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  • 06/2012 Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen on My Way 2 (Holyhead, Isle of Anglesey)

    Jun 2012 by Gethyn Owen

    Report on-board My Way 2

    Following the success of our Smoothhound challenge competition in 2011, this year’s event was extended to 2 days and run over the bank holidays of the Queens Jubilee celebrations. The aim of the Smoothhound Challenge is to simply catch the heaviest hound of the trip.
    The main prize each day was a Fladen IM8 sensor tip rod, perfectly matched with a Fladen Maximus 444 sized multiplier reel. These prizes, along with baseball caps were kindly donated to us by Fladen UK.

    2nd and 3rd places each day were to receive baseballs caps and a selection of fishing rigs from both Fladen and GO Angling.

    With the event being well received last year, the 2 bank holidays were booked fairly quickly, so we decided to also lay on an evening trip for the hounds, with the heaviest caught being eligible to win the ‘overall’ prize of 2 Gift Vouchers for a fully inclusive day aboard My Way.

    Day one and we set sail in calm seas and bright sunshine, not the best of weather when hunting out the hard fighting small sharks. It was a good few hours before we struck into the first of the day. Kev had never landed a smoothhound before, so a 10lb 7oz specimen was a brilliant start to the challenge and a specie for Kev to tick off his list.

    Colin was the second to call for the net, this shark looked to be a lot bigger than Kevs as it swam deep in the water and refused to come to the surface. After a powerful struggle, Colin’s hound was netted, with the weight coming out at 16lb 9oz.

    A further 3 smoothhounds came to the boat, with only Dave coming the closest with a great double figure hound of 16lb. This was made all the better for Dave as his pb hound currently stood at around 8oz, having landed a tiny starry whilst beach fishing on the each coast.

    That evening we set sail for 4 hours with a mixed bag of both experienced regulars and anglers out for the first time afloat. It wasn’t long before Tom hit into his first hound, followed closely by his mate Dave, both recording hounds of 12lb 8oz. Paul Coulthurst was next with a hound just sneaking into double figures.

    After which Robin, on his first fishing experience persevering with smoothhounds as his girlfriend Danielle reeled in dogfish and small codling, struck into the biggest of the night with a hound of 14lb.

    It looked to be in the bag for the evening for Robin and as I called lines up & started My Ways engine, Gareth P called fish on and proceeded to play and eventually land the biggest hound of the evening and a new pb at 16lb.


    Day 2 and we were greeted with a damp and miserable day; light rain was going to be with us for the majority of the day. Still, with what we considered to be better conditions than the previous day, we set sail with great anticipation. In all we managed to land 12 smoothhounds during the7 hrs we were fishing, however from the crew of 8 the day was real owned by Dan and Paul who between them landed 8 of the fish, taking 4 apiece.

    3rd place went to Gareth P, who couldn’t better his 16lb smoothie from the previous evening with a hound of 9lb. In second place was smoothhound expert Paul, again fishing the Tuesday following a try the previous evening. A hound of 12lb 8oz saw Paul walk away with a baseball cap and selection of rigs from Fladen and My Way.

    The actual 2nd place fell to Dan, however he bettered his hound of 16lb 11oz with a cracking specimen that topped the scales at 18lb 130z, winning Dan the 2nd IM8 Super Sensor Rod, 444 Maximus reel and with the heaviest fish of the challenge 2 fully inclusive Gift Vouchers for a days fishing aboard My Way.


    Not electrifying fishing this time around, but given the changeable weather conditions we were all happy to get afloat and catch a few hounds over the 2 days.

    The My Way smoothhound challenge will return once again next year during the Spring bank holiday and the following Tuesday, book now to avoid disappointment.

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