SunnyRhyl.com

Warrior - Feb 2006

Venue - Prestatyn
Date - 27th June 2009
Duration - 11 hrs
Bait: Fresh Lug, Fresh Mackerel
Boat - Clueless too

I joined mark onboard Clueless too for the day.
Top of the agenda today was Tope!

An early start had us launched and drifting through the North Hoyle Windfarm for Mackerel by 6am.
With the Macky onboard, we found a likely spot and anchored up.
Big baits deployed and time for breakfast, Clueless too style!!!!

Bites were far from instant. Infact, I put down a scratch rig to keep me occupied.
Which it did!
Whiting, Dabs and Doggies were coming up 2 and 3 at a time.
A few Tub Gurnards and severel Weevers made for a bit of variety.

The first action on the big baits fell to Mark.

A good bite but no run signalled that the targeted Tope were still to show.

Next best thing though was a Huss.

And so it continued.
Lot of Huss on the big baits and non-stop action on the small hooks.

With the lack of Tope, we decided a move was in order.
Simon on Suveran II kindly gave us a hot mark.

We headed off.

Yards away from the hot-spot, we spotted the Tope-Meister Generel himself, ‘Del The Tope’!
A great sign!

If Del’s here, then the Tope won’t be far away.

Within minutes of dropping down, Mark had a cracking run!
This one didn’t develop.
Next up was my Conolon.
Another run and the same result.
And so it went.
Baits stripped and hooks thrown.

It was as exciting as it was frustrating.
Thoughts were slowly turning to Pizza Hut’s new Tuscan range.

Getting ready for the off, I threw an uneaten Chicken Tikka Bap into the sea for the gulls.
It drifted 20yds behind the boat and before my very eyes a large Tope jumped 2 foot clear of the water grasping my packed lunch in its mouth!!!!
Amazing!!!!

With such a visual image, we had to drop down again.
It didn’t take long for the next run.
This time the hook set and off it went for a 2nd blast.
I was down to the backing before I could assert some form of control.
The long haul back was occasionally interrupted with small diving runs but generally she came in quite easily.
At the side of the boat, Mark lifted her over and then the fun and games began!
With more teeth than your average Bee Gee, my sandals and shorts left me feeling somewhat over exposed to this powerfull fish.

After a while, she calmed down enough to be held up for a quick photo opportunity before being returned.

Not weighed but estimated at 20-25lb.

With the Tope box ticked, my Tuscan was going to taste a whole lot sweeter tonight!

Just to add to the occasion, a pod of Porpoise joined us for part of the trip home!
Incredible!!!

Happy Days!!!

Venue - Kinmel Bay
Tide - Low
Time - Day
Bait: Live Shrimp

Todays big tide meant that in theory, a good cast may get close to the drop off.
400yds West of the Trolley, Smoothound was the intended target.

With flat calm conditions and armed with a pair of Speedo’s, I was able to wade out the best part of a hundred yards.
A clipped down Pennel streamlined things and I gave it my best shot.

Simon was fishing too.
With an enviable pendulum cast, he outcast me without even getting his feet wet!!!!!!!

I had a few casts without interest until I finally had a good knock.
A right good knock actually!!!!!!

I ran for the rod and in doing so caught sight of a cheeky bait digger giving my line a good tug!!!!!!
Git!

That was to be the last bit of excitement for me.

I left Simon to fish the tide further in.

Happy Days!!!

It occured to me the other day that I have not transferred a link to the fishing videos from the .co.uk to this .com site.

Most are as originally edited, although some have had new soundtracks due to copyright issues. A couple have had the sound muted by Youtube for similar reasons.

A new one will appear here every Sunday for the forseable future.

Here goes………………

Sunny Rhyl Review 2008

Venue - Holyhead Breakwater
Tide - Low
Time - Day
Bait: Fresh Rag, Live Shrimp, Fresh Mackerel, Crab, Frozen Sandeel

Our trip on Suveran was a casualty of a strong North West wind, so Sinbad, Headwyn and myself headed to Holyhead Breakwater for some species hunting.

With the Breakwater offering great shelter from the wind, and the sun beating down, it made for a comfortable session to say the least.

Small hooks were used for the most part.

Bites were instant from the off.

Sinbad was busy with a good variety.

Countless Corkwings and lots of Ballans

Shore Rockling

Sea Scorpion’s

Tompot Blenney’s

I’d had my fair share of Corkwings as well good numbers of Ballan’s.

Most fish fell to Ragworm. I was doubting the effectiveness of the Shrimp seconds before a right royal rod-bend was about to restore my faith.

I lifted into the bite and was convinced I was snagged. When the snag started taking line, I knew it was game on!

The result was a PB Ballan.

Weighed in at 3lb 9oz

Headwyn was trying all tactics to secure additional species. Mackerel, Crab and Sandeel whacked out from the end proved productive.

Pouting and Pollock added to the variety.

A couple of Doggies got his rod bending.

As a retrieval method up the 40ft wall, all I can say is don’t try this at home!!!!

In addition, we had a Mackerel baited bait trap down. This accounted for loads of small fish and the occasional Spider Crab. Frustratingly from a species point of view, today’s elusive Goldsinny and Rock Cook Wrasse were accounted for in the trap.

Between us, the rods accounted for 9 species. A great result from a vanue that is rapidly becomming a favourite.

Happy Days!!!

Venue - Rhyl
Duration - 8 hrs
Bait: Fresh Lug, Frozen Mackerel, Fresh Mackerel
Boat - Jensen II
Skipper - Simon Parry

I joined a group of lads from St Helens for a wonderful days fishing in flat calm conditions.

There was a good amount of species landed.
Loads of good sized Mackerel, Tub and Red Gurnards, Herring, Launce, Dabs, Whiting, Bream, Pouting, Codling, Dogfish and Bull Huss.

A great days fishing with a great bunch of lads!

Happy Days!!!

Venue - Rhyl Hydro
Tide - Low
Time - Day
Bait: Fresh Lug

With Splash Point currently out of bounds due to Gill Nets, The Hydro was tonights venue of choice.

A few casts passed without incident.

Until…………………..

With no noticeable bite and a standard re-baiting retrieve, I notched up a new species.

According to ‘Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore’ it was a Broad Nosed Pipe-Fish.

Nothing tonight was going to eclipse this.
Even Notbad’s Bass had to take 2nd place!

My first Bass of the year and my first Pipe-Fish ever!

Happy Days!!!

Venue - Kinmel Bay + Rhyl Marina Wall
Tide - High
Time - Day
Bait: Fresh Lug

Kinmel Bay over high has produced on the odd occasion for me. Sadly not for a while though!
As many will tell you, persistance is the key.

I fished two rods armed with Fresh Lug on 2 and 3 hook flappers.

Conditions were calm with a gentle surf and an Easterly wind.

With little to show for a couple of hours over high, clearly more persistance is required

Time for some light relief in Rhyl Harbour.

If it’s bites you are after, try flicking a baited hook over the rails of the new harbour wall.

Unfortunately all the bites I had were from crabs. My bait was stripped with seconds!

Time to head home via KFC!

Fillet Burger with Cheese,
Large Fries,
6 Hotwings

A ‘Fairziff Special’ just added to another fine day by the seaside!

Happy Days!!!

Another Rhyl Sunset - 7th June 2009

Venue - Rhyl
Duration - 5 hrs
Bait: Fresh Lug, Fresh Mackerel, Fresh Prawn, Peeler Crab
Boat - Suveran II
Skipper - Simon Parry

With the vast array of species available to the Rhyl Charter boats, the toughest part of each trip is deciding what to fish for.

The weather transpired to cut our scheduled 8hr trip down to a 5hr. The decision was made to head out and try for some general fishing with the hope of a Bream or 2 followed by an inshore mark targetting Smoothound and Bass.

With pan-sized Dabs and Whiting in abbundance, the bites were non stop.
The Mackerel were about in good numbers too.

The targetted Bream did show. No great size for us but reports of 2lb+ fish showing this week.

Lots of Tub Gurnards, a few Doggies and a couple of Reds made for a bit of variety.

Todays best dressed prize went to Simon. With more hats than Cilla Black, todays choice was a cracker!

With the first few hours passing by in the blink of an eye, it was time for a change of tactics inshore.

Single hook 3/0 traces replaced the scratch rigs from the previous mark.
Fresh Lug was used to target the Bass, Prawn and Crab for the Smoothies and Mackerel for anything else.

With Fresh Prawn on, Paul was first in with a bit of a rod bend.

A Starry Smoothound was a signal of things to come.

Having had a few decent knocks on his Mackerel baited rig, Headwyn (Yes Headwyn on a boat!), landed a surprise baby Tope.

Not to be outdone, I followed suit with it’s twin brother.

With no action on the Fresh Lug, attentions shifted back to the Smoothound.

The Bass eluded us today but a couple of bonus Tope made up for that.

Time to head in after another wonderfull day onboard Suveran II.

Happy Days!!!