I am back on the Rock!!

With my first session planned Monday 10th Aug after work, my plan was to hit up St Catherine's Breakwater. I saw the tides looked perfect for a chance of an Undulate Ray with the possible Smooth Hound to target also. I picked up UK fresh water match angler Tom Downing from his campsite where he is staying for a holiday for 2 weeks and of we went. 

With not shore fishing in 30 days from Jersey...Yes 30 days wow I was pretty keen to get the rods in the water. We went near the end of the Breakwater on the lower wall and I wacked out two whole squid baits as far as I could on single hooked running ledger rigs. 

I made up a bread shirvy and started to ground bait for a Mullet at the same time, my left rod had a bite and I left it for a good 10 minutes to see if anything progressed. Well luckily it started to bend right over on the railings. I picked my rod up and waited for a strong pull down and gave it a good strike. Fish on straight away I guessed Undulate Ray and after a nice fight it was easily netted by Tom. I said "we are in the right place mate your turn next" so after weighing pictured and released it went back in the water to live another day 

8lb 11oz Undulate Ray

I got my rod back in the water with my 2nd rod still out on its first cast. Half way through setting up some mackerel feathers on my 3rd rod my rachet went on my 2nd rod! Ohhh this looks like a Ray bite also, again picked up waiting for a good strong pull down and strike FISH ON! This rod is a bit lighter than the previous rod I had caught my last fish. One was 4-8oz Anyfishanywhere 6&bait and the one I have just hooked the 2nd fish on is a Penn PTT Viper 4-8oz, this fish was diving a little harder and stayed deeper during the whole fight. I guessed it was going to be a double figure fish and it surfaced I could tell it was close or it was indeed a 10lb+ fish. After a little struggle getting it in the net because it got a bit twisted we soon sorted it out and got straight in :) 

10lb 4oz Undulate Ray

I re-baited the rod up after returning the fish and then started feeding up some mullet with the help of local angler Steve Mullins, he knows a thing or two about mullet he was helping me ground bait as I started targeting them with bread flake under a float. After 10 minutes of missing bites I was into one I managed to sight hook around 3lb 8oz with the tide being so slow it was a struggle to fight and play the fish into a position I could get the net under the fish. So after a couple of minutes fighting and me trying to bully it a bit to much the hook popped out the mouth :(
I passed the rod over to Tom let him get frustrated for a bit well 30 minutes of missing bites and darkness coming in making seeing the float hard work we returned to focus on the big baits. Steve Mullins had caught us a few scad for bait on my 3rd rod, moaning that the rod was too heavy for him  he still did a fine job. Tom had caught a few mackerel also so that is his breakfast sorted as well as some bait we moved onto the back wall. I put out a Conger Rod and 1 Ray rod out. It went very quiet and time started to go quicker it was 10.30pm and I had a bite on my Ray Rod, I struck into it what I thought was a small dogfish not fighting with a lump of weed on also. Coming over the wall I soon realized it was no dogfish and it was a small Starry Smooth Hound YAY my first for the year.

Packed up the rods and called it a day. 

Wednesday 12th August I met up with Alex Plaster for a quick session on the Lures after work, only planned to fish till 6pm from 5pm so had to try and get a few fish in on Jersey's South Coast. 

We headed down to a new mark for Alex, I know that Bass, Wrasse & Pollock can be targetted on lures here aswell as Garfish and Mackerel. Started off very quiet with not much action on the 42g Savage Gear Sandeels. We changed over tactics in a gully out of the strong winds, and we both hit into some Ballan Wrasse. So we did not blank and we called it a day and got some good cardio in on the walk back up the steep cliff. 

Cheers for reading :)

St Catherine's Breakwater Fishing Guide

St Catherine's Breakwater Fishing Guide

So I have decided to do a general fishing guide on St Catherine's Breakwater and give out some information on how to fish it. I will also let you know the best baits, state of tide's etc. 

There is so many different tips and tricks to learn, even when pier fishing.

Learning where the sand patches are, and where the rocks are is what I recommenced you do first. Go down over a Spring Low Tide & check it out! Do not just go down there chuck out some bait and hope for the best. Sometimes a couple of meters in your cast can make a huge difference in catching fish and not catching fish! I thought this post would be very helpful for tourists and beginner fisherman to take a look at. 

St Catherine's Breakwater is Jersey's most popular Angling location to fish, this 600 meter breakwater throws up some outstanding fish on its day! Certain fish species feed harder on certain tides, so before I even think about going fishing here, I evaluate the weather/tides and target species that I am aiming to catch. The majority of fisherman that fish this breakwater target Mackerel. These can be caught here right through the Spring & Summer months, the most popular method of fishing is spinning with feathers. Pollock & Garfish can also be regularly caught on the Mackerel Feathers or another popular method is Float Fishing for them. Personally I find the back wall around 10 meters from the end the best place for catching them in quantity, but every day is different. 

Wrasse / Rockling

There is lots of boulders reinforcing the edges of the breakwater. Watch your gear if you are fishing close in! Sometimes if you are prepared with a load of weights in your tackle box, then it can be the best place to fish! Wrasse take cover in these boulders, it is sometimes good to use a weaker bit of line tied to your weight. This is because you will only loose your lead & not your hooks & fish you might have on your line.
Just a short cast out & fish right amount the boulders, personally i would only do this when fishing for Ballan Wrasse, use worm baits for the smaller fish & Green Crab for the larger specimens. There is a few deeper holes and good patches along the back wall for Wrasse. But you can work them out for your self :). Fish in the boulders when night fishing too as it is pretty good for Rockling, use small fish baits for best catches. 

Black Bream

Barrie Aubert with some Black Bream

From May till September a popular species to target is Black Bream, for those people that are wanting to catch one, I recommend near the end of the breakwater on the Back wall or Front Wall.

Fish on the Dropping Tide around 2 hours after high tide & you will have a chance of catching Bream right through until the flooding tide where the tide will be quite strong for your weight to hold bottom. Use a 2 Hook Paternoster with small Circle Hooks & Squid strips for bait.

Rays

Nearly every species of UK Rays have come from this breakwater at some point. Personally I have caught Small-Eyed Ray, Blonde Ray & Undulate Ray from the Breakwater and have witnessed a shore caught Marbled Electric Ray caught from the Back wall of the breakwater. 

Simon Gavey with a Blonde Ray

Sting Rays & Thornback Rays have also come from this Breakwater over the years! Rays can be caught from lower wall and the upper wall! If you are going to try I recommended going past the three arches on the breakwater and anywhere in between there and the steps at the end of the Breakwater (Back Wall included). 2/3 Hours either side of Low water for Undulate Rays tides under a 32ft tide is best. 

As for Small Eyed Rays & Blonde Rays I have had them when the tide is pulling strong and I am using 8oz + Grip leads to hold bottom so even fish over high water & you are in with a chance. Best rigs to use for Rays in General are Running Ledger & Pully Rig

Jack Gavey with a Small Eyed Ray

Depending on what species of Ray you are targeting you will need to be prepared with the correct bait! My Favorite baits to use at St Catherine's for Undulate Ray is: Small Pouting Dead or Alive, freshly caught Mackerel, Squid, Launce Sand-eel or Extra Large Sand-eel, Strips of Wrasse & Strips of Cuttle fish are also good! You dont need to cast far out for these Rays! If you are fishing with two rods, then cast one rod as far as you possibly can & the other one just an average cast. 

Do not forgot a Drop Net otherwise there is no point in targeting Rays as if you try and hand line it up the wall, it would have a very good chance of snapping your main line!! I use 4-8oz Beachcaster Rods with Multiplier Reels for all of my Bottom Fishing and normally use 30lb Main line for everything.

Thick Lipped Mullet

To target these fish you need patience and time! I use a 13ft light match rod & i float fish bread flakes at different depths. This type of Fishing is probably for the more experienced Angler, it requires plenty of bread based ground bait some polarized sunglasses and a bit of luck. (Try on the Stairs at the end of the Break water around low tide and fish just over the Boulders). p.s dont let the fish get the better of you, make sure you strike on the smallest of bites! 

Leigh Mullins with a Shore Caught Conger Eel

Conger Eel's

Over the years many Conger Eels have been caught from this Breakwater. I have caught them right out side the Tackle Shop near the beginning of the Breakwater. You get them all the way along the Breakwater! It has to be night time for them, and best baits i find are Fresh Mackerel, Cuttle Fish, Double Squid, Fresh Pollock & Pouting. I have personally had them to 41lb there with the help of Leigh Mullins & speaking of Leigh here is a picture of him with a 42lb Conger caught from the Breakwater. 

You will need to come prepared with the right fishing gear to fish for these fish! 150lb Line to your 8/0 Hook and use mainline above 30lb in Breaking Strain. Make sure you have either a Flying Drop Gaff or a big Drop Net otherwise you will have no chance in landing any Eels that you hook. If you dont have them with you there is no point in trying for them! It is always good to be with someone else, as they are very difficult to land them when fishing on your own.

Other Possible Catches

Bass- I personally dont rate this pier highly for Bass, but a few big ones do get caught there during the summer months mainly when live baiting small mackerel. Fish from the very end of the Breakwater into the tidal run.

Peter Jarvis with a Plaice 

Red Mullet & Sole - September to November on Worm Baits around the beginning of Breakwater Back wall & Front. 

Plaice - can be caught on worm baits throughout the Summer, hard to target as normally a Wrasse will get to your bait first. 

Dogfish - These fish are a pain for the serious Angler as they are normally a by-catch - Great for the beginners it is pretty easy to catch more than 10 of these in every session!

Smooth Hounds - Summer Months - Fishing in May to August & you will have a chance to catch one powerful fish the lower wall is best! Use Squid or Crabs - Sunset & Sunrise i find are the best times.

Trigger Fish - Mainly by-catch when targeting Black Bream they take Squid Strips & other fish baits.

Pouting - Plenty of these around at night caught on fish baits and worms baits use small hooks and you will catch them. 

Cuttlefish - Using Squid Jigs around September-November you are in with a chance of a few Cuttle fish i have caught them from the Slipway and along the lower wall of the Breakwater.

Phil Driscoll with a Starry Smooth Hound

So that is my little guide on St Catherine's Breakwater, Thank you for reading. 

P.S - Try to catch & release every Ray, Conger, Smooth Hound you ever catch down there so that other people can continue to enjoy the great sport that we have from this Breakwater!  

Tight Lines - Daniel Ferguson

November Report :D

NOVEMBER FISHING IN JERSEY

November is always a great month to fish, this year was very hard work compared to recent years though. The Congers have not really been feeding inshore, the weather has not been kind to us either but still i worked my socks off trying!!

I attempted catch  a Golden Grey Mullet down our local harbor (failed at that) found a few Garfish & Mackerel on the float was good fun on the 13ft Match Rod! 1lb 2oz was my biggest Garfish & Gareth Mcmonagle also had one of 1lb 2oz...the best one went to Adrian Le Hueze at 1lb 3oz

Ben Bates with a nice Pouting (he demanded the photo lol)

November is always a good month in Jersey for targeting Red Mullet & Sole, this year however they have not really came on the feed! After many sessions trying for a Red Mullet i did manage just the one weighing 1lb 8oz (First Cast) 

Other Anglers in Jersey managed to find some specimen Red Mullet & i believe they had them up to 2lb 12oz. After this very short session i changed location and changed over to using my lure rod, guess which cast i caught a fish on??? 

No more fish was caught on this little Adventure i stayed fishing for another 30 mins. 

As for Ray fishing i cant seem to find any more Small Eyed Rays or Blonde Rays, but i managed to find my Personal Best Undulate Ray! It was a Monday night & the tides was not really in my favor, i was thinking all day of where to try.....I started headed up North to find out it was too rough for what i wanted to do! Wasn't too keen for my Plan B as it is a bit of a hike, but thought i could do with the exercise. I have been quiet jammy with my "first cast" recently but the Launce Sand-eel did the job again!  

15lb 9oz

Now i was chuffed to bits after taking these self timed shots i released her to fight another day :)

It was now around 10pm and i wanted a different species, A BASS so out came the lure rod for a while. Didn't take me long before i landed two Bass on a Delalande Weedless Shad

Now i can go home and sleep a happy boy :)

 Now it was Conger time, sticked one rod out with whole Cuttle Fish & the other with fresh Pouting head! I was playing around with my scratching rod catching quiet a few Shore Rockling / Pouting, i got a run on my Eel rod Strike Fish on! Ohhh this is small :( saw it on surface and thought id test my rod out so i winched it up the rocks!  

Here are some of the Shore Rockling i have had during November all pretty small though 10oz biggest!

10oz Shore Rockling

Now i have been trying to get my self a big Pollock also they have been mostly around the 2lb mark though with a couple over 3lb too!

During our a competition i had a few Wrasse one morning too but nothing over 3lb really this one took Limpet on a Jig Head :) 

Myself & Sam Daniels had a lovely romantic evening on the rocks as well & just few Pollock and a pathetic Conger ....and of course the usual Dogfish, Pouting & Rockling to show for it....good sausages though ;)

Rock Hiking Boots :)

On my last fishing day of November & i managed a Flounder weighing 1lb 3oz :) i have blanked on previous 3 sessions for them so was good to see :)

Thanks for Reading, i am currently having a bit of a rest from Fishing. I am sure i will sneak a few trips in though! Tight Lines!

July 2012 Report!

So i have left it a month before i posted another report simply because i couldn't be bothered to do so...still cant really! lol.

I cant really remember what i have caught beginning of month, well apart from the one or two better fish i had! Including my new P.B Wrasse of 5lb 14oz which i caught on Mullet gear!

(I found a  new spot for Wrasse other day also and had 15x Wrasse on the SPs Bass Assassins and only there for 1 hour!...So hopefully will winkle a big one out of there soon too)

I Booked one day off work and got a invite to go on Karl Thomas Boat! We had a good day out!

We had a few Turbot but nothing too big:

Little Red Gurnard took my Mackerel 

                                                                            Karl with a Ling! 

16lb Ling i had on a light rod! Didn't half put a bend in it! 

I had a few Pollock on the SPs too up to around 8/9lb! :)

Karl with a Mackerel which was only like 2oz short of the Current Jersey Record! 2lb 12oz if i remember correctly! :) 

This next photo gives you a idea of the size of the beast! 

I have tried a couple of times to better my previous Smooth Hound but i suck at them and dont get the luck.

Here is a small one i had on the Hermit!

Same session as this Lee Jarvis managed his first ever Bullhuss! he has been wanting one for a while!



I have been trying for Mullet quite a bit! had some success mainly with the Golden Greys on the beach etc ( no pics of them they all look the same ;) ) . But here is a Thick Lipped i did have!

Here is a Bass i had on a dead Grodo on the mullet rod 1oz running ledger 4/0 Hook.. put up a great fight for its size, only 3lb 7oz:

Had a good Session on the Gilthead s, had 7 in one session aswell as 2 bass and a small Golden Grey Mullet. These where the two biggest of the day:

Went out on ritchie's Boat for a few hours other day too in search of some mullet we failed but a few Pollock was landed on the Boat :)  

Will thats it for now! Not so many big fish but a few bits and bobs! :) Got fishing Comp coming up which i take the week of for ..keen! This time of year i cant be arsed taking pictures really but hopefully the fish i will be catching will be worth a photo lol! Laters :)

(Adding this in as i had it in July still but on the 31st :) Had around a dozen Wrasse again few over 4lb and this one was the biggest weighing 5lb 1oz! (As i was on my own i had to use the Self timer on the camera, worked out alright) it went back strong. Ready to catch him again in the Competition coming up end of month