Another afternoon on SSP

Paddlesac

Well-known member
Finished night-shift , 7am Thursday morning, went to bed, got up at 11 and had to wait for the gas service bloke to come ( who turned out to be a lassie, who also turned up early!:)), then went for the shopping with our lass:rolleyes:

After that, loaded the gear and did a runner to Shields.

For the first time this year, I got a decent, straight run through on the roads. No roadworks on the A1 and pretty quiet the rest of the way down. I went the riverside route and was soon parked up and away up the pier.

The weather was cracking with a gentle, warm, offshore breeze and I had about 2 hrs of the rising tide to fish-if I could get a spot:cool:

As I got towards the end, I could see quite a few kids,

but found a place near the green bin again, a bit closer to the blocks than I'd have liked, but it would do.

I set up my gear and put a set of homemade lures on and set away.

First couple of chucks; nowt, then "bump" into my first mackerel of the afternoon, closely followed a couple of chucks later by another. I thought; "this is canny" :)

The lad and his son next to me hooked a couple and then it seemed to go quiet for a while.

I took a few more photo's;

is this anyone off here?

And then the lad next to me packed up.

As he was passing he said " looks like that's it then" or something like that. I answered with "you might be right".

I'd just lost a set of gear and had put on a set of tinsel dressed lures I'd made, to see if they were any good.

He can't have been 40 yds away when "bang" my line went crazy, as well as heavy and I thought I must have a double or treble load on! The take was different and the fish kept diving hard as well.

I got them to the surface and found I had three coalfish on! They took some winding up the wall but I managed to get them in and unhooked them,then put them back.

biggest was about 30cm. ( you can just make out the chain I was using for a sinker!)

I had 5 mackerel altogether, as well as the 3 coalies


I was asked by a bloke who had moved in when the lad next to me went home, (and had lost all his gear in half an hour or so), why I was using lengths of chain for my weights. I replied that they cost almost nothing to make and worked almost as well as lead weights for the distance I was casting. They also didn't seem to snag the bottom as often either:D
The same bloke and his "party" (complete with a bottle of vimto,lambrini and corner yoghurts:confused: ) then wandered off, leaving half the vimto on the floor and a yoghurt on the wall:rolleyes:

last picture before setting off;

The lad on the wall, wasn't the bloke who asked about the chain by the way.

I came away about 6.40pm, well happy but a bit knackered:)
 
hi nice pictures there,ive always fancied fishing ssp whats the bottom like.is there plenty parking.regards davy

There is a big car park at the bottom of the pier. The bottom is spot on and I've had a few mackerel this year from the slab. Doesn't seem to have as many idiots at the bottom.
 
Canny little report mate well done on your catches . Pier gets chocka man doesn't it. Carnt wait for the snow and freezing temperatures to come have those places to our self's cudnt be chewd on if I'm honest with going on the piers when tha full like that. Each to tha own tho eh.
 
good session, and quality photos, must be a decent camera you have.

I think I might of spoken to you on your way off, I was on my way up about 6.40pm, I asked if you'd had owt, and you said macki and coley on tinsel lures.

I set up just on the right edge of the blocks to float fish for a wrasse. Got a couple of little tiddlers straight off (small coley or pollock), then nothing for a while so I slid my stop knot up the line to fish a bit deeper, but must of melted the line, it snapped when I cast, and lost the full float rig!:(

switched to a flapper rig, to fish a bit further out, had a couple of knocks but no bites, then got snagged, lost my flapper rig, went home! I always loose gear on ssp, :mad:
 
It was a cracking few hours, probably the most relaxing, satisfying bit of fishing I've done for years.

The bottom is pretty rough but I think a rotten bottom, on a chuck away sinker, like a chain, spark plug or other free item is the way forward, at least for the less serious fishers like me;)

I wonder how many thousands of lead sinkers are stuck between rocks, not to mention the strings of daylights and other tackle lost along the pier:question:

Saying that, I only got snagged twice this time:)

I'm going to take a few extra sets of homemade daylights with me next time, as I was asked twice by kids, if I could "sell them any daylights?". I will next time, a quid a go, it might even pay for my parking!:D

My camera is an Olympus 590. It's one of these all singing all dancing things, that seems to be jack of all trades and master of none to be honest:rolleyes:

It's probably spot on if you know how to work all the bells and whistles but it spends the majority of it's time on "auto", a good photo being both rare and pot luck:red:

cheers
 
hi nice pictures there,ive always fancied fishing ssp whats the bottom like.is there plenty parking.regards davy

Bottom is rough/snaggy close in, much less so further out-I now use rotten bottom and throw away sinkers;)

There's decent parking right at the end of the pier. It's always said "full" on the sign at the entrance but never has been yet:confused:

good luck
 
The pier tends to be very snaggy this time of year due to the daylights that are lost. But on tides as big as this you will lose gear. Tides over 5.1m and I start to get snagged up otherwise I don't really lose anything from shields pier
 
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