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).

A pleasant (if a little windy) morning on the coast.

I've been in a spot of trouble this week. For years the bottom compartment in our garage freezer has been the home for my fish baits, usually mackerel or pilchards/sardines. However, recently, my sources of supply for bass baits have been drying up. The problems stem chiefly from the fact that Waitrose no longer sell fresh sardines, Tesco (generally reliable) now don't have wet fish counters and the Wareham tackle shop has just been sold. To cut a long story short I had been forced to purchase some herrings and frozen squid as my fall-back baits and they were both a bit riper than I would have liked, this initiated complaints from my better half and I was forced to agree there was a bit of a whiff. In addition the "new" baits were all a little too soft and inclined to slide off the hook even with my usual short-distance flicks and lobs. To cut a long story short I was told to find a solution to the unpleasant odour.

It was either - buy another freezer, which seemed (to me) to be excessively expensive, or something else? I decided that if I bought sealed, plastic boxes to keep my baits in (instead of the assortment of plastic bags that I'd used in the past) it might be OK. Next time we were in the shops I duly bought a couple of boxes to try and - EUREKA - it worked. Not all my baits would fit in the experimental boxes so being (as always) a trifle mean, I tolerated the inevitable abuse and promised to use up the last of my 'loose' baits on a one off trip.

By chance, soon afterwards, my good pal Bill Fagg rang and asked if I fancied an early morning sortie to fish the low tide. Perfect! I could dispose of the residual foetid baits and perhaps even catch a fish, so I said I was up for it.

When Bill picked me up at 05:25 the next morning I was armed with my old Surepopper rod and Stradic reel, and in my bag were the offending baits. As we hiked along to our chosen mark it was immediately apparent that the onshore/longshore wind was a good deal stronger than anticipated. We reached the appointed stretch of rocks and as Bill began to spin using his current favourite - a white 'Bitch Shad' (not a name I would have thought of) - I baited up with a large, herring fillet and lobbed it out against the wind. Clearly it wasn't man enough because after a few minutes I reeled in, for a check on its condition, and it was gone. I put on another fillet and tried again. This one stayed on a bit longer but again it had gone when I reeled in. After about three-quarters-of-an-hour and a the fourth lost bait I got the message. My bait fishing was going to be a pain in the posterior. I admitted defeat and decided to switch to lure fishing. By now the tide was coming in over the flat rocks, so I found a handy boulder to prop up the rod and keep my bag dry while I switched tactics.

Bill's 'Bitch Shad' lures - Very effective.

Cut off the circle hook, tie on a clip to the nylon trace and attach a lure. Despite the stiff wind I took a Redgill Evo Stix (sounds like glue) lure out of the bag and clipped it on. By using the longshore component of the wind to assist casting I found that I could cover quite a lot of water as long as I wasn't bothered about getting the lure too far out to sea. By now Bill had returned to where I was fishing and said that he'd already seen a bass swirl and caught a smallish one which - "could have been the one he'd seen." Just before he arrived I had also seen a fish swirl and depart from the ankle deep water a few metres down-wind of where I was standing. Promising! We stood within talking range of each other and continued to spin. It was soon clear that there were a few fish about and one splooshed right under my rod tip as I lifted the lure out for another cast. Encouraging!

Bill's bass, not a monster but much better than nothing.

By now the tide was rushing in so we would not have much more time to fish. I swung the rod and cast my Evo Stix perhaps twenty metres, parallel to the water's edge. A few turns of the reel handle and wallop - I was in. It was good to feel a fish on the line at last. Bill was already behind me with his camera so he moved about and took a couple of pictures. The fish was fighting hard. Even though it was clearly not the biggest bass ever it managed to take some line against a tight clutch - excellent! After a minute or two I slid it ashore and Bill took its picture before asking me to hold it up for a last look. I removed the hook and slid the fish back into the waves where it lay for a few seconds before I gave it a nudge with my toe and it shot out into the little, breaking waves.

I'm in and the fish is fighting well in the shallow water.

Lovely fish, not much bigger than the one Bill had, but looks good against its background of algae.

Bill made me have a 'grip and grin' shot before I put it back.

That was it for the morning. A pleasant session, not all that productive, but at least I'd disposed of my problem bait.

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THE SECOND WAVE

Written with Steve Pitts this is a SEQUEL TO THE BESTSELLER "Operation Sea Angler" IT'S AVAILABLE ON PAPER FROM - "Veals Mail Order" AND ON PAPER OR FOR YOUR KINDLE FROM"Amazon"

HOOKED ON BASS

Written with Alan Vaughan. NEW PRINT OF THE ORIGINAL: IN PAPERBACK. Copies available from all good book shops RRP £14:99 - "Waterstones"

ANGLING ON THE EDGE

Copies can now be ordered (printed on demand) from Steve Pitts at £34.00, inc. Royal Mail Insured UK Mainland Postage.

To order a book send an E-MAIL to - stevejpitts@gmail.com

FISHING FOR GHOSTS

Written with David Rigden. Copies from "The Medlar Press"