Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

SEA FISHING

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

24 May 2006

Bass on a windy morning.

Ben and I are in the habit of making an early morning sortie every week. This time, when the appointed day came round the weather had changed. After the long period of warm, calm conditions suddenly we were into south west gales and rain. As it happened we managed to avoid the rain and at 4am, when he picked me up, it was blowy but dry.

Down at the coast there were lots of white horses on the waves - probably a good force 8 - but there was not much of a swell so there was no problem about standing near the edge of the sea to fish. We trudged round to a relatively sheltered bay and while I stood and looked for signs of bass, Ben attached a Maria Chase shallow diving plug and began to fish. There was a bit of weed in the edge and in fifteen minutes of watching I only saw one tail and one swirl close in. The water was slightly coloured but there was no real problem with drifting weed until the lure was almost back to the rod tip.

I decided to stick to the popper that I had been using recently although to be honest I was not sure it would be much use in the prevailing conditions. It was probably the best part of half an hour before a shout from Ben made me look up to see that he was into a fish. The bass was progged on both trebles so it took a little while for him to release it. Then we had no more bites for the next ten minutes so we set off back round the beach.

At the next sheltered spot we had a few more casts and Ben's Chase plug did the business again. This time the fish was a bit bigger and managed to make the clutch give line a few times before it was landed. After a few more casts we packed in. On the way back to the car we had to climb over huge mountains of weed cast up by the waves. As we were ploughing through the masses of kelp I noticed what looked like a plump jellyfish. On inspection it turned out to be a bunch of finger-like jelly processes, each of them full of small transparent eggs. I've never seen them before but I assume that they are the egg capsules of squid or cuttlefish - any of you divers know where they are laid?

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you.'get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

First one.

On the sand.

Unhooking.

Returning.

second one.

Landed.

Egg mass?