish I decided to change all my rigs, to 18" long rigs made with 40lb cat link with size 2/0 eagle wave Catfish hooks baited with double 21mm halibut pellet with a large PVA bag filled with a variety of different size pellets as feed on each cast. I also changed the spots of where I was casting to, 2 of my rods that were tight to the island I then started dropping the baits about 7 meters from the island, which was in about 8' of water just at the bottom on the steep incline toward the island, my margin rod was now being cast straight into the middle of the corner of the lake where the deep channel of the lake narrowed before turning into the corner, which I thought would be like a bottle neck for any fish cruising along the deep.

One Little Brute Of A Beautiful Fish

The morning went by without a bite until a almighty crash in the reeds just to the left of my swim made me literally jump out my skin, without hesitation, I reeled in a rod, and crept quietly through the soft mud and dropped my rig right where the fish crashed. I let off enough line to fish a slack line and then set up the rod rests in the reeds and carefully lay my line between the reeds so to avoid a tangle. It took only five minutes before the alarm was bleeping sporadically, I crept over to the rod and watched the slack line as it tugged gently at the reeds, my rig had moved a meter along the reeds, and just started to move again, except this time the line straightened and what was on the end started to take line, I struck! It was fish on! The fish headed straight out towards the middle of the lake, which gave me the opportunity to reposition myself at my swim, now the reeds weren't in the way, The fish put up a really good fight, but I knew it wasn't as big as the last one, It weight 12lb 6oz, but it was a beautiful fish and looked quiet different to the other Catfish I'd seen caught, it had 5 whiskers, darker in colour, and way more stockier, when I released the fish it darted straight back in to reeds where I had caught him from, coincidence? or was that his territory?

New Catfish PB And My Biggest UK Fish To Date 27lb

Well, I was happy as Larry, even my cousin Jerry who turned up and was fishing the next swim along managed to land his second hooked fish and banked his first ever Catfish at 29lb, so we had both done what we wanted to do, but it wasn't over yet, I still had one night left. my rods had been out since 6pm and just after I'd finished eating sausages cooked on the BBQ at midnight, my left hand rod bobbin gently rose and then the bait runner kicked in, I struck immediately, and straight away the rod slowly but powerfully curved round till the drag on the reel gave line, this was bigger than the last, this fish went powering through and past the next swim and onwards before I stopped it, admittedly I was giving it more stick due to the bigger hook and cat link I was now using, I had to, or it would of kept going I'm sure, the extra pressure I was exerting on the rod was killing my back, I think the fight only lasted 20mins and my arms were shaking, but all that is forgotten as soon as the fish is in the net! This one tipped the scales at 31lb on the nose, minus 4lb for the sling, left me with a new PB of 27lb, I was dancing in joy, as I've been known to do on occasions. what a day! I recast the three rods with the last three PVA bags full of pellets I had left, and went to sleep a very happy man.

Couldn't Resist, Even Cuter Than A Cat

I have found that there is something magical about Furnace Lakes Fishery, even if I blanked it would be worth the visit, it's such a beautiful location, with stunning scenery, the abundant wild life is amazing, with rabbits, bats and birds galore, at night the place seems misty and magical and the crashes of big fish just remind you that every bite is worth the effort as it could easily be the fish of a lifetime. I came here to catch a big Catfish after losing one last year, mission accomplished? definitely yes! I know the fish I caught weren't big as far as Catfish are concerned. but two of them were the biggest fish I've caught in UK waters in 30 years of fishing. so I have accomplished my mission!  and you know what the best thing about it is? I got a reason to go again! next time I'm going for a 30lb plus!!! and that will be another story.

Carp Fishing, Oakley Road Fishery

Worth The Weight

Oakley Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2, UK

Oakley Road Fishery, New And Improved

After working 14 days in a row and with over 60 hours overtime, yes......I'm dead. Well not quite, but close, I feel like a walking zombie on auto pilot. It's May bank holiday, and my one day off was luckily forecast to have glorious sunshine with a temp of 20 degrees, how could I not go fishing?. My plan was simple to find a trip that would be as easy and lazy as possible, cast out a rod and sleep in the sun till the sound of my bite alarm awoke me. I pondered about this for at least 5 days, and the only venue that kept popping up was Oakley Road Fishery. It ticked all the boxes, 10 min drive, no rigs or bait to buy as I already had everything I needed, and it would be less busy than other commercial fisheries which would of been packed due to the nice weather, bank holiday and it being closed season for fishing rivers. It even had a chance of a decent sized fish. Although I've fished this place a lot over the years, and I used to know exactly how it fishes, but last year it closed for maintenance work, the silt was dug out, purpose made swims have been built and finished of with a gravel path which goes all around the pond, it was very different now, but would it fish the same??

Fish 6 Boilies close together with PVA Mesh

We arrived at the venue at 8am, that's me and Sarah, a lot earlier than I had imagined, probably due to my work body clock annoyingly waking me up at 6am, but I didn't mind to much as I was going to sleep most the day, and fishing is supposed to be relaxing, well sometimes it is. Sarah had put her gauntlets on the table, "I will catch more fish than you with one rod!" she announced, no, actually it was definitely a statement! She has learned a lot about fishing from me, and is now more than competent to set a rod up, bait up, cast out, feed and land fish. I brushed off her confidence, but underneath I know the way fishing goes, and she could quite easily come true on her words. even with the threat of losing, I decided to still fish in a lazy way, I used my old but lighter carp gear, 2 x Fox warriors 12' 2.5 test, matched with Shimano ST 6000RA's loaded with Fox 10lb soft steel mono. My rigs were simple running leger with 1oz in line lead, with a 10" long hair rig made from 12lb braid and a size 10 barbless hook. One rod baited with a 10mm Innovate Kream Krunch boilies fished about 7 meters out which I baited with 40 loose boilies. the other rod was fished almost in the centre of the pond with a small cube of luncheon meat, with no baiting. I set my rod up on the alarms, and waited. Sarah decided to fish the more conventional way on this water and float fished the margins.

Sun And Fishing Together!!!

It was a glorious morning! the sun was shining, and although we had been fishing about 2 hours, not a bite, for either of us. But I was hopeful because a fisherman 2 swims down had landed a nice Common Carp which tipped the scales at 12lb 6oz. I was struggling to keep my eyes open when my dad unexpectedly turned up with his rod. Doing his normal thing, quickly catching a small carp, as if to show me how, then disappeared as quickly as he arrived. And if he wasn't showing me how to do it, whilst I was talking to him at the other end of the pond, Sarah hooked and landed a small carp on one of my rods, which obviously I had to give her the fish. There was a short spell of about a hour when several people landed fish and some more low double Carp, but as the sun reached its peak bites were non existent and the sun seemed to stop the fish feeding, With my reclining chair right back I settled for a bit of snoozing during the calm.

Worth The Weight, 10lb 15oz

The day was coming to a end, I hadn't changed tactics, just waiting patiently for the fish to find my baited area and start feeding. Then all of a sudden the pond came to life, fish were topping all over and you could see them cruising about, just under the surface, temping me to change to floating bread crust which I tried with Sarah's rod for about 10min, but the fish seemed wise and reluctant to take the floating bread, but then my bite alarm sounded on the Inovate boilie rod, slow bleeps gradually getting faster and faster until it was one continuous bleep, I struck, immediately I knew it was a sizable fish, it put up quite a little scrap, but after a few lunging runs, I had him beat and ready to be netted. It was my only fish of the day, but well worth it, a Common carp weighing 10lb 15oz.

Shhhh I Stole A Photo With Sarah's Ickle Carp

Well the day was at an end, and was the pond different?, yes and no. It was lovely to see a few children fishing the small stocking pond whilst their parents watched or taught them to fish, something I don't see often enough on other waters, Oakley Road fishery certainly offers a chance for the future generation of angler to hone their skills whilst catching silver fish and Carp with the chance of a big one, The bigger pond seemed to fish the same, less bites and fish, but the stamp of fish seemed a lot bigger now the smaller fish have been put in small pond, I saw over 20 carp caught with 5 low doubles come out during the session, and I've been told there are bigger in there with some low 20's. I admit that a lot of anglers may overlook fishing Oakley Road Fishery, due to it being on the small size, but it is what it is, a well stocked, well managed, still developing fishery slap bang on the outskirts of SE London, and I for one will on the hot summer evenings when I have a few hours after work will be there to stalk and temp the fish to the surface with floating biscuits or bread just as I have done for years, and hope to do for many more.

Barracuda Fishing, Puerto de Vueltas, La Gomera

Holiday Species Hunt Continues

Puerto de Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Canary Islands

View Of Vueltas From The Sea Wall

During a weeks break in the sun on the beautiful Canary Island of La Gomera I had planned to do a day or two of big game fishing, for many reasons things didn't go to plan. My location was very remote and would have required getting to the other side of the island to the bigger port of San Sebastian, which would of added almost 120 euros to the all ready expensive cost of chartering a boat. I Also had to bear in mind that this was a break for me and the misses, and due to the very rough sea and high winds during the week of my visit It could of been disaster for both of us, as we both suffer from sea sickness. As I realised that going big game fishing wasn't on the agenda this holiday, I very happily settled for some Lure fishing for Barracuda, during my stay I had been chatting to other fisherman who were all telling me stories of Barracuda being caught on lures off the harbour wall, I had tried during the day without success until a German fisherman called Khosro, Informed me that if I wanted to catch a Barracuda That I needed to be fishing at dusk or dawn. Now, I'm not the best lure fisherman, and to my memory, despite weeks trying I have never caught a fish on a plug, only a few small pike on spinners and a lucky Pollock on a soft sand eel, So to catch a Barracuda on a plug would be dream.

Alluring Attraction! Lets Hope So!

I set my alarm for 4.30am and planned to be fishing by 5.30am, but as this was the first time I had even looked at the clock whilst on holiday, And I failed to realise that the time on my alarm clock application on my phone was confused and was 2 hours out, resulting in me eating breakfast having a coffee and ready to leave at 3.00am with 2 hours to wait DOH!!!. It didn't happen!  I feel back asleep and woke up way to late with the dawn well and truly over, double DOH!!!. I had missed the morning session, but nothing would stop me missing the evening one. I arrived about 1 hour before dusk, I was totally set up for this type of fishing, an ultra light fast action "Snowbee, Sea Bass Special, 10gm - 50gm" a superb 4 piece spinning rod matched with a "Shimano, Stradic FJ 5000" spooled with "PowerPro,  9kg braid", a brilliant outfit, and one that I'm definitely going to put to use back home for Bass, Pike and Perch. Rather than using a wire trace, I opted for a 40lb fluorocarbon trace to help increase takes, and I made this 7' long, because if I did hook a fish I would be able to lift it by the 40lb trace up the sea wall. which was a concern as I could not pack a nets in my suitcases. There was a another few options that I had considered If I was to hook a really big fish, firstly of climbing down a  wall ladder to the sea level and use a fish gripper, which would of been very dangerous and left me with one arm to climb back up the vertical ladder with a angry flapping fish and lure hanging off the other arm, or the more plausible second option of playing the fish 100m back to the beginning of the wall, where a ramp dropped down towards the sea getting closer to the water, but this would involve playing a fish for longer and getting it around approximately 8 very large tyres used as buffers for ships dotted along the sea wall. But the main thing was to get a fish hooked first!

Light! Camera! Action! Garfish Is Pure Entertainment

Well my first session was exactly like all my other lure fishing trips, not a bite and no fish, I had slowly worked my way from the beginning of the wall and back down over the two hours, I had tried all of my lures at one point and my only success was to learn how to make my red head popper pop across the surface like they're designed to, as I had never used one before. It was dark and raining! I had given up, I sat on the ramp looking out towards the water, wondering if I was doing something wrong, or if the strong winds had forced the fish to move elsewhere, and then reflecting off the harbour wall lights I saw glimmers of silver flashing across the surface about 60m out. I rubbed my eyes and again I watched at least 10 fish come clear out of the water. a shoal of Garfish!! I grabbed my rod, I knew straight away that the "Yo-Zuri, Floating Crystal Minnow Lure" would not reach the shoal as it was too light, and in less than 5 seconds with the quick link attachment I had switched the my lure to a "Tronix, Blue Casting Lure", which is designed for distance casting, I cast out to the spot, and as the lure hit the water it exploded! maybe a hundred fish, bait fish and Garfish instantaneously startled by the lure. And immediately I was was on, The hooked Garfish spectacularly tail walked across the surface of the water for at least 10 meters at a ferocious speed. It even jumped a few times, What a show! This was exciting! This is what lure fishing is about! although the fighting fish put on a magnificent display during the fight, it wasn't long before I had landed my first ever Garfish! A skinny torpedo, with a reptilian beak, It made my night!

 "Great Barracuda" Released To Become A Monster

With the excitement of the night before, I returned the following evening to continue my pursuit of a Barracuda, I found Khosro fishing the wall, he had given me advise earlier on in the week about catching Barracuda, and as we passed on the wall we compared lures, tactics and wished each other good luck, If there were any Barracuda about, surly one of us would get one! I had been fishing for about an hour and the sun was setting now, and it was prime time for a fish, I decided to try my "Rapala, X-Rap Saltwater Lure, 14cm, Silver". I hadn't used it as of yet, believing it to be to big. But Khosro with good advise convinced me that it wasn't, just how big are the Barracuda here I thought? I hadn't even asked that question! With the third cast with the X-Rap, I had my first hit, I didn't hook up, but it was action! and proved by the teeth marks left in the lure! It then went quite for a bit and I needed a rest, so I gave the rod to Sarah who continued to fish, she even had a hit bringing the fish to the surface before losing it! Like an excited school boy I took the rod back, and cast out. Straight away a hit, I stopped reeling in, nothing! I gave the lure a twitch, and again bang the fish hit it, but I still didn't hook up. I let it float to the surface and nothing, I twitched and nothing then I started to reel in and Bang the fish hit the lure again, but third time lucky! it was hooked! It didn't put up too much of a fight due to its size, but its speed and angry ferocity was amazing, just like most of the fish I had caught here, when it surfaced I thought for a split second that it was a Garfish, But It wasn't, no long beak, This was my Barracuda! And fowl hoked! I worried that the hook would pull, but maybe luckily for me, the fish was quite small and it lifted straight out the sea and up the wall easily.

Fish Hooked Only Condones Celebratory Good Quality Cigars!

I didn't catch anything else that night, I packed up whilst smoking a celebration cigar that Sarah had given me for catching my Barracuda, but to be honest it was the Garfish that left more of an impression with its fighting acrobatic display, god knows whats it like to have 1000lb Marlin jumping about on the end of your line! The Barracuda wasn't a big fish, but a new species for me! and the fact that I had caught in on a hard lure, especially with my poor track record of lure fishing, has given me a bit of faith to go more often, being mobile, hunting the fish, spotting them and then trying to trick them into taking the lure, and then watching the water explode as a fish takes the lure on or just below the surface is magical, its a visual thing you just don't get with bait fishing, and it's what makes lure fishing so exciting!

Bait Fishing, Puerto de Vueltas, La Gomera

 

10 Species And A Holy S**T!!

Puerto de Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Canary Islands

View From Harbour Wall Facing Vueltas

A winter holiday in the sun, with not a lot to do except relax, and if your like me, that means fishing! The beaches at Valle Gran Rey are Rocky, large black round boulders broken with jagged rock pinnacles rising from the bottom like mountain ranges, not impossible to fish on a clam day, but during my stay at Valle Gran Rey, the wind got stronger with each passing day, the 3m surf hitting the beach was breaking about 70m from the beach, good for the surfers, but made fishing for me near impossible, considering the light travel rod capable of casting 3oz leads, that I had with me. But even with the high winds and crazy surf, the almost unused Port at Vueltas provided shelter, calm deep water and a flat comfortable platform to fish from, ideal for some lazy holiday fishing!

Perfect Light Fishing Outfit

My first trip to the harbour wall, was exciting as the sea was calm and clear, with my polarised glasses I could see many shoals of small fish as I walked along the apparently deserted sea defence, I pondered at what could be lurking down in the depths. As I reached the end of the wall I was surprised to find a hidden group of four fishermen with spectators hidden behind the last piece of wall structure. they were fishing straight off the end of the wall, I was relieved to find some others fishing, as now I could see how they were fishing to get me started, as I had no experience of fishing in these waters for these species. Conversations soon started with the other fisherman, tactics, advise and fishing tales all on the agenda, Luckily for me the 3 Germans and Belgium fisherman knew enough English for us to understand each other, and when a word eluded us, my German partner Sarah helped translate so the conversations could continue. I unpacked my tackle, my brand new pride and joy, a 4 piece Snowbee Sea Bass Special, 10 to 50gram light rod designed for spinning, this rod is ultra light with a very fast action, I matched it with a Shimano Stadic 5000SJ Spinning reel with the larger ball type spinning handle which I had to import from the USA, loaded with 250 yards of 9kg Power Pro braid, this was a beautiful set up, in fact, easily the best I've ever had the pleasure to fish with.

Smoke Me A Kipper, I'll Be Back For Breakfast

Following the other fisherman's lead, I set up a sliding float rig, with a 1/2oz ball lead to cock the float and sink the bait, I used a 3' long trace made from 10lb fluorocarbon and a Sakuma 450 Chinu hook size 8, I only had tiny 2" long squid as bait, but just the head of these tidy squid nipped on the end of the size 8 hook was perfect. I set my depth with the stop knot at about 3 meters and dropped my rig straight down the side of the wall into the middle of a large swirling eddy the was created as the current pushed around the end of the wall. In less than 30 seconds the float plunged down, diving about 1 meter, It took me by surprise, I missed the strike, it rose to the surface again, I could see the white squid head quite clearly flickering in the current below the float, then bang it dived down again, I struck, and hooked into a fish, it darted back and forth at lighting speed, the power of the eddy added to the little fight, and up popped my first fish, a plucky little Herring!

Bogue, Boga, Or Boops Boops? Your Call!

As the sun reached its peek, one by one the other fishermen had left, all with the fine excuse  "It's beer hour", leaving me and Sarah alone on the wall, enjoying total peace and quite, and being burnt by the first bit of sun we had seen in many many months. Getting bites wasn't too difficult, but hooking the tricky little buggers was a different story, although I did manage to hook and land a Bogue and a Parrot Fish before calling it a day.

Canary Damsel Fish, Wonderful Blue Colours

As the week progressed, the waves got bigger as the wind got stronger,the plentiful shoals that had been about on the first day had dispersed, probably hiding away from the wall in deeper water, afraid of getting slammed against it. but this did not stop me finding the fish. I continued to try and float fish, suspending my bait just off the bottom, but with plumbing the depth at about 13 meters, made fishing with this rod was very difficult as the rings on the rod are very small, similar size to a fresh water float rod, which made reeling in the stop knot through the small rings very difficult as it kept getting caught on them. So I tried a single flapper rig with a 2oz lead, I soon discovered that the bottom was surprisingly snag free, possibly sand at 10m away from the wall, but the flapper rig posed another problem I hadn't dealt with before, the sheer depth of the water, the lead took up to 10 seconds to reach the bottom, and this left the snod wrapped upwards around the leader past the swivel and up the main line, ruining bait presentation and forcing me to untangle the rig every cast. I though back to deep water boat fishing that I had done back in the UK, as it seemed similar that I was fishing vertically down a long way, I adopted to try a running leger with long flowing snod, by casting out far and slowly reeling in as the lead sank to the bottom, kept the hook and bait from twisting around the main line. and now tangle free and an almost invisible long flowing trace fished tight on the bottom, the bites start to come, yes a lot were tiny fish stripping the bait from the hook, but like fishing through the small fish a bigger fish would bite eventually. They had too, I didn't have smaller hooks

Ornate Wrasse Or Bait Stealer?

I was using prawns now, peeled and cut into a few sections, then wrapped on to the hook with elastic, believe me, it didn't stop the small fish from stripping the bait off the hook, but it just lasted a bit longer lol, they even ate the elastic, which I didn't mind as trying to remove bait elastic from a hook with a half chewed bait is very difficult and messy at the best of times. I would also advise not placing your bait above the hook shank as when I done this with larger baits as we do in the UK I found the fish were just biting sideways straight through the line. I now felt comfortable with my method of fishing, bait and presentation. I was getting regular bites and hooking and landing the bigger fish and smaller fish that took my bait. With the light rod and braid I was using, In the relatively calmer waters of the harbour, I could see every touch and nibble from the smallest of fish, it felt like I was quiver tipping the sea as my rod was resting horizontally along the wall with a large iron cross as a rod rest, which the ships use to moor onto.

White Sea Bream, But "Sargo" Sounds Better

As I was comfortable in my fishing, It was time to fish the night, most of the smaller fish hide away in holes between rocks from the night time predators, I had success during the night lure fishing for Barracuda and Garfish, which I will be doing a separate blog post on, but I really wanted to catch a White Sea Bream, called Sargo in Spanish. And as darkness fell, the constant little rattles of bait strippers stopped. I stepped up my tackle, still bottom fishing but now with a size 4 hook and 20lb fluorocarbon trace, just in case something bigger was lurking in the depths. It didn't take long before the biggest bite so far, bending the light rod tip right round, I struck! and knew I was into something bigger! The fight was fantastic on the light gear, I could feel every twist and turn from deep down below from the darting fish, which put up a mighty fine account of itself considering its size. And gratefully the first fish I landed was what I wanted to catch. 

Venomous Red Scorpion Fish, Who Would Of Guessed?

I managed to land 3 more White Sea Bream in the next hour fishing, but then things started to turn strange, and got worst! It started with a Puffer Fish, hmmm......are these poisonous?, using a cloth wrapped around the puffed up grunting fish, by the time I had unhooked the fish using a disgorger, it had managed to squirt water all over my chest and was now normal sized when I released it. The next cast, was a surprise as the bite was tiny, and I didn't even realise the I had a fish on until it surfaced. "what is this?" Red and spiky, that generally means I'm dangerous. It was a Red Scorpion Fish! a beautiful version of the scorpion fish you can catch in the UK. Again I gave it due care whilst unhooking it, Wrapping it in a damp cloth to protect myself from any spines. But the next thing I caught was never ever going to be touched, well not until we realised that it wasn't what we though it was!!!!

Holy S**T!.......NO! Don't Panic! It's Moving!

Yes!, I know it looks like what you wave goodbye to whilst in the little boys room, but when it started slowly moving a bit like a slug I got suspicious that this wasn't actually a turd. To be honest I was relieved is wasn't! and couldn't stop laughing about the sheer disgust me and especially Sarah had just experienced. Anyhow, I unhooked it and returned it to the sea where it belongs, I'm not sure what it is, maybe some kind of sea cucumber?, if anyone knows please leave a comment.

I have to say, I thoughly enjoyed fishing the harbour wall at Veultas,  the first nine fish I caught were all different species, 10 if you include our disgusing friend. the magic and excitment of not knowing what you were reeling in made this a trip to remember for me. Yes they wern't the biggest of fish, and fishing off the harbour wall felt a bit like fishing a fish nursery, I would of loved to fish the beaches or open water for bigger species, but the weather this holiday dictated otherwise, but I will sometime soon, I'm sure,  and that will be another story!

Dab Fishing, Dungeness

Dab attack!

Behind The Boats, Dungeness, TN29. UK

The Lighthouse At Dungeness Guarding The Point

It's been a month a half since a serious fishing session for me, although I did manage to have a half hearted session at Hastings which was left me using a light spinning rod for beach casting because it was too painful for me to use my beach casters due to my bad elbow, it has not healed properly, but thankfully due to some taking it easy and extreme anti inflammatory tablets from the doctors, the pain has subsided enough for me to venture to the bank again. my first choice would have been Pike fishing, but the rivers have all been in flood, and with a cold spell coming, I decided it would be more sensible to go later on in the year. This actually for a change left me a bit confused as to where to, or even what to fish for. But my inspiration came from the "World Dab Championships" held last weekend. a annual friendly competition held at Dungeness where all the proceeds went to the RNLI. What caught my eye was the size limit for the Dabs, they had to be over 25cm. I have caught lots of Dabs over the years, but never over 25cm as far as I can remember. After a bit of research I discovered that this was a time of year when the bigger Dabs were coming inshore, and in hindsight I'd normally miss this opportunity, due to the fact I would be hitting big baits at range for late Cod or Bass if the sea was rough. But not this time!

Lug Tipped With Squid

Me and Sarah set off for late due to a hangover, but it didn't matter we still was going to get 5 hour fishing the ebb tide from high water until it got dark, which was the perfect way to ease myself into the new season. To be honest nothing about the timing of the session seemed to be right, the tide, and lack of wind and direction were all negative but this was more of a opportunity to just go fishing for the sake of it, and decides the only thing that was right, was a glorious winters sunny day to enjoy. I decided to fish an area known as "behind the boats" which is actually the beach where the fishing boats launch from. I picked here as this was where I had previously caught a lot of Dabs before, it's a steep single bank going down to a clear flat sandy/muddy bottom that gets exposed at low water. the tide is not that strong here and its extremely snag free which makes for a easier and quieter place to fish than towards the point.

Treble Shot! And Three Species Too!

I fished two Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rods, matched with Shimano Biomaster 8000 XBS reel, loaded with 15lb mono with a 15lb to 60lb leader. One was fished with a single clipped down rig with a size 2/0 hook with whole squid as bait, just in case anything big was about, this would also give me the chance to concentrate on my second rod which would be targeting Dabs, a 3 hook flapper rig with size 4 Aberdeen hooks with added bling,  5mm different coloured beads with sequins on each hook to attract the little flat fish. My bait was to be half a black lug tipped with a 7mm wide, 6cm strip of squid to flap about like a flag in the tide. With my large bait at range, I fished the flapper rig where I believed the shingle meet the muddy bottom at about 80m, as I helped Sarah set up her rod, I watched my rod tip rattle repeatedly, once I was done and Sarah was baited and ready to cast out,  I lifted up my rod which was still rattling away without striking, reeled in, by the weight it felt like a sizable fish, but even better then that and to my delight, a treble shot of Whiting, Dogfish and Dab all on the hooks you would expect them to be on, text book stuff proved right. And a good start to the session, Then out of the blue, a seal popped his head up where we were fishing, then dived down, he came up for air a few times briefly for us to see him, but not long enough for a photo, then we lost him. I'd seen a seal here before, but it is quite a rare sight, and the only place I've even seen one in Kent.

New PB Dab 14oz

I had landed a few pin Whiting and some small Dabs at range, but about an hour into the ebb, weed started to push through making fishing almost impossible for an hour, but during this time Sarah was picking of the odd dab close in about 30 to 40m out, and then she landed the biggest Dab I've ever seen, I had a bit of confusion about what it was at first because it was very dark and had a dark green colouration, but it wasn't a flounder because it had no boney knobs behind the head, it was a definitely a Dab, and we joked that it was probably the grandad of all Dabs. I decided to follow suit and kept my cast to within 40m and then I started hitting the larger Dabs, This was actually what I was looking for, the area where the shingle meet the muddy flat bottom, I could feel the lead lift out of the soft mud and then bounce into and along the shingle as I reeled in. I landed four over 25cm with the biggest being 31cm long and weighing 8oz all at very close range. after an hour of frantic fun, it seemed to go quiet, until on my last cast I landed the biggest fish of the day a Dogfish. All my fish came on the one rod, and I only got a few nibbles on the big bait rod, well I was kept busy enough not to mind, I guess there was nothing big about, except the seal.

Line Up, Line up!

I have to say this was a surprisingly pleasant trip, my arm held up, and the sun shone with a warm glow that took the chill out of the winter air enough to make it very comfortable, Sarah had managed 8 fish including a Rockling, and I managed 16 fish, with 6 keepers between us, I had gone to target Dabs knowing that it was the right time for them with the right sized rig for their little mouths, and had caught the biggest Dabs I've seen. Yes, they are a small fish where a 1lb specimen is a very good fish from the shore, with their tell tale bites, of tiny little rattles every 5 seconds or so, they hardly put up a fight, They were fun to catch, and luckily for me they got bigger and bigger as the day went on. I think Dabs are normally around most of the year, and definitely make great viable target during this quiet time of year fishing from our shores. I've also read a lot about Dabs on the internet that they went out of fashion to be eaten, due to being branded a horrible tasting fish, I have to say and believe many would agree that this is very unfair, Fresh Dab fillets in flour and seasoned fried in olive oil are absolutely delicious, and even better due to their size, they are perfect for baps, Yum Yum..... fresh fish burgers anyone??!!

Happy New Year!

 Hi all, I like to start by saying Happy New Year and a big thank you to all who read my blog, I am surprised and humbled that I get so many reads a day. I was inspired to write this blog by my partner Sarah. It was obvious that I had to write about my passion in life "Fishing" and a year on, I have learnt and still learning so much from researching on the internet, I can only hope that "Fish Hooked" is as inspiring and informative as all your blogs.

2012 has been one of my most successful years fishing to date,  And I have to say that its really because I've spent more time fishing this year than any other,  I have been fishing new tactics and venues in any weather condition, day or night to catch the target fish, and put in more homework than a school teacher can mark, and of course, what we all need, a lot of luck!.

I've been lucky enough to seen two of the biggest fish I've ever seen "not in a photo" a record 75lb Carp caught by Tiddy on our week trip to France's Sky Lake which saw me land my Pb a 37lb mirror Carp, And a monstrous Catfish estimated at 60lb+ that I lost At Furnace Lakes. I've also caught my first ever Cod, a 5lb 9oz from the beach at Dungeness. Ive also Taken my first Smooth Hound, a beautiful 7lb 2oz Starry from Reculver beach and even added Pollock and Weaver fish to my species list.

It hasn't all been good though, this year it has been the wettest on record in England for 100 years, "good for fish!! not for us!" and I really can only think of one fishing trip to Folkstone which was on the hottest day of the year, that wasn't affected by the rain. And I've been struggling with tennis elbow as a result of heavy beach casting which has taken its toll. 


Anyways, to 2013, I have my sights on catching some new species and hopefully some big game fishing, if things go to plan, but most of all, visiting new places and sharing stories with random fishermen whilst at the waters edge, watching shooting stars zip across a clear winter skys, with spectacular sunsets and sunrises, whilst hoping that your next bite might, just might be the fish of dreams.

Tight Lines and all the best for 2013

Eddie

It's Not Just Fish I Catch! ;-)