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South Wales Sea Angling News
By Dean Willis
A new report will be issued every Thursday by me, covering the previous weeks action on the South Wales Coast
Report for Week ending 6th Aug 1999
Hello again everyone, firstly let me apologise for the lack of information over the last month this has been due to me moving house and having lots of trouble with my phoneline, which was made worse by BT, but thatís a long story !!!!! . Anyway here we are again.
Manorbier
I have fished quite a lot of different venues over the past few weeks with varying amounts of success but the most memorable for all the wrong reasons must be Manorbier just to the west of Tenby. My brother, a mate and myself arrived at low water on a very warm and humid evening hoping that conditions would be favourable after quite a few days of hot sunny weather and not a breath of wind to talk about. At first the fishing was quite hectic with good sized three bearded rockling coming to all of us. The best specimen was one of 2lb 3oz which is only just under the Welsh record from my investigations, mixed in were some sizeable pouting.
Baits used were peeler crab, which proved the best for the rockling, with ragworm catching the pouting. Anyway as the tide started to build so did the swell despite there being not a hint of any wind. Tackle losses increased due to heavy kelpy nature of the bottom. And the fish were not playing ball anymore. I decided to tackle up with a float and a starlight and try my luck and proceeded to clamber down a little from our lofty perch !BIG MISTAKE!
Thinking that we had reached high water and the swell seeming to have dropped off. I was suddenly faced with a mighty swell and had to cling on to the rock I was fishing off to stop being washed in. This really shock me up and I managed to clamber back up to safer ground and decided to fish the last few hours, off the beach itself which only produced one small Pollock. So despite regarding myself as an experienced angler having been at it for 17 years you should always remain cautious.
As for the venue itself I believe it has great potential but tackle losses are to be expected. Probably best fished on smaller tides from 2 hours before low to a couple of hours up, but thatís my opinion only and someone may be able to put me right on that one. I reckon there are some 3 bearded rockling to challenge the Welsh record to be caught at this venue.
Caswell Bay
This venue was fished by my brother and another lad a week after Manorbier in calm conditions on a big tide. The actual fishing was done on the headland itself fishing onto clean ground. Fish caught were 2 Small Eyed Rays weighing approx. 6lb and 4lb and also some dogfish. Baits used were sandeel (which caught most fish) and other fish baits. I for one was surprised at the results they achieved here but that was probably due to the fact that I was not with them! Will have to try it myself before passing judgement.
Worms Head
Again another venue fished without me due to me being on holidays. This venue involves a very long walk from the car park at Rhossilli. A lot of anglers fish the actual causeway at low water with either crab or bubble floats with rubber eels below them and good bass can be taken with these methods. My brother and the other lad who accompanies us on most trips, Paul, decided to fish the actual island itself where fishing is onto rough ground leading onto broken ground a little further out. Species caught were mackerel, Pollock, dogfish, small conger and a small smoothound. My own opinions on this venue are that it isnít worth the walk.
Penally Point
A venue I fished while on holiday was Penally Point on the end of Tenby South Beach, this is probably best fished at low water, when some decent Bass can be taken on bubble floats and rubber eels or live sandeel, and also to crab baits. The ground is quite rough so use rotten bottom rigs. Floatfishing on the point can produce some Pollock and I managed to get 5 on my trip. Mackerel can be caught in abundance at this venue at times together with Garfish, Dogfish, Wrasse, Rockling, and small conger. As soon as the tide begins to ebb there is a hell of strong pull and holding bottom can be a problem even on smaller tides that's why I prefer low water. Again someone else may have opinions on this which I would like to hear about.
E-mail Reports
I have received a few emails recently and one was from Colin Cowlan who was on holiday in West Wales at the time and he goes on to say:
"I went up West Wales last week, and Fished a few places but I was with my family and wasn't able to fish for longer than a couple of hours at a time. I went to country stores Gowerton and they gave me 25-jelly crab for £6. Bargain.
Fishguard Harbour drew a blank for me but there were a lot of fish jumping clear out of the water after dark, a local tells me that they were probably sea Trout
We stopped for one night at Laugharne and pulled out a nice 14 inch Flounder, my first Flattie. I went spinning of Strumble Head but there was a seal very close to were I was casting my bass Bullet, and even though I have never heard of it happening I was concerned that he might go for it.
The best time I had was at St. Ishmael near Ferryside, the first day I tried to fish it with two rods but the tide came in so quickly I was exhausted in three hours. I fished it with crab and sand eel and caught nothing, but the locals were catching on small harbour rag. I did how ever find my self in a shoal of mullet a bout thirty strong, I was standing calf deep in water and they were breaking the surface all around me, rising as close as eight feet away. Then it got really exciting, after the mullet past on up the estuary another shoal of fish came up after 20 min or so.
These fish where different however, instead of rolling over or the occasional splashing rise as the mullet did, these fish were moving much, much faster in the water, cutting v shaped wakes and zig zaging all over the place. Occasionally I caught sight of a prominent dorsal fin, they seem to be feeding just under the surface, there seemed to be a lot of fry and shrimp about, again they were only about eight feet away. Any way it was a hell of a buzz, about 30 past me in groups of three or four over a period of 20 min.......... bass maybe The next day I went down with my spinning rod the mullet showed up but not the other fish. I did mange to foul hook two 12 inch (or so) flounder
however.
I returned the foul hooked fish only to be disgusted as the bloke next to me catches three school bass no larger than 10 inches each, I offer him my tape measure knowing full well they were under size, but he declines saying that they were going on the barby that night no matter what size they were.
As you know I'm relatively new to fishing, and this new Irish recruit had an excellent time on a shed load of Welsh beaches, I consider myself very lucky to be able to fish this area, I only wish more fishermen treated the area with respect by putting back under size fish and stop bloody littering everywhere. Anyway Iím back of to Ferryside this weekend with a mate we going to try fly and spinning for the bass this time.
Speak to you soon
Cheers"
Many thanks for that Colin and I'm sure lots of people will be able to relate to the taking of undersize Bass, this is a crime and people need to be told.
Another email has been received from Colin Doyle who goes on to write
"Fished at Llantwit Major on Sunday, there were conger, Wrasse, bass, pouting and silvers caught. It was won with 3 strap conger for 6lb 14oz
A comical incident occurred by the side of me one of the lads had a cracking bite so he struck into this "fish", when he swung it out of the water as he had a pair of shorts on it hit him in he inside leg. This fish was a lobster, which took great pleasure in taking a nice chunk out of him. I nearly fell in the water laughing"
Well I reckon that story will bring a few smiles to peoples faces!! Many thanks for that Colin and please keep news and us informed of all future comps from the WFSA.
A few emails received from Paul Thomas of Penarth who reports disappointing results St David's, just a solitary Pollock was seen being caught, but due to poor visibility at venue he decided not to venture out onto the ìheadî itself and fished a mark much closer to the beach. The same weekend he also fished Freshwater East and caught a solitary Pollock to spinning tactics. Well I can't fault you for effort Paul, pity about the results because I'm sure if you had managed to get out onto St David's Head the results would have much better but thanks for the reports they are always appreciated.He also fished Witches Point a few weeks back with the results again not to great with just one mackerel and a small Tope to show for his efforts.
Some other news now from Colin Doyle, WFSA Secretary who goes on to report :
"Carl Davies of Bargoed Sea Anglers won the WFSA South West Region Open with a 8lb 2oz Smoothound, other fish caught mackeral, wrasse, pollack and dogs. Bargoed's next league match at Pendine on 15th August interested in joining
contact Colin 01443 831684"
..Many thanks again Colin for this latest information.
Another recent email from Julian Emms who reports good fishing at present from Magor and Redwick with Dover Sole, Bass, Congers and Eels putting in an apppearance. Im waiting for a more detailed report from Julian so I will hopefully be able to pass on the information to you.
Round Up
My brother Lee fished Pennard on the Gower last weekend and caught two Bass on bubble float and rubber eel the larger fish being 3lb 6oz, together with some small pollock and dogfish.
Cyril Cross from Cardiff won the Elysian SAC competition at Cold Knap, near Barry when he headed fro Rhoose Point and came back with eight pouting weighing 3lb 13oz to collect £70 in prize money.Chris Nelms took second place with 1lb 12oz and Paul Titt third with 1lb 10oz..Ray Christoforato won the big fish prize with a 1lb 2oz codling.
David Dennis fished at Manorbier and caught some mini species a 7.25oz corkwing wrasse and also a 2.25oz goldsinney wrasse at Port Talbot. Parkend SAC member, Steve Smith fished the beach at St.Davids and caught a 1lb 2oz mackerel and a 5lb 2oz Pollock. Simon Davies of Cardiff fished after dark at Aberthaw to catch 5 smoothounds to 13.5lb and then switched his attention to the Lambies to beach a 6lb Bass.
Boat Reports
Rays were the target species when the Marconi Boat Club fished their competition out of Penarth.The winning fish was a 10lb 10oz small eyed ray caught by Steve Tipples.Any boat owners wishing to join the Marconi club can do so by contacting Sid Hearn on (01222)531530.
Ian Cooper boated five thornbacks to 9lb along with conger to 12lb on Dave Axtellís boat Seren-Y-Mor out of Swansea. Erik Lanfear of Christie Tyler SAC caught a 3lb 10oz tub Gurnard and a 1lb 7oz Red Gurnard during a boat trip out of Porthcawl.
Competitions
Th Llanelli SAA annual open takes place on Sunday from 12:30pm to 5:30pm.There are senior and junior prizes as well as a two man section. Booking in is at the Cambrian Hotel and information is available from Brian Davies on (01792)875050
There is a pegged mini open at Cardiff Foreshore on Sunday with fishing from 2:45pm to 7:45pm .Only 50 pegs are available and a sell out entry will result in prizes of £150, £100, £60 and £40 as well as £30 and £20 zone prizes. Advanced booking essential and can be done with Roy Tapper on (01222) 731181.The same organisers are also running a pegged open at the Lambies on Sunday 15th August from 9am to 12 noon.
Well that's it for this week and hopefully with my problems almost sorted the page will be updated at weekly intervals from now on.I still need some more news from all of you so please put an email my way and share your news with the rest of us.Until next time
Tight Lines
Dean
If anyone requires any information on marks in South and West Wales I will be only to happy to help in any way I can. Dean Willis