Big Al's Take on Fishing

Lovely Chubly

2010-06-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

Beauty!

As the tides are currently on neaps and my girlfriend was at University I decided to have a quick trip to the Dorset Stour and use up the remainder of the maggots that i bought last week for mullet fishing.

When I arrived there was only one other angler present so i had a good choice of swims. i had been for a walk along the bank recently and noticed a shoal of good chub underneath an overhanging tree. I knew that casting into the hotspot would be tricky but opted to try that swim anyway.

I set up my 11' Avon quivertip with a 28g Fox block ended feeder on a simple running ledger rig coupled with a size 8 hook and a bunch of 6 or so casters.

After an hour or so I'd been plagued by numerous small fish including perch, gudgeon and a 2 inch minnow! The next cast did not produce any bites from the small fish at all and just as i was about to re cast the rod wrenched round and i lifted in to a heavy fish. i saw it kite to the left towards a weed bed and could see that it was a very good chub. After a spirited fight and numerous hairy moments i managed to slide the fish into the net. I took a quick picture (apologies for the poor picture but i was alone as usual) and weighed the fish. I was elated as the scales balanced at 7lb 2oz, by far my best chub. I will definitely be sending the picture in to Anglers Mail!

I had bugger all after that so i was very lucky indeed. I think I'll be going back there after work a few times in the future.

tight Lines!

Big Al

Bass at Last

2010-06-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Popped

Slug-go'd

Towards the end of the recent spring tides i decided to try a different spot along the Purbeck coast as my usual patch had not been producing bass recently. I arrived at the coast around 7.30
just as the tide had started to rise.

i walked the coast for a mile or so having a few casts with a shallow diving plug. i saw a few fish swirl but they totally ignored my lure. After trying for twenty minutes or so i decided that these fish were probably mullet and moved on. by now the tide was well on the way in. unfortunately there were thousands of pieces of suspended weed in the water mixed with countless maggots. After a few casts my fears were confirmed. Every retrieve resulted in the lure being swamped by weed.

After a while i remembered the so called weedless Slug-go's that i had ion my box. By the time I had changed to the Slug-go the tide was all the way in. i was glad i had made the changed as the lure proved to be virtually weedless and in the next half hour i had numerous hits landing three bass all in the region of 3-4lbs. Just as darkness fell i changed to a popper and as a bonus landed one last fish.

I know where I'll be going on the next spring tides.

Tight lines!

Big Al

Mullet on the maggot 'fly'

2010-06-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Good fish

Same fish

Purbeck Coast

I had a shit day as work as is usual in recent weeks so I decided to go after a few fish down the Purbeck Coast to blow out a few cobwebs. The bass fishing has been a bit lean for me recently and the neap tides hadn't been helping. On previous trips I have noticed some substantial weed piles teeming with seaweed fly maggots that have been frequented by large shoals of mullet. I took a chance and went down with just the fly rod, some size 6 coarse hooks, buoyant rubber grubs and half a pint of white maggots that my girlfriend had picked up for me earlier that day.

I arrived at the coast at around 7.30 and walked the beach in search of fishy signs. After 20 minutes or so I saw a couple of mullet feeding right in the edge. After a couple of casts they ignored my attempts to fool them and buggered off into obscurity. I continued along the coast for a further 45 minutes and 2 miles before i rounded a corner and out of the corner of my eye saw a the tip of a mullet's tail about 45 yards from the waters edge over a weedy, rocky ledge.

I devised a plan and began to sneak towards where i had seen the tail break the surface, Whilst wading I noticed a few swirls and could now clearly see mullet mouths sucking in maggots that were floating on the surface. Covering the fish proved to be tricky. Firstly I had to get closer so that they were within casting range (this was treacherous as the tide polished rocks and kelp gave next to zero friction and were almost impossible to stand on), secondly when I had gotten as close as I could they were still abut 30-35 yards out. After a couple of false casts I was able to gently plop my cocktail of rubber and natural maggots directly into the path of a good fish. To my dismay the 'buoyant' grubs I bought recently bought were anything but and my offering began to sink slowly. The only way I would have any indication of a take was to gently 'figure of eight' the bait towards me and watch for any sign of movement in the leader. Almost immediately the leader flicked top the left and I struck into a decent fish.

At fist the fish moved towards me fairly placidly and then realised it was hooked and went absolutely mental in the shallow water. I was well onto the backing on at least four occasions and was relieved when I managed to get hold of the fish after a hectic 5 minute battle. The fish was a cracker of just over 4lbs and needless to say I was delighted. After unhooking the fish and taking a few photographs the rest of the shoal had buggered off. Oh well, that's fishing!

Next time I will be taking some ethofoam maggot flies that i have knocked up just for the mullet. The goon that recommended the 'buoyant' grubs to me in the tackle shop will be getting some stick next time i go in there. One thing is for sure, I won't be spending any money.

Look out for my next post to see how it goes.

Tight lines!

Big Al