G4's and Garfish

Putting the clocks back an hour meant I laid awake til 4 o'clock, or was it 3 o'clock, trying to work out if I was an hour early or an hour late picking Joe up. So much for the extra hours sleep.  First light on Portland and both straight into a Pollock each. Why do I always forget to tighten the drag when Pollock are on the cards, straight into the rocks where it sat for 5 minutes before it swam free. I'd never caught a Gar before, but 30 minutes after the Sun came up I'd had 10, and so we moved on.

Met up with Martin and Steve, and after a quick breakfast was on Chesil and expecting great things. A call from Mark fishing with numerous Dorset Bass Rods  dulled our enthusiasm  with only a smuttering of fish between them. Hard work paid off to a degree, Joe and I having 6 each, the best going to Joe at 57cm. My best pushing 3LB had its picture taken.  Handsome Bitch.  But not as handome as me in my new G4 Simms, purchased from the USA as a pair of G3's, and sent by mistake.  £287 for a pair of G4's, awesome.      
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The last Month

Had a trip to Devon mid September and decided to ditch the diving in favour of some fishing. Tried a spot called Baggy Point, and bumped into Devon Guide, Joel Squires.  He was out with a customer and on the day they failed to catch, and I managed to match them. A stiff onshore, coloured water and ground  that made you plan your escape before you went near the water made life interesting.

A week later and we were back in Dorset, a favourite rock-mark at first light. Joe snatched a 4lb fish right on cue and added another later in the day, plus a Schoolie. The quality fish were all Joe's with Tony having just the one, and me having 4, 3 on the GunFish and one on the Black Minnow 

Had a trip out today in Kent, not a thing. Fished Surface Lures without the slightest interest, although the sea was slightly more coloured then I'd like and the Sun shone throughout. At this time of year you feel your fishing for just the odd fish in Kent, but hopefully that fish will be worth the effort. The big girls must be prowling the ledges and that's what will keep me looking.

Dorset Bootcamp 2.9.12

Joe and I had arranged to meet Richard DFR at 0430hrs with the intention of climbing into a particularly rocky mark 1 hour further on to fish first light. Unfortunately Richard had been caught fishing LRF 2 days earlier and the shame proved to much, he rung us at 4am telling us his alarm was wrong and he wouldn't be joining us. He may have been right, Pollock and Mackerel dominated with just the odd Bass.

 Coffee at the Tackle Shop and revitalised we hit Mark 2. Second cast and Joe hits a fish, kiss of death that, he didn't hit anymore. I had a few more, with virtually all fish falling to Gataride lures. Final tally, 4 each, nothing to get excited about, plus some decent sized Pollock. 22 Hour fishing trip, 13 hours fishing, 2 hour traffic jam on way home when a hippy's VW Camper did the right thing and self-ingnited.   

Off the top, again. 16.8.12

Met at first light in Dorset, Joe, Mark333, Mark 11 and me.  Went straight to Mark 1, but the water was coloured and the sea was wild. Went onto Mark 2, but there wasn't any fish at Mark 2. Finally at 0700hrs arrived at Mark 3, Joe, Mark 333, Mark MK 11, and me.

Gave it 20 minutes working sub-surface lures without a take, while Mark 333 and Joe both picked up a fish each using the same. In my last post I stated the Gunfish was a quality surface lure and so it proved again today. 3 Casts after putting it on the surface exploded, ( Mark 333 reckoned he'd never seen a take like it) ( I had, see 79cm fish)   and after the best fight I'd had off a Bass, lasting all of 10 minutes, Mark got into the swell and landed my fish, 68cm, 7lb 2 oz. 

Moved around to a few other Marks during the day,but the 3 of us only finished with just 3 a piece. The guided client, Mark 11 Cider did much better with 9.                                                                       24

Summers Evening in Kent

Snuck off work early today and was on the mark at 6pm, 90 minutes after high tide. The sun remained bright right through to sunset, but as soon as it went the fish started taking the surface lures. First 2 to the Patchinko 100 500g, a mini version of the Patchinko II. People in the know are raving about the Sandeel pattern, but I was using the reddish Brown one with the pink underbody. First time out and 2 fish.

Then on went the Gunfish,  had 3 in quick succession, hooked into and immediately lost a fish of around 5lb, had a couple of other offers that didnt stick. The old faithful still cant be beaten. Class
 

Scorcher at Dorset

It was meant to be clouding over at Mid-day so Joe and I got to the beach for 1300hrs, having enjoyed our latest start ever in Dorset. Even the Olympic traffic never materialised, but the Sun did, and by the 1900hrs finish I was burnt.

Fishing was fast and furious from the off, I had 2 fish pushing 3lb and a tiddler, Joe had a tiddler. Then the fish remembered they shouldn't give themselves up during the mid-day Sun fest, and stopped. 3 Fishless hours later and a change of venue we met up with Mark, Richard and Neil.

The change of venue worked for  Joe who had 5 in a couple of hours. Mark had 3, I had another 1 and lost one at the beach after all the hard work had been done.                                                                                                                                                     16

It's not always BASS

Just back from a fortnight in Mexico and while there thought I'd have a go for a Tarpon on the Fly. Not the biggest fish in the world, but these things really go, and they also come off with frustrating regularity. ( I was told after if you land one in 10 you've done quite well).
First trip and after a Barracuda and a Jack, finally had a fish of around 5 lb, and a few moves later added another 2 to the tally. That was when we moved to the mouth of a Channel that I hooked and lost five 25lb fish in quick succession. One was on for 2 minutes and jumped 4 times so I was sure he was well hook, but it wasn't the case.

Second trip didn't go so well. Moved a decent fish, cast to several others, ( you have to hit them right on the nose) and was optimistic until first the biggest electrical storm I'd ever seen moved in,( the guide thought I should continue fishing) and then the engine packed up. With the light failing the guide punted us a good mile back to the same Channel we'd visited the previous trip, and in complete darkness the guide put me blindly into the best fish of the trips, at 10 lb.  I've caught many big reservoir trout, but this is something completely different