Plymouth Is "White" On Target

Having battled the Friday traffic to get to Devon for a weeks holiday with the family I was ready to take any opportunity to get afloat on Saturday 22nd, whatever the limitations of the weather were going to be.

The forecast was showing reasonable conditions in the morning but turning windier with a moderate to rough sea later in the day. We arrived at the boat at Queen Anne's Battery at about 10.30am and were away from the dock in double quick time. The wind was already blowing harder than we hoped and when we left via the eastern approach to the sound there was some really short choppy water around the breakwater. Seeing calmer water ahead we perservered and Pops charted a course for the drop off where we hoped to get some Mackerel for bait to supplement the rag worm we had picked up from Clive's Batit and Tackle a little earlier.

A couple of drifts produced a solitary fish which continue to be scarce inshore. As we had some frozen mackerel caught on previous outings we decided not to waste any more of the window of decent weather and headed out to a small wreck around 3 miles off the breakwater in search of some summer Whiting. With the weather conditions as they were and a deteriorating forecast there was not point in risking going further afield in search of larger prey.

We took a first drift however the wind was easily outpacing the tide and we drifted much further to the west than anticipated and missed the wreck by a margin. Pops repositioned to combat this and we were on our way over the top of the wreck. On the second drift Pops was armed with baited feathers whilst I tried a shad just in case there was a Pollack around.

As soon as we hit the bottom Pops was in to fish. I had several pulls and then appeared to hook up on the shad, only to lose the fish about half way up.

Pops was first to record a score with a brace of whiting.

I suspect my lost fish was also a whiting and decided to scale down my tackle. I rigged a flowing trace with a size 1 hook. On the hook length I added a small orange and yellow muppet and some black and orange beads. The hook was baited with our frozen mackerel which had definitely seen better days! No need to worry about the condition of the bait however as on the next drift we both hooked up again. Pops boated his, but mine threw the hook on the surface. I tried to retrieve the fish with the net but as soon as I touched his tail he turned and headed for the bottom!

Next drift came and this time Pops hooked the wreck, losing his weight but retrieving his feathers, minus the baits. I managed to hook up again and this time got the fish on board, much to my relief.

The beauty of summer Whiting fishing is that they are not just found tight to the wreck and you get a much longer drift beyond the super structure with a chance of contacting fish. We made a few more drifts and quickly had enough Whiting for several fish suppers. At this time the wind freshended noticeably and the seas started to build so we decided to head back inshore to calmer waters.

We decided to take our rag worm to Picklecombe Fort and try for a Ballan Wrasse. The first drift produced a small Pollack but by now the rain had set in and the wind was pushing us so fast in to the beach we decided to call it a day.

Getting out even just for a few hours and executing a fishing plan exactly as you had hoped can be very satisfying. Whiting are of course no sporting giants but on 10lb tackle in a strong tide they give a reasonable account of themselves. Couple this with them being a fine table fish it's a surprise you don't see more of the charter boats making this part of the day when the weather prevents longer range sport.

With another 7 days here in Devon I'm hoping to get the chance to have a crack at some of the reefs, weather permitting - check back for further reports!

Contact steve@madpolka.co.uk

Madpolka Publishing

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