Overnight on Chesil in the wind and rain...heaven!!

Monday went and picked up Chris from his house at 730 pm and drove us down to Chesil in the defender. We arrived at 915 and walked half way to the Dragons Teeth. There was a strong S wind and rain in the air. I had made the wise decision to bring my mini-tent which we erected before fishing, making sure it was well bedded in with lots of pebbles or we could have been chasing it down the beach. We caught 3 bass (kept one of 2lb) all caught less than 3m from beach. Also had 3 snotties (thats silver eels, so called because of their slime which gets everywhere) and Chris had the fish of the night, a lovely blonde ray of about 10lb caught on lug and squid. It pissed down in the middle of the night and we went into the tent and tried, unsuccesfully to sleep. The expected dawn bass bonanza did not occur due to the 2m waves ( a bit lumpy) but the mackerel were abundant at 530am and we brought a few home and could have filled the car.Stopped off at Ilminster Little Chef on way home for an Olympic (2012) breakfast!!! Lovely.

Brean Beach Short Session Wednesday 25th July

Well its still hot hot hot so had a quick evening session with Bella at Brean. Dug my lug for an hour and fished 3 hook flapper with size 6 hooks on one rod and ususal pulley pennel on other. Nice waves and tide but bait came in untouched...struggling to catch locally at the moment.

Chesil Beach Monday 23rd July

Summer has arrived at last...27degrees no wind...a trip to Chesil is on!! Left home with Bella the dog at 1pm and stopped off at Mum and Dads in Budleigh on the way for a couple of hours then had a tortuously slow journey along the coast through Lyme Regis and Bridport (why do holidaymakers drive so SLOWLY?) to arrive at Abbotsbury by 6pm. Walked the mile to dragons Teeth and the sea was a glassy flat calm and the dog was hot and thirsty! Feathered for a while and got some mackerel for bait and had a few scad too, then cast out the long rods. As it got dark i put the usual fillet of mackerel in close and again as usual had a tremendous bass bite on it which i didnt connect with...i will have to rethink how i present this bait as my hookup to bite ratio is crap...currently use running leger with pennel 3o hooks...maybe a light lead is the answer. Had the ususal dogfish and pouting after dark and that was about it. However it was a FANTASTIC night and when i switched off my headlamp the stars in the sky were probably the most intense i have ever seen...saw a few shooting stars too.

Woolacombe Bay Bassing 16/7/12

Me and Chris decided to take the 100mile trip to Woolacombe for some bassing yesterday. Arrived at 9pm to find a huge surf running but the water as clear as gin which was nice. Walked 800yards down beach and saw a shoal of 100's of scad yards from the beach in a foot of water...shame i didnt have my fly rod! Tackle was simple...carp rod, fixed spool line loaded with braid, 3oz plain lead and pat pennel 2o hooks loaded with fresh lug. Waist deep in the surf, lob the lot out, finger on line and wait!  Bass take very strongly on braid and even a 1lb fish feels like a monster...great fun. We missed loads more than we landed and ended up with 5 bass to about 2lb.Fished until 3am and arrived home at 5am a wee bit tired but happy!

Blagdon 11th July

What does someone who has lost his fishing mojo do to regain it? Get a boat on Blagdon and bag up on trout seemed like a plan so me and Chris arrived at 3pm and headed forth. It was a strong SW about 20mph, sunny at first and rainy later. Tried Cheddar water. Butcombe, North shore point and finally Pipe Bay. No fly hatch but echo sounder showed plenty of fish at 3 feet down but they proved elusive. The usual buzzers and daiwl bachs did not produce and i did not have a pull at all. Chris had one take and lost one in weed in Pipe Bay. Only thing to brighten our day was a magnificent rainbow (in the sky , not in the boat Ha Ha!)  We are planning a sea trip for next Monday and am not hopeful....i have as much chance of catching in my bath at the moment.

Glutton For Punishment Brean Beach 9th July

Once again was lured by prospect of bass on beach. Someone had a 9lb fish the previous evening so down i went, dug a load of lug and bashed out the little devils into a lovely rolling surf. It was a 10.5m tide with high at 11.50pm and conditions looked perfect! Chris arrived at 9.15 after a late surgery, scabbed my lug , got a 2.5lb bass shortly after, thanked me for the bait and buggered off at 11pm......nowt again for me! Have last my mojo!

Brean again 5th July

Ok so in hindsight i should have seen another blank coming after Monday but it was a glorious evening and so took Bella to beach for 3 hours...result as Monday...a big doughnut!!!

Blagdon Wed 4th July

Went for evening on Blagdon with Chris....didnt arrive until 630 by which time he had got 4 already from Butcombe shore on buzzers. Wind from SW dropping to flat calm....lots of sedge on water but not hatching. Chris gave me a real drubbing and ended with 9 whilst i only managed 1 though i had a few pulls...the fish did not really come on and were quite deep despite overcast sky. Chris had bottom dropper very close to leaded point fly which is a good idea for next time.

Blank At Brean 2/7/12

Went and fished Brean beach Monday afternoon 11.5m tide high at 6.30...dug some lug and nice wave but wind awkward SSW along the beach. NOT A BITE the whole tide...a bit mystifying really and can only put it down to the masses of fresh water in Bristol Channel at the moment due to the shit recent weather. There is always another tide...........