What are you gonna do when the hounds are calling?

Smoothhound are perhaps the most sporting fish found in our seas. Although I have now caught a number of hounds I have not caught a double.

The waters off Anglesey see a run of smoothhound each year during late May and June. These are not small fish with doubles being average and fish to twenty pound plus a distinct possibility.

I had four days booked on board Gethyn Owen's My Way. Geth advised that the hounds hadn't yet arrived in numbers and sport was a bit patchy. Despite this, one twenty pounder had already been boated. My trip coincided with a spell of settled weather, a mini heatwave in fact.

The plan was simple, do some scratching until the tide was right and then move onto the hounds. This meant that everyone caught a few dogfish, dabs, codling, whiting etc before settling down to the waiting game.

Most of the lads rigged up with uptiders, not having a light uptider I set up a carp rod. In retrospect I think it was a little soft and could have done with some more backbone. I struggled to bring a small balled up hound against a strong tide! Four foot of 50lb line with a 4/0 hook baited was baited with a peeler crab. Interestingly Geth favours not peeling the crab and passing the hook through the abdomen before tying on the crab with some bait elastic. This minimises the number of dogfish (these welsh waters are paved with LSDs).

Day 1 was a little choppy and hard going, I blanked on the hounds. Day 2 I landed a couple including a new personal best at 12lb 8oz. These fish really do go and my light rod hooped right over as a hound decided to scream off on another run. Day three I added a couple of small ones and on the last day I kicked off with another double before losing a good hound when the leader knot parted. I was gutted as this was a good fish lost through bad angling. I will spend some time testing out different mono to braid knots when I get home to minimise the chances of this happening again.

Geth's usual collection of dodgy music and bad jokes kept the crews entertained whilst we waited for the hounds to oblige.

Over the four days the crew averaged 5-8 hounds per day with the best weighing 18lb plus. I was happy with 5 although I was perhaps a little unlucky with the size as the average was probably around 13lb.

Geth put on the Prodigy who sang "what are you gonna do when the hounds are calling". I just said "lose them".

You are Absolutely Topeless!

Gethyn Owen is one of Wales best skippers and I recently enjoyed four days fishing aboard My Way. After talking to Geth I decided to target a cuckoo wrasse, tope and spotted ray for my species hunt. Rather than recounting on a daily basis the fish I caught I thought that I would take the opportunity to give the reader a flavour of what the fishing is like off Holyhead.

With the exception of the superlative smoothound fishing available in late May the fishing here falls into three main categories.

I have a soft spot for wrasse fishing and most days will see an hour or two spent drifting over a variety of rocky marks around south stack or behind the breakwater. The lead should be heavy enough to keep the line vertical, every rock can be felt through the braid and line should be given or retrieved as necessary to maintain contact with the bottom. Expect to lose some tackle but lifting the lead a couple of inches every five seconds miminises snag ups. Resist the urge to strike the rattles and merely lift into the wrasse when the tip pulls right over.

A section of ragworm is the best bait, I added a three quarter inch strip of mackerel to increase the chance of a cuckoo wrasse. After Geth demonstrated how to catch a cuckoo wrasse on the Monday, I finally caught a female cuckoo on the Tuesday. Mackerel strip results in pollack and coalies. During my trip the crew caught ballan, cuckoo and corkwing wrasse, poor cod, pollack, cod and scorpion fish on the drift. Although we spent some time feathering up mackerel they were thin on the ground, I managed a sprat (literally), others added codling and the largest launce I have ever seen.

Colin the seal has visited the boat on a regular basis over the last few years and associates Geth with a free meal. Talking of free meals a trip on My Way includes lunch, sausage butties, chilli, cake and cheesecake were on offer during my visit.

The banter on board is excellent. Don't leave a rod unattended..... you never know what you might catch. Young Ryan's running commentary on the fight with the rubber chicken that Geth had put on the end of his line was priceless.

During neap tides if the weather allows, it is possible to fish the Holyhead Deeps for a few hours around slack water. According to Geth the fishing was poor, despite this on the Monday most anglers aboard managed a double figure bullhuss. A couple of spurdog and three pack tope were also landed. Tuesday was slower, again three few tope were landed. I was still waiting for my tope leading to Geth commenting that I was absolutely topeless at fishing. On Wednesday I was part of a three tope tangle, mine was the smallest by far. We all had plenty of bites although the dreaded LSDs abound.

Ever noticed that when ladies are on board they usually outfish the blokes. I am sure Annie's huss is bigger than mine. Geth had a photo of a huss with the number 17 on it's flank which I refused to accept as genuine, after seeing the number 3 on another huss I am now not so sure!

When the wind or tide doesn't permit a trip to the Deeps there is a variety of inshore fishing at anchor available. As I was aiming for a spotted ray I fished with a three hook flowing trace with size 4 aberdeens baited with a three inch thin strip of mackerel.

As well as a couple of spotted rays, I managed red and grey gurnards, LSDs, codling, dabs, whiting, bulhuss and a starry smoothhound. I had thought that I had jammed out a common but on closer investigation it had faint spots. Other anglers added plaice and thornback rays to the bag. After the rays I scaled down and fished baited size 12 sabikkis hoping for a dragonet.

A light boat rod covers the inshore work, I used a boat quivertip which both maximises fun and gives great bite indication. A twenty pound class rod covers the deeps where up to two pounds of lead are required to hold bottom.

I would recommend a trip out with Geth to anyone, as even a poor day's fishing is entertaining aboard My Way!

Blondes make me sick!

After three cancelled trips, I finally got out for my first boat trip of 2011. I was on Silver Spray skippered by Sam Cumming in search of blonde rays and spurdogs that inhabit the offshore banks 15-20 miles out of Poole.

The tidal flow on these banks is so powerful that these marks can only be fished on neap tides.  The rays are here to breed and by April they are gone, leaving only a handful of days each year that they can be targeted.

Thirty pound class rods were required as a pound and a half of lead was required to hold bottom. A 6/0 hook on a four foot flowing trace of 100lb mono was baited with a mackerel and sandeel cocktail. The heavy nylon was necessary as spurdogs are toothy critters and there was always the chance of a decent conger.


The sea got a bit lumpy and for the first time during this challenge I suffered from a bout of sea sickness. On previous trips I had been so careful, avoiding alcohol and spicy food for 48 hours, combined with a preventative sea sickness tablet the night before the trip...... that will teach me!

It was a relatively slow day and we moved a couple of times during the day in search of better sport. Three blonde rays were landed with the largest, a male of 14lb (notice the long claspers in the photo) falling to my rod. These pre-historic looking creatures are really quite impressive in the flesh. The spurdogs were noticeable by their absence although one angler was bitten off having tackled up with a 40lb mono trace.

I also had a decent whiting which I rather dismissed at the time. In retrospect I wished I had got a photograph as at 2lb 6oz it was a personal best by miles.

It rained, it hailed, some of us were sea sick and it was difficult to keep your balance at times but as one lad said "you really know you are alive!"

Dab Central

Folkestone pier is a strange place, it is a concrete pier, a breakwater really! I asked the car park attendant how to get to the pier and he responded go through the gap next to the cafe. How surreal, I went through the gap to find a disused railway station, complete with tracks and platform numbers, but with the victorian iron structure bereft of a roof. I walked along the platform and up some steps which led me out onto the pier, I settled on peg 30 which was on an elbow in the pier. Behind me were the rusted remains of the railway and other dereliction, this species hunt is taking me to some strange places.

I arrived a couple of hours before high tide and planned to fish through till after dark. My target was a three or five bearded rockling or slugs as sea anglers know them. I fished two or three hook flappers with size 6 aberdeens which would be baited with a section of black lugworm. I decided to fish both rods fairly close, one at thirty yards and the other at around fifty yards out.

 I soon discovered that the sea bed must have been carpeted with dabs as I caught most casts and occasionally two at a time. As the tide became stronger I realised that the sea bed was snaggy and proceeded to lose several sets of gear. I noticed the locals were using leads with fixed soft tail wires, whilst my breakaway lead wires were fatally ensnared the wires on the soft fixed leads would straighten and pull free (well usually). A spring tide merely exacerbated the problem and I spent a frustrating couple of hours before the tide eased off during the afternoon.

Whiting showed during the afternoon with four being keepers along with the smallest lesser spotted dogfish I have ever seen. The dab tally was growing and I lost count, I am sure I must have landed at least twenty. An angler nearby had a rockling and I maintained the attitude of a serious sea angler denigrating the fish as a slug whilst wanting one of my own.

Just on dusk a short cast of maybe ten yards saw me finally land one of my target species, a five bearded rockling. Apologies for the picture quality as light was fading fast.

The walk back to the car in the dark was a bit erie as I walked along the station platform, I thought to myself that it was the perfect place to mug someone. On the long drive back home I thought about why the station was build, was it to bring passengers to a long lost boarding point for shipping or was it Dab Central for anglers in search of a tasty dab or two for tea?

Flatties Galore and Science of Tides!

A last minute change of plan saw me return to Cley (pronounced cl-eye) in search of another flatfish, the flounder. The tide was too big apparently to fish my intended venue, Humberston Creek near Cleethorpes. Hopefully the barn owl that I spotted at first light would prove to be a good omen. The weatherman had predicted that the day would be cold and overcast with the wind coming from the north, with rain likely.

Following a little research I decided to fish the ebb down from mid tide and the early part of the flood. My two hook flapper rigs were tweaked to include four small yellow beads on each hooklink with size 4 and 6 aberdeen hooks baited with lugworm. For anyone in the area I must recommend ordering your bait from Brights of Sheringham as on both trips bait quality has been excellent.

I decided to fish closer in than on my last trip as flounder can often be found between twenty and forty yards out.

Despite the fact that at least one common seal was patrolling the area, most casts resulted in either a dab or a flounder. By low water I had taken eight dabs and two flounders with the odd pin whiting.

Interestingly the flood tide produced only one dab and an undersized bass, but as the tide grew in strength pin whiting became a decided nuisance. I cast around on one rod but to little avail. I also failed to get a decent photo of a seal despite one popping its head up and doing a "song and dance" within twenty feet of me!

Amazing to think that tides are created by the relative positions of the moon, the sun and the earth and the gravitational pull these celestial bodies exert on the sea. The spring and Autumn equinoxes see the sun, moon and the earth in alignment and the combined pull on the water leads to the largest spring tides of the year (that is when the difference in water level between high and low water is at its greatest).

The moon travels around the earth on a twenty-eight day cycle and a couple of days after the new and full moon sees the monthly spring tides. At periods of half moon the tidal range is at its least, these are known as neap tides.

High tide will occur around 50 minutes later each day as the moon travels around the earth. Surely a case could be made for reorganising time to fit the natural cycle of things!

The rate the rise and fall of the tide and therefore the speed of the tide is not constant. Gradually the tide flows faster until half tide and then gradually eases off again before falling slack as the tide turns. A quarter of the rise occurs in the first two hours,  half in the next two hours and a quarter in the last two hours. The period of slack water when the tide turns is also greatest on a neap tide.

Enough on tides, how can you tell flounders and dabs apart? Dabs are a small flatfish rarely weighing more than a pound, whereas flounders are sometimes caught at weights in excess of three pounds.

Both fish can be variable in colour and the dabs I caught today varied from a light brown to a darker brown/green mottling. The easiest way to tell the difference is to rub the fish along the back from tail to head, the dab is rough and the flounder smooth. In addition the lateral line of the dab curves around the pectoral fin in a semi circle.

Twitchers, the Gray Phalarope and the crock of gold at the end of the Rainbow

Cley in North Norfolk is a birdwatchers paradise and behind the marshes that attract wading birds to this corner of Norfolk lies a shingle beach giving access to relatively deep water. Cley is known as a good spot to catch dabs and flounders as the bottom is sand and mud. Although conditions were far from ideal with strong wind having coloured up the water I decided to fish from low tide up to high water.

I had arrived late morning in the middle of a major 'twitch', as a rare bird (gray phalarope) had been spotted. There were loads of birders, mainly men, dressed in green coats wandering about with large telescopes. The gray phalarope isn't grey but red and not stupid either as it had departed for pastures new amidst all the disturbance. If I wanted to spot birds I would quietly move to a suitable vantage point and stay still! Whilst fishing I have been lucky over the years to see most native bird species including some rarities such as the bittern and water rail.

En route I had picked up some lugworm and ragworm from Brights in Sheringham. I walked about half a mile away from the crowds just past a wreck which lay within casting distance of the shore. My plan was to fish two rods armed with two hook flapper rigs and cast one short and the other long until I started catching.

After ten minutes the rod cast short rattled and I wound in my target dab. The dab is a small flatfish which rarely weighs more than a pound. It can be distinguished from its close relative the flounder by the distinct curve of the lateral line around the pectoral fin. It also it feels rough when you stroke it from tail to head.

Throughout the afternoon I had half a dozen small bass, two being just over the size limit. The following day these were baked with lemon and herbs and provided a fine dinner. Towards dusk, pin whiting were a nuisance with most casts producing one or a pair of hand sized whiting. This continued through dusk and only one sizeable whiting was landed before I packed up.

Is there a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow? No, but there might be a gray phalarope and with this new information dozens of keen birders sped off towards Cromer!

A stroll around Weymouth Harbour

Tuesday was wet and windy, very wet and windy, storm force 8 wet and windy! 

I spent a few wet and windy hours during the evening trying to catch a flounder from the shore at Swanage which was sheltered from the south westerly winds. However the freshwater outlet outside the Mowlam theatre was discharging coloured water and the sea was full of weed. Unsurprisingly I struggled with only a poor cod and a missed bite to show for my efforts. 

Wednesday saw me take a leisurely stroll around Weymouth Harbour armed with a quivertip rod targetting the mini species again. A two hook paternoster with size 12 hooks were baited with pieces of ragworm. I fished through the ebbing tide from high water. I started on the pleasure pier and caught lots of ballan and corkwing wrasse. Although I tried several spots along the pier only wrasse obliged.     

I walked back to the main bridge and crossed over the river taking time to enjoy the comings and goings of various small craft. I sat down on the harbourside next to a family who were crab fishing and cast down the edge. I had a bite every cast which resulted in corkwing, ballan and a solitary goldsinney wrasse along with several gobies.  The children were fascinated by the different fish and the parents were amazed at the bright colours of the male corkwing wrasse.

The various species of gobies are notoriously difficult to tell apart and pictured opposite are a black goby (above) and a sand goby (below) or is it a common goby? The black goby is slightly darker and with the high dorsal fins, unfortunately the first dorsal is not fully extended.

A stop at the Stone Pier cafe for a bacon butty, piece of carrot cake and a pot of tea saw me ready to tackle the Stone Pier. Here I caught dozens of wrasse and mini pollack, and taught a couple of children to fish, before moving to the end of the pier. A cast away from the structure resulted in a short spined sea scorpion.

Another pot of tea at the cafe was consumed before fishing alongside a wall behind the sailing club. This was whiting and goby city.



During the day I had caught eight species of fish without trying too hard and enjoyed a pleasant stroll around Weymouth Harbour.

The final day of my Weymouth break was spent fishing the Dorset Frome at Wareham Quay hoping for a bonus sea trout. Several big dace responded to my swimfeedered maggots in the coloured water. The largest weighed in at ten ounces, only an ounce short of my personal best. However, I did have a decent fish come off which was probably my bonus sea trout!

My Way

My Way skippered by Gethyn Owen is one of the top charter boats in Wales. Unfortunately the planned trip to the Holyhead Deeps in search of tope,spurdog and bulhuss was cancelled due to the strong winds. Instead we would be fishing various inshore marks moving between them as the weather and tide eased.

Taking Gethyn's advice I rigged up with two up, one down rigs with size 2 hooks and baited up each hook with different baits, mackerel strip, squid strip and ragworm. Within minutes of lowering the bait I had a bite which resulted in a red gurnard. Apart from a small plaice and huss we were all plagued by lesser spotted dogfish. A move to Church Bay resulted in yet more dogfish.

Mid afternoon we moved again to fish for wrasse on the drift near South Stack. A three hook flowing trace baited with ragworm section is fished on the bottom, every few seconds the lead is lifted a few inches and replaced on the bottom to avoid snagging as the boat drifted. Geth advised fishing mackerel strip on at least one hook as this would maximise the chance of a cuckoo wrasse. Unfortunately on this occasion only ballan wrasse and pollack responded.

The day ended as it began anchored in Holyhead Bay, As well as the inevitable dogfish we all caught whiting. Despite the fact that the water had coloured up with the wind providing far from ideal conditions an enjoyable day was had by all. I certainly intend to return to Anglesey next summer to target the wide variety of species available from both boat and shore.

God, I hate litter!

August had been a struggle, three trips had seen me land loads of fish however I failed to catch my target fish barbel, bitterling and zander.

In an attempt to get the species hunt back on track I decided on a weekend away, fishing Holyhead breakwater for a couple of days. Holyhead breakwater is renowned as a venue where virtually anything can turn up.

Picturesque it isn't, I have never seen so much litter in my life. Litter really is a pet hate of mine, whether its smokers dropping cigarrette butts or drivers chucking rubbish out of the car window. However when it is obviously, so called anglers that have left the rubbish it really makes my blood boil. How difficult is it to take a bag with you and clear up your own and any other litter in your peg and take it home to dispose of. These morons should be banned from fishing, period! The welsh authorities are no better as there clearly hadn't been any effort to clear the litter for some considerable time!

Back to the fishing. On the Saturday I set up two rods, a bass rod with a two hook flapper rig fishing lugworm or mackerel strip and a barbel rod fishing small strips of mackerel and pieces of ragworm on size 12 hooks for mini species.

On the heavier tackle I was hoping for a dab or gurnard. What I caught was a lesser spotted dogfish, several whiting and a tiny poor cod. The mini species rig attracted loads of ballan and corkwing wrasse, pollack and a solitary shore rockling. I packed up around six to check into my digs and find something to eat.

On Sunday I followed a tip given to me by the proprietor of Winnies Worms in Holyhead and drove round to a mark near south stack. What a contrast to the breakwater, a walk from the carpark along the cliffside through heather and some miniature form of gorse in full bloom.

Unfortunately I was too laden to scramble down the cliffside to the mark and I confess I bottled it! One day I will return with minimal gear and a safety rope.

So I returned to the Breakwater and fished right up the end by the lighthouse. I decided to concentrate on the mini species without the distraction of a second rod. After ten hours catching a small ballan or corkwing wrasse every five minutes I had had enough. I was starving and my milk had turned leaving me without a decent cuppa!

Shark Angling Club of Great Britain

The Shark Angling Club of Great Britain (SACGB) was formed in Looe, Cornwall in 1953 by the late Brigadier J. L. Caunter. Looe quickly became established as the top venue for angling for Sharks on rod and line in the UK.

The main purpose of the SACGB is to promote the sport of Shark Angling in Great Britain with a mind to conservation, and provide members with an organisation which is regarded as the central authority in Great Britain for this sport.

In the early days a great many Sharks were caught and unfortunately killed. Holiday makers flocked to the quayside in Looe each evening, to see the Sharks being weighed. Sharks had to weigh 75lbs (34.1kg) or more to qualify for membership to the SACGB. However, since 1994 it has been the Clubs Policy that Sharks should be measured instead of weighed and released unharmed back to the sea.

The qualifying measurement for a Blue Shark is 7ft (213cm) or more from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. For Porbeagle, Mako and Thresher Shark it is 4ft 6ins (137cm) from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail.

Since 1998 the SACGB has operated a tag and release programme whereby the Sharks are tagged before being returned to the sea. The programme has provided the Club with valuable information as to the migration route the Sharks take in the Atlantic Ocean, how far they travel and their growth rate and the information has and is being used in the conservation of Sharks. When a tagged Shark is recaptured, usually by commercial fishermen, the tag is returned to the Club and the returnee receives a 15 dollar reward. This has proved very successful and helps with the conservation of Sharks worldwide.

When I last visited Looe 12 years ago I was lucky enough to catch a blue shark of 60lb. However when I booked a days shark fishing on Typhoon I realised that the odds were against me as only around 200 sharks are landed annually by the Looe fleet compared to 6,000 back in the 1950s and 60s.

Shark fishing is a waiting game, mesh bags containing 'rubby dubby' (mashed up fish) are hung over the side at water level and with each wave bits of fish and oils are washed out to create a scent trail for the sharks to follow.

The boat starts a drift 10-15 miles out and mackerel flappers are suspended under floats at different depths and ranges from the boat. Four rods were fishing and we all drew lots for who had which rod. I drew the rod at the bow, unfortunately the two runs occurred on the same rod which was nearest the stern.

The lucky angler successfully landed both sharks, blues of 40lb (56 inches) and 80lb (84 inches) respectively.

Whilst waiting for the sharks to arrive we feathered for mackerel and I soon realised that mini sabikis were the most effective mackerel feathers I possessed. I also fished baited hokkai lures on the bottom and caught a number of whiting for tea. The sea bed we drifted over was sandy and held little else.

Although disappointed not to land a shark myself I was privileged to see two blue sharks being boated.