Last of the Summer Time

The end of my Summer holiday in Devon was fast approaching and it was time to cash in the last of my goodwill passes with my wife and get afloat for one more try.  The weather forecast was clear that Bank Holiday Monday would be the best day but as we would need to travel that day we had to take a chance on the Sunday instead.  Conditions were some way short of the flat calm seas we had enjoyed at the start of the week so we knew we would be restricted to some in-shore action around Plymouth Sound.  For us that meant more Wrasse and small Pollack, but it's still fishing!

Armed with frozen mackerel from our previous trip, fresh rag worm and some frozen squid we set off to see what we could find.  I suggested we start with a few drifts off Rame Head as last year Pops had lost a very big fish there at this time of year.  Fortunately there was a bit of North in the predominately westerly breeze and conditions were relatively calm close in, except for right on the point where the sea was definitely moderate.

I rigged my lightest rod (a 5lb class Awa-Shima Ugly Battler from Moonfleet Angling) with a lightweight flying collar rig armed with a small white "Red Gill". Three drifts on the western edge of the head produced nothing so we went out in to the snotty water to see if this would make a difference.  A few more retrieves and nothing, so I dropped my rod in to the holder and set about making a flowing trace to fish a worm (as Pops was already doing).  A shout from Pops caused me to look up and see my rod dancing wildly and I wound in to a spirited, if not very big, Pollack.  I unhooked the fish and returned it and decided to change to a worm anyway as we were likely to get Pollack on this bait as well.

It was Pops however who registered the next fish.  Pops was fishing a fairly stiff rod and the fight the fish gave him led me to believe that it would be a good bit bigger than the fish in the photo.  Still, a satisfying catch and we were both off the mark.

Pops bags a Wrasse

We decided to make a move and take a drift between Rame Head and Penlee Point where we had seen quite a lot of fish activity on the sounder on the way through and seen some very rough ground.  I stuck with my worm bait whilst Pops tried a variety of things including baited feathers.

We had far more bites on this ground, many of them from small fish.  I managed a succession of small Wrasse and when Pops switched back to worms he matched me fish for fish.  A couple of better fish showed including one Cuckoo Wrasse of about 1.25 lbs (no pic - sorry!).

We decided to try another move and fished right off the end of Penlee Point on very, very snaggy ground.  Sadly this ground accounted for some tackle loss but we found some slightly better fish.  We had a succession of Pollack to around 2lbs on our worm baits as well as some more Ballans.

I snagged the largest Ballan of the day and my best fish on this trip.

My Best Ballan of the Day

With lunch time upon us we decided to go and have a go down towards Cawsand Bay.  Whilst the fishing was a dead loss the protection of the wind and a spot of sunshine made this a great place to take a break!  The weather was odd all day with hot sunshine followed by very cool periods of cloud cover and strong wind.

Having scoffed our sandwiches we decided to try one of our favourite Wrasse marks near Picklecombe Fort but this also blanked for us.  Being the last fishing day of my holiday I was reluctant to give up and Pops suggested we try a drift through Queens Grounds with some of the other small boats - he had taken some small Pollack here the week before.

The drift at this point of the tide was very fast and whilst Pops managed a Pollack and a Mackerel on his gear I wasn't getting any bites.  I decided for a complete change and rigged my spinning rod with a float and a size 4 hook armed with a small strip of Mackerel and announced I was going to catch a Garfish.  Pops looked dubious to say the least!  On the first drift through I had nothing but on the second drift it was a different story.  I could feel the fish before my float indicated any action, the effect of a light rod and braid I am guessing.  After a few small vibrations the float started to dance before it finally went under.  I struck and wound, and a Garfish leapt out of the water as I reeled it towards the boat.  Pops did his best not to look impressed!

Battling to Control My Garfish

It was only seconds before another boat nearby had a float out as well!  I re-baited and flicked my float away from the boat again and allowed it to trot away on the tide.  It wasn't long and I could again feel a fish.  A few moments later and the float went under and I was in to another Garfish.  I could become seriously addicted to this type of fishing as on light gear I think you are more in touch with the fish than almost any other type of fishing I have done.

That brought and end to my Summer fishing.  With Pollack, Wrasse, Mackerel and Garfish this trip pretty much summed up inshore Summer sport in the Plymouth area even if the weather didn't always read the script!

Now it is time to focus on the Autumn sport from Weymouth where Bream and maybe a Bass or two will provide the focus before the Whiting arrive and the wrecks open up for Pollacking!

Contact - steve@madpolka.co.uk