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Had a trip over to Whitehaven, on the west coast, on Tuesday afternoon. High tide was around 7:30pm so I got over there and got started about 4:30pm to fish 3 up and 3 down.
I was fishing the north pier, which is the shorter of the two. It's easily accessible with a small car park just at the start of the pier (£4.80 for 4+ hours though), and there's a 24hr Tescos just around the corner as well. (Driving time from South Shields, over the A69 and down the A595 was about 2 and a half hours).
When I got there it was really sunny and hot with just a slight breeze and a little bit of swell rolling in. The whole harbour area is really nice and looks like it would be ideal for LRF and float fishing; I just had a couple of beachcasters with me though (I might have an LRF trip over there, maybe next summer now though).
I wasn't sure where to fish on the pier, but had been told that Dogfish can be caught really close in; so I headed to the end and dropped one rod down the side with a two hook flapper baited up with mackerel (I was hoping for a Dogfish, as I've never caught one before, and needed one for the species hunt).
On my other rod I had the same two hook flapper but baited up with ragworm, and cast at various directions further out. On that rod I was hoping for Plaice or Gurnards.
For 2 hours I had nothing, then I got a knock on the rod that was cast out, and I reeled in a Flounder. I was starting to worry about the prospect of going all that way, and only catching a Flounder! and a westerly wind had really picked up as well; but I kept at it and kept re-baiting the hooks (the baits were getting washed off quite quickly).
By high tide the wind was really blustery and it was getting cold (I had to ask a local lad to keep an eye on my gear while I ran back to the car for my jacket). I was getting quite down about the whole affair when there was a really good pull and rattle on the close-in rod, I reeled in and a Doggie came wriggling up to the surface, I got that buzz you get when you realise you've hit a target fish, and something new, but as I lifted it out the water it wriggled itself off the hook and disappeared back into the depths.
My interest was renewed though, so I put fresh hooks on the rig and got it back out. I had another small knock on the other rod and brought in a shore rockling (ten-a-penny on shields big beach!). I was posting on The Fishermans Locker while I was there, and a couple of lads on there had seen my pic I'd uploaded and recommended I move further down the pier, so I stuck it out at the end for a while, watched the sunset, which was quite impressive, then moved down to the bend in the pier.
Same tactics with casting distances but this time all 4 hooks were baited with mackerel. After only a couple of minutes, the close-in rod went, same as before, I knew it was a Dogfish, so I let the bite develop a bit, then struck it. This one was hooked properly, and I got my first Dogfish!
After a right fanny-on unhooking it! I got some pics, chucked it back and started packing up! It was 10:30pm by then and time for the drive home!
When I reeled in the other rod there was a tiny Dab on it; so the tally for the day was 4 fish, with one new species.
. and a nice afternoon in a stunning location.
(I got a lot more pics, better ones, on my camera, but can't get them downloaded at the minute. These were all on my phone).
I was fishing the north pier, which is the shorter of the two. It's easily accessible with a small car park just at the start of the pier (£4.80 for 4+ hours though), and there's a 24hr Tescos just around the corner as well. (Driving time from South Shields, over the A69 and down the A595 was about 2 and a half hours).
When I got there it was really sunny and hot with just a slight breeze and a little bit of swell rolling in. The whole harbour area is really nice and looks like it would be ideal for LRF and float fishing; I just had a couple of beachcasters with me though (I might have an LRF trip over there, maybe next summer now though).
I wasn't sure where to fish on the pier, but had been told that Dogfish can be caught really close in; so I headed to the end and dropped one rod down the side with a two hook flapper baited up with mackerel (I was hoping for a Dogfish, as I've never caught one before, and needed one for the species hunt).
On my other rod I had the same two hook flapper but baited up with ragworm, and cast at various directions further out. On that rod I was hoping for Plaice or Gurnards.
For 2 hours I had nothing, then I got a knock on the rod that was cast out, and I reeled in a Flounder. I was starting to worry about the prospect of going all that way, and only catching a Flounder! and a westerly wind had really picked up as well; but I kept at it and kept re-baiting the hooks (the baits were getting washed off quite quickly).
By high tide the wind was really blustery and it was getting cold (I had to ask a local lad to keep an eye on my gear while I ran back to the car for my jacket). I was getting quite down about the whole affair when there was a really good pull and rattle on the close-in rod, I reeled in and a Doggie came wriggling up to the surface, I got that buzz you get when you realise you've hit a target fish, and something new, but as I lifted it out the water it wriggled itself off the hook and disappeared back into the depths.
My interest was renewed though, so I put fresh hooks on the rig and got it back out. I had another small knock on the other rod and brought in a shore rockling (ten-a-penny on shields big beach!). I was posting on The Fishermans Locker while I was there, and a couple of lads on there had seen my pic I'd uploaded and recommended I move further down the pier, so I stuck it out at the end for a while, watched the sunset, which was quite impressive, then moved down to the bend in the pier.
Same tactics with casting distances but this time all 4 hooks were baited with mackerel. After only a couple of minutes, the close-in rod went, same as before, I knew it was a Dogfish, so I let the bite develop a bit, then struck it. This one was hooked properly, and I got my first Dogfish!
After a right fanny-on unhooking it! I got some pics, chucked it back and started packing up! It was 10:30pm by then and time for the drive home!
When I reeled in the other rod there was a tiny Dab on it; so the tally for the day was 4 fish, with one new species.
. and a nice afternoon in a stunning location.(I got a lot more pics, better ones, on my camera, but can't get them downloaded at the minute. These were all on my phone).
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