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  • 07/2012 Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen on My Way 2 (Holyhead, Isle of Anglesey)

    Jul 2012 by Gethyn Owen

    Report on-board My Way 2

    Some nice settled weather in the middle of June and we were joined aboard My Way by a group of lads from Shropshire. The group had been fishing only a handful of times previously and were now keen to sample some of the fishing that Holyhead had to offer but in particular the smoothhound.

    Conditions were not perfect for the hounds with late June being a little hit & miss for hounds in any great number. We started the day at anchor general fishing and the lads earned their strips catching dogs, whiting, codling, gurnards and dabs etc. 2 and 3 at a time, the odd bull huss and a couple small spotted rays joining. Once the tide was good for a try on the hounds, all the rigs were changed over to single running ledgers with prime fresh peeler crab as the number one bait.
    It wasn’t long before we had the first run and after a tense 15minute battle the lads saw a quality double figure smoothhound netted at the side of the boat. We managed a few hounds during the few hours we tried for them with trip organiser Steve also getting in on the act with this 11lb specimen.

    With Holyhead Marina not being tidal we are able to sail whatever time of day suits the anglers best, naturally taking into account tides and strengths to help out for a good day. Most of our sail times range between 8 and 10am. One morning though a nice an early 7am sail was required, to allow us to make the LW slack in Holyhead Deep. We could have sailed a little later and steamed straight to our chosen mark, but decided to break the journey down with an earlier sail and a fish for wrasse, pollack and mackerel along the way.
    With the potential of only catching double figure fish Holyhead Deep is a great draw for many anglers. Huss, spurdog and tope are the usual suspects and it is always recommended that everyone tackles up on the big side, and goes all out to land specimen sharks. There are other species to be had, whiting, dogs and grey gurnards the most prolific, but these are also achievable inshore, no point in missing out when in the deeps.
    We had 2 groups of individuals and regulars aboard My Way, Graham with family and friends from Chester and Dave with fishing colleagues from Urmston Sea Anglers. No one was to leave disappointed with the quality of the fishing they were to experience, with double figure bull huss and spurdogs averaging 12lb coming to the side of My Way with extreme regularity. You know the fishing is good and hectic when spurs fast approaching 14lb are being t-barred at the side of the boat with no call of a new PB.

    Following the Streaked Gurnard featured in our last report, I didn’t think we’d have another first aboard My Way for a long while, but I was proved wrong by Scottish International angler George Bell. Whilst drifting under the cliffs of South Stack lighthouse George hooked into what could only be best described as a dead weight, calls of octopus and rock echoed around the boat until Georges catch broke the surface, an Anglerfish. Normally found in much deeper and colder water, this fish weighing at around 3lb was certainly lost at sea!

    The general fishing around Holyhead and Trearddur bays has been improving daily and also as the wind and rain allows. Drifting has seen plenty of ballan wrasse and small pollack, the ballan wrasse growing in size with a few fish now reaching the 3lb mark and proving once again to be excellent sport on light gear. As we reach August and into September 4 to 5 lb wrasse will feeding well. Mackerel are as patchy as ever and nowhere near as reliable as we would like them to be. We managed the first of the black bream of the year recently for Stevie from Melthan & District SAC. We don’t get many through the year from Holyhead and most average at only 1lb in weight, never the less they are a welcome sight and especially for Steve who was fishing the clubs match and received additional points for species.

    To target rays with any form of consistency requires a good steam around the coast to popular marks such as Rhosneigr and Ty Croes. However most trips into either Holyhead or Trearddur bay lately are seeing anglers land rays aboard My Way fairly regular; with a few days seeing a dozen rays landed aboard the boat. Small spotted rays are the most abundant with some thornbacks and blonde rays making up the catches.

    Other species making regular appearances include the ever present dogfish, along with whiting, codling, grey, red and tub gurnards plus many more including bull huss ranging from 8oz to 14lb in weight. Some of the rougher inshore marks are throwing up congers, great straps for the area averaging 15lb in weight.

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