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I think I'll never walk again

Yes, it depends on which way the tide is running. I tend to go there on the flood, the drift then takes me over the ledge and into the deep water toward Berry Head. In the past we have had Pollock, Cod, Whiting, Mackerel, Dogfish, Bull Huss, and Bass on those drifts. Whilst KKyle will usually fish with baited Hookai, I usually fish a 115mm Red Gill on tube boom from a rod holder, and SPJ with 150g jigs to find the better stamp of fish. A lot of anglers anchor on the Ledge and fish the drop off.

Frankly, that's a great result. A coolbox full of blue gold. Well dangled everyone 👍 I'm always amazed at the sheer optimism of pout - what possessed him to think that a whole squid on a 4/0 would fit in his gob? 🤣. But clearly it did, so it's a fair catch. I've heard of the Mudstone Ledge and how it can be a decent long drift with the tide all the way down to Scabbacombe. Looks like it should be rocky, snaggy and kelpy over the Ledge - decent pollack territory I would have thought?

Made an early start this morning as I don't normally 'do' weekends at the slipway, far too many complete plonkers. However, if you get there early it is just usually like minded anglers launching, and we all help each other. The crew today was my wife and Kyle, it was good to have them back on the boat after such a long time. We launched at 07:30am, the sun was shining, and the sea was flat. I had thoughts about going to the Skerries, but a quick check of the Start Bay wave buoy showed that the sea conditions were quite a bit different down there, so that idea was abandoned in favour of trying for a few Mackerel to freshen up the bait freezer. First stop was the Mudstone Ledge near Berry Head. I set a drift to take us over the ledge and on the seaward side of Cod rock, putting us in the deeper water of about 120ft. Over the ledge the depth is about 30ft. Kyle and my wife went for baited Hokkai's and tinsels, whereas I loaded a 4/0 with a full squid. Bites were thin on the ground, however, we had expected that as the May Bloom is still going strong. My first fish was a Pout, which had taken a liking to the large squid bait. After 5 long drifts with only a couple of Pout to show for our efforts we moved to the Orestone. Here we were straight into Mackerel, not hectic sport, but a good few were being brought to the boat. Again, the water clarity was poor, and I got the feeling that you needed to drop the tinsels right under a Mackerel nose !. After a while, we moved a little way over to Long Quarry, and again a few Mackerel were found, together with strings of Pilchards (Sardines), and the odd Tub / Grey Gurnard. A real surprise fish for me was a decent size Herring, normally I would expect to see these in the late Autumn. I thought at first it was an Allis shad as we get a good number of them here, but no, it was definitely 100% a herring. All too soon it was mid afternoon and time to go back in to catch the tide on the slipway. Not a bad day at all, 28 Mackerel (Mostly medium large and a few smalls), Pout, Tub Gurnard, Grey Gurnard, Pilchard, and Herring. Today we covered 25nm, but had a load of fun. Only one picture today, and that say's it all really................

I'm sure @Davemc can confirm that too.