SunnyRhyl.com

Splash Point - May 2006

Come on in and say hello!!!!!!!

Sunny Rhyl Sea Fishing Forum

Occasion - Rhyl Specimen Group Reunion
Venue - Bangor Pier
Tide - Low to High
Time - Night
Date - 29th November 2008
Bait - Lug, rag, sandeel, mackerel, whiting and squid
Report - Tony Lever

“Rhyl Specimen Group 2008” and what a load of specimens we are, old gits in silly hats comes to mind.

Tony, Robin, Barry, Andy, Allen, Gordon, Brian, Phil and Paul.

When we arrived at the pier, it appeared that someone had pulled the plug out of the Menai Straits; there was a distinct lack of water. Still we all set up and cast in, within 5 minutes we were into fish. rockling, whiting, and doggies. From then on it was non stop action right through. There were reports of coalies and plaice being caught off the pier, but we didn’t see either, I think if we could have got past the whiting and doggies we might have had a chance.
At the moment the whole coast must be alive with whiting. We used big baits, small baits and I’m sure even artificial baits would have caught.

Barry set up a whiting as live bait and fished close to the pier. He had couple of decent knocks but nothing hooked. He persevered all night but no luck; on the other hand his other rod was non stop doggies and whiting. It was the same for all of us right through the session to the point were we lost count of the number of fish we had. It was bait up, cast out, reel in remove fish, replace bait, cast out, reel in, remove …… etc, etc, etc.

We estimated that between us all, we caught in excess of 200 fish.
2/3rds of the whiting were of decent size

As a night fishing venue the pier is quite good, £36.00 for the whole pier, up to 36 anglers, or £12.00 for 12 anglers, but up to three parties allowed at any one time. You can fish anywhere you want, and as long as you want. The pier is well lit, but you a can take pressure lamps, excellent for keeping your hands warm. They even keep the toilets open for you (which is good news when you get to a certain age). Also there’s a trolley available big enough to take loads of tackle.

With Christmas looming and family commitments it will probably be into New Year before we all get out together again, not like the old days, when we would have thought nothing of fishing Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

A Micro Codling - Splash Point, Rhyl - April 2006

Venue - River Mersey
Date - 30th November 2008
Duration - 6 hrs
Bait: Frozen Lug, Frozen Squid
Boat - Billy Bouy
Weather - Frosty
Report - Mark Banham

The reports of late for Mersey Cod had not been encouraging, & with the tide on the big side, 29 .8 ft, it was the good forecast that finally swayed it.

Up before dawn I was greeted by a thick blanket frost & with the temp showing -2.5 on the dash board, I headed to Bills house , the skipper for today aboard his boat Billy Bouy.

We were greeted by almost perfect conditions as we ran along the front at New Brighton. We quickly launched the Boats & headed over to Seaforth. With the Anchor holding steady & the up-tiders holding fast, the wait began………………….

Paul who was fishing in another boat along side decided the tide was too much & headed up river to fish at the Vents, he returned later with just 1 whiting for his efforts.

The tide was now ripping through the river mouth but it didn’t seem to bother the Cod as Bill connected with the first fish of the day, a nice 7lb Cod soon surfaced at the side of the boat & before the hooks were removed his second rod was nodding, a Codling of 3 1/2 lb followed.

It was now my turn as I connected with a Cod of 4 1/2 lb & then we lost another fish due to tackle failiure .

It was now time to get the Bacon & eggs in the pan as we had worked up quite an appetite.

It went down a treat as we watched the tankers sailing by. One more Codling followed for Bill before we called it a day.

Paul had now returned & managed Codling of 3 & 5lb to add to his Whiting.

Total Catch for 2 boats

7lb Cod
5 lb Cod
4 1/2 lb Codling
3 1/2 lb Codling X 2
3 lb Codling
1 1/2 lb whiting

Del The Tope - Kinmel Bay - September 2006

2 Rods - Kinmel Bay - November 2006

Turbot - Kinmel Bay - October 2006

Venue - Llandudno Pier
Tide - Low to High
Time - Night
Bait: Fresh Lug, Frozen Mackerel, Frozen Squid

Another collection of like minds.
I joined Del The Tope, Mags, Notbad, Spaceman, Simon and Richie to fish Llandudno Pier on a freezing cold evening.

The first problem was how to defrost the bait!!!!!!!
Not easy. Short of sticking a few Mackerel fillets in my pockets, it was a case of softening up within a clenched fist.
This worked, but with no feeling now left in my fingers, I was unable to feel hook points pricking my fingertips whilst baiting up.
Luckily the pain was only apparent on the drive home after half an hours thawing out

I set up next to Mags Simon and Notbad landside of the bar.
I setup 2 rods.
One dropped down and the other cast out.
My £5.99 Cash Converters bait trap was loaded with Mackerel and Squid and dropped down.

My rods were soon twitching.
The Whiting were here in numbers.
The 4 of us were into the action immediately.
Singles, Doubles and Triple headers were coming up at a great rate.

On the other side of the bar, Del The Tope was playing the waiting game with his trademark big hooks and big fish baits.
He was quiet though.

By the cafe, Spaceman and Richie were notching up Whiting, Dabs, Rockling and Scorpion Fish.

Richie was having a battle with some big fish with sharp teeth!
He hooked into some ‘monster’ on 4 occasions. Each time his scratch rig was returned minus a hook
It was starting to get personal!
Richie will be returning armed with some heavier gear.

Back over our side, Simon had found hole that was producing triple headers of Whiting every drop.
On the other rod, it was Dab City.

Mags had a Pouting(or was it a Poor Cod) for a change.

I had a 3 Bearded Rockling.

Meanwhile I hauled up my bait trap for the first time.
The contents included……..
Numerous Velvet Swimmer Crabs, 1 Pouting, 1 Rockling, 1 Prawn and a good sized Edible.

On the rods, again it was Whiting alround the Bar.
Notbad had been busy all night.

Another check in the bait trap resulted in a few smaller edibles and the 3 biggest Whiting I had caught all night.

Del’s patience at the back wasn’t rewarded tonight.
He might be trying Richie’s spot next trip.

Elsewhere on the pier, reports were of more of the same. Nothing massive, but enough Whiting and Dabs to keep everyone busy.

By now, my Fresh Lug was frozen!
Time to call it a day and head off to warmer climes.

I’d had 15 fish, Notbad, Simon and Mags must have had over 20 each.
Another great session at a truly magnificent venue.

Happy Days!!!

Kite - September 2006