It Ain't Just The Fishing

Conan The Whittler - A legend at 51 years old, still wearing a backward facing baseball cap, referring to women as "bitches" and DJ ing three times a week at the nation's top nightclubs. He catches a few bass too.

A quiet,misty morning. Wangled one decent bass of around two and a half pounds before the sun burnt through..

Lee The Lure Man

It's as much about the place, the scenery and the company ( especially when you don't catch much ). A few photos from the lonely, desolate Essex mudflats taken over the last couple of weeks. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I love the emptiness and the sense of space.                                                                                                                                    

This has been the best spot for the last couple of weeks. Very, very shallow, but consistently produces fish

Looking west across the mudflats with Manningtree in the distance

Bass, Bass and More Bass

I kept saying to anyone who would listen ( the list was very short ), " The big tides at the end of September will give us the best bassing of the year if conditions are right ". So, me and Conan The Whittler went down the river on Sunday evening, just before low water and dug some ragworm, ready to fish the first hour and a half of the flood.
There was a brisk northerly wind blowing directly straight on to us, which had coloured the water somewhat. Still, it wasn't too bad. We packed up a couple of hours later without a proper bite. Unfortunately, there was a boat drift netting for bass in the river at the time, though whether this was the reason for our failure I don't know.

A day later the wind dropped and went round to the west, so I decided to give it another go at same place, same  tide state. First chuck a bass hit the ragworm on the drop and before I could strike the clutch screamed as a seriously pissed off bass headed seawards in a foot of water. It was obviously a decent fish and when it finally came into view I put it at approaching 5lb. Safely landed and on the scales it went 4lb 8oz, a real corker for the river.

Next cast and I was in again, this time a nice fish just over 2lb. The action continued for 90 minutes until the tide forced me off the mudflats .
I ended up with seven bass, six between 2lb and four and a half pounds.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth I was down there again next morning at dawn, when it was still dark. A little isotope on the float, a check to see if tide had started to flood and a ten yard cast and within seconds the float shot under and yet another cracking bass violently thrashed on the surface, before being quickly beached. I had four fish in the next half hour, all good'uns, whereupon it went quiet.

I sent a text to The Whittler telling ( boasting ) of my successs. "You mad bastard, you're obsessed with it" he said. I then told him what great condition the fish were in and immediately got a text back saying " I know. I'm down my local spot and I've had three to 3lb 12oz ". Ha ! So I'm not the only one.
Next day and we had some bait left over so we went to Frinton for a few hours. Whiting, small codling, pouting, rockling and The Whittler had a nice sole. But it was a bit tame compared to light tackle bassing.

I'm knackered today, but may struggle out for an hour this evening. It would be a shame to waste good bait (that's my excuse).

On The Good Ship Turdster

Got back from Ireland on Saturday and Sunday morning I was digging ragworm for a trip with The Mighty Turdster on Monday, out from Shotley on the Stour estuary. I say "out from Shotley", it's about 200 yards off Shotley. The Turdster likes to keep close to home.
Another beautiful day, light south easterly winds and bright sunshine.
We started fishing just as the tide started to flood, me float fishing and Turdous chucking out a 4 oz breakaway in the briney. Turdous had the first four fish, little schoolie bass around the pound mark, that all came in covered in weed and detritus. I lectured him about how angling is a quest for sport, not merely results ( due to me being 4-0 down at this stage ) and how float fishing enables you to enjoy the fight without tonnes of weed deadening the feel.
Being an angling philistine he shrugged and said he "didn't give a shit". I then had a couple of schoolies on the float, then the rod hooped round and the clutch screamed as an obviously bigger fish put up a great battle. Turdous had it in the net first try and a near 4lb bass graced the boat. "Normal service is resumed" I gloated.

 

Turdous was definitely catching more fish than me, but none were keepers. Then I tried a light ledger off the back of the boat and was immediately into another decent fish. Lovely. Did I rub it in ? Just a bit. I can be an insufferable twat.
The schoolie bass continued to feed, along with whiting, flounders and, oh dear, hideous eels, for The Mighty Turdster. To be fair, he was loving it. He did eventually get one bass that he said was "over the legal size limit" and this predictably was cracked on the heed and taken home for someone on an extreme diet to snack on (sorry Turd).

You might think The Tiurdster is pissed off in this photo. He's not, this is his default expression. He's a miserable git, it's part of his charm.
A great day all round. Cheers Cap'n.

Somewhere in South West Ireland.....

Off to West Cork with The Mighty Turdster and guide Jim O'Donnell. Arrived early enough for a quick fish on Sunday and managed to see a pod of dolphins and snare a mullet of about 2lb in the harbour, before retiring to The Lifeboat Inn for a welcome pint and a bite to eat.
Monday was the first full day and after a blank hour at Ring, plugging for bass, Jim suggested a trip to a rock mark, protected from the moderate easterly wind. The Turdster had a nervous look on his face when Jim put on his rucksack which was adorned with assorted rock climbing equipment.

The first mark resulted in a lost pollock for Jim, but little else, so on to the next mark we went. We were into fish immediately, starting off with some decent pollock, mostly 3-4lb, on red gill type lures. I then changed over to wrasse gear with stick worms fished really close in. 
There were wrasse everywhere and I had fifteen casts resulting in a bite or a fish, before I managed a retrieve without any interest. Most were 2-3lb, with the occasional bigger fish . It was great sport. After a while I changed back to the pollock gear and had a couple more. Final tally was eight pollock for Jim ( and several more lost), plus a few wrasse, five pollock and seven wrasse for me and a couple of pollock for Turdster. A really enjoyable day.

Tuesday morning dawned sunny again and thankfully the east wind had dropped right off. Jim suggested a quick session after mullet at Rosscarbery. We arrived to see fish everywhere, big buggers too,
but they were incredibly shy and drifted off as soon as they saw or heard you. We were fishing with bubble floats and bread crust on the surface and soon we were all getting fish nudging and swirling at the bait. I was somewhat surprised, as I've always found mullet almost impossible to catch.
After about half an hour I hooked a fish that shot off at a rate of knots in the shallow water. With only a 5lb trace I had to be careful and I was relieved a few minutes later when the fish hit the net. At 4lb 12oz it was the biggest I've ever had, so I was well pleased.

 As we were photographing the fish, The Turdster shouted out that he had one on Jim's rod, which was just about to be pulled over the wall and into the water, before he grabbed it.. He played it for a fair while before the hook pulled. Bad luck Turdous.
After a quick break for lunch we were off for more rock fishing, this time to a mark that was "more easily accessible". It was certainly easier access than the previous day, although it still entailed a steep climb.
First cast with the red gill and I was in to a pollock of around 3lb. Then another of the same size. Time for a change. On with the wrasse gear and as soon as the lure hit the bottom it was nailed with a thump by a decent wrasse.

Then another. And another. And on it went. Great fun.

After a while we decided to try a new  unfished mark, where the fishing was, if anything, even better. One little cove had 45-50 feet of water a rod length out.

The first few casts resulted in pollock of 2-4lb, then I was attached to something bigger, which quickly became snagged, after it dived into the rocks. Somehow I managed to get it free and as it came into view in the gin clear water it was apparent it was a much bigger fish. A few minutes later I was holding a cracking pollock of just under 6lb, a real corker. The Turdster and Jim were catching wrasse and pollock too and for the last hour of the flood tide I tried various gullies for wrasse, almost all of which produced fish. What a fantastic place.

Wednesday we tried bassing at Ring to no avail, the increasing easterly wind proving to be a royal pain in the arse. Absolutely beautiful place though.

 After lunch we moved to the harbour to try for a mullet. As Jim had predicted, the mullet were making their way into the harbour in a few inches of water, munching on the bread we'd chucked in. Within a few minutes I'd had a big mullet pick up the bread, I struck and missed. Then a few minutes later, the same thing happened. The third time a real clonker picked up the bait and this time I managed to hook the fish, which tore off in the shallow water. It looked massive and I was well relieved when it hit the landing net . A real beast of a mullet at 6lb. I know I'm highly unlikely to catch one of that size ever again.

Thursday and it was livebaiting for bass with mackeral. It was a really slow day, but Alan Houlihan had a real brute of a bass of between 9 and 10lb. Well done that man.

Friday and the wind was worse than ever. We tried a few spots, more in hope than expectation, but over low water I first had a doggie, then a small huss around 4lb. We started to try a bit harder after this and this resulted in a vicious bite and the familiar jagging of a bass, which annoyingly managed to snag itself in the rocks. Can't win 'em all I suppose. The Turdster was rolling a fag when his rod headed towards the sea rather quickly, but somehow the fish avoided hooking itself.
We packed up after this and headed to The Lifeboat Inn at Courtmacsherry. Highly recommended, good atmosphere and decent food. Another place highly recommended is Woodpoint Bed and Breakfast, also in Courtmacsherry. Friendly people, comfortable accommodation and great food.
And finally thanks to the hyper active, super keen Jim O'Donnell for putting us on to fish on a "hard" week, as he put it. Good company, great scenery and some cracking fish. I've had harder weeks !

August - Loooocal Bass and a Few More Wrasse

Had a nice session for the wrasse at East Prawle a couple of weeks ago, just a few hours in the morning , but had four out on a stick worm on a Texas rig. Lovely weather again, my favourite place I think.

Missed more than I hooked as usual, but what a fantastic place to fish.

In the last two weeks of August the bass seemed to have appeared around here in bigger numbers. The first session after returning from Devon, I went to the usual spot and had six out in the first hour and a half of the flood, four of which were 2-3lb. On float fished ragworm in about 18" to 2 foot of water.

Being a greedy kind of bloke (and having the time) I went back the next day and had eight takes, all of which I missed ! The Mighty Turdster fished next to me and didn't have a touch. Every cloud, etc.

When everyone else was at work I went back in the week and in blustery, quite wild conditions had four between 2 and 3lb again. All in immaculate condition, stuffed with crab, worm and fry.

A few days later me and Conan The Whittler tried the same spot at night, me fishing the float with an isotope and The Whittler ledgering, but popping  his baits up off the bottom to avoid the crabs. We had two bass each, this time not so big, maybe just over the 1lb mark. The Whittler also had the misfortune to catch three big eels which amused him not one bit.
 
I thought I'd better have another couple of trips before the tides totally eased off and managed to winkle out a couple of decent fish each time, slower fishing , but still reasonable considering it was the middle of the day.

So that's 16 in half a dozen trips, each session lasting an hour and a half (you get cut off if you're not careful on this mark). Good fishing at the moment.

Ireland next week with The Mighty Turdster. High hopes, but I always have ! We'll see.