Ledges, Ladye Bay,04-07-17

Went back to the Ledges

but I intended to fish

low water to high.

Low water was at 10.15

and high water at 16.30.

So I was disappointed

to find it raining when I got there.

This makes the rock area where I

fish very slippery,

so I took a walk along the

sandy area then climbed back

up on to the Ledges.

So I didn't start fishing till 11.30.

Using my usual

baits and rigs

I was able to cast  to my full distance

as it was only a 10.5mtr tide.

The Squid/Mackerel, Squid/Sandeel

cocktail baits were not touched

till 13.50 when this little

Conger decided on a bit of  Squid/Sandeel

cocktail.

 Had to wait a while for my next

bit of action.

This time a 

Thornback Ray.

A male Ray / Shark

can be identified by the

claspers.

These are the two finger type appendages

sticking out to the left.

Females don't have these.

The photos show the underside of the fish.

 This is the upper side of 

the above fish.

 Just after the top of the tide

16.47

this stunning male

Thorny

fell again to the Squid/Sandeel

cocktail

 As can be seen from

the photos

the sun was out all afternoon.

Shortly before I

packed up

This "Snotty" 

more correctly called

Silver Eel or Fresh Water Eel.

took a Squid/ Mackerel bait.

It was on its way to the
Sargasso Sea
in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean
to spawn.

So ended a very enjoyable trip.

Ladye Bay 01-07-17

I intended to fish from

09.30 till 15.00

but weed became a real problem.

I had Squid, Mackerel and Sandeel

for bait, straight or cocktail.

From the off

the baits were not touched.

Not even a nibble.

Until this little

Cat Shark, Doggie

took a liking to 

Squid, Sandeel cocktail.

As can be seen

the weed was starting to

be a problem at 10.30.

 High water was at 13.30

and 11.5mtrs.

 

 There was a good deal of weed

which was making it difficult

to see bites.

 At about 13.00 I had 

a good pull down and drop back bite.

The rod pulled over, something was pulling line off the

reel.

There were hard lunging pulls 

 and it stayed deep.

Eventually I had it on the surface,

a large Conger surfaced.

It took another dive

which was a reel problem because 

of the rough ground in front

of me.

Fortunately I turned it round

and had it on the surface again

Eventually I got it to the Ledge,

but couldn't climb down because of 

the waves sweeping over it.

I grabbed the shock leader

and held on to it,

I knew I couldn't  lift it

out of the water

as the hook length might brake.

Well as I was trying to get my phone

out of my pocket the line broke

as a wave dropped back.

My guess was the Conger was around

the 20ld mark.

As the tide turned the weed problem

got worse, blocking the

top eye and pulling the leads round into the

rough ground.

So I packed up at 13.30.