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).

02 June 2008

It could have been worse.

Saturday morning was slow again. To be fair I missed a few bites but it seems likely that they were from fish no bigger than the ones I landed. It was a good, early morning tide and several anglers had decided to go to the same spot as Ben and me. Nothing wrong with that of course but when this happens I tend to walk to spread out the effort and as a result we finished up some miles from the car.

We fished at first from some big boulders and right on cue, just as it was getting light, I had a couple of pulls on the plug but missed them both - not good. We moved on to find the next choice spot occupied so we gave it a miss. Apparently (we found out later) the other anglers had landed a wrasse on a plug. Tramping on a bit further there was nothing at the next two places and we were beginning to think that it was one of those days. The water was a bit coloured and did not look ideal for spinning so we clambered out onto some really big, rugged rocks where it was much clearer.

On about my third cast I felt a pluck but again it wasn't hooked - downer! I moved to a bigger rock and cast again. Ben was standing just behind me and I had another bite. This time the fish was unlucky and I landed it - a modest pollack. We took a couple of pictures thinking that it might be the only fish of the morning but then I had another bite. This time I landed a school bass, things were looking up. Ben was still biteless - obviously not his day. By now it was getting quite late so we made our way back. I decided to have a cast at the spot we had bypassed on our outward trip. Within minutes I landed a small (very small) ballan wrasse. I noticed that Ben was talking to another angler. When I took the wrasse to be unhooked and photographed it turned out that the other bloke was Andy Mason an email correspondent of mine from Bedford, who is new to plugging and still to catch his first bass. It seemed that Andy had broken his duck with a nice wrasse - excellent start.

After a bit of a chat we trudged back to the cars. All in all it could have been worse.

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

Pollack.

this one hooked itself on my Angel's Kiss plug.

..and me.

I look fairly pleased - so would you after walking three miles and catching nothing.

My bass.

It was a much splashier fight than the pollack.

Up you come.

The bass about to be lifted out.

Last gasp wrasse.

I suppose this is what you'd call a 'green' wrasse.

Andy's wrasse.

Much better than mine.  He guessed a pound-and-a-half but it looks fat enough to have been more.