Stokes Bay 1/5/10

bassmanrob · #1 05-02-2010, 11:40 AM

I really wasn't sure where to fish, even with my gear loaded in the car. Reports had been poor to the east and even worse to the west, I was still hopeful that the weater change and friday's winds might have stirred things up. I got to Cuckoo's to pick up some worm and he couldn't really think of anywhere either! Coin toss saw me heading east and I decided on stokes bay for the chance of an early hound and maybe a bass or a spotted ray.

When I arrived the sea looked good, coloured with an onshore breeze and a chop on the water. I was fishing in front of the gilkicker car park and a few others were there. Nothing happened for the first hour and a half as it got dark. First action of the night saw the bloke fishing next to me have a decent bite and whole squid but he didn't connect. I immediately had a decent bite on ragworm and could feel a fish on which turned out to be this dogfish (the first of a few for the sesson).

As I was releasing it I had a decent bite on my other rod, fish on again but immediately lost it and about 100 yards of line in a snag. This was the 2nd lot of gear I had lost so I moved about 60 yards to my left into a gap left by some guys packing up. I lost a bit of time moving camp and replacing leaders which was annoying as things were happening. When I was fishing again it was still a bite a chuck with pout and dogs supplying the action. I lost something on the way that felt a little better on mackie/sandeel cocktail. In the last hour of the flood I tried some peeler for an early hound, had a few little rattles on it for a couple of casts the a decent pull-down. Only small but I had my first hound of the year, about a pound, one of last years pups.

Tried for a bass over high on some big mackie baits and had plenty of interest but couldn't connect with them though. Tried the first hour of the ebb but things went dead so i called it a night.