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10th December Penarth beach
It had been a long time since our last trip and with good reports coming
from the Penarth area, the Ranny in particular we decided to head there.
None of us had fished the Ranny and not sure of the way other than
across the beach we decided to stay near the groynes by the slipway.
Our 1st casts hit the water mostly baited with ragworm and squid. Although
Blackcat did have a secret bait weapon to try later in the day.
While cwtching up under the brolly to hide from the drizzle, Barrelreef
had a positive bite that pulled down and bounced well.............he tightened down and struck into what seemed a fair bit
of weight.
After a quick fight and some weedy moments a plump codling lay on the
beach. It weighed in at 1lb 7oz but had fought well above his weight and after a quick pic went back ok.
It went dead after that not even Blackcat's new pot of 'Lazy lug' could bring us a fish although
we did get a few bites using it but the jury is still out!
Teggy did manage to save a blank though by catching a small rockling on his last cast that he
reckoned fought well.
A wet, quiet day but good to get back out fishing, although the day was spoiled a little
by the attitude of some of the small yaught owners who launched near us.
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| Barrelreef's codling |
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| teggy's rockling |
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| Teggy and Barrel hiding from the rain |
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17th December Ogmore Deeps
We arrived at the deeps early, 4 hours before high to make sure we
had a tidy spot. We settled on the furthest left set of ledges. Salmon a WSF member came over to chat and told us
of congers showing so we decided to fish 2 rods each and have a go for the eels on 1 rod.
It was quiet for the 1st hour then Barrelreef had a small whiting which
was deep hooked and dead so it went on the conger rod as bait.
About 2 hours before high an angler to our left landed a conger about 5lb
so we knew they were there.
Barrelreef had another small whiting but nothing on the conger baits.
Valleyboyo meanwhile had hooked something decent but had got snagged winding
in and his line snapped. Another set of end tackle lost to go with the other 4 set he already lost.
The 2 anglers to our left had landed another 2 congers up to 9lbish.
Although all Barrelreef could manage was another 2 small whiting.
On the ebb the fishing picked up a little with some excellent small eyed
rays caught around us.
Although Valleyboyo had packed up after losing a 'Dangler' record 9 sets
of end gear to the snags.
Barrelreef fished on and had a stonking slack line bite on 6 lug and squid
bait, which he wound down tight and connected and began to wind. But with the ebb ripping fast it got dragged into a
snag and snapped. This also happened on Barrelreefs next cast with another decent fish on - Gutted!
With that we decided to pack up.
No big fish for us but some good fish caught by aothers including 3 small
eyed rays to 12lb, a thornback of nearly 10lb and 3 congers to 10lb.
Barrelreef 4 whiting
Valleyboyo blanked
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| Barrelreef with a whiting |
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| Barrel with another whiting |
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19th December Ogmore deeps (again)
With the deeps giving some decent fish and some bait left from the weekend
we decided to give it another crack.
We walked down and set up on the far left ledges the sea conditions were
calmer than our previous trip and although the wind wasn't strong it had changed direction to an Easterly.
Baits for the day were rag, lug, peelers, squid, mackerel and sandeels.
1st bite came on Barrelreefs' rod and turned out to be a dogfish which had
taken a squid and crab bait.
Valleyboyo also had a bite but whatever it was escaped.
Barrelreef had bites most casts and had 5 doggies in quick succession the
biggest going to 1lb 8oz with crab baits proving to be doggy magnets!
With crab attracting the dogs, Barrelreef decided to blast out a large mackerel/sandeel
cocktail. After only a few minutes in the water the rod started tapping then lunged seawards........Barrel wound down and
struck into a good fish and started to wind in. Then about half way in the weight went, whatever it was had spat the
hooks! Conger?? who knows???
It seemed to go quiet after high water with only a small whiting showing
for Barrelreef. Valleyboyo blanked but missed the odd bite.
We fished on into darkness but no more fish showed although we heard of
some conger and a ray caught further down.
A nice cold evening at the deeps, with a few fish. Nice to fish in
some decent weather after the battering we've had for the last few weeks!
Barrelreef 5 dogfish 1 whiting
Valleyboyo Balnked
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| one of Barrel's doggies |
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27th December Porthcawl lighthouse
With the weather turning a little nasty our xmas deeps trip plan was changed
and we headed for the pier.
It was windier than we expected but Teggy, Blackcat, Valleyboyo and Barrelreef
set up and cast out from the end by the lighthouse. Baits for the evening were lug, rag, squid, sandeel and mackerel.
All kitted out with new xmas fishing gear - Welsh Dangler smocks for all,
Blackcat - new boots, headlamp and cap, Valleyboyo - new cap, boots and okuma magnetix reel and Barrelreef - new boots, cap
and headlamp.
It was clear form our 1st casts that the tide was ripping in and fishing
and detecting bites was going to be difficult for a while but we persevered.
1st fish a doggie was landed by Barrel and had taken a sandeel bait.
Next in was Blackcat with a small whiting which was deep hooked but went
back out as bait.
Valleyboyo then landed a doggie on his new reel which he was well pleased
with.
Teggy also got in on the act with a good doggie of 1lb 9oz.
Barrelreef also landed another doggie just as a load of spraywater washed
over us.
The wind had picked up though and every now and then a wave would hit the
outside of the pier and gave us a good spraying.
With conditions getting a bit naughty; for safety we left the pier and moved
to the promenade wall to carry on fishing but no more fish for us.
We did though all have a few cast with valleyboyo's new reel, and fair play
it feels good and did the business casting. A very nice reel to use.
Barrelreef 2 dogfish
Teggy 1 dogfish
Valleyboyo 1 dogfish
Blackcat 1 whiting
(A few pics from the trip below but not the best quality because the batteries
went in the digital camera and the flash on the phone isn't the best)
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| Valleyboyo modelling the new welshdanglers smock |
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| Barrelref with a doggie |
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| Valleyboyo with a doggie |
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| Teggy's doggie |
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30th december Penarth beach
Last trip of 2006...........With strong westerlies and rain forecast we
decided to fish Penarth for some shelter.
High water was around 3pm and we got to the beach later than planned at
around 1ish, to find loads of anglers already there. We found some room and set up.
Baits for the day were squid, mackerel and ragworm with pulleys to combat
the weed. Blackcat and Teggy were keen to try out they're new Magnetix reels as well.
Blackcat was 1st to have a bite a stonker of a knock but unfortunatly
the fish dropped the mackerel bait.
The fishing was very quiet although a few small codling and whiting
were showing further along.
Barrelreef had a small knock and wound in to find a whiting around 6oz had
tried to eat the big mackerel bait. 1st fish of the day but still quiet!
Meanwhile Blackcat had his rod lunge over so he picked it up, stuck and
wound in. There was a fair bit of weight on the end and we all thought he was into a good fish until it surfaced a few yards
out and turned out to be the dreaded carrier bag fish!
Valleyboyo however was getting a little confident using his new reel for
only the second time. After knocking the magnets down a notch or two, he decided to swing his lead when casting to try and
get a bit more distance. Woosh....his reel blew up into a mess of a birdnest.....He wasn't happy.
The weather had turned a little bit nasty with heavy rain and some big gusts
of wind that blew Barrels rods over and tried to blow away the beach umbrella.
As it eased though the sky cleared and a big rainbow showed in the sky over
penarth.
We fished on as others went home and barrelreef had another smaller whiting, while Teggy tried
to hide the fact he had a big birdnest in his reel after taking the mick out of valleyboyo for the same reason.
We fished on 3 hours into the ebb hoping that some fish would feed as it got dark but it
didn't happen.
For our last trip of 2006 not the best fishing but we always have a
good craic anyway.
Barrelreef 2 whiting
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| Barrel's whiting |
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| Blackcat's carrier bag fish |
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| the 'before' pic Valleyboyo getting ready to cast |
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| the 'after' pic.... Birdie!!! |
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