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).

New reel.

As it happens yesterday morning I’d been down to the coast fishing a tide race on the ebbing tide and I’d managed to catch a modest bass (51cm, about 3.5lb) on my usual gear (4Surespin, Stradic, Nanofil). Apart from the tide being an hour or so later this morning the conditions seemed identical so I thought why not give my new reel (a Mitchell Mag-Pro 2000) an outing to the seaside? I tied a short trace of clear 15lb Amnesia to the end of the braid attached the same weedless Redgill lure I’d used yesterday. It was pretty dark when I made my first cast into the race and for ten or fifteen minutes I cast and retrieved. The lure slid through the kelp and thong-weed without a hitch and as I gained confidence I made some longer casts in search of a fish – no problem!

Without any warning ‘wallop’ there was a strong pull on the featherlight Teklon rod and I was in. Did that fish battle? Of course the bass had all the force of the torrent of rushing sea water to help it so the drag gave line time after time and the little rod was hooped right over. In fact as I played the fish it began to run up against the flow and I had to apply side strain to avoid it wrapping the line around the ledge I stood on. After quite a time I was able to slide the bass ashore and take a couple of pictures before slipping it back. Then it was down to the end of the ledge for another cast. Immediately I was into another hard fighting bass which struggled, if anything, harder than the first one. By now I’m thinking ‘it’s going to be one of those good mornings’ but I was wrong. After returning the second bass that was it! Not another sniff. Anyway at least I’d Christened my new reel and it behaved impeccably.

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

Race.

Yesterday's fish.

---and todays.