South West Wrasse mark free to a good home

[Mr Fish]

You can have this mark. Free. Exact coordinates, the route down, photographed from every angle - just don’t ask me to join you!

Can you guess I had a shit day? ? It’s a bit of an epic so grab a cuppa, wipe yourself off and pull your underpants back up…

I had a daytime Sunday comp today and although wisdom said stay local and go for the hounds, they don’t actually do a lot for me, plus I’ve still got this bee in my bonnet about big Cornish wrasse…

Winning anything is a bonus, but I’d rather go and do the fishing I want to do than feel ‘forced’ to stand there fishing a mark when I’m not feeling it.
I know it sounds weird but although hounds are around I do perhaps a couple of trips a year for them now, any more I just find tedious.

ANYWAY, so wrassing it was. Unfortunately the club specimen is 4lb 8 and anything over 4lb up here is generally quite a rare fish, so Cornwall it was.
I knew where I wanted to go but rain was forecast most of the day and that flat Cornish slate is deadly in the wet, even with studded boots. If anything, studs make it worse on that stuff, they have nothing to dig in to.
So after some Google mapping I found a spot at the top of Widemouth Bay near Bude, where the geology should be more user friendly. The parking was free too!

Now, it did look a bit shallow, but wrasse don’t mind that necessarily.
Basically I had no idea what it was like, how to get down to the rocks or even if you could, but I like trying new spots and sometimes it’s good just to turn up knowing sod all about a mark and with no preconceived ideas.

Bear with me, there will be pictures shortly!

So I left home at 8 this morning which was maybe a tad later than planned, but in the ball park.
Unfortunately half hour into the journey I realised I hadn’t packed ANY boots in the car, not spiked, not anything.
Usually they’re always in there but I took everything out for Norway and haven’t been out again since.
Argh! And fuck. And fuck fuck fuckety fuck.
I repeated this for a solid 20 minutes as I headed back home to pick them up ?

Needless to say I caned it after that - any dawdling grockle that didn’t move at least at the speed limit was overtaken in short order and I got to the headland (free parking!) at 10.30.

I did a recce first as there was a plan B and even C if required and yes, there was a path down, albeit I’d have to climb around the front of the headland to get to the fishable spots…



It was… fun… ? doable but awkward transverse rocks and boulders, boulders galore.
Finally I was opposite the first spot I’d picked to try…

Unfortunately there was still wet stuff, so had a coffee and waited for half hour.

Oh look. A bloody great seal right where I plan to cast in a minute. Wahoo. ??‍

Eventually I became impatient and hopscotched on the shallower bits of rock and finally got out there.

Fuck, it IS shallow…


Still, I was there now. Such effort expended should be rewarded, surely?

First cast while the spider peeler finished defrosting was a couple of less than great condition ordinary peeler.
The tide continued to drop quickly. I realised that within the hour I literally wouldn’t be able to get a fish in if I hooked one.

So began to eye up the next segment of rock that had uncovered…



I put the rods back out with spider. One to the right gap, the other certainly went left but the wind blew the line over the rock in front and it wasn’t coming loose. Literally no way to bring it in without shredding all the line. Ummmm.

Okay. So brought in the first rod, packed everything away then climbed down with the second rod still in the water and held high, taking up the slack as I went.
It was…. challenging… what looked like reasonable stepping stones were in fact awkward shaped and often smooth boulders.
By choice I wouldn’t have done it but I was there and determined to carry on fishing. How I didn’t break my neck or at least an ankle I don’t know.
Halfway across and in the midst of this pantomime, I felt a bite on the rod I was holding ??‍??‍??‍

More by luck than anything I managed to cross over and brought in the first wrasse of the day. A pound and a bit I’d say. It was cleanly hooked and wasn’t fecked at all, that’s just a bit of weed stuck on it.



Right, fish returned, went back and got the rest of the gear. Bloody difficult with the tripod still up but after a slightly less hairy crossing me and all the gear was on our final spot of the day.
Checked the time, 1hr 45 to low. No way was I cutting this one fine, I’d leave an hour after low even if mermaids were throwing themselves on the rocks begging for sex.

It was STILL shallow. In fact, there was sand beyond the kelp at 30-40 yards and it was looking less and less like a wrasse spot. But all I had apart from a manky mackerel for possible float bait (no chance of float fishing in that shallow crap, ha!) was spider peeler.

So there might have been double figure rays queuing up to be hooked and I didn’t really have any bait with me to tempt them, I’d gone all out for wrasse.
I did swap one to a pulley and put it out further, maybe a hound? (He thought desperately).

And indeed, that rod soon bent over and I was into a… one pound dogfish ??‍

It really was the most shallow, gnarly, crappy, awkward bit of ground I’ve seen for a long time…



I had another bite and lost something to a snag. Either another dog or modest wrasse I think.
That’s okay, I caught a second dog after that ?

The wind got up and although the waves were still pretty small, no way was I going to repeat the crossing over, I’d head back while it was still dry land. So just after low I packed up and admitted defeat.
I thought perhaps if I took a lower route back it might be a bit easier but it was worse, if anything.

This is the kind of ground you had to climb over, constantly, boulder after boulder, all nicely soaked by the rain that had finally arrived (oh yes, I could have fished most of the day on the slate marks in the dry ?…)



At the top I got a quick picture of the ‘beach’. Wow, barren, rough as.



I don’t think I’ll be back! It wasn’t as if any one bit was particularly bad but there was just so much of it. The walk/climb out and back was very tedious and hard on the arms, legs, everything.
I blessed spiky boots several times - would have been absolutely fecked without them.

Still, got to try these spots! If you’re feeling masochistic, drop me a pm and you can have the EXACT location, free, gratis, fill yer boots…

Oh the seal? He must have read the script because the ungrateful bugger fucked right off as soon as I set foot on the mark. No fish here mate!

 

[Andy135]

Shame on you for trying to palm that mark off on some poor unsuspecting dangler! You can keep it all to yourself.

Nice write up though ??

 

[Mr Fish]

Shame on you for trying to palm that mark off on some poor unsuspecting dangler! You can keep it all to yourself.

Nice write up though ??

No no, it’s brilliant! I’ll even guide them down!

(Well, I’ll stand at the top by the car and direct them with a stick, but it’s the thought that counts! Only £30 an hour for guided sessions, payment up front just in case they don’t get back…)

 

[Kine262]

Nice report buddy, despite the poor results. That mark looks deadly though!

 

[Mr Fish]

Nice report buddy, despite the poor results. That mark looks deadly though!

It was a lot worse than I first thought! Even after climbing around to the first spot, I didn’t realise quite how awkward it was until the tide dropped.

Just shows that you can recce it all you like, but until you actually get down there and try and fish it, you don’t know what issues there might be…

 

[chesilpete]

All you can do is try!.






Now about these mermaids??????

 

[Mr Fish]

Actually I was thinking while walking back… it’s worth a few thoughts on moving over rocks like that.

It’s hardly rocket science but there are a few habits worth practicing. I’ve been doing it for so many years it’s second nature but I can still be caught out.

First suggestion is, get studs in your boots, whether you buy pre studded or put them in yourself.
If you’ve never worn them, you’ll find it’s a revelation and you can concentrate much more on fishing and worry less about falling over!

It sounds simple, but when moving over rocks or boulders, make sure you have a GOOD footing and grip with one foot before shifting your weight. I test pretty much every step before moving. It sounds tedious but you soon start to do it without thinking about it.
Slips happen when you have an uncertain foothold then move the other leg. Wedging a foot between boulders is a good one, also put weight down a bit to ensure the stone you’re stood on isn’t going to move or tilt.

If possible, try and brace with one arm before moving across any awkward gaps.
If say it’s an awkward step up or down, try and have those two points of contact.

Use your rods and tripod as a brace. People might shrink from using their beloved tackle as a climbing aid, but better to use that than fall and risk a bad injury in the middle of nowhere.

Don’t take silly chances. Ie don’t jump a gap you ‘think’ looks okay - one slip with the landing foot and over you go.
If needs be, sit down and ease yourself down a boulder or drop, put the rods down below (or above) and use both legs and arms to support your body weight.

Don’t be afraid to detour around an obstacle, even if it takes longer. That drop might SEEM okay, but an extra minute climbing a couple more boulders is preferable to a broken ankle!

As I say, it’s not rocket science. Test the footing, move, brace, test again, move etc.
The amount of people I see trying to walk across rocks as if they’re walking across their living room, then falling over.
That doesn’t mean it has to take an hour to cross 50 yards, but mainly, just be aware of exactly what you’re doing and where the next foothold/handhold is coming from.

As I say, it comes naturally after a while.

And don’t be too precious about your rods etc. They’ll get banged about on rocks, it will happen eventually.
You can’t be looking after yourself if you’re too worried about your kwags or scratching the paintwork.
If you don’t want to expose your latest Century etc to that, take rods you don’t mind getting a bit battered - at some point when every foot and handhold looks dodgy, they WILL become your walking stick lol.

Maybe this should be a whole other thread?

 

[Mr Fish]

All you can do is try!.






Now about these mermaids??????

They were crap, overweight and split ends, kept going on and on about the latest Meghan and Harry gossip ?

 

[Warby72]

Great write up mate. ?
At the risk of being accused of Heresy, soft plastic crayfish on ned-heads would probably be the way to go in amongst those rocks.

 

[Snaggletooth]

I'm sure someone will suggest you would have done better float fishing rag.

 

[chesilpete]

They were crap, overweight and split ends, kept going on and on about the latest Meghan and Harry gossip ?

No one wants a porky old mermaid, suppose getting them back to the weigh in would have been tricky as well I guess.
I will try conditioner as bait next time out!.

 

[John Mitchell]

Great report mr fish at least you didn’t blank, now where is my lure rod , I think I can work out this mark , it’s one of my secret lure marks ?

 

[Trampster]

Brilliant report & photos Tony, even though things didn't go according to plan. At least the Wrasse saved the blank, and the new mark has made you a wiser man! Sound advice about traversing rocks too. ??

 

[flappy]

Maybe you should try carp fishing next week.

 

[Mr Fish]

Maybe you should try carp fishing next week.

I’ve got my next mark lined up already…

 

[Cfish]

Fair play for trying!!!! I wouldn't be able to do it and if I could I would look and say sod that!

 

[richtic]

Great report and pictures. Great effort

 

[Tatunka joe]

Good effort bey does look a stunning place to fish and you didn’t blank or die so all good bud ??

 

[Tournamag]

All you can do is try!.






Now about these mermaids??????

There Local Talent i mean Rough'os and £10 a go apart from Sunday's and Bank holidays and it's £15 but extra if you want them to take there teeth out!
Plus a premium if you want Woofing and Yelping with the Doggy style? mind i thought Woofing n Yelping plus Howling was normal down there? where's that @Cfish hes the local talent spotter/coach

 

[chesilpete]

There Local Talent i mean Rough'os and £10 a go apart from Sunday's and Bank holidays and it's £15 but extra if you want them to take there teeth out!
Plus a premium if you want Woofing and Yelping with the Doggy style? mind i thought Woofing n Yelping plus Howling was normal down there? where's that @Cfish hes the local talent spotter/coach

How is the planet Mars this morning?