Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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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).

Mixed fishing.

I followed up the pollack fishing mentioned in the last saltwater page with another trip the next morning (always a good idea). This time I simply fly-fished (although the spinning rod was handily placed - just in case). It was a bit rougher than the previous trip and I was slightly apprehensive but all was well. As soon as the sky in the east began to lighten the fish started to bite and pollack after pollack grabbed at the small redgill on my fly gear. Many of them were decent fish and gave me a fair tussle in eight feet of water and five feet of kelp. Towards the end of the session I had a mackerel and then a bass, both of which were even livelier than the pollack.

That afternoon my old pal Dave Elliott visited and was intent on trying to catch a bass. I wasn't sure where to go (mid-afternoon, low water, gin clear) but we opted for Worbarrow Bay, because it's a nice place. It was more or less dead as far as we could tell but Dave has never caught a bass or indeed seen one landed so it was a pleasant walk. We hiked to the far end of the beach and spun our way back with plugs and soft plastics. We were encouraged when we noticed flocks of gulls on the water but it turned out that they were eating flying ants trapped on the surface. After an hour or two of solid casting suddenly I had a bite which turned out to be a bass of three or four pounds - Dave was thrilled. Then, that was it, but we enjoyed the afternoon.

When I got home the phone rang and it was Nigel suggesting that we had another go at fly fishing the following morning. I couldn't resist so as it got light we were standing on the rocks flicking our flies into the sea. I'd switched from the 4" Redgill of the previous day to a small silvery Clouser and a tiny, white Delta (the mackerel that I'd caught coughed up lots of tiny, inch-and-a-half whitebait). It certainly worked and after the fish got going we landed about (we lost count) sixteen mackerel, eight pollack and six bass between us. We missed and lost quite a few more so for an-hour-and-a-quarter session it was pretty hectic.

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 took the Redgill on my first morning session..

Bass.

The last fish of my first session.  Not big but very game on the fly rod.

Worbarrow.

Dave flogging away along Worbarrow beach.  Hard work.

Result!

My lone Worbarrow bass taken on an 18cm pearl Evo Redgill.

Next morning.

Just a sample of the fantastic fly sport we had at the crack of dawn.  This one took a tiny Delta but most of the others were on the Clouser.