| #1  08-08-2010, 02:50 PM | |||
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| Swansea nooby Hi all, Apart from a spot of salmon fishing in Alaska 2 years ago, I haven't fished much since I was a kid, but I've recently been gifted with a couple of free rods, reels, and a box of tackle - so I fancy giving it a go this summer. I've had a crack at some lure fishing in the channel between mumbles bay and middle head and in the channel between the lighthouse island a couple of times but I've had no luck at all as yet. So if theres anyone with a bit of local knowledge who's into rock fishing and fancies giving a nooby a few tips in Exchange for a pint or two then feel free to say hi. And if there's any other forum users who spot a bloke on a little red Bandit Streetfighter loitering around mumbles pier, that's me :-)     |
| #2 08-08-2010, 03:00 PM | |||
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| Re: Swansea nooby Hi Tobleton, Welcome to the forum! Try the Tutt there's sometimes a bit more there. Check out the posts from Squeaky! Oh an I'll say hi if I see you there! How do you manage with the bandit an rods????? LOL Steve |
| #3 08-08-2010, 03:31 PM | |||
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| Re: Swansea nooby Steve They are just crappy collapsible rods so they fit in my backpack (well the 10 footer does, not tried the beachcaster yet )- they are pretty poor quality to be honest but I'm not going to complain about a freebie :-) |
| #6 08-10-2010, 08:56 AM | |||
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| Re: Swansea nooby Quote:
There were definitely some bass about as I spotted a couple jumping, but all I got for my trouble was a couple of baby pout (in fact I'm pretty sure it was the same one twice lol!) |
| #8 08-10-2010, 01:46 PM | |||
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| Re: Swansea nooby The origional writer of this piece did give his permission for me to use this and a few pages as I see fit so here is something roughly related but not strictly about mumbles side of Swansea Bay but the other. Swansea Marina 2006 but mostly still valid Use this for hot spots from May/sept I am putting this up for anyone who may want to try for a Bass before starting work in the city! Its within a few hundred yards of the city centre, and it is a Bass mark if it is fished correctly! Heres the drill. Bass enter Swansea Marina in various ways, including swimming over the pontoon on highish tides. Once in the Marina, they tend to hang around as there is plenty of food whether its baitfish/crab'shrimp, or odds & sods chucked over the side of a millionaires gin-palace! You are unlikely to see them in the day, as its far to bright and busy: but they will be there! and as mentioned: there is plenty of food in that Marina to keep them going! Here are a few places around the marina with a few tips on how to catch them and where to do so: The Helwick Light Ship. Ok, as you drive into the Marina heading towards Rogers Tackle, you will pass the Marriot Hotel, and then as the Flats appear on your right, look left across the Basin and you will see The old Trinity House Lightship. Hang a U-Turn then take your first right up Trawler Road and pull into the turning area and park up. Before we go any further, they are under that ship, purely because it is a ship not a boat. The hull provides them with cover: Always think feature! You need to be fishing before first light. Noting that at this time of year it doesn't really get dark at all. Start at 1am if you like, but around 4am at the latest, noting that its broad daylight at 5am. This is the reason that I thought it may appeal to some city dwellers/workers before a tough day in the office! There are only two baits that work regularly. Live sandeels and pouting. Either of which need to be dropped under the hull! If you use sandeels: buy some from a tackle dealer the evening before and keep them in an airator overnight. Ask the dealer to also fill a gallon bottle with sea-water: keep it in the fridge, and change the water before you go to bed, and again when you rise. A Snowbee airator and bucket will cost around £15 in most tackle dealers and it won't leak in the car if you seal it correctly. You wont need more than a dozen eels, and thats around £3's worth. A better way is to catch some fresh pouting, just by the floating pontoon in front of the main lock-gates. At night/early morning, you can drive to within a few yards of the lock office by the lock-gates and fish straight down from there. Remember that Pouting feed at night, or in deep shadow. Pouting eat just about anything: and Bass eat pouting You catch live-pouting like this: Use a kiddies rod ( or a Exage ultra-light telescopic if your a tackle-tart like me ). Use a small fixed-spool loaded with something like 6-8lb clear mono. Take a size 12 freshwater hook, and pass the free-end through the eye just once: Then tie a simple overhand knot, so that the hook is secured directly to the main-line. Add a 1 ozs weight to the end, around 6 inches below the hook. Bait the hook with around 1cm of ragworm section: two ragworms should give you a dozen pouting, so you only need £2's worth to last several sessions ( keep them in a tub of vermulcite in the fridge and they will last all week.) A few harbour rag will work just as well! Drop the weight straight down until it touches bottom, then reel up an inch or two so that its just hanging there: hold the rod, then lift and wind as soon as you get a nibble, which should be within seconds. The hook direct to line is very important, as you need to lift the instant you feel a bite! Right: one way or the other you have your bait. The Light Ship is producing well at the moment, and don't underestimate what was until now a " Secret Mark. " I have had Bass to 5 pounds there during several pre-dawn sessions last week, and there are a few there much bigger! I will mention a few more marks briefly, where you can use the same methods. The first is around fifty yards down from the main lock-gates: I saw several Bass there this morning that were very close to double figures amongst the mullet shoals! Again don't bother unless its between midnight and 4am, if you try there at low-water use the live bait attached to 8ft of 8lb clear fly-tippet mono to a bubble-float attached to 12-15lb clear mainline! During higher water, use the 1/2 ozs bullet instead of the bubble-float! Another good spot for the bubble-float method, is over in front of the orange-pontoons, on the Port Tennant side around high-water during bigger tides, but not during daylight. The Bass will be there as they wait for the tide to cover the pontoon, which allows them to get into the Marina! You can drive down there throught the new SA1 (Old Dock) entrance, or cross the footbridge over the main marina lock-gates! If you fish under the hull of the lightship, or under the main road-bridge. Just use a 1 to 1 1/2 oz sliding bullet instead of the bubblefloat! Hold the rod at all times, and strike/wind the second that you get a tug! A few quick words in case anyone is struggling with mackies/garfish! The trick here, is to forget about tide heights, and fish during darkness or at first last light. By which I mean: don't fish when the sun is up for mackie if you want big catches on the West Pier. Though sunset isn't to bad, but pre-daybreak is far better! If you can get there around 4am you should catch as many as you like, and in fact low-water at the point is better than high: What is happening, is that the mackies spend the nights in the main channel chasing whitebait shoals. Therefore the fish are concentrated in the main channel. When the sun comes up around 5am the results will drop off sharpish. At such times ( Mid-summer nights) The best feathers are made from silver braid. You can buy the storm ones for around £12 for a box of twenty sets on ebay, but they are past their best once they unravel, so figure on a 60p trace per 100 macky session. The Mustad equivelant is around twice the price but they last longer. Either make will last much longer if you dab superglue along the braid before you fish them ( keep a bottle in your bag). By the way, a good way to keep your feathers is to scrounge a small foam cylinder from a florist. Secure the top and bottom with a map pin, and pop the cylinder into a plastic jar with a screw lid! You can keep around half a dozen of various types ready to use quickly using this method! After 5am, and as the water rises: you will find that pods of macky wander the marina hitting huge whitebait shoals. Sometimes the water will boil around 100 yards out, and sometimes at your feet as they are cornered against the pier. What I find best during daybreak is to cast into the boil wherever it is, and you normally get a trace full! The silver braided feathers are best, because they are the same colour/shape as the whitebait! Fishing into the river is better than the seaward side at the moment ( due to them herding whitebait shoals.) When the sun is well up, there will still be some good sport as the garfish move in and the mackys move out! Two good ways of catching these from high places: Use a string of Owner fish-skin Sabikis with around size 12 hooks. Attach a 2 ozs lead to the bottom and cast/retrieve the seaward side using a carp or heavy spinning rod. You get the sabikis from Veals, but standard Mustad shrimp rigs are nearly as effective especially if you tip them with a strip from a macky belly. Alternatively, use the carp rod with the lightest float you can cast ( one that supports a 1/2 oz bullet is fine - Rogers should have them if you forget ), Vary the distance to the hook from around 1 ft to around 8ft, until you find the best feeding depth! The reel line should be around 12-15lb. Use a size 2 drennan specialist carp-hook, attached to around 2ft of that 6lb drennan/kamasan fly-tippet mono ( just a couple of quid for a small spool ) and for bait: either use small live sandeels hooked just behind the eyes, or a small blue-pack ammo sandeel hooked the same way. Just as good is a small sandeel shaped sliver cut from the silver belly-section of a fresh macky. A sharp scissors will do a neater job than a knife. In a nutshell: mackies before sunrise out the end feathering into the river, and gars casting out in daylight seaward. Bass before dawn at the places mentioned! Any questions just fire away: Off now to get crab for tonight, and I thouroghly recommend fresh macky-fillets in a bun, with gooseberry jam as a tasty brekkers! |
