Penarth fishing trip Lady Helen

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Penarth fishing trip Lady Helen – Well after a quick drive down the motorway I was in sunny Penarth and was steaming out with mike and the guys on our 9am sail time

Order of the day
Well it was a big tide today, 13.5 ish meters ( Yes that’s meters ) so like every other boat out today it was a case of fishing close into shore

I had my very shinny new uptider to play with and must admit it’s the dogs things . On our first mark we anchored up with various baits going down from whole squid / crab/ mackerel and lamprey all fished on penel rigs

Ok it was me on the lamprey but as said many times before you just never know

With the tide so big , the fishing conditions were hard but with the right lead you could hold bottom. The first fish came to mike which was a lovely 12 ish lb small eyed ray . Now I was thinking that I am going to have a repeat of what happened to me last trip out i.e everyone but me catch ray ( So I started a little fisherman’s mumble for help from the fishing gods ) . Over the next few hours a few conger came aboard but that was about it

So never one to hang around if a mark is not fishing we up anchored and re set in a new location about 3 mile further down the Bristol channel

Thinking that it was not a good idea to be experimenting with new baits ( lamprey ) I switched to whole squid on a penel rig with size 4/0 Aberdeen vcm hooks . With a quick flick on my uptider the grip lead was bedded and the wait began . 10 mins later the old tip had a few nods and then with a reel in to take the bow out of the line I made contact . She was solid




So after about 5mins and me playing the fish like it was my first born child it broke the surface -- A RAY !!!
thank you god I thought ( so did mike )

Once netted and swung aboard I suddenly thought that’s a bit bigger than normal and sure enough once weighed turned out to be a 17.01 LB Blonde Ray



I must abmit I almost did a little jig as I’ve had a rough few month on the old fishing front

That was the last ray of the day and later a few more conger came in and I bumped of a Smoothound

But shock and horror of the day was the “ world famous Penarth doggy man “ did not get one dogfish . He was last seen crying in a pint of beer

The whole area was hard going on the day and no boats got into the action ( good thing about Penarth skippers is there is no bull radio chatter as such )

As an overview - The sun was out the company was brill and a big thanks lads plus a quick beer afterwards in the pub

I had a great day yet again with Mike and the crew on the Lady Helen

CHeers all

OH as always mike will post the pics later as he will at this moment of posting will have a beer in his hand

[Norfolkboy]

Nice report Richard, well done on your ray and what a fish! (1.5 points too )

Well done Mike for getting them onto the fish and catching a 12lber too

[John Marshall]

Well done Richard, five minutes to boat a 17lb ray in a 13 metre tide?
c'mon, must a've been at least ten. he he

[Rob M]

Awesome report Richard and awesome fish! I bet you're still grinning

Rob

[pingu]

nice report and fish richard well done!!!!!!!,
see all you needed was the new rod
theres a pint on the bar for ya

[Charter Skipper]

Well done Richard ,christening your new baby,with a seriously good Blonde, best one we`ve seen this season so far

Richard proudly diplays the "killer" Lamprey bait.



The other ray in a fairly quiet days fishing...12lb Small eye



As Richard mentioned a massive faliure today By the "Penarth Dogfish Champion",aka Andy Cole ,so here`s one he caught earlier just to put a smile on his face.....

[Old Smoothound]

What can I say Proffessor.....BLOODY WELL DONE MATE

That is a seriously large Blonde Ray what a way to christen the new toy!! fish

[fishingbonsai]

As smoothound says what a way to christen your new rod, well done Richard. As for that bait you sure you didn't have a dog on board?

[Pross]

Well done Richard mate. When I finally get me some boat gear maybe we can get a forum boat trip organised aboard Lady Helen. Mike must be some skipper if he's even got you catching . Unusual for you to stop talking long enough to actually catch a fish!