Escaping the winter blues down in Wales.

With my mate Ross heading over to Jersey to work at the end of March my other fishing mate Lee and I were keen for the three of us to meet up before he left. The weather in Scotland has been pretty crap so far this year and the fishing has been disappointing as well to say the least. The trip was planned around Lee's time off work and unfortunately this meant that Jake wouldn't be able to make it as he had a gig that weekend so I booked a train and when the time came headed south for five days of fishing.

To say the last few big trips I've done have not been blessed with the best weather would be a complete understatement but for a change the forecast looked quite good for the duration of my stay in Wales

A mixture of fishing styles was planned but to be honest I was just looking forward to having a laugh with the lads and catching some fish. In the back of my mind though was the desire to catch a few new species. Top of my list were rockling. Having tried a few times locally with no reward I was assured before going down that they were plentiful on several marks around Anglesey. We'd also be targeting rays at night and Ross and his mates had already caught a few this year including a couple of the small eyed variety. This would be a new species for me if I managed to land one. Ross also caught a nice greater spotted dogfish, more commonly known as a bull huss, whilst fishing for rays. This is another species I've never caught. So with these in mind I was excited by the bait fishing. We also planned to do some lure fishing for pollock and wrasse as well as some lure fishing for pike. My ultra light gear made the trip too as a spot of mini species hunting was also on the cards. The chance to catch a tompot blenny or two isn't something I can pass up easily! All in all a nice varied selection of target species and styles to enjoy.

I arrived in Bangor just after 22:00 last Thursday night and was picked up by Ross from the train station. He'd been out trying for bass but had drawn a blank. After grabbing something to eat we headed back to his flat where I'd be crashing for the night and enjoyed a few pints of cider and watched a film before calling it a night.

Friday morning we headed out for a spot of piking. Ross had a text from his mate Terry telling him that he had caught a few pike earlier that morning so our hopes were high. When we arrived at the venue though spot where Terry had caught all of his fish had been taken already by an angler dead baiting. We worked our way around the waters edge but there was little sign of any fish. Finally after a while Ross hooked a small jack that released itself at his feet. He didn't seem too bothered about it though. We fished on for a while but with no further action, apart from a few low flying fighter planes overhead, we decided to head to the coast for a spot of mini species fun.

These RAF planes flew over us at regular intervals.

A short drive, walk and scramble down rocks later Ross and I were perched on a ledge fishing for mini species with drop shot rigs. The usual suspects were in attendance at the mark and over the course of the next few hours we managed to catch most of them between us although I didn't manage to catch a tompot blenny despite Ross getting a few. I was quite pleased to get my first few corkwing wrasse though.

Pretty little male corkwing wrasse.

Funky fish. Ross seems to have a knack of catching them.

Ross also managed a small thick lipped mullet on a piece of freelined bread. I had a go at this too but after being given the run around by them I was soon trying to catch a tompot blenny again as I wasn't sure if we'd be back at this mark again. After a catching a few common blennies it was time to head back to Bangor to pick up Lee. After dropping our stuff off at the hotel and sorting out our bait gear we were picked up by Ross again and after grabbing some food off we went to a rock mark that Ross said he had caught quite a few three bearded rocklings from whilst targeting congers. We soon arrived and walked down along a path to the rocks and climbed down. Lee and I set up one up one down rigs and fished small mackerel and squid cocktail baits close in whilst Ross lobbed out larger baits to try and tempt a conger eel. Fishing was slow for the first couple of hours but as a bit more water covered the ledges and gullies beneath us Lee and I started getting bites. I then had a decent bite and as I was using circle hooks I lifted my rod and began reeling in until I could feel the weight of the hooked fish. It didn't feel very big so I thought it may be a three bearded rockling but as it came to the surface my hopes were dashed when a small codling came into view. I quickly re-baited and cast back down. Another hour or so passed and during this time Ross and Lee both hooked and lost what they thought were small congers before I hooked another small fish and this time I got what I came for, my first ever rockling.

A small shore rockling. My first new species of 2013.

Another species disliked by anglers as they take baits intended for other fish.

We carried on fishing for a bit but despite a few rattles on the rod tips that Ross thought were lobsters clawing at our baits we didn't manage any other fish. On the way back to the car we passed a couple of white horses that gave me a bit of a fright as they suddenly appeared out of the darkness.

I'm lovin' it.

Saturday and with Ross working during the day Lee and I grabbed our ultra light gear and headed to Menai Pier in the straights hopeful that we could enjoy some mini species fun. The tides there can be very strange, switching direction and changing in strength very quickly. After fishing jigheads and letting them swing round in the current with no reward I fished a drop shot rig using a 15g lead. Bites were pretty much non-existent until I caught a shore crab. After a while it became evident that there weren't any fish around especially when I switched from Isome to a chunk of ragworm and still had no bites. Crabbing became the sole source of entertainment for us and we caught about twenty between us. I caught the most including a double shot both holding onto the same bait. Lee got the biggest one.

No fish but we still had a laugh.

We were quite glad when Ross finished work and we headed all headed out for more night time bait fishing. Ross headed to a conger mark with his mate Steve and dropped Lee and I off at Almwch breakwater. Lee chucked out a bait rod and also fished lures down the inside of the harbour wall. I meanwhile fished two bait rods. One up one down rigs with mackerel/squid cocktails and also ragworm were the choice and I also continued my experimentation with circle hooks. Bites were soon coming and I manged to catch a few fish mainly whiting but also a few small codling, a single poor cod and my second shore rockling of the trip. Lee meanwhile got a codling and some whiting on bait and his first ever poor cod on lure.

Circle hooks in action. All my fish bar one whiting were cleanly hooked in the mouth.

Scales coming off easily is an easy way to tell poor cod apart from pouting.

Lee was happy to get off the mark with a whiting.

Ross meanwhile had manged to land a couple of conger eels and winkled out a long spined sea scorpion from a rockpool. Steve caught a dogfish but unfortunately lost the conger eel he hooked which would have been his first ever. They both returned to pick us up at about midnight and we headed home shortly afterwards when we ran out of bait.

Ross doing the conger.

A nice reward from a rockpool whilst waiting for a run on his conger rods.

Sunday morning and we decided to go and have another crack at pike but unfortunately the result was the same. An angler dead baiting at one of the good spots and no action anywhere else so we decided to head off for some mini species fun again. I was keen to get a tompot blenny and as Lee has never caught one he was keen to get one also. Again a steady stream of common blennies and corkwing wrasse were caught before I finally managed to get a tompot blenny.

Another nice corkwing wrasse for me.

Ragworm proved irresistible to this tompot blenny.

That night we headed back to the mark where Ross had fished with Steve the previous night to try and tempt a conger or two. The only run of the night saw Lee hook an eel but after experiencing the fight for a short time the fish came off. Lee was gutted but admitted that this had stirred his interest in bait fishing and may lead to him doing more in the future. As we were packing up Ross couldn't find one of his conger traces. After looking all around the area and failing to find it Ross turned around and we found the trace, complete with luminous muppet and half a mackerel still on the hook hanging from Ross's back. He must have laid back on it whilst watching his rods. A very funny moment indeed.

The next day we headed down to the Llyn Peninsula to hopefully try for pollock and wrasse from some rock marks. Ross thought it would be too rough but we went anyway only to find Ross was right. The area was very beautiful and I can see that on a calm day it would no doubt produce plenty of fish. Having travelled all the way down there we decided to have a look at a slightly more sheltered spot further down the coast. There was still quite a swell running but the water looked a bit clearer so we decided to have a go. This eventually paid off with us all catching pollock.

A 4ft swell breaking over the rocks and dirty water meant a short trip further down the coast.

Perseverance pays off and a change of lure helps. This small pollock took a Lunker City Ribster fished on a Carolina rig.

Lee gets a pollock too.

Ross joins Lee and gets in on the action too with a few pollock.

I would certainly like to revisit this area on a calm summer day.

Returning to Bangor we decided to try a spot of Ray fishing that night. Arriving at the mark though we found that the preferred ledge had already been claimed by another angler so we headed along the cliffs to another spot. Fishing pennel rigged sandeel on long pulley rigs we cast them out as far as we could to reach the sandy area beyond the rocks. Ross was first to hook a fish and after a tricky landing had a nice ray on the rocks. This would prove to be the only ray of the night though. Some time later I landed a dogfish and unfortunately Lee blanked. By this point we were all rather tired and agreed to call it a night. On the way back we agreed to have a later start the following day and just decide what we wanted to do in the morning.

Ross gets the only ray of the session, a particularly thorny thornback.

I make do with a dogfish and was happy to avoid a blank.

On Tuesday morning we decided it would be a good idea to pack up and travel light as Lee and I were heading home at about 17:00. We headed back to the mini species spot and enjoyed another fun session. Lee was keen to try and catch his first ever tompot blenny and Ross and I were just happy catching anything although I would have liked a few more tompot blennies. Lee was quickly into a few corkwing wrasse whilst the common blennies seemed eager to grab my lure as soon as it entered the water! Ross manged another mullet also as well as a few tompot blennies much to the annoyance of Lee and myself who for some reason just couldn't seem to hook one.

One of many corkwing wrasse Lee caught in quick succession on his drop shot rig.

Second thick lipped mullet of the trip for Ross. On Isome this time.

Soon it was time to go and we all clambered back up from the ledge to begin the short walk back to the car. Another good trip to see my mates in Wales had come to an end and despite the fishing being difficult at times I think we made the most of it. 13 species in total between the three of us in 5 days isn't too bad for February, the worst month to fish in the area in Ross's opinion.

I climb up from the mark to end the trip.

Unfortunately on the way back to Bangor I realised that I didn't have my phone. A quick search of the car and a return to the mark to look for it without success also meant I missed my train back up the road. A pretty bad way to end the trip. We headed back to Ross's and Lee was picked up by his wife. I've promised him that I'll visit him during the summer and we can spend a few days down the Llyn Peninsula camping and fishing. Ross is off to Jersey in April and I'd like to go over there too so that's something else to look forward too if I can make it over. I booked a train up the road for Wednesday morning leaving at 5:14 and went off to bed early. With Ross about to start working ten days in a row and the tides not really ideal for night sessions he popped out for a short bass session whilst I slept. He got back about 01:00 and told me he had managed one bass.

Will this be Ross's last fish for a while? I doubt it somehow.

I really enjoyed fishing with Ross and Lee again and despite losing my phone, which made the trip quite an expensive one, I had a great time and managed to add eight species to my 2013 saltwater tally and also caught my first new species of the year. Not sure when the three of us will meet again and we are talking about a trip to the Mediterranean to beat the winter blues next year but I hope we'll be together again before that!

Tight lines, Scott.

Anglesey angling adventure.

I decided earlier this year to try and get away more often on short fishing trips. I was planning a weekend in Plymouth at the end of May, but with some uncertainty about a competition I was looking forward to taking part in occurring, I spotted a thread on The Lure Forum about a North Wales Bumble taking place on the island of Anglesey and thought it would be a good alternative destination for a short trip. In addition, I'm heading to Cornwall for a week in July so with the competition perhaps off it seemed a bit silly to visit the south coast twice.

I spoke to fellow The Lure Forum member Lee Goddard, who lives in Wales, about coming down and he was keen to meet up and do some ultra light fishing and also maybe some bassing. Neither of us drive though which was a bit of a problem but luckily another The Lure Forum member and keen angler, Ross Johnson, said he would like to join us and could drive us to various marks around Anglesey. Lee sorted out some cheap accommodation for the two of us in Amlwch and I booked my train ticket to Bangor. Arrangements made, I started discussing the possibilities mark and species wise and started looking forward to meeting Lee and Ross and getting quite excited by the trips potential!

The night before I travelled down I packed my gear. I decided to take four rods. My two ultra light rods, a Shimano Diaflash 237L-S 0.8-8g for vertical jigging and rockpooling due to its ultra sensitive solid tip and my Nories Rockfish Bottom Ultra Light 1.8-7g for working small lures close in and around structure. For bassing I packed my Daiwa Powermesh 902MS 10-40g. Finally the Shimano Speedmaster Drop Shot 240 3.5-28g went in the rod sleeve for targeting bigger wrasse with soft plastics and also for drop shotting smaller species should the conditions make fishing ultra light difficult. Two reels would make the journey. My Daiwa Steez 2500 spooled with 6lb Sunline Rockfish for use with the two ultra light rods and my Daiwa Exceller X-3000 spooled with 20lb Power Pro for use with the other two rods. I'll restrict details on lures till later in the report as I packed way too many!

The morning of the trip arrived and my alarm went at 6:00, I got up, got ready and headed up to Waverley train station. Boarded the train and began writing this! After changing trains at Crewe and another hour on the train I arrived in Bangor and was met by Lee and Ross. Bags in the car off we went to start fishing. We headed off to fish a few marks on the South West coast, hoping to stay sheltered from the North Easterly winds.

After a short walk and an easy climb we were soon setup and fishing but it quickly became apparent that the current flowing past the mark was a bit too strong to get lures anywhere near the bottom using most of the light gear we had with us so we opted to fish a bit higher up in the water to see if there were any mackerel around. I was first into a fish. This small pollock taking a pink Isome.

A small but rather plump pollock!

Ross then landed a small pollock that also fell for Isome.

A tiny pollock! Lovely golden honeycomb markings on it.

Ross hooked the next fish, a mackerel, which came off as he was reeling it in. Almost immediately I had a take close in and after a short scrap on the Nories and with Lee carefully climbing down and lipping the fish I had my first mackerel of the year.

Perhaps the one Ross lost?

Lee and Ross went off to explore another ledge whilst I opted to do a spot of vertical jigging in a very deep gully. As they climbed over to it a sea gull who had been sitting there tried to fly off but it quickly became apparent that he was going nowhere except straight down due to the fact he had a discarded fishing trace including a lead tangled around his legs. We couldn't leave it like that so Ross and Lee managed to guide it over to me, I grabbed it and we began to remove the trace starting with the hook the poor thing had in its beak. No doubt the bird had tried to eat a baited trace left behind by the same idiots who had left a load of other rubbish and discarded tackle lying around on the mark. We carefully managed to cut off all the line and cut the hook with some pliers.

The ungrateful gull had a good peck at me and squawked in my face before he was set free again! I squawked back.

Bird rescue complete we went back to fishing and Lee got off the mark with a small pollock caught from the ledge he and Ross were fishing from.

Lee opens his account. Dropping a lure straight down the side produced a fish.

As the fishing was relatively slow we decided to move to another mark. After a short drive and a walk along the cliffs, Ross showed us one of his favourite marks but as it involved a dangerous climb that neither Lee nor I were up for we headed a bit further along the coast to a mark that was slightly easier to access. A long jagged section of rock in the middle of a deep gorge that is only accessible at low water.

Fishing to the right of the rock in the middle would prove productive.

Upon arrival though Ross realised he had left his camera at the first mark so went back to get it. After a pretty steep climb down Lee and I started fishing and pretty soon we began catching pollock and then Lee caught a nice ballan wrasse.

Power Isome doing what it does best!

The pollock kept coming and by the time Ross returned, climbed down the gorge, got onto the rock and started fishing Lee and I had caught a few each. None of any size but good fun on ultra light gear.

Most of my pollock took the lure on the drop.

Next it was my turn to get a ballan wrasse. It shot out and grabbed my lure right at my feet and was quickly bullied up the whole two or three feet to the surface!

Nice brown and orange ballan wrasse bolted out of the kelp and nailed a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad before trying to bolt back into it again.

Ross went and had a look at the tide and said we would have to leave soon as the tide would cut us off so we had a few more casts. Ross hooked his first ballan wrasse of the day with his last cast.

Last fish for Ross from this mark before we tried to leave.

We packed up and started to make our way back off the rock but it soon became clear that we had left it too late and were trapped. After a bit of climbing and getting wet feet we all made it off though.

Oops! Lee and I struggled a bit with the escape but Ross made sure we made it in one piece!

To finish the first day off we headed to Wylfa Power Station to target mini species in a big side pool next to the main hot water outflow. Lots of big mullet were swimming around but the tide was out and most of the side pool was empty so no one caught anything. We did try to tempt the mullet with some lures but being mullet they just weren't interested! Ross took Lee and I back to the caravan where we would be staying and we were warmly welcomed by some other lads who were here for the bumble and who we were sharing the caravan with. Great lads who visit Anglesey on a regular basis.

Next morning we headed up to the meeting point for the bumble. It was nice to meet everyone and we all had a chat and a spot of breakfast with hot drinks and some very nice sausage and bacon rolls warming everyone up on what was a pretty cold and windy morning. Lee and I bought a couple of the small hard lures that were on sale and then we got chatting to Terry, who despite his lack of enthusiasm for our preferred style of fishing, took it upon himself to offer advice to us on potential marks to go species hunting with our ultra light gear. We had a great chat and he offered to take us to a few of the places he had mentioned as they were near his house. We happily accepted his generous offer, jumped in his van and off we went. We tried a few of the marks but the wind and also the currents made controlling our lures difficult something that Terry hadn't anticipated as he favours traditional methods of fishing and this was his first real look at fishing so light. We then headed to a mark where Terry thought we could catch big wrasse, a deep water rock mark that was easy to access. After showing us the mark Terry gave us his number and told us he would pick us up later to take us bass fishing on the Menai Straights in the evening then left us to fish. We tackled up with the heaviest end gear we had but the current was too strong again and we started losing quite a bit of gear as the tide swept it into snags and when another angler arrived with traditional tackle we decided to let him have our spot and headed along the cliffs to look for a more sheltered mark similar to the gorge Ross had taken us to the day before.  After a pleasant walk along the cliff we spotted a likely looking spot and figured out how to get down. The climb down was very easy and the mark was well sheltered. With fairly deep water and lots of kelp around the edges we started targeting wrasse down the sides. I decided to fish my Speedmaster Drop Shot just in case there were any bigger fish down there. We started exploring the edges and it wasn't too long before Lee had caught one followed shortly afterwards by a second. I asked him what lure he was using and he gave me one of them, a small IMA Trilobite in Pro Blue. First drop with it and I had hooked a wrasse too. I was hoping it was one of the smaller species but it was just a tiny ballan. Lee seemed to have found a bit of a hot spot and it looked like there was a large shelf in the rock beneath him from which he caught another two ballan wrasse.

This ballan wrasse found Lee's IMA Trilobite lure irresistible!

Lee's second ballan wrasse of the day.

Lee was on a roll.

Lee's last ballan out of this mark was also the best.

High hopes that this would be one of the smaller wrasse species were soon dashed when this tiny wrasse was properly inspected.

I did hook a second ballan wrasse but just after I got it up clear of the kelp my braid snapped at the rod tip. A quick inspection revealed that my tip ring was chipped. I must have damaged it during our escape from the cut off rock mark the previous day. I packed it up and setup my Nories rod. As the tide turned the wrasse stopped biting and I started casting out a bit further and managed to catch two tiny pollock that must have been part of a passing shoal but after that things went quiet again. I decided to explore a bit and rock hopping around a corner I found a huge rockpool. A chunk of Gulp! Sandworm was soon bouncing around the bottom and a few blennies shot out to fight over it. I managed to catch two of them.

Despite being caught this blenny put on a rather defiant display!

I remembered that Lee had never caught a blenny and called him over. Pretty soon he had caught his first  and was quite pleased.

A new species for Lee. A small specimen but it still managed to bite him a few times much to our amusement!

We went back and had another go for some more wrasse as the tide began to flood but with no sign of any around and time getting on we packed up and started heading back. After a few texts from Ross to say that Terry was looking for us and realising that we had went to a different car park to the one we were dropped off at, a rather relieved Terry soon picked us up and we went to the  pub where we met up with Ross and his mates whom he had been fishing with. They had been to the mark Lee and I didn't fancy the climb down to and had caught a few pollock and some bigger ballan wrasse. May have to attempt the climb next time I visit! We had a quick pint, grabbed some fish and chips then headed to the Menai Straights with Terry to target bass. With the wind dropping off, the tide just right as the light was due to fade, Terry thought that the conditions were perfect and after a stroll along the shingle we all started fishing, wading out a few yards and casting out past the weed into the currents. Ross and his mates headed a bit further along the beach to fish. As the tide flooded and light began to fade the action started. My Nories was the first rod to bend in our group as I hooked into my first Welsh bass.

Ultra light bass. Great fun!

It took a Sidewinder Brill Bait fished behind an 8g sinking bombarda. Shortly afterwards Terry landed a fish and his mate Darren lost one before catching another. After this brief spell of activity the action stopped just as quickly as it had begun. Ross and his mates rejoined us and they too had caught a couple of bass. Probably from the same shoal that had passed in front of us. As it got dark we decided to call an end to a very enjoyable, very long and very tiring day. Ross drove us back to the caravan again and on the way we discussed our plans for the following days fishing. With the wind due to almost disappear along with the clouds we were looking forward to a better opportunity to do some more ultra light fishing and a spot of mini species hunting.

Sunday morning and Ross picked us up at 9:00. It was a lovely sunny day and with little wind we made the short drive to Amlwch Breakwater.

With over 20 species having being caught from the breakwater we had high hopes.

We started fishing down the inside wall of the breakwater but surprisingly had no bites at all so we began exploring the southern side of the harbour. No sign of any fish there either though so we decided to head back to Wylfa Power Station outflow as the tide was in and hopefully so would be the mini species. Ross caught a small thick lipped mullet on a bit of bread. Shocking I know! He then managed to catch one on a small section of Isome.

Even the fussiest fish in existance can't resist Isome!

Tricky, hard to catch fish out of the way, blenny bashing soon commenced! I took an early lead and it soon got quite competitive and we were all catching them. Even Lee admitted that it was strangely addictive! I decided to climb down to see if there were any tompot blennies or gobies amongst the boulders at the bottom. After catching a few more common blennies I hooked what I first thought was simply a slightly plumper one but as I hoisted it up I was overjoyed to discover it was in fact my first ever tompot blenny.

Blenny #171. Tompot flavour!

I was well chuffed. I headed around to the other side of the pool to continue hunting mini species and then Ross caught a couple of corkwing wrasse in quick succession followed by a couple of tompot blennies.

Lovely little corkwing wrasse for Ross. I'd loved to have caught one too.

Ross gets a another tompot blenny.

There may be a few more tompots soon!

I made my way around and rejoined them on the ledge but by the time I got there the tide had dropped and the mini species action had dried up. I decided to go and have a chuck with my Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow in the outflow to see if I could tempt a bass but had no luck. I climbed up and had a quick seat to regain my breath. I watched Ross and Lee fishing for a bit. Ross really is a bit of a mountain goat.

I relax for a moment or two whilst Lee and Ross prepare to climb up from the ledge.

Ross is quite a keen climber. Lee and I are not!

As Ross and Lee climb up so we can head to the next mark, I look down to discover that hard lures can be used to target insects as well as fish!

This ladybird found my Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow more attractive than the resident bass.

Leaving the mark and discussing our options, we spotted a nice looking cove on the opposite side of the bay, so we walked along the cliffs to have a quick look. It looked great so after working out the easiest route we climbed down. At the bottom we discovered another lovely looking deep gully with plenty of boulders and weed. We started exploring with our lures and after a few taps I hooked a nice ballan wrasse.

Reins Rockvibe in chartreuse pepper takes my third ballan wrasse of the trip. Note the beautiful turquoise markings on its fins.

This turned out to be the only fish we could find in the gully so we decided to head back to the mark Lee and I had found the day before. No sign of the wrasse today though, so whilst Lee persevered with the wrasse hunting I showed Ross the huge rockpool and we bashed the blennies in it for a short while. I caught two and Ross caught one. We went back to join Lee and try for wrasse again. The tide was now rising quickly and three big seals appeared, swimming around in the massive currents that were passing through the rocks in front of us. With no sign of any wrasse we decided to try Holyhead breakwater for a few hours and we headed to the very end. Known as corkwing corner I had high hopes of catching a new wrasse species or a few other mini species but the only fish caught were a few pollock as light faded. Another great days fishing concluded we headed back to the caravan.

Monday morning and this would be our final session. The weather was stunning and Ross arrived just before 9:00. After a quick chat about possible destinations Ross suggested a potential wrasse spot at Porth Wen. After parking the car and enjoying a gentle walk down we were confronted with the beautiful ruins of an old brick works. Lots of old walls and rocks to fish from, it looked great.

Where do we start?

Whilst Lee and I got set up, the young and fearless Ross climbed up onto a large rock, doing a great impression of a mountain goat again.

Ross does a spot of climbing and takes a few photos.

I thought the rock in front of me might hold a few fish underneath.

Liking the look of a weedy area at the foot of the rock Ross was on, I threaded a small section of Gulp! Sandworm onto a jighead and cast onto a big flat rock. I gently pulled it off the front edge and let it drop down. Out came a large fish. Ross called down to tell me it was a wrasse. I couldn't believe my luck. I paused for a moment or two to let it grab the lure, and struck. Fish on but it was stripping line way too quickly! Eager to start fishing I had not set my drag after loosening it to setup my gear. The wrasse bolted back under the rock and out the other side into deeper water, snapping me off in the process. I was gutted! After tightening my drag and tying on a new leader I had a few casts over the sandy bottom to see if there were any flat fish around. No joy there so I climbed onto a wall and started working along it, jigging my lure down the sides and through the weeds. Meanwhile Ross was away climbing again and Lee was fishing from a rock at the end of another old wall.

Ross gets another great shot from another lofty position.

I had a few small fish come out from the weed and have a few taps at my lure a couple of times but no hook ups. I looked over to see Lee land a small wrasse. First fish of the day, a nice little ballan.

Lee locates the wrasse once again.

Shortly afterwards Lee hooked into a bigger fish. It stripped line a couple of times and was putting up a good fight as it tried to get back down into it the kelp. Lee tightened up slightly and soon brought it up away from the weeds. A nice dark brown and lime green fish. The super small IMA Trilobite in watermelon doing the damage this time.

Lee's best ballan wrasse of the trip.

Ross and I joined him out on the rock and Ross soon landed a ballan wrasse too. After that though the action dried up so we explored a bit in search of mini species but surprisingly couldn't locate any despite the area we searched looking like it should hold a few.

Ross finally starts fishing and gets a reward.

We then walked back up to the car and after stopping for a bite to eat we headed to Holyhead breakwater again, but when we arrived a very strong tide was running so we headed to a small pier that went out into the Menai Straights near Bangor, unfortunately apart from seeing lots of tiny fry, me catching a shore crab and Ross a sea anemone, none of us had any luck so we decided to relax for a bit and enjoyed a pint in the sun before Ross dropped Lee and I off at Bangor train station. We all said farewell and to be honest it felt like I was saying goodbye to two very good friends whom I'd known for years instead of just a few days. We'd had a fantastic time and caught a lot of fish together and we're already planning meeting up again. I'm not sure if that will be on the island of Anglesey with it's stunning coastline and warm friendly people or perhaps up here in Scotland but I'm certainly looking forward to fishing with Lee and Ross again in the not to distant future!

Tight Lines, Scott.