To all the followers of my Blogs

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

to you one and all.

May thanks for 

reading

and

following

my Blogs.

Good luck on your future

fishing trips.

Pre Christmas fishing trip

Went to a spot near Rockingham yesterday evening,

I arrived just after the rain cleared and

managed a dry chilly session.

I met up with Brad from Bristol Angling Centre

and started fishing at 4pm.

High tide was at 6pm and we fished till 7.30pm.

Lug Rag and Squid were the baits used.

I had a Rockling at high tide at the same time as

Brad managed a nice Codling. No bites were

had on the flood tide.

No further bites were had on the ebb untill

the last cast was wound in.

This was lucky for me, as I had a Flounder and a 

Rockling on a Wishbone rig.

Another very good trip. 

Rusty beats his Dad AGAIN. 09-12-11

Popped down to the grass bank again

to use up the left over bait from the last trip.

My family had bought me a new rod to replace the one I 

broke.

 Sunset over Portishead

 With Moon rise over Sea Bank power station.

 Usual rigs produced 3 Codling for and

2 Flounder for Rusty.

The top Codling weighed 2lb 10oz.

I managed to catch a small Codling and

a 2lber  christened my new rod.

Good fishing trip and good company.

Yacht Club Portishead 07-11-11

Birthday treat to myself

Low tide down the slipway.

Low was at 11.00, so arrived at 07.00.

Lug, Rag and Squid were the baits used.

Clear blue sky, cool and VERY blustery.

Pulley rigs were the order of the day 

with 3/0 and 4/0 hooks.

First fish of the day was a Whiting 

about the same size as the smaller one in the photo,

at around 8.40.

Weed then started to cause trouble

with large clumps pulling the weights around.

At low tide these two Whiting were landed on consecutive 

casts. Taking Lug / Rag cocktails.

Then as the tide picked up again 

the weed was once again a problem.

I started packing up around 12.45

Three more 4 inch Whiting were caught on

the last three casts of the session.

Not a bad day out.

Roll on Friday evening

for the next trip.  

Steamer Pier 21-11-11

Well with the left over bait in hand

Rusty and I arrived at his favourite

venue.

Steamer Pier bay.

Glad we didn't go on to the pier

it was packed.

 Rusty was in first with this tiny Whiting.

 We tried a every combination of

Bluey's, Squid, Rag and Lug.

to no avail.

The little Whiting were the only fish

interested in our baits.

With no wind, cloudy, and warm,

it turned into a really pleasant session.

In the end Russell had 3 and I got 2.

Rusty's on a role. 

Aborted fishing trip 18-11-11

The best part of the day

nice sunrise.

 Started fishing around 07.30 

and from the off it was going to be one of those days.

First cast dug into the mud and could not be pulled out.

Eventually the shock leader knot gave.

Then after an hour or so I was by where this photo was taken

and two anglers came down and set up to my up on my left.

less than two rod lenghts away?

Then cast out towards my lines.

Well that was it, I'd had enough over 1/2 mile of fishable

shore and they move around within 20 feet of me.

Only good thing I saved the bait and used it on

Sunday with Rusty..

Rockingham 13-11-11

Fished off the grass bank again this morning

from 06.30 till 09.30.

With another birds nest snap off 

(second one in two trips)

on the first cast. 

I was soon out with the second rod

and quickly sorted out the other reel.

Baits used were Rag / Lug and Squid.

Sunrise over Industrial Rockingham.

 Not a single bite was seen

on both rods.

 This dark horse took a liking to my tackle bucket,

I had to keep shooing it away.

All was not lost I managed a nice 

plump Flounder at 09.00

that saved the blank.

I only saw two Codling and a Snottie caught

by 4 other fishermen.

We fished in the rain 11-11-11

Russell and I fished New Passage again,

and boy was it WET.

Usual Pulley and Wishbone rigs were used

with Rag / Lug and Squid baits

As we started fishing so the rain started,

little did we know what was to come.

No bites for the two hours to the top of the 

tide with the rain getting heavier,

didn't look very good.

Just after the top of the tide

Russell had a bit of a rattle 

and hay presto he had a

Codling.

Then Russell showed me his boots,

the soles were dropping off. 

A short while later and both soles dropped off!

He picked them up and dumped them.

With the rain hammering down

we decided to pack in and go home.

Russell won the day.

Rusty and Me get our MOJO back. 07-11-11

Headed for a nice easy spot up at

New Passage.

I got down there at 14.30 and 

did a bit of water craft and

ground recognisances.

Rusty arrived as I started fishing around 1500.

It was very slow at first with no bites until it started getting dark.

Mind it was dark enough already

with low cloud, drizzle and northerly wind.

Having broken one of my rods last time out,

I dug out my old ground caster.

Using Lug, Rag and Squid as baits, as well as 

various cocktails of all of them.

Rusty was in first, (his smile was great to see)

he landed a lovely plump 2 1/2lb codling.

As he cast out his other rod rattled and bounced.

Bit bigger Codling on the bank,

and he was jumping for joy.

Four of the seven Codling caught. 

Very soon after that another smaller Codling

was landed by Rusty. Rusty 3 - 0 Me. OUCH!

4 - 0 to Rusty as a smaller Codling was landed and returned.

High tide passed at 16.51.

My turn for a bite. 

Rusty herd the ratchet clicking and singing

struck, yahoo fish on for me.  

In came this very plump 3lb 12oz Codling.

Caught on the old Groundcaster.

4 - 1.

The bites eased off, but Rusty managed two more

6 - 1.

Rusty won most fish,

I won biggest fish.

Magic fishing session again.

Battery Point and a broken rod. 05-11-11

Rusty and I decided to fish the deep water mark

at Battery Point,Portishead to day.

We got there at 07.00 and by 07.20

I had an underside Codling on Lug / Rag cocktail

on a Pulley Rig.

Low tide was at 08.54.

We had a few rattles and nodding bites which produced 

one Codling for me but poor Rusty 

failed to catch.

Beware the rocks are slippery and Jagged.

The cliff is quite high at low tide

and the tide flows are very strong.

This is the top section of my rod after I 

SLIPPED.

Now a 3 piece Diawa 13RGM Supercast rOD

Thankfully I'm Ok.

Duchess lake Roach love white Maggots

Popped down to Duchy this morning, 

fishing from 08.30 till 12.30.

Fished from the east bank 

at 8.5mtrs on the pole.

Baits used were maggots, casters and worm

over hemp, chopped worm and groundbait.

Also used maggot and caster 

over liquidized bread.

From the off the small Roach were

on the feed. White maggot was the bait 

of the day. Worm didn't really account for much.

Caster caught slightly larger Roach ans Skimmers.

The little Roach were just that 2 to the ounce size

taking single maggot on size 18 hook to 2lb hook length

and 5lb main line.

Biggest fish caught were around 1/4lb.

In the end I had about 150 fish for not much more then 3lbish.

It was a catching day, not just a fishing day.

The Cottage

Went down to the Cottage today with Rusty Ramos,

AKA Russell.

We fished for three hours.

We arrived full of hope and gagging to catch fish.

First thing to be beached was a lump

Tubeworm casing.

 This is the view looking towards Battery Point

 This is the view looking towards Clevedon.

 Well using our usual mix of rigs

with Lug Rag, Squid and Bluey as bait

we failed to catch anything.

Until I caught this Pin Whiting on my final wind in.

Phew blank saved for me.

Poor Rusty was not impressed with this venue as he lost two rigs.

I lost three. It never used to be that bad, It was a

favourite of mine for many years.

I also used my Carp rod which managed to catch three

Snotties in quick succession.

HHHMMM where ton ext time.

New Passage 18-10-11

Fished two rods with the usual Wishbone rig and Pulley rig.

Bait used were Lug worm Ragworm and Whole Squid.

Started fishing at 08.00 after having a walk out over some of the area

in front of where I was fishing.

Whilst out there I saw some rigs on top of the mud 

so trudged out and picked them up.

However I also pulled in a shed load of 

other rigs plus miles of line.

First proper bite came around 09.30, it was a good pull down

and then drop back.

Yahooooooo! A nice 3 1/2lb Codling had taken the 

whole Squid wrapped with lug and rag. 

The whole Squid was cast out around 50mtrs

to a fishy looking area.

The Wishbone was loaded with lug and rag

and cast from 30 to 80 mtrs out.

trying to find where the fish were feeding.

Two more Codling came to the lug worn baited hook on

the wishbone around the top of the tide. 11.00mtrs.

All the time I cleaned the mess of line and rigs

I'd found.

In the end I had 32 usable leads, a box full of 

bits and pieces.

Some of the weights I found.

Packed up around 12.00.

Headed home with a bucket full of extra line, weights and bits

and tree fish for diner.

The local Twitchers were kept busy watching a

Skua (Sea bird) sheltering from

the strong cold westerly wind in the small river

behind the shingle bank.

Windy afternoon 09-10-11

WARNING 

DON'T GO OUT ON THE MUD UNLESS

YOU ARE FIT,

AND GO WITH SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE AREA.

DEEP MUD AND STRONG TIDES TAKE GREAT CARE.

Decided to fish on the shingle off the

Rockingham grass bank.

 I had to walk out over the mud.

OUCH!

That was hard work, not as young as I used to be.
Worse than a 10k run.

Any way, armed with one rod, the rod rest and a bucket with

bait and a spare rig I fished the rising tide.

The wind was pretty strong and gusty, plus 

the drizzle, made it very uncomfortable at times.

Well I managed to catch two Codling

before the tide pushed me back up over the mud
 to the grass bank.

Rusty, little Rusty and Codders turned up,

and we started fishing the last 1 1/2 hours of the flood

and 1 hour down.

Rusty caught a nice Codling, and the rest of us blanked.

It got very wet as drizzle combined with spray,

soaked everything and everyone.

HHHMMMMM!

What a difference a couple of days make.

Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to Portishead.

Rusty's choice of venue was the Slipway.

Getting down there at 10.00 we set 

with Rusty to the left.

 Me to the centre and right.

 Squid, Lug and Rag were the baits.

Rigs were various pulley styles and mixes

of baits.

First blood came to me, a table sized Whiting.

Then Russell caught a Codling for the table.

Various size and types of bites over the next couple of hours or so.

Until around 12.30 when one of my rods rattled and nodded,

WOOO HOOO! A good pull on the rod and a 

in came this 9.5lb Thornback Ray

 Quickly released and cast out again.

Turn to chat to Russell and one of his

lines was slack.

Striking, Russell was upset nothing there.

"Wind in" I shout.

"There's nothing there"

"Keep winding Rusty"!

"Yahoo" Shouts Rusty "IT'S A ??????? BASS"  

 5lb bar of silver.

 He's just text me and said it was Lush.

As can be seen from this picture it wasn't rough

even with a stiff  left to right wind. 

The only other fish caught was a tiny Codling, 

caught by Russell.

I had biggest Fish

Russell had Best fish and most fish.

DRAW!

Nice day, good company!

Baltic Wharf 30-09-11

Well I've definitely lost my fish luck.

Maggot and Casters over a bed of

Groundbait, Casters, Hemp and pellets, 

at 8mtrs.

Well the float stayed like the photo for 2 1/2 hours.

It only went under for a missed bite and a

Green Eel of about a pound.

On the inside line of 4mtrs 

small Perch were slow with 10 landed for around 1 1/2lb.

Hhhmmmm!

Not good!

Grass Bank 24 / 25-09-11

Two trips, both afternoon / evening sessions.

Saturday 24-09-11 

 Fished 3.30 till 6.15

Sunday 25-09-11

Fished 4.30 till 7.15

Baits were lug and rag worm with my usual rigs.

On saturday it was rattle city on the flood tide,

this resulted in one 6 inch snottie and a 4 inch whiting.   

Sunday was worse, two known rattles

and one 3 inch whiting.

Weed after the tide turned was a bit of a problem.

Plenty of other anglers on both days, I didn't see much caught.

One angler claimed a small Codling. Well done that man.

But the weather was really great both days.

So took some scenic photos, 

Rockingham 14-09-11

Fished my first session of the Codling season.

Rusty joined me and we were really looking forward

to catching some fish.

Rusty had a bad start with a crack off, snotty wrecking

the rig and a hang up.

Not a happy bunny.

I had a much better start,

Three codling, all takers, in the first three casts.

Weed was a problem but not to much of this stuff

mainly the grass style catching in the top eye.

I used three rods pennell pulley on the

Beach casters and flowing trace on the carp rod.

I cast out no more than 60 yards on the main

rods with the carp rod around 15 - 20 yrds.

Rusty watching the carp rod

5 of the 7 fish I kept for the table

Total catch for me was 6 codling, 1 flounder and 4 snotties.

High tide was at 09.10 and 12.8mtrs.

light south west breeze

and bright sunshine.

What a perfect start to the season.

Better luck next time Rusty.

Great mornings fishing down Baltic Wharf. 04-09-11

Having read the reports on the

Thursday evening matches

down Baltic Wharf on

http://matchtackle.blogspot.com

from Bristol Angling Centre.

I decided to sample the Skimmer fishing down there.

I took a pint each of red and white maggots and the

casters  I turned in the last blog.

Fished over a bed of my own ground bait mix, casters 

and hemp.

First put in and straight away a great bite and a 

1lb skimmer was in the net. A steady flow of skimmers and

small Roach followed.

I managed to winkle out 6 better Skimmers

3 of which I photographed.

These three totalled 7lb 5oz .

 I managed around 30lb of fish 

 All caught on red and white maggot

I fished from 08.00 till 12.00.

The weather dull and light wind at first turning

to a strongish breeze and lovely sunshine.

Had a great time watching the Sea Cadets

capsizing their sailing boats.

Great mornings fishing.   

How get your own Casters

To make your own casters you need

a large flat bottomed pan or plastic box.

A riddle, with holes large enough to allow the maggots to crawl through

but small enough to stop casters.

Some dry ground bait or saw dust

and of course some maggots.

I use left over maggots from a fishing trip

The same ground bait mix I use when fishing

and a cooking Wok.

I put the maggots in the Wok with enough

dry ground bait mix to cover them.

I leave them in the the dry shed at normal air temperature.

When the casters start forming I  run the Maggot / Ground bait mix

through the riddle.

(See Photo below)

 When all the maggots have gone through the riddle

your left with the casters.

I then pick out any dead maggots, feathers and other bits,

leaving clean maggots.

If they are light coloured I allow them to darken off

a little but not to dark.

Then they are bagged up and as air as possible taken out.

and the bag tied up. Then put them in the fridge till you need them.

(As in the photo below.) 

There you are nice fresh clean CASTERS