A Year of Fishing 2011

This year, I have been trying out various disciplines within angling.

From January through to March, I was mainly sea fishing around the coast of North Wales and Anglesey. As the weather started to warm in April, I bought a new coarse fishing/waggler rod, and headed for the local fisheries and streams in Cheshire, for the first time in over 20 years.
Warming to fresh water fishing, I tried my hand, unsuccessfully, at pike fishing on the local rivers and canals. Finally, with Autumn arriving, I bought a carp rod and reel, and went in search of some local specimens.

Here is what I have been up to.

Coarse Fishing:
Coarse Fishing is how I originally got into angling, over twenty years ago.
As an 11 year old, I would wander down onto the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and fish for Perch, Roach and on occasion a surprise species such as a small Bream or Rudd.
Now as a 30-something, I'm not really content with sitting on a canal, fishing for small fry. Instead, I opted to try out a local fishery.
Partridge Lakes Fisheries, based in Culcheth, Cheshire, is just over a mile from my front door, so it's pretty handy to say the least.
Stocked with Carp, Chub, Bream, Roach, Perch, Rudd, Barbel, Tench, Ide and Golden Tench, this was the perfect place to take up coarse fishing again!!!

Having bought a new Greys Waggler Rod and a Shimano reel to suit, I set off to Partridge Lakes.
I decided to fish one of the canal sections, which was beautifully landscaped, maintained and stocked with Roach, Rudd, Bream, Barbel, and a few species of Carp. Originally, I found setting to be difficult. Tiny hooks, thin line, small baits and flexible rods, I had to discipline myself, not to cast like I was on a beach.
After a couple of practice casts, a couple of which landed in the reeds on the opposite bank, I finally started to land the float and hook in the same area. Sitting back, with the hook baited and in the margins, I sat and watched what fellow anglers techniques, trying to pick up the basics again. Instead, I should have been watching the float!
Bites came thick and fast and it wasn't long before I had landed countless Perch and Roach. Talking with other anglers, they informed me, increasing the size of the hook and bait would result in bigger fish. Trying this, it wasn't long before I landed a decent sized Bream.

Having really enjoyed my first coarse fishing trip in over 20 years, I couldn't wait to go again.

Reading up on techniques in magazines and blogs, it wasn't long before I was reading the water, looking for features and landing good sized fish. This is an invaluable skill to have, and can be applied to every discipline in fishing.
Fishing in some of the larger pools, I started to catch Carp. This is now my second love in angling, after sea fishing.
Starting off with some smaller specimens, F1's, Common and the odd Mirror, building up to fish of a decent size, whilst learning about the different techniques, rigs and baits, was a surprising, yet fantastic time.

Carp Fishing
Having spent a couple of months coarse fishing and landing the odd Carp, I decided to take the plunge, buy a Carp rod, big-pit reel, and head off to some specimen waters, in early August.

Having fished with, and regularly using Sonik SK3 beach rods for sea fishing, I bought a Sonik SK3 Carp rod. Coupled to this, I added a Shimano Bait Runner 7000 reel.

Having practiced tying Carp specific rigs, and now having a good Carp fishing set up, I went in search of a few good sized fish.

Heading to the other side of Cheshire, I found a well hidden fishery. Mainly coarse fishing, again, but with a specimen pool, with Carp up to 40lb +.
Having set off early in the morning, to avoid commuters, I arrived at the pools just as the sun was coming up. After selecting a peg, near a small island in the centre of the pond, with lilies and reeds at both sides, I set up and cast 3 foot in front of the reeds, just to the left of the lily pads. I set the rod down, armed the alarm and sat back. After waiting patiently, the alarm started beeping. I rushed for the rod, adrenalin pumping, struck, FISH ON!

After a 15 minute battle, I finally managed to land a perfect Common Carp of around 8lb. What a stunning fish and what a fight!

After safely returning the fish, to get fatter and fight another day, I re-rigged and recast to the same area as before. Sitting the rod back down, and arming the alarm, I sat and waited for the next battle.

Whilst waiting for bites, I spent most of the time practicing tying new rigs and knots, whilst experimenting with hook links. I did have one idea for a sea fishing rig, which I will post at a later date, after I have tried it out for myself.

After a 20 minute or so wait, the alarm sounded into action. I jumped out of my chair, lifted the rod to see line spooling off the reel, and struck whilst tightening the clutch.

The tip of the rod dived to the right, whilst the fish tried to run like a freight train. Trying to keep the fish from swimming around the island, where no doubt I would have lost it, I managed to bring it under control, and the battle commenced in the run between the bank and the island.
This fish was having none of it! Agin it dived, shaking it's head. After ten minutes or so, it finally broke the surface, all I managed to see was a good sized dorsal fin before the tail propelled it back under the water.
The battle continued for a further 15 - 20 minutes, until I finally managed to get the landing net below it.

Wrestling the lump onto the bank, I had netted myself a beautiful Mirror Carp, my favourite Carp of the all!
After having a breather for a second or two, and allowing blood to flow back into my arms, I popped the boille out of her mouth and put her in the weighing sling.
She tipped the scales at 10lb 2oz, my biggest Carp yet!

Although not a monster by some peoples standards, I was so proud to have taught myself how to present bait to this fish, fight with it, for what seemed like an eternity, and to land such a stunning fish, all on my own!

It's days like those that you realise exactly why you spend your time, money and effort, pursuing specimen fish, whether it be shore Bass or Cod, freshwater Tench or Barbel, predatory Perch or Pike, big fat lumps like Carp or streamlined rockets like Trout and Salmon.

I do it, because I love it, and I don't think there's anything else I'd rather be doing!

So, for 2012, I'm really looking forward to applying what I have learned from all the disciplines I have fished in the last 12 months, into my fishing techniques and tactics no matter where I am, or what I am fishing for. There are still lots of things to learn in each sector of the sport, and I will be experimenting with some rigs I have thought of, but all in all, 2011 was good, 2012 looks great!

Tight lines to all those fishing in 2012!

I would also like to thank the following people and companies, for making 2011 a year to remember:

Partridge Lakes Fisheries
Partridge Lakes Fishery is set over 50 acres of Cheshire Countryside with 14 waters, all individually and uniquely landscaped with a terrace cafe, to offer superb coarse fishing and facilities throughout the year.

Sonik Sports
A dynamic company which aims to provide anglers all over the world with superbly designed fishing tackle that sets new standards for quality, performance and value for money.

FishTec - Online Suppliers of Quality Sea Fishing Tackle
We have a fantastic selection of products for all types of anglers, from fly fishing tackle to a range of fishing gear for coarse angling.

Conwy Estuary 05/03/2011

Every time I have visited Conwy, I've always thought about fishing the estuary and mud flats.
I had heard rumours that there was some Coddling and some School Bass in the area, so now was as good a time as any.

I deliberately didn't want to fish the area within the harbour due to the amount of people, noise and disturbance going on, as part of the reason I go fishing is to get away from all that.

I chose and area by the marina, near the beacons, where the estuary runs into a deep channel. On a full tide, this section becomes deep and fast flowing, on a low tide, it's quite narrow but still deep and fast flowing below the surface.
The plan was to fish either side of the channel and hopefully catch the fish as the swim up and down.





I set up on a small sandy section, about 50 yards from the car park. It seemed pretty quiet so I was quite chuffed.
I got the first rod set up, baited the rig and cast to the far side of the channel. I was using 6oz grip leads to hold bottom, so hitting the other side wasn't a problem.
The second rod was set up, with the same rig, weight and bait, but cast around 30 yards.
For bait, I was using a mixture of Black Lug, Ragworm and some frozen Peeler Crab, which I used to tip off the worm. Rigs where small hook 2 and 3 hook flappers with long hook lengths to allow the bait to move in the water.

The action was slow to say the least with crab activity constant all day. Matters didn't improve when a few people came down and started throwing rocks into the water around 30 yards from where I set up. A few choice words where spoken!

As the sun set and the tide started to come in I had my fingers crossed that the crabs would disappear and the fish would soon show.

On bringing in one line, I could feel a little resistance. On landing the rig and lead, I had hooked a small Rocking, a fish!
With the current being so strong and having such a large weight on, the bite hadn't even registered on the tip.

To be honest, I was pretty proud of my little Rockling, he'd done well to grab the bait before the crabs, plus I wasn't going to draw a blank!

With the tide flowing in, the channel became wider and deeper. Snags started to happen more often, a mixture of mud, leaf litter, sticks and weed. At one point, I walked 60 yards to the left of where I was fishing, made the cast, and by the tome I had walked back to the rod rest, the tide had washed the lead past me plus another 30 yards.
From this point things where getting more difficult. I couldn't hold bottom even with a 6oz grip lead, leafs, grass and weed where tangling around the line, I was snagging every cast, even at close range and I had no bite indication with the current pulling so hard against the line.

I've fished the Menai Straights on a flooding tide, but this was something completely different. The surface was flowing one direction with the undercurrent the opposite.

Now with snags being on every cast, and my hands being so cold I struggled tying on a new leader, I called it a day.
Next time I may fish the harbour for the Flounder and Plaice, although the crabs will probably be a pain there too.

Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey 19/02/2011

My first major outing for 2011 saw a complete change in tactics from my previous Autumn sessions.
Multi-hook rigs, 2 and 3 hook flappers, replaced the normal pennel pulley rigs, a reduction in hook size from 3/0 - 4/0, to sizes 6, 4 and 2 with smaller baits to suit. Long hook lengths using a fine 15lb flurocarbon, with luminous beads and plain leads, to allow extra movement in the bait.

Arriving at Cemlyn Bay around 1:00PM saw the full tide just starting to drop. The weather was fine, with a very light breeze and a very calm, flat sea.



I set up the shelter, tripod and rods and proceeded to put the first cast out, around 50 yards, just to the side of the rocks. The second cast, on the second rod, was put out to the same distance but around 50 yards to the left of the first cast.
Fishing was slow during daylight, just two gentle taps on the rods in 4 hours, resulting in two small Rockling of around 8 - 10oz each. Both Rockling where caught using fresh mussel tipped with black lug on a size 8 hook.

The most action on the rod tip during the day, was when an Oyster Catcher got the tip of it's wing tangled in my line. From the shore I couldn't see where the line was tangled, and as the bird was panicking, I had no option but to wade out, catch the bird and release it. I also got a nip on the finger for my troubles! A young family didn't help matters, throwing stones and rocks into the sea about 20 or so meters up the beach. Some people just have no sense!

With the daylight hours being slow, it allowed me to crack open the fresh mussels I had bought from a supermarket on my way down to Anglesey. Thankfully, I wasn't eating them as they were tiny! Skewering them onto the baiting needle, I created a sausage-like length of mussels bound together with bait cotton. This would save me some time later on, as all I would need to do is cut off a small piece and bind it onto the hook.

With the light fading and tide turning I started to charge up the luminous beads on the hook lengths.



Now baiting the 3 hook flappers with a mixture of Black Lug, Blow Lug and fresh Mussel, I started putting my casts out at an even distance, around 30 feet apart, to maximise the scent trail.
Within 5 minutes of the second rod being settled in the rest, the slightest twitch on the tip was visible. Leaving it to develop, I could clearly see there was a fish on. Nothing sizeable, but a fish, and a welcome fish at that!
Not much of a battle proceeded and the first small Whiting was landed, around 9 inches in length. This one had taken a small Blow Lug. Gently unhooked and returned, the rig was baited again with a mixture of lug and mussel and cast back to a similar location.



Returning the rod to the tripod, the second tip went, a little more obvious and frantic this time.
Lifting the rod, I could feel some real movement down the line. With the shockleader now coiling around the spool, silver flashes could be seen through the waves. More Whiting, this time 3 of them, one on each hook. I was definitely into a small passing shoal.
With all the fish safely returned, the rig was re-baited and cast out again.

As the tide continued to flood in, the Whiting where continually nibbling and taking the small lug and mussel baits. At one point I was pulling landing them with one on each hook, two or three at a time.

The last cast of the night saw the rod tip shoulder, a typical Dogfish bite! Sure enough a Dogfish was landed at around the 4lb mark.
As the tide started hitting the car park wall it was time to scarper.
Not a bad session for February, the total count was 11 Whiting, 2 Rockling and a Dogfish, an Oyster Catcher too but I'll not count that!
Changing my rigs, hook and bait sizes seems to be the key at this time of year. The fish may be small, but I'd rather be catching than sat still not doing anything.

A few more weeks and hopefully the first of the Thornback Rays will start to come into range.

Roll on Spring!!!!

Anglesey 8/1/2011

OK, so I wasn't supposed to be fishing, just a nice day out to visit some of the amazing sites around the UK coastline. But as soon as a "day out" is mentioned, I get excited and manage to find a way to sneak a travel rod into the car.

I ended up at the lighthouse at Penmon, Anglesey, which is quickly becoming my second home! Beautiful blue skies above but a freezing Easterly wind reminded you that we are only one week into the new year.

After looking at the views, something I never seem to do when angling, a walk up the coast was ordered. Have fished here plenty of times, I knew that this area is rough ground, not ideal for a small travel rod, but always the optimist, I ran to the car, retrieved the rod and a mixed pack of budget spinning lures, 4 for £4.
OK, I know, January, not many Bass or game fish, not much natural bait, cold weather, cold winds, can add up to very unproductive and uncomfortable sessions, so why take a pack of lures?
Well firstly, apparently, there are still the odd Bass to be taken around various locations on Anglesey, especially where the shoreline drops away rapidly into deep water, hollows and underwater trenches, the Bass will still be here in the warmer water, as long as bait fish are still present. And secondly, I wasn't going to stand around waiting for a bite without thermals and a floatation suit!

Walking along the rocky shoreline, I was casting diagonally in front of me, jerking the lures back in a fashion so I didn't have to stop walking, unless I snagged on weed, which is why I was using budget lures ;) as I know how end-tackle-heavy this pace can be.

I must have walked, well staggered, 10 meters along the rocky out-crop, and probably only cast a hand full of times, (when I say I was walking, I mean I was concentrating more on my lure) when the rod tip almost doubled over and the reels ratchet screamed. Tightening the clutch on the cheap fixed spool reel, I realised I had hooked into something quite decent. On the travel rod I have, a Minnow would feel like a Tiger Shark!.
Battling the beast, I had an idea of the conditions under the surface, so keeping the fish to the right was a must. I walked another few meters up the shoreline to where I could safely step down to sea level, and managed to steer the fish into a small gap in the rocks where I could safely land it.



Hauling it from the water, I had hooked into a 4lb(ish) Coddling. A 4lb(ish) Codding on a Green/Gold/Red Toby Lure? I was stunned! A Cod, from the shore, on a spinning lure! I've seen them plucked from the sea in Norway on shads and lures, but here? in the UK? in January!

I certainly couldn't believe it, nor could the small family walking past.

It just goes to show, the weather may be cold and not very nice at times, but if your willing to put in the hours, study species and marine behaviour, temperatures and of the course the weather, fishing in the winter can pay off!

Happy Fishing in 2011!