5/10/13

Myself and my mate went and fished the arches yesterday... I had a 2 hook flapper and my friend had a 1 hook flapper... We tried lug and crab. I was rewarded with 40+ pin whiting all delivered back to the sea and my mate caught at least 18  or 19. The bites are thick and fast and aren't for those who enjoy a chill out. 2 oz fish were rocking the rod.. None stop action. Myself and another friend are out on Tuesday so I shall update again - until then tight lines,

31st August.

Myself and a friend decided to fish the Arches again. The wind was blasting in a South Easterly. It was a nightmare at first. We both fished 2 hook flappers using mixes of crab. lug and maccy. The bait of the day as always was crab. We were missing bites like nobodies business. Between us we managed to land a tiny little whiting and a small but respectable plaice. The lads to the right of us also had what appeared a small whiting. All bait was being stripped which I put down to shoals of juvenile fish with of course the usual crabs which are notorious along this stretch for bait stripping. 

20/07 Porth Erias

A spot of maccy bashing off the block past Porth Erias yielded one joey for myself as we didn't have the best location to fish from and had none fisher folk with us whilst a friend on the new sands caught a small flatty on feathers. He insists it wasn't foul hooked but never saw him remove the hook. 

19/07 rhos on sea

We did a spot of maccy bashing and we got nowt - the folk 40 yards down had two joeys and a few further towards the Cayley had 3 or so... Need to prep some feathers for tomorrow then back out in the morning

What we have all been waiting for.

Shore caught mackerel yesterday went ballistic - this is what we have been waiting for and the massive spike in temps. has brought them in. I shall be hitting the shore either tonight or tomorrow with crab and feathers.

A massive session

We have decided today 12/07 to do an all dayer.

First venue. Llandudno pier. We fished 2 hours up and an hour down, as the end jetty had been closed as the new boats are coming in there are 2 sections to the side now cordoned off for fishing. Out of all the people fishing I had the only fish, a little scorpion fish. The whole sea was full of jellyfish which were mullering the rigs. We tried lug, rag and peeler, the only bait to work was rag. I tried feathering and had one attack on them but nothing forthcoming.

We tried low tide at splash point but couldn't cast past the sand bars and got sunk in the quicksand so turned that out off as a bad job.

Final trip out of the day we hit the arches. 2am ish high tide - not a knock on lug, rag or peeler until the final hour when I landed a 5lbish Smoothhound. This fell to flapper with peeler crab. Talking to other anglers Maccies had been caught earlier in the day to feathers and a dogfish to another angler.

All in all a good days fishing increasing this years species by two.

Sunday 7th

We arrived a little after high tide at the arches usual baits usual rigs and I had one positive knock but that was it as the tide retreated quickly. My partner in crime was starting to get vexed by the tourists on the scortching hot day so we went back to the tackle shop and got more bait to fish Penrhyn at low tide. This was to be a mistake. We chose to the left of the breaker where I caught a bass several weeks ago. It was snag after snag with heavy rocks and weed everywhere. When we finally got close to the low tide mark we were just getting caught in a rock bank which blocks off the end of the mark. We lost so many rigs that it ruined the day in the end. A lesson learnt though - stick to the right of break.

Fishing With Family. 2/7/13

So our kid comes down for the night and we had nothing better to do so we grabbed us some peeler from Rhos Point fishing shop and hit Rhos prom. 2 flapper rig with peeler as is usually the case. First bite our kid hit. A nice little plaice of about 1lb. We had a couple more bites but nothing produced. We also tried spinning on a light rod which produced nothing. The other anglers on the prom caught nothing

Sunshine and Left Over Bait.

Well I had some bait in the fridge and the suns out, with boredom kicking in and conversations about angling on Facebook I decided to go chuck a line in. A single flapper with a mix of crab, lug and stinky maccy were the baits of the day. High tide was 4.21pm so I set of ~2.30.

I fished crab - no knocks, so changed to two flappers and had lug on one and lug/maccy cocktail... no knocks and even crab and maccy cocktail... no knocks... The algae is clear but the shore is taking it's time to return to good fishing. I believe the lads 100yds down from me caught a plaice but nothing else...

Ah well bigger session soon hitting several marks.

Slept In

Having slept in I didn't reach the shore until high tide. I used the usual 2 flapper rig and had fresh lug and peeler. No bites at all fishing an hour and a half down. The crabs had a field day yanking my line but it was a nice day with a southern wind and being a large tide was worth the go. I shall either be back tomorrow or maybe another cheeky night session tonight.

Cheeky Night Session

With the 8m tide tonight I couldn't resist going back out for a while. The wind had dropped a lot and a two hook flapper rig with peeler on the bottom and a rotation of fresh lug and frozen mackerel on the top. I fished an hour up and an hour down with high tide being at 11.45ish tonight. One bite on the first cast then bugger all. Crabs had a field day with the worm and mackerel. 3 other lads were also fishing tonight and they also blanked.

4 times not the charm

Well with the really high tide myself and my partner in crime decided to take to the shore. We were mindful of the algae situation which has plagued us for the last few weeks but decided the rough weather would probably have cleared it.  The South Easterly wind should have put us off but we decided to brave it with 29mph and a lashing high tide we knew we would struggle.

We first went to Rhos and fishing our usual two flapper rig with peeler as the bait and I had a couple of knocks but no solid bites this became tedious so at high tide we hightailed it up to Llandudno just East of the paddling pool... This was unfishable the winds were worse here and we couldn't hold bottom with our heaviest leads so we decided to go to the arches and this was also under a deluge of water... We were soaked from head to toe within minutes of casting out. Rods were being blown over and our patience was wearing thin so as the tide retreated we decided to move as our plan to chase the tide down wasn't going to work here as it was still far to rough. We decided to pop to the New Sands just to the left of the new water sports centre as I had seen tasty little bass come off this mark in the previous weeks. Again the wind was too strong and we lost gear as our kit was washed into the rocks.

Cold and wet we were beaten and decided to call it a day.

With all the bait in the fridge I shall be out over the coming days as another friend wants to hit Rhos as he hasn't been out for a few months. I shall keep you posted.

Until next time - tight lines

Rhos 18/06/2013

I fished 2 up and 1 down with a 2 hook flapper using lug and crab... not a knock... not a sausage

The fish knock twice

I had lots of bait left from yesterdays little session, so I decided to go out today and the usual 2 hook flapper rig at Rhos basin. I got a couple of knocks fishing high water but nothing really doing. The other lads on the prom also blanked today. The water was really messy today with poor visibility. The wind was southerly and I expected better but it was not to be. I shall go back to the same mark tomorrow and see how it fishes. 

Well tight lines for now.

Dual Venues

Today we decided to go to the arches both two hook flappers with peeler as the bait. My friend was gifted a little plaice everybody else on the wall blanked. We then went to Penrhyn where last weekend I got the bass but today was terrible conditions there was a really strong westerly hammering us so we left it and I shall return tomorrow.

A tale of two sessions - Drop the Bass

Today we decided to fish the Cayley at Rhos Point as I had been advised that this was a great spot. Two hook flappers were used with crab. lug and squid rotated. We caught nowt but the sun. 

As we had bait left we thought we would fish the waining tide and went down to Penrhyn Bay just near where Prince Madoc set off to discover America centuries before Columbus. 

Again two hook flappers with mixed baits and as I was messing about on the rocks and taking pictures my rod hit the deck and putting it down to a bit of wind I jumped down and wandered over to it as it started getting dragged towards the sea. Game on I picked up the rod and struck... rewarded with a nice little bass of a couple of pound or so. The picture of this is below.

Please excuse the colouration of the image as a setting must have been tweaked. We continued to chase the tide and our baits were gone quite regularly when reeling in.

This is surly going to be my low water venue - expect to get your feet wet though.

Tight lines.

Saturday Suntans

Well I took the lunch time high tide as an invite to enjoy the sunshine. There was a southerly blowing which made a lot of casts hard to get distance on. I used a one hook flapper and tried lugworm. squid and combinations of the two. The crabs had a field day with my bait taking it every cast. I missed one bite by putting it down to crabs playing on the line and struck late. 

I shall be back out tomorrow (Sunday) as me and my friend are going to try a slightly different mark using two hook flappers.

Late Night Blanking

Last night I decided to fish the late tide (10pm). Using a few fresh crab which I had gathered in the afternoon and some really fresh lug I took to Rhos. The whole session culminated in a solitary bite and no fish landed. Everybody to whom I spoke also blanked. It was strange as the tide was right the conditions were awesome but no sport was to be had. I did however glean a good bass spot or two off an old chap that frequents these parts. 

Ah well out on Saturday for few hours as the tide is about lunch time.

Blankety Blank

Last night (Monday) I went fishing on the new sands as I have seen bass come off there a couple of weeks ago. I used a one hook flapper with lug and not so fresh rag and combos of both as I had some that needed using up. After an annoying crack off at the start a nice days fishing was had. Blanked but every cast the bait was mullered by crab or small fish. The sea birds were having a feast taking stuff off the top of the water but I was blanking hard. It was a lovely day with a small high tide and sunshine beating down. I saw no other anglers on new sands but know there were plenty off Rhos. I did notice that a lot of crabs have been ripped apart and were washing up with every incoming surge. Crab is the bait to use as worm is so hit and miss these days.

Unexpected

Well I was visited by a friend today who fancied a run on the beach. The tides at 5 to 6 and the sun is beating down so we got a load of our old faithful crab and some lug and will be heading out. One hook flappers are going to be the rig of choice today and with recent performance I feel it could be a good day .

Well we went to my favourite spot and cast out a one hook flapper with peeler on... the result was one little plaice to my friend. Whilst there we saw a gent pull a good size plaice to lugworm. As bites were slow we also tried lug and ragworm having been donated a good amount of bait by people who given up for the day. My friends lug was mullered regularly but my bait was not touched so we both switched back to crab and had several bites all of which were missed.

I shall be out again Monday by the new sands using the fresh lug and rag up.

Tide Times 31-05-13 Colwyn Bay Area

High Tides For The Colwyn Bay Area.

Friday                         04:15                  16:51
Saturday                     05:16                  17:55
Sunday                       06:21                  19:04
Monday                       07:28                  20:12
Tuesday                      08:32                  21:11
Wednesday                 09:28                  22:00

Brace Yourself the Plaice Are Coming

Today having a little bit of crab left decided to have a walk down Rhos basin. Weather was overcast and a little wet so I set up for comfort in one of the shelters and cast out my usual rig of a 5oz lead with a single boom and hook.Again my bait of choice is peeler. I got a few little bites until I cracked into a decent plaice - wasn't very large but was quite fat for a flatty. The pic is below

This little beauty wasn't that long but was quite fat. I felt he was a little bit small for keeping so threw him back to fight another day. About an hour passed with little nibbles here and there until I struck into the next one.

This little fella was camera shy, though a little longer he didn't weigh nearly as much as the first one. I also popped him back to fight another day.

Upon talking to several other anglers on the bank I found they had all blanked to worm though was pointed in the direction of a really good bass spot for future sessions.

As I walked back from getting my bait, I ran into another angler with his children. As usually happens a conversation broke out and I found he had fished Pensarn Beach and blanked over the weekend as well as fishing the Arches to which 2/3 of his party caught again the Plaice which is currently on everybodies hooks.

I ventured home to get my gear as high tide wasn't for another 3 hours or so.

We decided to fish up by the Old Colwyn arches. The bank was heavily laden with anglers today. We came at an hour and a half before high tide and cast out. There was light rain and it was overcast so we thought fishing would be good - it wasn't. Not a single proper bite was had by anybody along the road. We had a couple of little knocks between us but no real bites as such. 

As I have a load of bait left I shall be out in Rhos again tomorrow. Talking on the bank to others though it seems night is producing bags of whiting and small bass so maybe it will be a late session rather than afternoon.

Rhos In The Sun

I decided to go fishing this Saturday and chose one of my usual haunts. Rhos basin inbetween the harbour and the start of the rocks which make up the sea defense. It was a scorching day and the water was as clear as a foreign beach. I fished an hour below and an hour over. I chose a one hook flapper as I often do and used peeler eleasticated onto the hook. For the first couple of hours I caught nothing, not even a bite but as the tide began to turn I hooked into a nice plaice. He came in with a little fight and was definitely a keeper. A picture is shown below.

After this one came in there were no real other bites to speak of. Other anglers blanked along the prom but I have no idea what they were using as rig/bait. When phoning a friend as I left I was informed that plaice had also come off Llandudno pier. It really does seem as if things are picking up along the coast at the moment. Bass and plaice have been coming off this stretch of beach regularly over the last several weeks so it is a venue in form.

I should be going out again today (Wednesday) all being well and shall keep you posted. 

Winds of Change

So last night I decided to go and do a spot near the pier. I used a standard one hook rig with crab. The conditions whilst beautiful were unforgiving. The tide ran so strong it caught me in seconds taking my tripod, rod and covering me. The wind was lashing so much and the tide was so strong that no distance could be obtained on the cast and the rig was soon close to the beach again. I shall go again this weekend and this time I shall go to the Rhos on Sea basin.

All change for the bay

Today whilst awaiting the kick off of the mighty blues against West Ham I decided to take a walk to the beach in order to see what the new works done to the beach had done to my favourite fishing spec. When I got there I was aghast to see that were there had previously been a 10ft drop the sand was now flush to the top and you could literally just step off onto the new whiter sands. I decided to walk along the beach and the change was dramatic, where once there was nothing but beds of mussels and lug castes there was now white sand littered with at least a dozen species of shell fish remains which I personally have never seen on this stretch. The carcasses and scattered appendages of crab are also absent. I ventured further towards the dreaded sea sports complex which has just been built. which many of us blame for the change in the fishing along this shore and there were two anglers tucked right up to the complex and as I got nearer and chatting as one usually does when seeing a fellow angler on the bank he revealed he had caught a bass approximately two hours before high tide whilst stood on this new and far cleaner sand. Looking at the bass I estimated it to be between two and five pounds in weight. It was caught to lug though he was also using whole crab on the other hook. Whilst there I saw him miss a couple of bites. This is really encouraging as last week I also saw another plaice pulled out a little further along in Rhos. The overall condition of the beach is much improved as was the water quality with the exceptions of the litter dropped by tourists and deadbeats who inhabit some of the shelters. I think I shall have to once again take to the shore especially as the football season is almost over.