"3 Sail Over The Cuckoos Nest!"

The 28th of February was an important day. This was not a day about big fish, massive catches, or rare species. This day was important because it was the first trip I was able to make since the 28th October 2008 as we finally had luck with the weather!!!

The venue was Plymouth, and after a huge breakfast at the "Sound Bites" cafe at Queen Annes' battery (the new location of Pop's boat), we set off in the early spring sunshine to see what might be possible in a stiff but manageable breeze.

The plan was to fish a wreck to the east of Plymouth which produces huge numbers of whiting in the summer. Our expectation were quite low however as most reports were that you had to go a very long way to find fish and with the reefs normally still in hibernation at this time of year a blank was a distinct possibility.

Pops is Skipper for the day

On the way out of the sound we spotted this Naval Auxiliary tanker - the "Orange Leaf". Apparently all Naval Auxiliary tankers have "Leaf" in their name and are typically chartered. When a ship is no longer used, the leaf name often passes to the next chartered ship and there has been at list one other "Orange Leaf" before this one.

You can see a brief history of the vessel here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFA_Orangeleaf_(A110)

"Orange Leaf"

2 Blanks In A Row

With my eldest daughter (Polly) on board we decided we would stop and try our luck off of the Mew Stone as the water here is quite shallow and the it is protected from the larger off shore swells. Now the Mew stone has a number of rocky features that can be productive for Pollack in the summer, and whilst the fish are small they can be good fun on light gear.

We tried a number of drifts with small shads, jelly worms, live rag worm, and frozen mackerel but we didn't see a single bite. We saw a number of fish marking on the echo sounder but whatever they were, they weren't biting.

We then headed off to our target wreck in deeper water. I needn't of worried about the deeper water and larger swell for Polly as she found her feet immediatley and had no problems working the 8oz - 10oz leads over the wreck. However here there were no fish showing on the sounder and we had no bites.

Another small boat showed at the same time as us and after 2 drifts he left, shortly followed by us!

East Rutts Delivers!

We then headed for the East Rutts, a well known reef with 2 or 3 large pinnacles of rock. The first couple of drifts we decided to try for wrasse using size 1 hooks and fresh rag on a short flowing trace. Now the bottom is very snaggy and the trick is to drop to the bottom, leave for no longer than 5 seconds then reel up 10 turns and drop back down. This way you can avoid the worst of the snags and if you are near a wrasse they typically take the bait instantly so you catch more than enough.

On the first drift I caught a beautifully marked male Cuckoo Wrasse. The second drift saw another of these almost tropical looking fish for me, whilst Pops caught the female variety which is a stunning orange/pink colour with black spots at the base of the dorsal.

On the third drift Polly managed to get on the score sheet, also with a male Cuckoo Wrasse.

Pops with female and Polly with male Cuckoo Wrasse

We stopped to chat to the guys on the other boat we had seen at the previous wreck (I think the boat was called Mary-Lou) and they were catching small Pollack. We decided to switch to small shads and Polly chose a small Tempest Sidewinder lure (blue).

The next drift saw a Pollack of about 2 pounds for me. Another drift saw me catch a smaller Pollack and Polly, having remained very quiet in the corner, surprise us both by flipping a similarly sized fish on to the deck!

On our next drift, and with Polly now definitely having her "eye in", my daughter landed another Pollack, also of about 2 pounds.

Polly with a Pollack of around a pound

A Successful Start to 2009

As the wind freshened further, and with a couple of subsequent drifts failing to produce fish, we decided to head for home, pleased with our moderate success on a day that could have produced nothing. I am still slightly concerned however that neither of my children have yet to experience a fishless day and may think this sport is easy!

As a foot note, on the way in we saw massive numbers of fish on the sounder inside Plymouth sound itself. No idea what they were and we didn't stop to try for any of them, but this has to be a good sign of a healthy system so the summer could be good.

Madpolka Publishing

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