LOCKDOWN OLD FISHING PHOTOS CHALLENGE

I used to do and still do  a lot of sea fishing....  here I have the welsh shore caught Pollock record at the time , but somebody caught a bigger one not long after this , wish I was still that slim now  caught this fish at first light on 8lb line to a small redgill eel rubber lure , and what a fight it was too...sorry about the quality of the photo

That's a cracking pollock especially from the shore.I used to do a fair bit of shore fishing for cod in the Bristol Channel years ago,I'll have to dig out a picture. I do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak and portabote in west wales with lures from July onwards . No big ones yet but great fun. I keep thinking I'll bring the next one back for the barbie but they are such stunners I can't bring myself to knock one over the head!

mattjb wrote:That's a cracking pollock especially from the shore.I used to do a fair bit of shore fishing for cod in the Bristol Channel years ago,I'll have to dig out a picture. I do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak and portabote in west wales with lures from July onwards . No big ones yet but great fun. I keep thinking I'll bring the next one back for the barbie but they are such stunners I can't bring myself to knock one over the head!

had some nice big Pollock over the year's my biggest was caught in Ireland 21lb cracker which won me the biggest specimen trophy in a boat competition , I also liked fishing for conger eels of the welsh coastline fishing off the rocks all night long ...will dig a few photos out .......

when on holiday I used to fish into the night after conger eels ..baiting up with chopped mackerel and a half a mackerel on the hook ...... the dogfish were a pain at times

mattjb wrote:That's a cracking pollock especially from the shore.I used to do a fair bit of shore fishing for cod in the Bristol Channel years ago,I'll have to dig out a picture. I do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak and portabote in west wales with lures from July onwards . No big ones yet but great fun. I keep thinking I'll bring the next one back for the barbie but they are such stunners I can't bring myself to knock one over the head!

where my caravan is based in Anglesey  there are now a lot of guys fishing off there kayaks  catching some huge fish , bass , Pollock and some huge tope over 50lbs   fancied a kayak myself , but I have already a boat for sea fishing....a 16ft sea trooper  which takes up a lot of my time when I am at the caravan.......  just like messing with boats in general......

stubbo wrote: on visiting this water for the very first time , I struck lucky on a very shallow peg , had a 27lb fish followed by the 30lb half an hour later , but not sure which is which pike on the photos as they both looked similar  in size , rubbish photo anyway , I continued to fish this water for a few seasons and did very well , having had 3.... 20lb fish in one day , something  I have never repeated , had 2x, 20lb on a few sessions....like everything nothing lasts forever and the place got invaded with numtys  and poachers killing most of the big fish...... had my biggest brace of pike on here  27lb  31lb.......  but this was back in 2001.......

If this is where I think it is, I didn't get on there until around 2008/09 and as you say the place had long been in decline. This place probably produced more big Pike then any non trout Pike water in Wales during it's heyday. It was also a top Roach water back in the 80s with some specimen Bream too. There was an article in the Anglers Mail once featuring a top angler of the time called Dave Coster, Roach fishing on there and he caught 50Lbs + of quality Roach in mid-winter. The demise of these huge shoals saw the start of the decline in the Pike fishing.

I'll be back on there this winter though, as it's somewhere that'll always draw me back, I can't put my finger on why but it's just one of those places.

stubbo wrote:

mattjb wrote:That's a cracking pollock especially from the shore.I used to do a fair bit of shore fishing for cod in the Bristol Channel years ago,I'll have to dig out a picture. I do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak and portabote in west wales with lures from July onwards . No big ones yet but great fun. I keep thinking I'll bring the next one back for the barbie but they are such stunners I can't bring myself to knock one over the head!

where my caravan is based in Anglesey  there are now a lot of guys fishing off there kayaks  catching some huge fish , bass , Pollock and some huge tope over 50lbs   fancied a kayak myself , but I have already a boat for sea fishing....a 16ft sea trooper  which takes up a lot of my time when I am at the caravan.......  just like messing with boats in general......

Kayaks are good if you just want to pop out for an hour or so without the hassle of launching a boat for such a short time.My parents have a holiday home in Aberporth near Cardigan.The inshore fishing isn't brilliant there, really need a boat like yours to go much further out but don't go there often enough to warrant getting one. I catch the bass casting soft plastics into the shallow gullies by the cliffs,it's a nice way of fishing and even the small ones hit the lures hard.

when I am at the caravan the bass fishing just takes over all the other fishing that I used to go for , don't know why its just magical catching a nice bass on a lure, or a large livebait and the fight is awesome ,
don't get loads of fish , but when I target them its always a good size......... to 10lb but lost bigger in the reefs
they don't give themselves up easily , but I do put some hours in to target the bigger fish

David Wynne wrote:

stubbo wrote: on visiting this water for the very first time , I struck lucky on a very shallow peg , had a 27lb fish followed by the 30lb half an hour later , but not sure which is which pike on the photos as they both looked similar  in size , rubbish photo anyway , I continued to fish this water for a few seasons and did very well , having had 3.... 20lb fish in one day , something  I have never repeated , had 2x, 20lb on a few sessions....like everything nothing lasts forever and the place got invaded with numtys  and poachers killing most of the big fish...... had my biggest brace of pike on here  27lb  31lb.......  but this was back in 2001.......

If this is where I think it is, I didn't get on there until around 2008/09 and as you say the place had long been in decline. This place probably produced more big Pike then any non trout Pike water in Wales during it's heyday. It was also a top Roach water back in the 80s with some specimen Bream too. There was an article in the Anglers Mail once featuring a top angler of the time called Dave Coster, Roach fishing on there and he caught 50Lbs + of quality Roach in mid-winter. The demise of these huge shoals saw the start of the decline in the Pike fishing.

I'll be back on there this winter though, as it's somewhere that'll always draw me back, I can't put my finger on why but it's just one of those places.

hi dave your right pal it is the very same water , shame its not the water it was , wish I could have got on it a few years earlier when there where some huge beasts to be had .....but I did well anyway had 6 pike over 20lb on there and the big girl ..so cant complain really.
Its a water to keep an eye on as I think it could come back if left alone , but I have been back only to see some bad handling practices from the numtys

stubbo wrote:when I am at the caravan the bass fishing just takes over all the other fishing that I used to go for , don't know why its just magical catching a nice bass on a lure, or a large livebait and the fight is awesome ,
don't get loads of fish , but when I target them its always a good size......... to 10lb but lost bigger in the reefs  
they don't give themselves up easily , but I do put some hours in to target the bigger fish

That's a cracking bass,you're right they are addictive to fish for.I haven't tried a livebait but there is a nice reef I keep meaning to give it a go on. Trouble is I'm normally with the missus and little un and we spend way more time dolphin watching than fishing!

mattjb wrote:

stubbo wrote:when I am at the caravan the bass fishing just takes over all the other fishing that I used to go for , don't know why its just magical catching a nice bass on a lure, or a large livebait and the fight is awesome ,
don't get loads of fish , but when I target them its always a good size......... to 10lb but lost bigger in the reefs  
they don't give themselves up easily , but I do put some hours in to target the bigger fish

That's a cracking bass,you're right they are addictive to fish for.I haven't tried a livebait but there is a nice reef I keep meaning to give it a go on. Trouble is I'm normally with the missus and little un and we spend way more time dolphin watching than fishing!

its nice to see them up close , we used to have a huge seal come up to the boat , for mackerel which we used for live bait , last year there was a orca in the bay , but I only got a glimpse of its huge fin ....thought I was seeing things......

this fish took a whole live mackerel  freelined of the back of the boat on a very slow drift....don't panic these fish are years before lockdown probably 6 years ago or longer ...at the time there was limit on the bass you can take I per angler at that time .......and this was not the biggest....