Was out early again to take advantage of the tides and the weather, but headed up north to Fishguard with the bait rods this time with the plan to fish the two hours up to high water.
Stopped off at the local Spar and raided their bait freezer for some mackerel and squid then made the long walk to the end of the inner breakwater, spotting an early summer visitor in the form of a male wheatear in the process. The sun was just starting to come over the headland, but it was still quite gloomy as I got comfortable on the concrete apron to the right of the beacon. Set up my bass rod with a one up, one down rig with size 2 hooks baited with mackerel strip and tipped with a bit of squid and lobbed it out into the bay.
Started getting fast, jabbing rattles as soon as the lead hit bottom and before I'd even put the rod in the rest! I knew that trying to strike would be futile, so sat on my hands and waited for the culprits to eventually hang themselves. It soon looked as if the pin whiting were still about in numbers as I had half a dozen in quick succession.
Spent the first half an hour constantly re-baiting in order to keep up with the voracious little buggers before I eventually got round to setting up the other rod. This one was lobbed out with a couple of mackerel fillets whipped onto a dongle on a size 4/0 circle hook on a pulley rig in the hope of something bigger. As the sun came up and it got brighter it seemed to put the whiting off and things calmed down a bit.
Wound in the big bait after 20 minutes to find that it had been completely stripped, so re-baited and sent it out to soak again. In the meantime I'd been getting slow pull downs on the other rod.
Wound down to momentarily feel a dead weight before the rig apparently pulled free, coming back with bare hooks. Happened again a few minutes later but this time the weight stayed on. Turned out ot be a spider crab hooked through a leg joint - no wonder my baits weren't lasting, what with the attention from the whiting and the crabs. Was therefore pleased when I eventually had a couple of doggies (or cat sharks to use the correct nomenclature) - like peas in a pod and both on the flapper rig rather than the big bait. High water came and passed and with it went the bites. To be honest I'd had enough of standing out in the freshening south-easterly breeze and the breakwater was getting busy with jogger and dog walkers, their various mutts intent on snaffling the bait off my cutting board.
Packed up just as the Stena Line ferry nosed into the bay and headed back home over the Prescelli Hills - no doubt I'll be back in the summer for the wrasse!
Cat shark my arse, they are doggies. It sounds like that mark is full of fish, and crabs, great fun. In my old sea fishing days the bites seemed few and far between.
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