It was a very early start for this fishing trip to the North Devon fishing marks, We we got off the Devon coast at 9am, it was gorgeous, calm and no wind.

 

Nice change for the Oystercat today, with a trip over the other side. We didn't find the big cod we were hoping for, but had some nice blonde rays, thornback ray, lovely big whiting, dogs and a few strap conger which did very good impressions of cod staying deep at the back of the boat which got the old heart racing! John Bevan had a couple of thornbacks.

 

Had a great day out today over by Devon - really chuffed with my 13.5 lb blonde ray- my lucky Guinness hat obviously !!
Goes without saying- the fish was gently released unharmed.

 

Arriving off the North Devon Coast - steam train out early as well

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roger Davidge - Ray

 

 

 

Testing day today aboard the Oystercat today. Doggies were out in force, but a run of big whiting in the afternoon saved the day. Better than a day watching Christmas tv and eating left over turkey!

Skipper Dean.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Christie with the lone codling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richie's catch of the day - whiting and dab

 

 

Good day aboard the Oystercat today, we had to break through the ice in the marina to get out. We went down to Lundy Island where we had 50-60 pollack to 6lb, Ballan wrasse, mackerel and a lone pouting. We were treated to the company of a pod of very playful dolphin; unfortunately my video didn't record, hopefully one of the other members of the trip will have a video to put up.

Dean.

 

I Hope Phil, Andrew and Les had fish also looks like a good day yet again. john

 

Everyone caught fish. Dean  

 

 

Lundy Island

 

 

 

3 amigos with more whiting, Dean Gifford, John Bevan and Richie Pearce

 

One more whiting for Dean

 

Whiting forBob Christie

 

Only two this time for Nigel Davies and Dean

 

 

 

 

 

Ballan wrasse for Nigel Davies

 

Another ballan wrasse for Bob Christie

  

 

Nothing as sexy as a Lundy trip for Mumbles Belle (would take us 2 weeks there & back), just a routine run out to the Green Grounds for a freezer top up of whiting & dabs. Well there were plenty of whiting about, but a lot of them were undersize & went back, but we had a good bag over sizeable fish too, enough for everybody to take a decent amount home. We also hit a lot of dabs & luckily theses were all in size, some of them were probably specimen size, but with their heads & tails removed they were merely frying pan fuel. It started off a bit grey & lumpy & cold, but as the day went on it got flatter & warmer (I dont know where they guy on "The Wave" got his "Bitterly Cold" from) it was gorgeous. VHF chatter that we were catching some decent pan fish soon assembled a small flotilla around us, which is comforting when the water is cold, but the nearest rescue boat is about 100yds away.

 

Vic

 

Thanks Vic for a very enjoyable day with the hospitality 1st class as always ! And don't forget the new name for that annoying (growler) double ! Ant and Dec. Carl Isaac.

 

 

Green Grounds fishing marks

 

 

 

 

Chilly day aboard the Oystercat today. Low numbers so we stayed local and kept to a leisurely lock in and out time of 9am - 3:30pm. We had 2 new members, Vicky and Dave on-board (Richyie's daughter Victoria Williams and son in law David Williams). Dave caught his first ever fish! Then proceeded to catch more than his fair share! We ended the day having had 70-80 whiting (most small but enough to make sure everyone had some fish to take), dabs, mackerel, pouting, poor cod, weaver fish, dogs and bull huss.

Dean

 

 

 

Mike Jones

 

Damian Evans

 

 

 

I had a nice 9lb cod today aboard Lady Jue 5, which got me 16th place (I think) in Cardiff Bay Yacht Club's cod comp.

We had 7 more, but none met the 2kg min weight so this was the only one weighed.

 

Quiet a large contrast in fishing for me over the last 2 days. From following feeding birds and feathering for bass and mackerel in the baking sun; wearing just a shirt to uptiding in chocolate coloured water with large lug and squid baits for cod. To being wrapped up in a floatation suit wishing I'd worn more layers!

 

Variety is the spice of life!

 

Dean

 

 

Sunday 27 November 2016

 

 

 

Richie Pearce was meant to do this trip but his eye was playing up so I took it out instead. We intended staying localish, Morfa or Sker.

We had a great day aboard the Oystercat today. Weather was much better than forecast. Fishing started slow but finished strong, 40+ school bass, 15-20 mackerel (some jumbos!!), 70+ whiting to 1lb 12oz, 10 or so dabs, pouting, poor cod, grey gurnard, tub gurnard, codling, dogs and bull huss. Good mix of species for the end of November!!

 

Dean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dean tackling up in front of TV

 

 

Absolutely lovely morning on Oystercat

 

 

 

 

Very pleasant early morning cruise

 

 

Early morning whiting for Rob James

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moved further East early afternoon.

 

Then it all happened when Dean saw birds working and followed them in. Big mackerel and nice bass coming in two and three at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob James 3 more whiting

What just a single fish

 

 

Skipper John Elvins

 

 

Despite the poor forecast skipper John decided to get some fresh air at least. Conditions were good enough to allow a trip off Port Talbot where whiting were prolific a fortnight ago. A good start that got slower was what greeted the crew. Two keeper whiting for Jon West and Andrew Hutchings were first fish aboard.

Peter Watkins joined in the conger catch (we think) and Phil Gavey ended the day with a nice 3 beard rockling.

 

A slowish day with good company, food provided by Slicer Wizard (PW) and Tuckers of Penclawdd with plenty of tea and banter. Enjoyed by all.

 

John

 

 

 

 

Jon West - Conger eel ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First catch was for Dean with a nice double of dabs followed Jayson Whitehouse with his first ever dab. Then some time later Nigel had a nice bass, Then Dean and Jayson were into the bass (a first for Jayson). Nigel E reporting.

 

Varied day aboard the Oystercat today. We had lots of dabs, whiting (most small, a few topping 1lb 8oz) pouting, poor cod, strap conger, bull huss, mackerel, tub gurnard, 7 bass to 4lb and dogs. Not hectic sport but every one had some fish to take home. Dean.  

 

 

 

2 Dabs for Dean Gifford

 

Jayson Whitehouse first dab

 

 

Nigel with first bass of the day

Steve Jenkins and Carl Rosser with their bass catch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skipper Vic Lilygreen

We had some nice big dabs, I had a lovely big plaice, & a good pollack, and Jonathon West landed a very nice ballan wrasse (his first ever).

 

Then - Don't Panic Capt Mainwaring!!!

Ironic on the day poor old Clive Dunn (Cpl Jones) passed away, that we had a "situation" on Belle. Went to start up over near the Mumbles lighthouse & click, click, click, press "Emergency Start" click, click click oops. Called Dereck on Katie Ann who was also out & he said he would stand by to assist if needed (Thank you Dereck). I carry a spare battery off my own old boat which I use to run the deck floodlights if needed, & I keep it topped up with a small solar panel onboard, anyway I swapped it for the main battery & she fired up straight away, so that eliminates the starter switch, or solenoid. or starter motor from being at fault, its either the alternator, or the batteries themselves at fault, so first job charge both batteries then test them to see if they hold their charge, if they do then its the alternator faulty.

Vic

Report continued...

 

 

 

I went out on the Mumbles Belle today with Vic and John, a few dabs of nice size were caught, I had a nice ballan wrasse. However, too many dogs meant we had to move spots a couple of times, and the weather also made us return early.

 

I think Vic deserves to be congratulated- a breakdown at sea is a very frightening experience. Vic handled the matter with calm and professionalism- as skipper he has a big responsibility towards himself and if course all on board. Derek Wright deserves a mention many thanks Derek. Vic I I know everyone will join with me in thanking him for your great effort on board today's fishing trip.

 

John West

 

Absolutely,well done Vic, and Derek on standby.

 

Nigel Ellerton (Vice Commodore)

 

Nigel Ellerton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another lovely morning on OYSTERCAT- early out to enjoy the sunrise.

 

Dean was into a Gurnard early on.

 

Next up 'brilliantly' caught was a nice brill for Richie Pearce.

 

Lone Ranger? one lone mackerel caught by Nige.

 

Followed by nice Small Eyed Ray for Dean.

 

Next up was Grey Gurnard for Nige.

 

The species count increases with a double dab for Richi and one each for Nigel and Stan. Then a gurnard and crab take Nigel's bite to finish the day.

 

Wind started to pick up as forecast and Dean invented a new word for freezing! - REFRESHING!!

Well I must say- we enjoyed that ! - we came home a little earlier than planned- the wind picking up to unrelentless proportion with nowhere to shelter

But a lovely sunny day apart from the wind.

Nigel Ellerton reporting

 

Nigel Ellerton - Gurnard and crab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing much to write home about. A nice southerly breeze which increased to gusts of 29mph by midday. So the only way for comfort was back into the bay a little bit. Started about 1/2 mile past the SWIG Buoy, then inside the SWIG and then off the pier. Had plenty of fresh air. John Bevan's first fish was a grey gurnard, then he had a 2.5lb codling. Phil Bowen had his first conger (as such) but well happy at catching a new species. Stan John had the best fish of the day with nice orange spots and a bag full of plump Dabs was also taken by the end of the trip after Skipper Richie Perace put us on a secret Dab spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Jenkins, Carl Rosser, John Bevan, Dean Gifford and myself followed up with some more blonde.

Steve Jenkins then pulled in another lovely ray.

Then a couple of cracking fish. First John Bevan with a 15lb conger and Malcolm Ruff with a lovely cod of over 10lb.

Colin Albert weighed in with a lovely tub Gurnard of just over 1 and half pounds later in the day.

 

Nigel Ellerton reporting for MMBFC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skipper Dean Gifford

 

A slow evening last night, Friday 21 October 2016, for the Oystercat, just jumbo pout, a few whiting and a lone conger among the dogs. A better day today, Saturday, 22 October 2016, 20 or so conger to 26lb, thornback, bull huss and dogs made up the bulk of the day's catch. On the way back to the marina we spotted a load of birds working the surface; stopping to check out what the fuss was about, it was a good call we had 40-50 bass and a few mackerel in the hour or so we were there. All small fish (30-40cm) but good fun none the less.

 

Dean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumbles Belle was out on Thursday, 20 October 2016 as well as the Oystercat. It's the first time we've been able to get both boats at sea together for some time. Skipper Vic Lilygreen went east onto the green grounds. When first attempted the wind was against the tide which didn't help, so they went over to the calm of the moorings at Mumbles. Species included the inevitable dogs, some dabs, small bass and a scorpion ( thingy) fish.

After the OYSTERCAT retreated due to lock closure restrictions the Belle moved over to the Strombuss wreck and pulled in a good haul of dabs, gurnard and a few unidentified objects !! Mal Davies caught fish and enjoyed the day.

 

 

 

Club Member Steve Harvey was out alongside the Oystercat on Thursday, 20 October 2016. Steve's boat the Seren Wib anchored up behind us to maximize our scent trail. His grandson Reuben had a great day fishin with number of different species. The photos show just a few, including a nice Gurnard, a brace of Plaice, Whiting and a Bull Huss.

 

Submitted by John Elvins.

 

This is brilliant- just what everyone wants to see- well done Reuben and well done John for sharing this.

 

 

 

We had good catches considering the short trip. Nigel Ellerton started off with a bull huss this was then followed by a bull huss for Phil Bowen. Phil ended up a very happy angler with an assortment of caught fish species. We had only one small whiting early on, but there seemed to be a carpet of dogfish to get trough. Then just past the SWIG. Phil pulled in a Bass of 3.5lb and John thought he had a bass as well, but turned out to be a bull huss caught on a light rod. Nigel Davies had a blenny of sorts which gave him a heck of a fight to start, he also a nice gurnard. Hope the pictures show most of the fish we caight.

Skipper John Elvins for Fishing News at 13.30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a change of scenery for the Oystercat today. She headed east to Aberthaw to target the rays and conger, instead of chasing bass and bream the other way. We ended the day with 25-30 blonde rays to 12lb, 15-20 conger to 28lb, a few whiting, small eye ray, spotted ray and dogs and a few sea monsters we didn't get to see! Was a very nice change, weather was lovely in the afternoon, Loads of laughs, great way to spend a Sunday! Dean.

John Bevan had a few nice fish, including a new PB conger @ 28lb, but after weighing it got its tail through the scupper and made its exit, getting its head caught in the process, so no photo. Richis Pearce started off slow but soon got into the swing of things, faultless casting with his sea streak and interesting walk backwards technique to beat the big rays and congers. I dare say he had more fun than he thought he would. Lots of PBs and first of species caught!

Skipper Dean

 

 

 

 

Gerald and Denise Collier

 

 

  

 

   

Dean Gifford

 

  

 

 

Colin Albert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well the "Dab Hunt" never panned out quite as expected, we did have a few dabs but not in the numbers I hoped for. We had lots of tiny bass, & growlers of course (which cheered up Livio & John Jones) & Livio landed some very nice gurnard, but the plaice never turned up for us.

John had a suprise keeper bream, & a weaver which could have been an even bigger suprise had he not known how to deal with it, we even had a couple of mackerel on bait.

 

All in all not too bad a day & the weather was warm & the sea was quite calm, so any day like that has to be a success.

Looking forward to the whiting & dabs arriving in numbers now.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well they do say save the best till last - Denise Collier out fished everyone with the specimen fish of the trip, a lovely Ling weighing in at just under 8lbs - nice one !!.  Nice cod also.

 

 

Charter boats

 

 

Nice day for fishing!!!

 

 

Star turn Denise Collier - 8lb Ling

 

 

 

Fillets for dinner

 

Hiw Jones

 

 

 

Fishing very good all anglers caught, some did not pose for photos. The following is snap shot of the catches.

 

Catches included:

• Pollack
• Cod
• Wrasse Ballan and Cuckoo
• Gurnard Grey and Tub
• BullHuss
• Launce
• Coalfish

Off we go on charter boat Enterprise Skipper Dick Hayes

Bit of a swell

Autumn Dream under skipper Eamonn Hayes

Colin Albert - Bullhuss

Colin Albert - Bite your leg Bullhuss

Dean Gifford - Pollack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weather okay, fine and sunny, and the easterly wind did not stop the fish biting. Plenty of fish to double figures. Total for the day, 3 conger, 2 thornback, 2 smoothy, some dogs and 40 plus huss up to 10.5 lb, loads between 7 and 10lb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And anothe bul huss for John

Now the bull hussec coming on strong - 1 for John Elvins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Matt Taylor with 'kiss me quick' bass

 

 

 

 

 Matt Taylor with a ray this time

 

Richie Pearce caught this baby turbot

For the Oystercat Fishing Trip on 31st July the conditions were great at the start of the day for a trip requested by the Bont Bass Basher Society. The marks chosen were to try to hit the main target of Bream and any other fish. The catches started off great with plenty of mackerel around the SWIGG Buoy, then of to the Oyster Ledges for a spot of variety species fishing.

 

Day ended with about 7 smoothie (small) loadsa Mackerel,12 bream, loadsa small huss, and a few other species such as pollack, codling, dogs, gurnard.

 

Best part of the day was a plentiful supply of large mackerel up to 15inch long but very slack for last couple of hours so a early dock at 4pm.

 

 

 

 

Bream for John Bevan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyril Hughes fishing for bait.

Mick Vernau phoning a friend.

 

 

Pollack for Gary Broome or is it Bob Christie?

 

Bass for Steve Adams

 

 

 

 

Red gurnard for Steve Absalom

 

Beautiful day for fishing out in Oxwich

 

Members enjoying their fishing in Oxwich Bay

 

Mike Jones with his bass dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pollacks for Dean Gifford and Richie Pearce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wind was a little lighter today, but still stronger than forecast. Plenty of mackerel to start the day, along with small tope that took a pirk, and another that took a mackerel still on the feathers on the surface. Went through the mist to Langland hoping for bream but found tope in good numbers. Ended the day with 40 or so tope to 40lb - most between 17lb and 23lb a few bull Huss to 8-9lb, dogs, loads of mackerel, a lone herring and a tub gurnard.

 

Not a bad way to spend my birthday!

 

Dean.

 

Skipper Dean Gifford - Tope

 

 John Elvins - Tope

 

 

 

John France - Tope 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Eaton - Bull Huss 2

 

 

Pretty hard day today, wind kept us penned in the bay, but we found a few fish. Plenty of mackerel to start, lots of pouting and poor cod, a few pollack, a few small bream, a couple of hounds, a few tub gurnard, lots of dogs and a lone bass, flatfish were nowhere to be found though.

 

I messed up the food portions up which meant my breakfast was a few mackerel cooked fresh from the sea by Matt Taylor and lunch was the bass fillets dusted in Cajun spice and fried in the smoky bacon fat...

To live is to suffer!

Dean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John France - Smoothhound

 

 

 

 

Richie Pewarce took another OYSTERCAT fishing trip out on Wednesday, 6 July 2016 with a view to fishing our well known local marks. Mackerel were the early morning target with a number caught together with some nice Pollack. Smooth-hounds were then taken off 3 cliffs- and later bullhuss, thornback rays , red gurnard and a host of flatfish.

 

 

 

 

 It was then decided to move to another mark and throughout early afternoon

Nigel Davies had a hat trick of smooth hound...

 

 

 

Then it was my turn! A cracking pair of black bream that made a good move into a great one

 

 

  On our return into the bay we stopped when we caught sight of an extremely unusual view of a very shy visitor to our waters

THE SUNFISH

The sunfish is also remarkable for its spawning: females release an estimated 300 million eggs into the water at a time and are thought to be multiple spawners, possibly releasing billions a year. Large, mature ocean sunfish have a solitary life in the open sea where finding a mate is a challenge, so producing lots of eggs in multiple spawnings increase the chance of fertilisation. Only a few of the eggs develop into mature adults or the world's oceans would be a flapping mass of sunfish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skipper Vic Lilygreen

Locked out about 8.30am into a fairly calm sea and headed out into the bay wondering how/where to kill 4 hrs until the run died in Langland, decided to have a mooch around the Strombus and map it with the Sonarphone. Ran back and forward over it a couple of times then anchored uptide of it, and let ourselves back on the anchor so we were fishing just off it.

 

 

Hard, wet and windy day on the oystercat today, even though the weather restricted us a little we managed a few species: Tons of pouting and poor cod, bull huss, bass, codling, smooth hound, pollack, garfish, rock goby, grey gurnard and dogs, but none of the bream we were targeting

 

 

 

 

Bass for Dean Gifford - best catch

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Elliot displaying his Bull Huss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Chapman opening the tope count

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weather wasn't brilliant to start with but along with Paul, myself and Pete Jordan nipped over to a mark to pick up some live bait with a view to add to our crab bait Paul brought with him.

 

 

 

 

 

Craig Barnes & monster cuttlefish

 

 

The weather to good to miss Mike suggested a couple of hours out to refresh his boating skills. So a panic on Wed afternoon meant a supply of baits from Jamie and Chris. Four of us were able to sneek out for a short trip.

 

 

 

 

The OYSTERCAT went out to local marks with Richie Pearce at the helm. 7 anglers took to the bay at 8.00am with the weather set fine for the day. John Bevan armed to the teeth with factor 50.

 

A A few mackerel were picked up along the way

 

 

 

And enjoyed a bit of sport landing a good sized smoothhound

 

with John Bevan enjoying a bumper day

 

Steve Bryant landed his first bream of the season

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a really early start today- but as the alarm clocks were calling everyone- the day ahead was met with real excitement. A small flotilla of boats took advantage of the prospect of good weather to catch first lock out at 7.00 AM.

 

Lundy is always a special day- the trip usually throws up a fantastic feast of wildlife- gulls - guillemots- oystercatcher- porpoise- dolphin- and many more, on the way out we were met with flat calm water all round.

 

After Breakfast made and eaten with great enthusiasm - our first task was to catch some live bait - large sand eel ( launce ) were plentiful.

 

 

Lundy Dolphins

 

 

 

...Richie Pearce...

 

 

...and John Elvins

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was wrasse time - one for John Bevan

 

 

and one for John Elvins

 

Blonde Ray for Colin Albert

Forecast was for excellent medium tides and times to suit, what could go wrong?? All aboard for what was potentially a great trip. Smiles soon became frowns after over an hour jigging in three spots trying for the now elusive May Mackerel.

 

But all was not lost, after a dogfish bash and one bull huss on the ledges we headed to Oxwich where a few Dabs, Plaice, Gurnard, a very small smoothound and a thornback ray came to the boat.

 

At rods out  Tom Sullivan managed a first of the season Bream as a nice consolation. Weather was as forecast so a nice Gower boat ride was at least enjoyed.

 

Skipper John Elvins

 

 

 

 

Closer inspection - nice dab

 

Tom Sullivan caught a good sized black bream

 

 

 

 

Oystercat 22 May 2016

A good day aboard the Oystercat today. We spent the day in Oxwich where for most of the day it was t-shirts and sunglasses weather. We had lots of fish and a very good variety of species including pollack, mackerel, whiting, dabs, plaice, gurnard (tub, red and grey), turbot, thornback rays and dogfish. Sorry for the lack of pictures, too busy keeping everyone fed and watered!

 

Skipper Dean Gifford

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Jordan with just 2 of his congers eels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Not a brilliant day today surreal to start off with relying on a machine to tell you where you are, and something in the back of your mind says don't believe it, but the compass agreed with it so we banged on at breakneck speed for West Cross.
Trying to find Dick Bartons Fish & Chip shop by eye was impossible, but the machine said we were there or there about so we started our first drift. Just as well the mist lifted for a few minutes or we would have been very close company for Tarpon who was doing the same thing. We found our proper starting point & drifted towards Mumbles but the drift was very slow & not really the right direction. I made the mistake of suggesting we motor to a spot and put the anchor down and because we only had 2 plaice on the drift, the idea of nodding rod tips proved too much for them!!!!!!!!!!
As expected we had loads of growlers, a couple of small dabs, and a small plaice, & more growlers, and we were all convinced that Mal Davies was bringing a ray in, net ready, only for him to land a football size rock, with an anemone stuck to it, which had totally consumed his bait!
I tried to convince Livio Apajee that catching growlers was not cool, and asking to have your photo taken holding one was mega uncool, but he insisted!
Back in by 2.30pm to avoid the lock closure, and our passage through the locks was fairly painless seeing as I had 2 "Belle Virgins" aboard (you have to concentrate to avoid the "pirouette") They both asked when I was going out next, so it must have been better than I thought (or cheaper lol).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very pleasant weather forecast so John and his crew of anglers went out fishing for 'toothy critters'. First over by the 'hugo' mark looking for conger. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes of fishing the anchor slipped and Oystercat drifted by the preferred mark, they had to wait until the tide turned to release the jammed anchor. While waiting they had two small congers and loads of dogfish.

 

 

On releasing the anchor they went over to the Kenfig marks and it was a different story. All the anglers caught many a photo worthy fish with double figures for conger, bull huss and smooth hound. The noteworthy catches were; Nigel Davies 13.8lb conger and smooth hound at 14.5lb, Phil Gavey 14lb bull huss.

 

 

 

 

 

John Elvins showing off his Bull Huss and Smooth Hound

 

 

 

Paul Eaton with Bull Huss and John Bevan with Conger

 

 

 

 

 

Phil Gavey with another smoothhound

 

 

 

 

 

From the time the Belle cleared the piers it was obvious that drifting was out, so Vic steered out to the relative calm outside Mumbles moorings and dropped anchor. With the wind and tide on the bow it was very pleasant, between showers.
Huw Jones' friend (Eric from Ireland) on board, a temporary member, had a double header of dabs on his first drop (caught on a vintage pool cue) and all the anglers had a mixture of dabs dogs through out the  morning. They decided to come in before the lock closure so they didn't sit beam on for 3 hrs and 15mins before "rods in".

 

 

 

We headed our leisurely way out at around 8am - the sea was like glass and the ebb tide pushed us west down the channel. As we past Pwll Du a gannet was tracking something inside us - normally I would have followed it to see if it was following mackerel or herring, but conscious of not making the trip more costly I stuck on course.

Arriving at the large bank I intended to fish the water was red-ish/brown - a sign the May weed had started. I dropped the anchor slightly further south than I normally do in marginally deeper water. After a hour or 2, the strengthening ebb had cleared the May weed, but fishing was slow - for the flat fish at least, the dog fish were feeding ravenously.

I got the anchor up and moved back to where I normally anchor; here the fishing was great, double and triple shots of dabs became the norm along with some Grey Gurnard, whiting and dogs.

Fishing slackened off around low water so we took this chance to have some lunch.

We re-positioned for the flood, but fishing was slow to start; with that said we were still catching, just not in the same volume as earlier in the day.

We ended the day with 100+ dabs, a dozen or so gurnard, a few whiting and 20-30 dogs. Wind was a bit cold at first but sea state was lovely!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the small conger eels - 1 for Pete Jordan...

 

Doing the Conger - Nigel Davies            and Dean Gifford...

 

 

   ...  & John Bevan             Hats off to all of them