04/06/2023 - A couple of "mini" sessions

Opted for a trip over to Milford Haven on Saturday morning after some "minis". The tide necessitated another early start and the sun was only just climbing above the town as I arrived  just before high water. 

Whilst it promised to be another cracking day, it felt distinctly chilly out on the end of the pier due to the brisk north-easterly wind that was blowing down the estuary. The water again was gin clear and I could see balls of tiny, pin-head fry carrying out synchronised manoeuvres beneath my feet. Set up the usual scaled-down two hook flapper made up with size 16 Drennan widegapes and baited it up with chopped-up sections of prime, farmed ragworm purchased from J & M Tackle in Pembroke Dock the day before. Dropping it down the side of the wall I started getting rattles on the rod tip almost immediately. Took a while before I eventually started connecting with the culprits - hordes of tiny corkwings, with the occasional and equally tiny, emerald green ballan wrasse. 

Moving to a different part of the pier didn't help as they were everywhere, although I did have a single shanny, followed by a rock goby, dropping down the side of the steps. Was distracted momentarily by an eruption of the surface as a cormorant emerged in the middle of big shoal of smelt. Watched them as they fled back out into the main channel, moving far too quickly to be interested in my bait, hastily jigged through their midst. Carried on snagging little corkies in the hope that something bigger would turn up, but nothing did. The only further highlight was when I heard the call of a bird of prey and looked up to see a peregrine flying past the end of the pier with what looked to be an unfortunate pigeon clasped in its talons, possibly breakfast for a nest of chicks. 

Decided to go and get some sustenance myself at that point as I was pretty cold after a couple of hours stood out in the wind, despite being kept busy and catching nearly fifty fish up to that point. Stopped briefly at the head of the marina to see if there were any mullet cruising and then headed to Costa for the now customary coffee and bacon roll. Consumed them sat on a bench overlooking the haven with the sun on my back before heading back to see what the wife had planned for the rest of the day.

Was in two minds the following morning. Had thought about popping over to Fishguard and putting a rod down the side of the breakwater for the wrasse. However, ended up hedging my bets and headed for Hobbs Point instead. 

I knew that my time would be limited to fishing over slack water, but as we were heading back to Nottingham later I was only up for a short session anyway. Cleared up the remnants of somebody's takeaway from the previous night (apparently getting out of their car and walking a few feet to the bin was too difficult - knobs!) before making my way down the old car ferry ramp. Was just coming to the end of the flood, but in contrast to the clear conditions at Milford the day before the water was full of what looked like suspended snot. Dropped a two hook flapper baited with whole rag down the side to fish by itself, while I messed about trying to catch a few more minis. However, bites were slow in coming and it was while before I got some initial interest from, you guessed it, a small corkwing. 

This was followed by a few rock gobies, but it was a bit of a struggle with the bigger baits being completely ignored. When the tide started ebbing about 45 minutes later and ripping along the wall I moved onto the pontoon around the corner where the flow was a bit gentler.

 

First drop down I was surprised to get an instant take from a better male corkwing, which was followed almost immediately by an extremely fat female. The flamboyant males build ball-shaped nests of seaweed in crevices between rocks in the spring and then entice a female in to lay her eggs, so I had possibly rudely disturbed Mr & Mrs Corkwing during their nuptials!  Lost another one that snagged me in the weed and then had a couple more males. These were followed by a couple of small ballans, before my little hotspot dried up and I decided to call it a day. Overall the  lack of variety over the two sessions had been a bit disappointing, but I suppose it's been a bit of a funny year so far weather-wise and things have yet to properly warm up. 

Certainly seemed that way when we got back to Nottingham in the evening to find the temperature about ten degrees cooler! Oh well, not long before I can get the trotting rod out again.