22nd May - Mudstone Ledge, The Orestone, and Long Quarry.

[GPSguru]

 

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................

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by GPSguru

[Andy135]

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?

[GPSguru]

7 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

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?

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.

[Saintly Fish]

Good going Ian. Lovely to have the crew back with you, your lucky, I'd never be able to get my Mrs up early enough to go fishing at 07.30! 
But atm I just dream of getting out...

[Malc]

12 hours ago, GPSguru said:

...I got the feeling that you needed to drop the tinsels right under a Mackerel nose !.

I have found that the old style mackerel spinner with a single hook works wonders in murky or slow conditions. I have mine on either a short snood behind a D-shaped trolling lead with either two above the lead on stiff loop droppers or more usually a short string of the usual tinsels/sabiki etc the buzz of the spinner gets them in close but you need a decent drift and to lower slowly. Works well on the kayak when moving between marks.

[GPSguru]

34 minutes ago, Malc said:

I have found that the old style mackerel spinner with a single hook works wonders in murky or slow conditions. I have mine on either a short snood behind a D-shaped trolling lead with either two above the lead on stiff loop droppers or more usually a short string of the usual tinsels/sabiki etc the buzz of the spinner gets them in close but you need a decent drift and to lower slowly. Works well on the kayak when moving between marks.

Another method we use here is to put on a 60 or 80g dexter wedge instead of the lead weight. It not only works as an attractor for the Mackerel, but has also accounted for some decent bass in the past.

[thejollysinker]

good day out by the sound of it. I have yet to catch a Herring... 🙂