Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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SEA FISHING

31 July 2002

Out on the Tout.

The phone rang! It was Nigel telling me that Worbarrow Bay was open (MOD land) and that he was going down with his friend Phil for a couple of hour's spinning. I grabbed the rod and the bag and set off for the coast.

The last couple of days had been hot and calm but I arrived to find the wind in the south east and the sea choppy. I had decided to fish a Chug Bug. The idea in my mind was that the tide was low and the water along the east side of the bay would be very shallow and weedy so the surface lure would allow me to cover most of this difficult ground.

I could see Nigel and Phil beginning to make their way along the sweeping gravel beach towards the rocks at the western end but I decided to stick to my plan. I worked my way out to the end of the Tout (a huge mass of limestone jutting into the sea) casting the big lure out into the choppy water and twitching it back. Even with the wind blowing I could hear the splosh of the water when I jerked the line.

Nothing happened and eventually I reached the steep rocks at the seaward end. I clambered up the sloping rockface (cursing my tennis elbow) and began to cast the popper into the deeper water. On the third cast I noticed a splash by the lure, I twitched again - splash! and again - splash! By now the lure was under my rod tip. The fish - presumably a bass - was too small to easily get the lure into its mouth. Presumably fish with a big mouth and correspondingly a strong 'suck' are more likely to hook themselves, on these large, buoyant lures, than are their smaller cousins.

I was encouraged but for ten minutes I saw nothing else. I made a long (60m) cast back towards the shore. I saw the lure hit the water and tightened the line. After the first chug there was a heart stopping splash, the lure disappeared and the rod bowed to the weight of a fish. The fight was short and sweet because the mouth of the bass was wedged open by the big lure. I landed it, admired it, photographed it and returned it. It was not a huge fish but very pleasing to land. No more bites were forthcoming so I made my way back over the rocks to the beach and tramped along (fishing all the way), to Nigel and Phil. They had blanked so my plan to fish the rocky end of the bay had, for once, been justified.

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

Worbarrow Tout.

The Tout is the point of the headland in the distance.

Dave Cooling fishing Worbarrow.

The view is looking west along the shingle beach with a good surf running.

A victim of the Chug Bug.

The fish obviously hit the lure amidships, hooking itself on the mid-body treble.

A closer view.

The bulk of the lure makes it essential to have needle sharp hooks with a wide gape.