Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

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).

As I said I'm going on a (fishing) holiday for a couple of weeks so this will be the last page for a little while. - Cheers MIKE

02 July 2006

More mullet.

It's always best to 'strike while the iron's hot', in other words if you know the fish are likely to be feeding, go again ASAP. We did just that when the mullet were on the feed last week. Nigel, our pal Brian Baxter and myself all turned up on the beach an hour or so before high water. We got there just before the mullet as it happened, so there was time to heave a bit of weed into the sea while we waited for action. In fact the fish arrived almost at once. First the odd swirl and soon there were groups of surface skimming fish right in front of us.

The fish were less concentrated and a bit further out (about five metres) than on the previous evening but prospects still looked good. I was the first to hook a fish and it went like a train. Twenty minutes or more after I struck the mullet was still battling away (much to everyone's amusement) and eventually when I landed it and it turned out to weigh only four-pounds-ten-ounces, I was surprised.

By now the fish were feeding well and I spent some time taking pictures of the others as they played fish. We were all using maggot-baited polyflies fished right in the surface film. It's amazing that even when there are fish all round the fly it is often five or ten minutes before you can induce a bite. Anyway, I was kept busy with the camera and did not manage to cast another line for ages - by which time I (stupidly) switched to a streamer fly (in hopes of a bass) and never had another bite.

To cut a long story short Brian had a schoolie then a couple of mullet (his first on a fly) the second of which was a cracking fish of about four pounds. Nigel also had a mullet then he landed his best fly-caught bass so far - again on a maggot fly. All in all it was a fantastic evening's sport.

My next page will hopefully have some pictures of tropical fish. I'll be fishing in the West Indies with my son Richard next week. All the best, Mike.

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

Concentration.

Nigel into a fish while Brian tries for another one - the anglers in the distance were fruitlessly legering baits

It's on!

Brian's fly rod bent into his first mullet.

Nearly there.

Even mullet tire after a while.

On the beach.

The fish slide ashore easily over the wet, weedy, water's edge.  Then they can be picked up.

Unhooking.

The next job's to get the hook out.

Is he pleased?

I should say so!

Nigel plays a fish.

When the fish are on it is all action.

---and a bass!

Another satisfied angler.

Me!

A mullet well down into the backing.  Note the shallow angle of the line - this fish was going places.  Picture thanks to Steve Binckes (previous evening).