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!

September & October Report!

Hello again, I have been a busy boy recently with fishing the Alderney Angling Festival, aswell as a few trips in Jersey :)

Going to kick this off with a Boat trip I did on Anna 2. Sam Chapon with a unusual catch a Sting Ray weighing 8lb 8oz. This was caught whilst drift fishing for Mackerel, the fish took feathers which he was bouncing off the bottom of the seabed.

The next best fish of the day was this Reef caught Conger Eel it went near 50lb.

He also had a cracking Bull Huss shortly after this one weighing 15lb :)

Lure caught Bass of around 2/3lb had first cast on White 4" Paddle Tail.

I had my first Sole of the year also, I do love catching these fish!

Alderney Angling Festival 2013

So my first time fishing the competition in Alderney and I really couldn't wait! I didn't know what to expect apart from good fishing. So we flew in on a Thursday had a night out on the Beer and gathered bait over the Friday and then the Fishing started! Mine and Leigh Mullins session was all planned out! on our first cast we both hit into Black Bream over 2lb! after around 5 Bream over 2lb - none over 3lb. It was time to do a bit of Wrassing. Literally every drop was getting a bite think we managed around 40 Wrasse each on this session. Leigh having one around 5lb...my biggest so far about 4.8. A different type of wrasse took my Crab though, a female Cuckoo Wrasse weighing 15oz. It was weighing 1lb 1oz on the scales at first. So thought I was into a weigher....wasn't keeping my hopes up though and as I had to wait like 15 Hours before weighing it in, I was expecting it to loose some weight. It went 2 Drams under anyway. Still a personal best fish so I was happy :)

So darkness soon came upon us so we both geared up for the Conger Eels, was pretty quiet to start with but Leigh soon hooked into the first one. We had 3 Congers in total all of which was caught within 30 minutes of each other, Leigh Mullins had the biggest one 26lb 6oz. This eel won Leigh first place in the Conger Category.



So we all kept on fishing very hard, with team mate Matt Smith (from Alderney) having weighed in a Pollock & Bass over 5lb our team now had 3 Fish. I tried finding myself a big Wrasse.
S

So I did try nearly every day for a Big Wrasse. By the end of the week I did manage x3 Wrasse over 5lb. It was all very fun especially when getting them on the soft plastics!  I even set my self a challenge to get a Wrasse on a toy spider, which I managed first cast :)

All in all we caught something like 17 Species of fish between myself, Ross Johnson & Leigh Mullins. Leigh was unlucky with a few fish didn't quiet get on the board. Black Bream of like 2.15, Sole of 1.14 & Dogfish just 1oz shy too! Very unlucky but that's Fishing :)
Ross Johnson managed to get a Wrasse on the board weighing 6lb 7oz this was a new PB for him & he also managed his Couches Bream which he needed for his species hunt.

So the competition came to an end, I didn't manage to get a fish on the board. But I learnt a lot and am already counting down the days until I return to fish it next year :)

Since I have been back to Jersey I have done a couple of sessions, catching the smallest Red Mullet I think I will ever catch! Also had around 4 Tub Gurnard too, all being very small.

My first session back on the rocks in Jersey and I go and catch a new Personal Best Undulate Ray weighing 14lb this took a Launce Sandeel wrapped in Fresh locally caught Squid. New Personal Best Sole too weighing 1lb 9oz :) I will be focusing a bit of time on Conger Eels soon as well as a nice Bass :)

Thank you very much for taking the time to look at my Blog, until next time...tight lines :)



November Report! Yet another Good Month!

November Fishing Report :)

I took Scott Hutchinson fishing as he was over from Scotland. We only went for couple hours and he had around 10 dogfish and his first ever Blonde Ray :)

Myself & Alex Plaster did a session one evening and i managed a Conger :)

Cheeky Baby Mullet

14th November Fishing 

Had a good evenings fishing my best dogfish so far this year of bang on 2lb finally!! Head light battery died and had to walk up a cliff blind! as i packed the wrong size Batteries! Had my first few Whiting of the year biggest 9oz and then i managed to get a Thick Lipped Mullet of 4lb 2oz which is actually my best of the year too :) This was caught on a 2 Hook Paternoster at night using Bread for bait! 

Weekend 16/11/2012 - 19th/11/2012 - Angler Ross Johnson Visits Jersey

Friday Night - Red Mullet, Sole, Ray Fishing

So after having met Ross a couple of times but not really got the chance to have a good fish with him, i was pretty exited for this weekend. I had planned to fish it hard with him and try and make it a good weekend for him, as he has made the effort coming all the way here. Mainly he was here to tick of some more species for his species hunt (65 Species so far this year! http://fishingfanatic2012.blogspot.com/p/species-tally-2012.html) He was mainly keen on getting a Red Mullet or a Sole!

Having all the bait ready for the session ahead (Thanks to Robert Dingle for the digging) we was set to get fishing, meeting him at the harbor we then drove out to the Mark. It wasn't long before we was into fish started off with usual Dogfish & Pouting. I had my rods out for Ray as wanted Ross to get his target species & if i was catching them then less chance he would, & then some line started screaming off my Reel. I knew it was a Ray after a great fight it was landed by Ross. I was very very happy with this fish as is a new P.B from the shore by a long long way! Weighing 12lb 12oz and a Blonde Ray

Thanks to Ross who convinced to me use a Pully Rig & gave me a special weight to use for long distance casting, it seemed to pay off :) 

Few pictures and back in the water :) Re-baited and back out same place. Ross's rods were being very quite apart from another Dogfish i decided to chance one rod over to worm baits just simple running ledger and flicked it out, within mins i had a Pouting. My bait looked fine so flicked it back out in same spot, 5 mins after again worm bait rod screamed off! Reeled in a Sole of around 1lb. 

Okay now i feel bad as this was Ross's target species literally just took the sole of my hook and my Ray Rod started screaming off again!! So stuck into it and i could feel was another Ray! Okay now i feel bad as this was Ross's target species literally just took the sole of my hook and my Ray Rod started screaming off again!! So stuck into it and i could feel was another Ray..... 12lb 5 Blonde Ray Female Fish was very very chuffed with all the fish i just had. But still really wanted Ross to get a fish the luck was just not on his side. His rod did scream off but it was a Pollock getting us all exited! We called it a night as was planning to go early morning for a bit of Boat fishing :)

Saturday Morning - Boat Fishing - Bass

Okay so alarm goes off at 6.15am oh how i wanted to stay in that warm Bed soo soo much. But that just cant not happen! Woke up Ross and went up to North Coast Harbor to meet David Sullivan who was our skipper for the Day. We Geared up and out to sea we went, wasn't long before we was at our first inshore Mark and think it was 2nd or 3rd cast of the Day and Ross was into a Schoolie Bass on the Blue Savage Gear. 

Soon after he was into another one! 

David then managed to hook up a fish and was a Garfish and came off as he was lifting into the Boat.

Then he Managed to get a Bass

We then moved around the Coast in search of some fish, i got my first BITE of the day, whilst Ross continued to pull in more Bass!! Think he was getting his own back on me from the night before lol!

Literally last cast i Hooked into a Foul Hooked Tiny Wrasse! At least i didn't Blank!

Challenge Match

So the Challenge match was now beginning between Sinkers Sea Fishing Club, Specimen Hunters & St Aubins Angling Club. I started of with a bit of Wrassing after getting to my spot too late because of tide it wasn't going to happen for me there. Ross pulled one out on SP though around 2lb. We made a Decision to go to a rock mark & was going to target some Congers. With Cuttle fresh defrosting nicely and gear at the Ready we ventured down to our Rock. Out went the rods and its waiting game now. Darkness came quickly and not getting many bites i think i had the first fish of the evening a Dogfish! & Ross managed a Dogfish too. my Mate Ritchie and his Girlfriend also popped along to join us :). action started to pick up a little few pots in the way was very annoying! it got to 8.40pm and i was in world of my own staring at my rod lights hoping one would pull down sometime soon and my god it did! Screamed off, picked rod up and hit it thinking was a Conger i was pumping it in it went light for a little but must have been swimming towards me and popped up on surface! F*** Me Big Pollock i didn't want to loose this one so grabbed the Gaff my self and got wet for it in swell and Gaffed it in the Head! YESS! 

P.B Shore Caught Pollock 7lb 12oz Took a Cuttle fish and Mackerel Wrap on 10/0 Meat Hook

Then soon after a few pictures with my Pollock, before i even got that rod back out my conger rod had a bite . After a few good pull downs i struck and managed to have a good Hook-up with an Eel. After bullying him in and Ross went down and Gaffed him looked bigger than i though he was gonna be. Weighing 20lb 8oz still a decent Shore Caught Conger Eel :) :  

After now it went dead quiet for a while! Me and Ross decided to go try a different Rock close by as Ritchie Stayed on in same spot. At this new spot we had Bites instantly they seemed like conger bites too! i struck into one which was on for only secs before it spat the hook! (Dam Hook was Twisted round the line) so popped it back out and i hooked into another conger only a small one this time id say it was around 5lbs. Because i tried winching it up the rocks it did come off on the rocks and made its own way back into the Sea (saved me a job of unhooking him lol) We soon packed up and called it a night! 

Sunday Morning - Wrasse

Went down to the spot i am sure would have got a big wrasse from on the crabs but the tide was still too high. The weigh in was at 12pm and i only managed a couple of Wrasse nothing over 3lb really Ross just took his lure rod down and managed another Bass on the Savage Gear from the Shore. 

We went to the weigh in were i weighed in my Fish and saw a few other good fish hit the Scales including couple 5lb + Thick Lipped Mullet, Sole, Red Mullet, Undualte Ray, Rockling, Wrasse and probably some more. Sinkers won the competition any way! We then went onto Dig some Bait and Eat some food 

Sunday Evening - Target - Red Mullet, Sole, Rays 

Myself, Rob Dingle & Ross was gonna hit a spot were Rob had been getting a few Red Mullet recently and were my self & rob have had Sole in the past as well as Rays.  So we thought getting Ross a Red or Sole or Both would be Guaranteed this night.

So with Ross casting on the inside of this Bay, Rob in the Middle and me on left of it all over bit more rough ground. We put the rods out i put a worm bait out on one rod and one out for a Ray my first cast i had a Pouting & 2nd cast i had a sole of around 1lb :) on the worm bait (Red Cat)

Then i was pretty happy that there was fish there because really wanted Ross to get a sole and now seeing that come up the confidence went up a little too. So casted back out in same spot and what do you know my Rod goes again!! could i get any more lucky???!  another sole around the same size as first one. I do find Glow beads make a difference for these fish :)

So we continued to catch nothing else and called it a night!

Monday Morning - Thick Lipped Mullet

So i had this day booked off work! With the weather not really on our side today we thought we would do a bit of Mulleting down a Sheltered Spot! We had a bit of a lie in (9am i think) haha so off to the shop to buy a loaf of bread and off we went for a Mullet, literally 15 mins after a bit of shirvying i hooked into one and landed it my self wasn't a big one maybe 1lb 8 something like that :) 

Then after 1 hour more we changed over tactics and started to fish for them on the Bottom straight away this proved to be the best method getting bite every cast! Ross managed to loose one on the surface by the net & then he got one in around the same size as mine :) then he went onto catching yet another mullet. 

I then stopped getting bites and decided to change over to a Soft plastic on my 13ft Mullet rod and didn't take long before i landed a lovely Wrasse. Great Fight! (picture to come) Ross went onto catching his first ever Wrasse on Bread (Picture to come). Then we called it a morning.

Wrasse Took a Bass Assassin Lure fished on a 12 Gram Jig Head bouncing along the bottom!

Monday Afternoon - Digging Bait and a Pint! 

We managed to get enough worms for a good session! We needed to catch tonight running out of time for Ross. We discussed plans over a Pint and off we went to brave the force 5/6 Winds with Swell & Rain!

Monday Evening - Target -  Red Mullet, Sole

Got down to the Mark just after Dark ... waiting game for tide to come in. When it did thankfully so did Ross Johnson's luck & he managed his P.B and first ever Red Mullet its what he came all the way to Jersey for and after fishing our arse's off for this fish it was my high light of his trip over here & i am sure it was his! The relief that he is 1 fish closer to his goal of 70 Species that he would really struggle with back in England. 67 fish now though mate. Plenty of time to get 3 more ;)

3 Hook Paternoster Glow Beads the Lot attracted this bad boy onto his bait! 1lb 3oz

Ater Ross had his fish i automatically start feeling more confident that more fish will be feeding! Which indeed they was as i managed my best Red Mullet of the year so far of 1lb 11oz took Red Cat Worm on a pennel running ledger! 

Bass took the worm bait!

Ross Johnson & Myself with our Red Mullet

All in all was a great long weekend fishing with a great guy and great angler! We have already made plans for  the Alderney Festival next year to be in 2 man Team so watch out Green Army if your reading this ;) 

Shows you that fishing jersey channel islands can produce some good fish! 

Ross Has his own Blog too http://fishingfanatic2012.blogspot.com/ so his report will be on soon too :) Check that out!