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).

Making the most of the conditions.

After Bill and I had a good session on the first 'maggot tide' of the series we couldn't resist another go the following evening; so we went again and this time were joined by our pal Nigel. We began fishing at about ten-past-five in the evening and the tide was already well in but at this point there were few fish showing. We packed in some three hours later as the tide was falling and the fish had thinned out (although there were still a fair few about - I think that in truth we'd all 'had enough'). Bill spent most of the evening spinning with his weedless Slug-Gill soft plastics while Nigel also spun with a plastic eel or tried a maggot fly. I used either a surface poly-fly or a small plastic shad on my fly gear.

We expected it to be the same as the previous night and it more or less was but the sea was a lot a lot rougher and it was a fair bit windier with much more weed soup in the edge. Tricky fishing conditions. As I said there was not much about when we got there but the mullet began to turn up at about half-past-five and increased in numbers throughout the evening. Bill had six bass on his Slug-Gill including a cracking 71cm fish and Nigel had a good bass of over four pounds on the fly early on followed by six more on his soft plastic eel. I, in my usual pig headed fashion, despite the breaking waves and weedy water mostly stuck to the fly gear. I was trying out a home-made poly-fly made to resemble a Delta eel (surface lure) and landed six mullet; five of them were between 4 and 6lb and I also lost several others including a monster (which I'd wrestled to the edge) as I tried to beach it after ten minutes give and take (mostly take). Towards finishing time I also landed five tiny bass on the surface fly as it got dark and then one a bit bigger on a plastic shad at about seven p.m.. All in all it was a hell of a good night but certainly not easy fishing due to the big surf and loose weed catching up on the lines - but we'd made the most of it!

Nigel into his good bass on the fly gear.

Nigel and me both well pleased with our catches.

My only reasonable bass on the little shad.

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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