Mr Fish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2020
- Messages
- 21,367
- Reaction score
- 73,986
- Points
- 116
- Location
- North Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
As usual it seems Chesil gives to one and takes away from another, although I accept I still have a silly amount to learn about the beach.
Had a comp this weekend and on @Tatunka joe ’s useful advice, I opted to try Ferrybridge for the bigger mix of species rather than struggling down cogden way where big casts are needed and generally the plaice appear to be small.
Anyway, the hope was maybe a weighable trigger or bream but realistically I thought a chunky pout would probably be more achievable or perhaps a better undulate after dark.
It was obviously going to be one of those days. Got up 1.45hours later than intended, then the journey was punctuated with queues of slow feckers that apparently can’t do 50mph on the wide and mostly gently bending A35.
Tat had suggested pop up rigs to try and I made one the night before with the only pop up head I owned. I say ‘bead’ it looked more like a suppository, but it would definitely float the bait up!
Got to the Abbo shop and bought some very top quality ragworm plus some squid and mackie in case there were no fresh macs about.
He sold pop up beads, ideal. Then I saw the price - £4.50 for FIVE painted bits of polystyrene that were about a centimetre long. WTF?!
I had to point the price out and said no way was I paying that. £2 maybe, not £4.50.
I said obviously I didn’t expect him to reduce the price but my brain would simply not allow me to spend that much, what, 80-odd pence for ONE bead?!
Anyway he got £26 out of me for the rest of it.
Finally arrived at the Ferrybridge car park and also came across the 10 hour limit, which took me up to about 10.20pm. The app didn’t seem to want to work but it took card.
I figured the landing craft mark would be rammed by then so set off for the Adelaide wreck area.
It wasn’t especially encouraging that a lot of people were heading back, having fished the morning tide up to high.
They reported a few bream at dawn, the odd Mac and not much else. ‘As soon as the sun hit the water it died’ said one.
Also got a shock as someone staggering down the bank towards me with lots of luggage suddenly keeled over and lay face down not moving.
Fuck. Was I going to spend the next half hour on the phone to 999 doing chest compressions? How long would it take an ambulance crew to get up there?!
Hurried over to him (well, trudged and hoped someone would notice him first) and asked ‘are you alright mate?’
Turned out just to be a lad of 13-14 and he was fine, just doing the dramatic thing kids do and probably hadn’t expected anyone to even see him.
We chatted and he reported the similar ‘few bream, not much’ mantra.
Unfortunately the mark Tat directed me to had people there, but there was a big gap a bit before it so beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Landing craft area was rammed.
Had some space for a while…
Don’t think Boris was in the fridge! Maybe France has run out of rubber dinghies? ?
The extra people not in the picture left after I set up ?
Got some worm baits out. Baited up my only pop up rig. Cast out, snap!
Fucking braid, fucking wind knots, fucking leader knot, fucking small eyes! Argh!
Had used that set up with no problem at all the previous trip ?
Was a bit naughty and put a 30lb leader on. Only using 4oz leads anyway, but a smaller knot.
Yes I know, tapered or braid leader but this set up gets used about two or three times a year and is usually okay ??
So no pop up at all now. Hmm. I had some floats, they’re made of poly and cost about £2 each, would get much cheaper ‘pop ups’ by cutting one up.
Worth a try…
Oh yea, no bites or fish yet ?
A lot of people started appearing to fish the start of the flood.
Two lads set up from me, a bit close but not TOO bad. They went back to the car and returned with a massive bin full of logs for a fire ?
And a hatchet to chop them up ?
Then two older chaps set up the other side, much closer.
I had a bit of a whinge but one said ‘don’t worry, we’re proper anglers, we can cast straight’.
To be fair, they seemed knowledgeable and friendly guys and I was mollified we’d manage lol.
Periodically I put mackie feathers on and had a go, joining the multiples on the beach who had been thrashing the water for hours.
None at all. Exactly the same as they were getting.
I didn’t see a single mackerel all day.
On one of these forays the fucking wind knots struck again.
Argh! Fuck!
I must confess I threw the rod up the shingle and had a tantrum ?
One of the other chaps, Simon, took pity on me and kindly offered me a tapered leader.
Yes please!
I missed a bite. T’other chap, Paul, saw it (I didn’t as was talking to them), said it looked very much like a plaice bite. Feck, didn’t leave it long enough!
Feeling like a real noddy by this point, it clearly was one of those days.
So was pretty surprised to see a developing pull down bite on the other rod, which had mackerel strip. Hmm.
Left it a bit, then brought in something with a pleasing weight and a bit of fight.
Something of a surprise!
2lb 11. Felt a bit sorry for its ragged lip and I didn’t think 2lb 11 was quite up to the minimum 70% to weigh a fish in, so I put it back and it swam off quickly, hopefully to heal up a bit.
Good job actually. When I went back to my tangled rig, I realised there was another rig with a rusty hook and weight attached.
I don’t think the fish had even been on my hook, it just got tangled somehow and that rusty hook had been ripping at its lip.
In the excitement of unhooking and getting a quick weigh, I hadn’t noticed all that!
So would have been an illegal fish for the comp anyway. Not that we need to keep them, catch and release.
I tried float fishing for a while as some lure fishers had said there was ‘loads of gars’ out there hitting their lures but not connecting.
Well, given the amount of people on the beach I could only trot the float about 50m left to right in front of me.
The sun directly over the sea also made it hard to see and gave me a headache in short order (forgot my sunglasses ?).
Gave it about half hour but no float bites. If gars were there I would have had one.
Really hadn’t seen much else caught. A bloke two tents up had a couple of bream which Simon and Paul said were ‘nice bream’, but when I asked, they said about a pound or a bit more, which was no good for a comp fish anyway.
I had a few more rattling bites, then when it got dark the culprits revealed themselves, three tiny pout and a tiny conger.
Hmm. Wasn’t feeling it. Put the small bait rod up for a bit and put a big mackerel bait out for ray.
Then when I called home at 8.30, turned out the cat hadn’t come in, last seen at 4pm.
This was quite a worry and out of character, especially as with the cooler weather she’s not keen on staying out too late and usually pops in every hour or so to check where I am, lol.
They said they’d ring if she appeared but nothing by gone 9 and I really couldn’t focus on the fishing.
Plus two ray baits had had a couple of bites that looked suspiciously eely and the ragged bait suggested that.
I decided I’d give it up as a bad job and get home to search for the cat.
Said goodbye to Simon and Paul and gave them about half a pound of still very lively rag.
Called from the car park at 10.30 and still nothing, so drove home deeply worried.
Once home at about 12.40am, still nothing, so I searched our garden, the neighbour’s gardens as best I could, a couple of garages I know they keep unlocked and even walked up and down the road looking under cars.
At last I’d done about as much as I could in the dark and risked it about as far as I could without getting arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Went to bed at 2.30am sick with worry but so exhausted I still slept.
I left my window open in case she came back, resolving to get up as soon as it was light to carry on searching.
At about 4.30am I had a very anxious little furry creature jumping up and down on me and kneading away, she was back!
The relief was huge. I got up and fed her then we went back to bed.
I’d been distraught and had imagined the worst.
It turns out a little before I came home a strange cat had been chased out the house, so we think it either chased her out or she could still smell it, or something, and was scared to come back. Will keep an eye out for that bugger! Wouldn’t hurt it but it might get an unexpected dousing with water!
So a long, frustrating and then very emotionally draining day.
The next fishing trip is definitely going to be one of my local bass beaches, I can catch those!
Had a comp this weekend and on @Tatunka joe ’s useful advice, I opted to try Ferrybridge for the bigger mix of species rather than struggling down cogden way where big casts are needed and generally the plaice appear to be small.
Anyway, the hope was maybe a weighable trigger or bream but realistically I thought a chunky pout would probably be more achievable or perhaps a better undulate after dark.
It was obviously going to be one of those days. Got up 1.45hours later than intended, then the journey was punctuated with queues of slow feckers that apparently can’t do 50mph on the wide and mostly gently bending A35.
Tat had suggested pop up rigs to try and I made one the night before with the only pop up head I owned. I say ‘bead’ it looked more like a suppository, but it would definitely float the bait up!
Got to the Abbo shop and bought some very top quality ragworm plus some squid and mackie in case there were no fresh macs about.
He sold pop up beads, ideal. Then I saw the price - £4.50 for FIVE painted bits of polystyrene that were about a centimetre long. WTF?!
I had to point the price out and said no way was I paying that. £2 maybe, not £4.50.
I said obviously I didn’t expect him to reduce the price but my brain would simply not allow me to spend that much, what, 80-odd pence for ONE bead?!
Anyway he got £26 out of me for the rest of it.
Finally arrived at the Ferrybridge car park and also came across the 10 hour limit, which took me up to about 10.20pm. The app didn’t seem to want to work but it took card.
I figured the landing craft mark would be rammed by then so set off for the Adelaide wreck area.
It wasn’t especially encouraging that a lot of people were heading back, having fished the morning tide up to high.
They reported a few bream at dawn, the odd Mac and not much else. ‘As soon as the sun hit the water it died’ said one.
Also got a shock as someone staggering down the bank towards me with lots of luggage suddenly keeled over and lay face down not moving.
Fuck. Was I going to spend the next half hour on the phone to 999 doing chest compressions? How long would it take an ambulance crew to get up there?!
Hurried over to him (well, trudged and hoped someone would notice him first) and asked ‘are you alright mate?’
Turned out just to be a lad of 13-14 and he was fine, just doing the dramatic thing kids do and probably hadn’t expected anyone to even see him.
We chatted and he reported the similar ‘few bream, not much’ mantra.
Unfortunately the mark Tat directed me to had people there, but there was a big gap a bit before it so beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Landing craft area was rammed.
Had some space for a while…
Don’t think Boris was in the fridge! Maybe France has run out of rubber dinghies? ?
The extra people not in the picture left after I set up ?
Got some worm baits out. Baited up my only pop up rig. Cast out, snap!
Fucking braid, fucking wind knots, fucking leader knot, fucking small eyes! Argh!
Had used that set up with no problem at all the previous trip ?
Was a bit naughty and put a 30lb leader on. Only using 4oz leads anyway, but a smaller knot.
Yes I know, tapered or braid leader but this set up gets used about two or three times a year and is usually okay ??
So no pop up at all now. Hmm. I had some floats, they’re made of poly and cost about £2 each, would get much cheaper ‘pop ups’ by cutting one up.
Worth a try…
Oh yea, no bites or fish yet ?
A lot of people started appearing to fish the start of the flood.
Two lads set up from me, a bit close but not TOO bad. They went back to the car and returned with a massive bin full of logs for a fire ?
And a hatchet to chop them up ?
Then two older chaps set up the other side, much closer.
I had a bit of a whinge but one said ‘don’t worry, we’re proper anglers, we can cast straight’.
To be fair, they seemed knowledgeable and friendly guys and I was mollified we’d manage lol.
Periodically I put mackie feathers on and had a go, joining the multiples on the beach who had been thrashing the water for hours.
None at all. Exactly the same as they were getting.
I didn’t see a single mackerel all day.
On one of these forays the fucking wind knots struck again.
Argh! Fuck!
I must confess I threw the rod up the shingle and had a tantrum ?
One of the other chaps, Simon, took pity on me and kindly offered me a tapered leader.
Yes please!
I missed a bite. T’other chap, Paul, saw it (I didn’t as was talking to them), said it looked very much like a plaice bite. Feck, didn’t leave it long enough!
Feeling like a real noddy by this point, it clearly was one of those days.
So was pretty surprised to see a developing pull down bite on the other rod, which had mackerel strip. Hmm.
Left it a bit, then brought in something with a pleasing weight and a bit of fight.
Something of a surprise!
2lb 11. Felt a bit sorry for its ragged lip and I didn’t think 2lb 11 was quite up to the minimum 70% to weigh a fish in, so I put it back and it swam off quickly, hopefully to heal up a bit.
Good job actually. When I went back to my tangled rig, I realised there was another rig with a rusty hook and weight attached.
I don’t think the fish had even been on my hook, it just got tangled somehow and that rusty hook had been ripping at its lip.
In the excitement of unhooking and getting a quick weigh, I hadn’t noticed all that!
So would have been an illegal fish for the comp anyway. Not that we need to keep them, catch and release.
I tried float fishing for a while as some lure fishers had said there was ‘loads of gars’ out there hitting their lures but not connecting.
Well, given the amount of people on the beach I could only trot the float about 50m left to right in front of me.
The sun directly over the sea also made it hard to see and gave me a headache in short order (forgot my sunglasses ?).
Gave it about half hour but no float bites. If gars were there I would have had one.
Really hadn’t seen much else caught. A bloke two tents up had a couple of bream which Simon and Paul said were ‘nice bream’, but when I asked, they said about a pound or a bit more, which was no good for a comp fish anyway.
I had a few more rattling bites, then when it got dark the culprits revealed themselves, three tiny pout and a tiny conger.
Hmm. Wasn’t feeling it. Put the small bait rod up for a bit and put a big mackerel bait out for ray.
Then when I called home at 8.30, turned out the cat hadn’t come in, last seen at 4pm.
This was quite a worry and out of character, especially as with the cooler weather she’s not keen on staying out too late and usually pops in every hour or so to check where I am, lol.
They said they’d ring if she appeared but nothing by gone 9 and I really couldn’t focus on the fishing.
Plus two ray baits had had a couple of bites that looked suspiciously eely and the ragged bait suggested that.
I decided I’d give it up as a bad job and get home to search for the cat.
Said goodbye to Simon and Paul and gave them about half a pound of still very lively rag.
Called from the car park at 10.30 and still nothing, so drove home deeply worried.
Once home at about 12.40am, still nothing, so I searched our garden, the neighbour’s gardens as best I could, a couple of garages I know they keep unlocked and even walked up and down the road looking under cars.
At last I’d done about as much as I could in the dark and risked it about as far as I could without getting arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Went to bed at 2.30am sick with worry but so exhausted I still slept.
I left my window open in case she came back, resolving to get up as soon as it was light to carry on searching.
At about 4.30am I had a very anxious little furry creature jumping up and down on me and kneading away, she was back!
The relief was huge. I got up and fed her then we went back to bed.
I’d been distraught and had imagined the worst.
It turns out a little before I came home a strange cat had been chased out the house, so we think it either chased her out or she could still smell it, or something, and was scared to come back. Will keep an eye out for that bugger! Wouldn’t hurt it but it might get an unexpected dousing with water!
So a long, frustrating and then very emotionally draining day.
The next fishing trip is definitely going to be one of my local bass beaches, I can catch those!
