Roll on Spring!

LRF/Light game isn't the most popular fishing style where I live,  I do know of a few people from the Anglesey area and also Conwy who really enjoy this style, but for sometime I have been "the only gay in the village" as it goes down here.

Through posting a little more on the World Sea Fishing Forum of late, I did start reading the reports of another lrfer in the area. To cut a long (and boring) story short, PM's exchanged and we decided to meet up for a little session today.

We agreed to visit a pretty good and consistent mark on the Llyn peninsula, the mark usually affords some shelter regardless of the weather conditions and the usual quarry is pollock around three quarters of a pound, small Wrasse and some mini species.

On our wee journey up I had expectations of a good day with plenty of fish, yet it was probably the hardest lrf session I have fished all year!

The conditions were against us from the outset. Strong gusty winds changed frequently and made seeking shelter difficult, this coupled with cloudy water and a fair swell presented us with large hurdles indeed.

After a wee recce I managed to find a workable spot. Fishing OTD with a 1.8g jig head and a range of lures from Maria, Berkley and ima I managed a short succession of tiny Pollock.

They were not the general size accustomed to at this mark and were really hugging the Kelp below, hardly surprising given the Gannets, Cormorants and Guillemots about. Trouble was as the tide rose I had to evacuate my spot and when at this time the larger fish usually show, they just did not!

My friend Jon also caught a few small Pollock before things went dead, even the mini species were proving impossible to locate. Neither of us could quite understand the absence of fish, difficult as the conditions were, I would still have expected more!

As we roamed about we exchanged fishing tales and a few laughs. Searching all the likely looking places things were bleak indeed though.

After a coffee we ended up fishing a bit of structure that offered us shelter from the biting wind, where we caught shore crabs!

I was however getting the odd bite on a piece of isome and stern determination I persevered until my prize was won;

The smallest Long Spined Sea Scorpion I have ever seen! 

I don't care much that it was so small though, Scorpion fish are cool!

A little while later I had another one, well I think it may have been the same greedy fish;

Awesome as this little critter is, we decided enough was enough and departed for home and hot drinks.

I can't in all honesty say it was a bad day, it was great to fish with and meet Jon, it was also just good to be out on the shore and to get some fresh air. That being said, one thing myself and Jon agreed on; -Spring can't come soon enough!

Tight lines.

A Difficult Day in December!

On Friday I checked Magicseaweed and Met office for weather and tide reports, I was hoping to get out on Saturday yet Met office said there would be strong winds and Magicseaweed said there would still be a residual swell running. I therefore opted for Sunday (today) as the winds were said to be low and the sea - flat.

Of course, these sites cannot get things right even within a 24 hour period! Saturday there was barely a wisp of wind and it was a glorious day, I had wasted a good day in some sense, I opted for a much needed lie in.

So I head up to Uwchmynedd today with Pollock in mind. Of course I was expecting no wind and calm seas, did I find this? Did I heck!

There was quite a stiff cross onshore and a pretty angry sea. I climbed down to my consistent marks and each were too unsafe to fish, especially on my own. The sea was the kind you'd dare not turn your back on, there were quite frequent growlers threatening to wash me off of the rocks.

This photo hardly does it justice!

I climbed up and down cliffs trying to find more placid water and fish, admiring these bright red toadstools as I went, its a good job the peninsula is such a beautiful place! 

I found it very hard to control my line and lures at times and I eventually opted for a cove I have fished before with very mixed results. Sometimes it can be really good and others - very poor, well today was the later!

I picked up small Pollock on Ecogearaqua Swim Shrimps trailed on a deep water carolina rig, they were not the size I had in mind for today and though disappointed, I was glad not to blank!

For a very short time the sea slackened off a bit and I got hit off of a different fish about 30 foot down and bought in a small Ballan Wrasse. I love catching Wrasse and the sight of this wee fella certainly brightened up my day and put a smile on my face.

Stunning fin colouration! 

"Well, where there's one, there's more" I thought to myself and I rigged up a Watermelon Yoshikawa Superworm on my Carolina rig. Casting out, retrieving with shakes and pauses things weren't epic, but I was getting the odd bite. I was nearing a subsurface ledge beneath my feet and I was getting small shy bites, when wallop! My Sakura Mazzera 742MH hooped over and I felt the weight of a decent fish. "Ah yes a PB Wrasse" I thought "easily 6lb". As I started pulling the thing from the bottom, I felt a sort of click, like you get when your weight hits granite, except my line had gone limp!

I had lost the fish and was completely shocked and bemused. I reeled in my line to find out my hook and lure had gone, my 20lb fluorocarbon looked as though it had been cut by pliers, a nice clean cut!

I was thoroughly pissed off, but surely this could not have been a Wrasse? It bit off a 4" lure and a 3/0 hook! The only thing I can think of is that there was a small wrasse biting my lure, which in turn got eaten by an eel, engulfing my lure and wrasse at once?

I guess I'll never know, but I would be interested to know any theories or hear of similar experiences, I was thoroughly confused by it.

Anyway, with that I decided enough was enough and headed home.

It was a disappointing,  difficult and a frustrating day, but a total loss? I'll let you decide.

Tight lines.