Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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SEA FISHING

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

Bill's follow up.

After my last posting on the website my pal Bill sent me a couple of emails about his fishing on the same stretch of coast over the next day-and-a-bit. Here's his reports - clearly there are still bass to be caught.

Hey Mike,

Been out lately?

I had an absolutely lovely afternoon after the crap weather of last weekend. The Northerly winds have calmed the seas right down and as soon as I got to the coast I thought, “today I'm going to catch something”. I arrived at 13.30 and the sea was an absolute mill pond but nothing was doing. I popped round the corner and fished from the ledge. Second cast a nice bass closer to 3lb than 2lb. A few snaps, unhooked & returned. I fished for a while longer and then headed further on. On the way I found a fossilised fish the size and shape of a 2lb bream in the yellow rocks, unfortunately it was embedded in a 10 ton boulder so it didn't end up in my ruck sack.

It was hot & sweaty work so I ended up in my T-shirt..... in bloody November! In the next bay the water was muddy, as seems to be often this case this time of year. I experimented with a black & red and yellow & red Redgill (do these colours show up better that white in the murk?). No joy so fished my way back. By the time I returned to where I’d started it was calmer than ever. You could see the lure splash and then the line hit the water - magic! Anyway, there were a few big fish grubbing about in the weed, and also jumping futher out, I’ve got a feeling they could have been bass rather than mullet but who knows? I tried a Slandra fished really slowly for a while and then flogged away with the Redgill till 16.45 with no further results. An absolutely cracking afternoon and I caught something - result!

I will try again tomorrow.

Cheers for now.

Bill

- and then ---

Hi Mike,

I had another lovely afternoon fishing from 13.30 to about 16.45 (when it was getting a bit nippy). After reading your diary I thought I'd better give your spot a bit more attention than usual. I fished for about half an hour with no luck and then Poppy (Bill’s long suffering little dog) & I decided to give the next stretch another go.

After 15 minutes or so I hooked a nice 2 lbish bass. It was about 20 feet from the shore , along the western side of the ledge. With rod tip held high and without winding I dragged the fish in the direction of the beach before I started to wind in. After a little scrap I landed it (number 98 this year!). After losing what would have been my best fish earlier this year I will never ever, ever, ever, fish anywhere without a plan of how to land a fish if I hook one.

The shuffle back to the beach & a nice landing spot was part of my plan & it worked. After about an hour I then decided to head back to give the first spot a good working over. As I rounded the cliff I half expected to see a swarm of anglers after your report today but I was the only one fishing this afternoon.

I fished for the last hour and a bit. I had one bloody good pull but nothing else. Not quite as good as your results but is was still a nice way to spend the afternoon plus two fish in two trips in November can't be too bad. If the weather is OK I expect to have two early starts next week end. With any luck I might see you in the gloom!

All the best,

Bill

I took a photo of the fossilised fish I saw yesterday. The head is centre top. Ribs & fin bones are lower right and the body is bent round with the tail upper left.

Nice fishing eh! I expect we'll be going again soon and, no doubt, once he's recovered from his recent wedding, our mate Rob will be joining us. All the best from us both Rob!!!!

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you!' get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

Sunset.

Near the end of Bill's first idyllic session.

Gilled.

These weighted Redgills are pretty reliable and 'white' seems as good as anything.

Fossil.

Not too easy to decipher from the picture but clearly a fish.

Another bass.

Makes it all worthwhile.