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  • 03/07/2011 Fishing Report by Luke Rees on Celtic Wildcat (Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire)

    3 Jul 2011 by Luke Rees

    Report on-board Celtic Wildcat

    The forecast was exactly as it was predicted for the last few days. Part of a weekend of fine fine weather, and breathless winds made for a very nice day out on board Celtic Wildcat with skipper Nick.

    The 18 mile journey to our destination, which for today was the Shoals sandbank off St. Govans were we would target Bass, but probably pick up a few other species as well. Now given that the trips for Bass are done in very fast tides, to give every different type of bait or lure the best action to attract fish, Nick had to work hard to ensure there were no tangles on the boat. He did this by managing which side of the boat dropped first, second and when to wind in. This worked well all day and there were very few tangles considering the tide rip...

    The fishing, well the Bass fishing started slow. The first fish in the boat was a Turbot, not just any Turbot... a Turbot caught on a small white Redgill. This raised eyebrows around the boat as Turbot normally feed on sight as well as scent. It was a very welcome sight for Dangler Barry.


    The drifts were fast, again because of the tide and the best part of the drift is short we were back and for over the bank a lot. Being new to using braid, I was amazed at how bumpy the sand bank is, I was told that the ripples in the sand were much bigger out here than conventional beach sand ripples. This paired with the sensitivity given by the braid and light rod made it difficult to distinguish bites.

    Paul didn't have to much trouble spotting the first Bass of the day engulf his Sidewinder Lure and go like stink... up it came, a healthy looking Bass and the first of the day for the boat.


    The next Bass to come on board fell to Ian, who was fishing a rubber sand eel on a flowing trace. Another perfect plate size Bass.



    Shortly after Ian had landed his Bass, I hooked into a Bass using my new 440 Sakuma Circle hooks which I were very impressed with as per the hook up in the picture below. The lure I used was a Kiddy Holographic Sandeel. It was a perfect size Bass for the pot, which I filleted and skinned shortly after boating it.

    Meanwhile, as I was playing my fish Janice had hooked into one much bigger than mine. It was caught on the same setup Ian was using, again a lure similar to the one I had mine. Janice sure showed the guys how to fish today, bagging the biggest Bass of the day at 4lb 4oz.

    The action on the sand bank had appeared to dropped off. I had a Gurnard, and there were a few Weevers caught around the boat as well as some Codling on the bank. We moved off to some rougher ground, and on went the hokkais and jelly worms in an attempt to pick up some Pollack and Cod. There was plenty of action on the water with Dolphins and Gannets going after fish that weren't to far below the surface. The action wasn't too bad on the boat either. A few Pollack came on board, as well as a few undersize Codling but they were welcome for sport.

    I missed a cracking take on my Blue Silver Dream hokkai's. But had a few small Pollack of my own to keep the fishing ticking over. Also on the rough ground we managed too hook into some fairly sizeable Launce. These were kept alive until we went back over the sand bank where we could try for more Bass.

    I think we managed maybe one or two more Bass, all keepers that I didn't manage to get pictures off. But we did however boat a few more Turbot. Barry had another one, again a keeper this time caught on squid strip.

    Yorkie also managed one, as did I on fresh Launce fillet. I fished mine on a long flowing trace made of 20lb Fluro Carbon with a 440 Circle Hook. Its a new species for me and boy did it taste great!!!

    Shortly after our return to the sand bank we made for home, reflecting on a day that could have been better on the Bass front but with spectacular weather, a few Turbot, good tea and coffee (Ma's Drizzle Cake again) and hard work from skipper Nick we had a cracking day. A total of 8 species too... Bass, Launce, Turbot, Pollack, Codling, Coalfish, Gurnard and Weever.

    Luke@westwalesfishing

    For all pictures from the day see... http://westwalesfishing.blogspot.com/2011/07/danglers-go-for-bass-3711.html

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