THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Either way, this was an interesting situation, but unusual
in that we had to ease our way in with the boat so as not to
spook the fish, then actually cast our lures onto the dry
beach in front of us so that as we retrieved them they were
working right from the water’s edge, where they did
indeed start to pick up bass.
The numbers and size of the fish we caught was quite
staggering. There were short lived blips where a new mark
needed to be moved to from time to time. But by and large,
it was good action all the way through, with moments
when you genuinely needed a time out for a rest.
Particularly with the bluefish.
Mainly though we caught bass, a good number of which
were in double figures, with the biggest tipping the scales
at twenty two pounds, which considering the tiny wands
of rods we were using paired with small light fixed spool
reels was great fun.
Lots of bluefish too, though these tended either to bite
through the mono leader, or simply cut the sluggo off
behind the hook. Wire traces were the obvious answer Phill Williams, 17 pound Striper
there. And of course, there were albacore. I even had
bonito one day, plus we picked up what looked like spurdogs occasionally too.
Ian then turned his attention to the fly rod, taking a grand slam on a range of sandeel patterns. I even
gave it a go myself and hooked up a few bluefish, ending up with reel battered knuckles as a result. But
still good fun none the less.
I mentioned earlier that we had a mid-point day off from the bass fishing and had decided to fish out
from Plymouth. We'd taken a drive over there one evening to have a look at the place, and had spotted
a number of large party boats in the harbour with their advertising boards covered in pictures of cod.
So, always willing to try something different, and having brought along some bottom fishing outfits
just in case, we decided to book in on one of these.
As is the norm in these parts, all the bait was supplied, which was shellfish and squid. The boat itself
was huge with an under-cover dining area, showers, and toilets.
Inside the main cabin area there were the usual photo albums showing endless streams of people lifting
up monster cod. That unfortunately is in the springtime, on top of which, as with elsewhere these days,
even there things weren't what they used to be.
Still, we caught cod, and lots of them up to maybe five pounds, plus wolf fish, and quite a few small
wrasse like fish. There were probably a few other species mixed in there too elsewhere around the boat.
Not exactly earth shattering. But different, and a nice little break from the bass and bluefish.
While we were at Plymouth we spotted a Wal Mart close by and decided to call in and take a look at
the fishing tackle area. It was there that we bought ourselves some of the ultra-light bass rods to take
home. But as importantly, we also spotted a range of small plastic kids rods with tiny closed face fixed
spool reels moulded to them, decorated with pictures of mickey mouse and taz, and decided it might be
a bit of fun to buy one of each.
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