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  • 01/2016 Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen on My Way 2 (Holyhead, Isle of Anglesey)

    Jan 2016 by Gethyn Owen

    Report on-board My Way 2

    Our review of 2016 is more pictorial and can be viewed in details by copying and pasting this link into your browser

    http://goangling.co.uk/review-of-2016-aboard-my-way/

    The report is interspersed with a few anecdotes of the fishing aboard My Way through the year.

    End of February is when My Way usually refloats after her winter maintenance and tender loving care. The fishing can often be as mixed as the weather, with some days producing far more than others.

    The inshore fishing can be quite hectic at times, with dogs, whiting, codling and Huss the mainstay of a fairly decent mixed bag of around 10 species. Thornback rays often a double figure addition to the mix of species caught. Holyhead Deeps received the odd visit on small tides, looking for the return of the spurdog packs.

    Holyhead Deep started to show its worth as we entered March, the spurdogs becoming ever more present and reliable together with some good sized bull Huss.
    As with March, the month of April sees much of our fishing in the Deep. Early season we are fortunate that we’re not too reliant on neap tides and can venture to certain parts of the Deeps on all tides.

    Naturally time at anchor shortens on the springs, but with the spurdogs loving to feed around the ground in these parts, double figure small sharks are almost always on the cards.

    April and May saw the inshore fishing picking up with an array of different species coming to the boat.

    Once again inshore drifting started to become a part of the day afloat with the wrasse and pollack fishing improving each outing, nothing too big under the rocks, but the odd pollack touching a few lb in weight going home for supper with the anglers.

    Mid May and through June, we again turned our attentions to the smooth hound fishing that Holyhead and My Way particular is famed for. Big double figure smoothies on light gear have long been a large attraction for many of our anglers.

    2016 was no different; our annual Smoothhound Challenge event was another great success with many hounds being landed each day and 5 lucky anglers winning a brand New rod & reel combo.

    We see the smoothhound fishing run in certain cycles and 2016 was always to be the year of smaller fish. For 6 weeks of targeted fishing we landed hundreds of hounds, with I would suggest an average size of around only 10-12lb.

    Despite this the big big girls also showed well, with 14 hounds topping the scales at over 20lb in weight. To catch a 20lb hound is stuff of dreams, to help 14 anglers achieve this in 2026, was so rewarding. We’re hoping that 2017 will also be a bumper year with many big girls making a show.

    Once into July we start to concentrate more on general mixed bag fishing with weather depending runs out to Holyhead Deep. Hounds are still around and a good few were caught this year right through to October, but the fishery becomes less targetable as the packs slow down.

    Thornback rays were quite plentiful through the year with spotted rays also making an appearance. Sadly we never saw a blonde ray this year, they seem to have declined dramatically over the last 5years.

    Holyhead Deeps southern areas become a must if neap tides and weather combine. The spurdogs are still around albeit not in such large numbers, but are then supplemented with some cracking sport from tops and big huss, all of whom can put up a great account of themselves from 200ft of water.

    August, similar to July offers a world of different species with day and evening trips offering some wonderful sport for both the new and experienced angler. Plenty of species can be targeted to help achieve a personal or club goal throughout the year.

    August 2016 the weather was unsettled; however we managed to sail on quite a regular basis, with some great fishing. We often chased up to 20 species a day from various marks at anchor and the glorious rocky headlands around our beautiful Island.

    September 2016 will always be the month of the shark; for myself and the anglers aboard My Way on that particular. Having spoken for years about targeting sharks off Holyhead, I finally bit the bullet and took the plunge. Our trip was a great success that has now opened up some great opportunities for us going into 2017.

    October inshore had a bounty of species big and small for our anglers, great times on a few different days helping some to new species and a few personal bests.

    In the bay a good number of tope coming to the scales, we’ve had a good year on tope, with both Holyhead a Deep and inshore fishing well. Nothing too massive with plenty of small pack tope and our largest, and first ever tope for local rod Dave Sanderson a cool 45lbs.

    November & December saw us battling the weather, where as nothing as severe as the numerous storms of 2015, many trips were thwarted by excessively high winds.

    However on the days we did sail, the fishing prooved to be very good. Inshore again the species count was numerous and offshore spurdogs, big Huss and the odd conger kept everyone catching and happy.

    Thanks to everyone who has once again helped make 2016 another successful year afloat. Wishing you all the very best for 2017 and look forward to seeing you aboard My Way

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