27/05/2025 - Two estuaries, mixed fortunes

Took the opportunity to hook up with Joel Squires while I was down in Saunton. Cirumstances had prevented us from meeting last year and I was keen to build on the success of previous sessions. Exchanged emails beforehand and whilst Joel had only been out a few times himself this season, he had managed to find a few fish in his last couple of outings so things looked promising. 

After an 8 km paddle up the Taw estuary from Crow Point to Braunton and back with the lads in the morning I returned a couple of hours later to meet Joel in the car park.Got togged up and had a good natter as we walked over the dunes and down onto the estuary. Started off by fishing topwaters over the reef on the last of the ebb without a hint of a fish, so slogged back up the to the mussel beds as the tide turned. Was unusual to walk past a few bait fishermen on the way, which had Joel bemoaning recent social media posts about gilthead bream, smooth hounds and even tope showing up in the estuary, although everyone that we stopped and spoke to was also fishless. 

Out on the mussel beds we carried punching our lures out into the fresh breeze, but as the light began to fade the wind dropped and conditions seemed perfect. However, try as we might the fish were either not there, or just not interested. Nail in the coffin came when I had the mother of all wind knots in my braid after having carefully looked after it, checking it after each cast, all afternoon. Headed back to the cars a tad disappointed, but it had been good to catch up and we pencilled in some plans for later in the year. Fast forward to May Bank Holiday down in Pembrokeshire. 

Saturday was taken up with the mother-in-law's 80th birthday, including assisting the wife put on a surprise tea party up at the village hall with friends and family and then a massive curry in the evening. With plenty of brownie points in the bank I snuck off at 5.30 AM the following morning to the Cleddau estuary. With stiff westerley winds forecast all weekend I had my eye on an area just around the corner from Lawrenny that I thought would hold a few fish at high water and where I would hopefully find a bit of calm. However, I'd forgotten that it was the "Big Retreat Festival" and when I pulled up in the car I found a dozen middle-aged ladies enjoying an early morning wild swim, although it sounded more like an excuse for a chinwag. Got togged up in the chesties, said good morning and then headed a decent distance further up the bank. Was initally flat calm and looked perfect for topwaters. 

Started off subtle with a small Fishus Espetit, working it over the top of the eel grass and bladder wrack. As the breeze picked up and ruffled the water I changed over to a Patchinko 125 and carried on working the area in front of me. After a while the ladies left, but were immediately replaced by a paddle boarding class. Thankfully they steered clear of me and as they disappeared around the bend in the river I changed lures again to a larger Espetit in hot belly glass. First cast a fish slashed at the lure just beyond the edge of the weeds then came back for a second go, resulting in my first bass of the year. Carried on with renewed enthusiasm, but as the tide rapidly ebbed exposing the bare mud beyond the weed beds I figured that the any fish would now have disappeared for pastures new so headed home for breakfast. 

Despite the appalling weather forecast I was back again this morning, hoping that there would be an early window of calm before the storm. However, when I arrived it was already raining and blowing a hoolie, although this did mean that there were no wild swimmers to contend with. Decided to go with soft plastics this time because of the chop on the water and popped on a slender scoop shad on a 5g cheb rig. Spent an hour and a half covering some new ground in the wind and rain without any interest before making my way slowly towards the car. As I came around a slight corner I could see the area that I'd fished yesterday was a bit calmer and that the ebbing tide had started to expose the top the of bladder wrack. Decided that it looked "fishy" and was worth staying a bit longer, so started working the lure in clear channels between the weed in the hope that a bass might still be mooching about. 

Third cast the shad was taken with a thump and a fish took off against the drag of my Penn Spinfisher. Managed to get itself stuck in a clump of bladder wrack, but after I gave it some slack line it was out and off again. When I got it up onto the surface I could see it was a decent fish, so was glad when I eventually drew it safely into the margins - a nice fat bass of 55 cm that made everything worthwhile. Took a couple of snaps on the phone and watched him swim off strongly before carrying on. However, I was pretty wet through by now and starting to shiver with the cold, so decided to end on a high. Left me with a bit if a quandry of what to do on our final day in Wales - had planned to go LRF or trout fishing, but who knows now?!

17/09/2025 - Need to get my mojo working!

Suffice to say that I have had little or no enthusiasm to go fishing recently. Work has been particularly shite and has been sapping my energy, whilst life in general seems to be stuck in fast forward and I just seem to be hurtling from one day to the next. However, the first of two annual trips with friends down to North Devon offered some respite and a chance to break the cycle. 

The drive down on Friday was thankfully smooth and interrupted - an increasingly rare event on our over-crowded motorway network - and we were all safely installed in the bungalow by mid-afternoon. Rest of the day was spent catching up and celebrating my friend Craig's birthday with a home-made, three course, Italian meal washed down with plenty of beer and red wine. Was still feeling the effects when I snuck off early the following morning at first light and headed the short distance up to Ilfracombe for a couple of hours with the LRF gear. Pulled into the carpark overlooking the pier as the sun was coming up over the far headland and lighting up Verity. Could see that there was an angler already on the lower deck, so got my stuff out the boot and wandered down for a chat. 

Turned out he was targeting wrasse, fishing a whole, cooked prawn on a Texas rig straight down the side. Dropped in a bit further along and was amazed by the clarity of the water, probably the clearest I'd ever seen it. Got tackled up, baited up my mini two-hook flapper with bits of salted ragworm and dropped it down to the bottom. Had to wait a bit before I started to get some interest, however, my first positive bite resulted in a small, long-spined sea scorpion. Had a much larger one a few minutes later, but it was soon obvious that it was going to be slow going, unlike in October when it had been a fish a cast. There was decent swell pushing into the bay and as the tide came in it wasn't long before the waves started breaching the lower deck, pushing both of us up onto the steps and up onto the top level. 

My fellow angler left at this stage to try the rock ledges on the other side of the car park, whilst I dropped my rig down into my "pouting hole". Got a rattle on the rod tip straight away, but it wasn't a pouting but a poor cod that had snaffled the bait. Had another one soon after, followed by a tiny tompot blenny. Moved into the next "bay" between the pilings and had a pollack almost immediately. However, after no further interest I was soon back in the pouting hole. 

However, again it was a different species - a female corkwing wrasse - that took the ragworm on the bottom hook. My companion from earlier returned at this point and showed me a picture of a nice, orange ballan wrasse of about 3lb that he'd caught before being pushed off the rocks by the incoming tide. Had another corkwing whilst we continued to chat and look at some more photos of his previous captures but, despite the sun, the wind had really started to cut through me (it had only been 4 degrees Centigrade when I'd left the bugalow earlier!) so when my new friend headed off I decided to do the same. Have found that this time of year can be very hit and miss, having blanked completely on occasion.

Was therefore pleased to have had a few fish, not least so I had something to report upon my return to the bungalow. Hopefully on the bass next.

21/04/2025 - Treading water

Been in the doldrums ever since the river season finished. However, the Easter holidays gave me a chance to snap out of it, firstly with a trip to Exmouth for my godson's 18th birthday celebrations. Included in a packed agenda drawn up by his mum was a trip down to the marina with the LRF gear. 

Unfortunately, I had returned from Lanzarote in January having broken both tips of my much loved and abused Rock Rover - a combination of clumsiness and the unforgiving landscape! Contacted Tronix to find that they no longer carried spares, so I set about repairing them instead. The tubular tip was straightforward - a clean break that just required a spigot cut from the tip of an old float rod glueing between the two pieces and a bit of sanding and varnishing to finish. The solid tip had to be cut down to the tubular section so I could insert a Drennan quiver tip that I'd laboriously sanded down to fit. Fixed the eyes back on with shrink tube rather than trying to whip them on, then painted and varnished the whole thing. 

Was pleased with the end result - looked quite professional compared to my usual cack-handed efforts. However, the quiver tip I'd used was quite a bit softer than the original, so I was keen to see if this had made much difference to the action of the rod. After brunch we headed down to the esplanade and walked along the beach to the marina. The water that was flying out of the estuary was gin clear, but by the time we'd got to the slipway the flow had eased up and the water had taken on a distinctly muddy tinge. Set up a dropshot rig with a Decoy SG-3 baited with a small section of Gulp! isome. Started off by dropping this into any gaps between the rocks of the breakwater and into the pockets behind the pilings. 

Had a female corkwing, followed by a long-spined sea scorpion and a few shannies, some of which were full to bursting with spawn, before going to join the others on the slipway itself. They were amusing themselves by sight-fishing for shannies with lumps of prawn but after a bit I suggested we move and fish off the corner of the carpark, a spot that is usually full of tompots, wrasse and pollack. However, whether it was due to the clarity of the water or the level of the tide, we couldn't buy a bite between us. Tried one more spot, by which time the wind had started to pick up, but again failed to pick anything else up so headed back home. From Exmouth we headed across to Pembrokeshire to the in-laws for a few days. 

I had planned to do a bit of everything while I was there and had even dug out my fly-fishing gear. However, the weather had other ideas and it blew a gale and pissed down from Monday through to Wednesday, causing muddy water to pour off the fields and roads into the local rivers with the inevitable consequences and knocking any ideas of trout fishing on the head. Thursday in complete contrast was dry and sunny, although it was distinctly chilly when I headed off bright and early to Milford Haven for high tide. Got there to find that the water in the marina was the colour of coffee grounds and I could see that the lock gates were open onto the estuary, so feared the worst. However, just around the corner the clarity was thankfully much better. 

Had been and got some rag from County Sports in Haverfordwest the day before and it was small sections of this that I used on my mini-two hook flapper rig off the end of the pier. Didn't take long to start getting fast, pecking bites and I was soon busy wading through hordes of little corkwing wrasse, with a few miniature ballans and shannies thown in. The haven was equally busy with vessels, including the fire-fighting tug testing its jets, and at one stage the inshore lifeboat arrived to assist a small boat that was having engine difficulties. As the tide turned it started pulling a plume of dirty water out of the marina and past the end of the pier, so I decided to pack up and head home to make the best of the rest of the day, having had a total of thirty fish.

The forecast had indicated another, albeit brief, weather window the following morning. However, woke up to the rain hitting the bedroom window, so that was the end of that. Oh well, we're back in May. I'll see if I can be bothered to do something else in the interim!

14/03/2025 - A mixed bag to finish

Last week was spent aimlessly messing about, although to be fair the weather was all over the place - cold, gusty wind, bright sunshine, squally showers, sleet and even hail. 

Had a couple of hours on Tuesday soaking some cheespaste on the River Soar for a couple of hours. However, missed my one, proper bite while I was taking arty photographs of the sunset through the trees on the far bank! Then had another short session on the Trent near Beeston on Wednesday to check that the grayling were still there and worth targetting. Managed to catch one small one that at least answered the first question but not the second, which still left me with the quandry of whether to renew my club book or not next year. 

Therefore thought I'd play it safe for the last day of the river season so I booked onto a club section of the River Dove up in the wilds of Staffordshire. The club only allows two anglers on at a time, but I've yet to share it with anybody else and wasn't expecting to this time either, even at the end of the season. Grayling were the target, although the quiver tip also went in the rod sling just in case an opportunity for a chub arose. Had a leisurely breakfast before chasing my own shadow westwards on the A50 towards Uttoxeter in bright sunshine. Caught a glimpse of the river as I dropped into the valley and, as I thought, the banks were empty. Parked up the van, made myself a quick cup of coffee and then headed across the field to the river. 

From the top of the bank I was a bit shocked to see how low it was, the bottom clearly visible all the way across to the far side. Could also see that the gravel was covered with a snotty, brown filamentous growth of spring diatoms. My confidence having taken an early hit I dropped into the river and got down to business. Second trot down the run the avon disappeared and I was into my first, albeit modest, grayling. Confidence immediately restored I carried on, although I had to work hard for the bites, running the float as far downstream as my crap eyesight would allow and periodically taking a couple of steps further across the river to change the line. Had had a few small grayling along with the odd, nuisance brownie when I struck into something bigger that hung out in the current. 

Following a dogged fight I had a cracking dark male grayling in the net that went 1lb 4oz onthe scales. Popped him back and watched him swim off in the clear water, his dorsal fin waving in the current like crimson pennant - one of the best sights in angling. After finally exploiting the width of the river I moved downstream to the next spot. Had a couple of small grayling and a couple of spotties before hooking another cracker, also bang on 1lb 4oz. Looking at my watch I found that 4 hours had flown by, so decided to break for lunch having had a dozen grayling and 9 trout. Whilst the fishing had been relatively slow I'd seen no end of bird life including, two pairs of feuding dippers reinforcing their territorial boundaries, ravens, buzzards, a kingfisher, tree creeper, grey wagtail and a female sparrowhawk that flew straight downstream just past my rod tip. Back at the van I made myself a sausage and bacon cob and another cup of coffee and thought about what to do with the rest of my day. 

Decided to drive a short way downstream to a different club section downstream of Rocester where I'd had some success in the past and would also be in with a chance of a chub. Fifteen minutes later I was amazed to pull into an empty car park - where was everybody? Not that I minded! Made the long walk over the rig and furrow to the first swim, disturbing a little egret and a pair of lapwings in the process. Clambered down the steep bank to a small platform at water level to find a little pile of remains where something had made a snack of a signal crayfish judging by the red claws. Another angler appeared appeared on the opposite bank at this point. Like me he was after grayling and chub, but hadn't had anything all day despite trying several spots, including the run I was just about to fish. 

Not encouraging news and after a biteless half an hour, I moved on. Had a small grayling from a spot I'd not tried previously - a short run at the tail of a deep pool - before moving on again, dumping the majority of my gear in a swim where I'd had a few chub in the past. Managed to find a few grayling in the next spot, catching half a dozen in quick succession but nothing of any size, so with an hour of daylight left I headed back to my chub swim and got the quiver tip rod out, initially casting a black cap feeder full of maggots out onto the crease. After 45 minutes I was about to change tactics when the tip pulled round resulting in a chub of about 3lb that gave a good account of itself in the current. With the light fading, I took off the feeder and replaced it with a link leger with a big lump of cheese paste on a size 6. However, as the sun set on another river season I failed to attract any further interest, so packed up and made the long trudge back to the van. 

Ended up being a reasonable day out, but on the whole it's not a winter season to write home about for me. Oh well, there's always the next one and there's plenty to do in the interim!

08/03/2025 - Still struggling

Forecast for weekend was more May than March with a forecasted daytime high of 16 degrees on Saturday and a degree higher on Sunday, so a session had to be on the cards.  Decided on the Dove near Turbury, normally reliable for a few grayling.

The only possible fly in the ointment was the wind, and as it looked marginally less breezy on Saturday I got a pass out from the wife until lunchtime. Therefore got up nice and early and was heading West on the A50 as the sky was just starting to brighten in my rear view mirror. Parked up next to the river just as the sun appeared over the horizon, got togged up and then walked upstream through the low mist still covering the fields. There wasn't a hint of any breeze at this stage and the surface of the first glide that I dropped into was as smooth as a millpond. Had a nice grayling early on - a fat hen fish over the pound mark - but then had nothing else over the next hour, despite searching the length and breadth of the swim. 

Therefore decided to head upstream, but as I did so a lure angler turned up, so had a quick chat (always looking to gather a bit of intel) before leaving him to try the swim I'd just vacated. Followed the same drill in the next swim and had another nice fish and two smaller ones as I slowly made my way down the glide. My lure-fishing friend turned up at this stage and sat and watched me for a while he had a cup of coffee. Exchanged catch reports - he'd had a couple of jacks - before he headed off futher upstream. He'd only gone a couple of minutes when the float disappeared and I struck into a good fish that shot downstream. Unfortunately I never got to see it as there was an eruption in mid-river, the rod hooped over and then everything went solid. 

Whatever I had hooked had been in taken in turn by a decent pike that just sat holding station in the middle of the river. Every so often I felt a thump through the rod, but I could do nothing with it despite giving it full welly with the Acolyte and eventually the inevitable happened and the 3lb hooklink gave up. Felt a bit bad as I'd not only lost a good fish, but I'd served him up on a dinner plate for a hungry pike! Not surprisingly this killed the swim.The breeze that had been forecast was also now making itself felt, blowing straight upstream and making presentation so I decided to head back to my first spot. On the way I bumped into my friend - again, he' d got designs on the swim I'd just left - so I told him about my recent encounter and he hurried off with a nod of thanks and renewed enthusiasm. 

Had a few trots throught the first swim but again the stiffening breeze was proving problematic so, with no more bites fortcoming I started to walk back to the car. On the way I spotted a short little run down the nearside bank that was also sheltered from the wind, so dropped in for a couple of speculative casts just as a chap showing an expanse of arse crack plonked himself down in the swim directly opposite. Second trot down and the float buried, resulting in another nice chunk, which piqued the interest of Mr Builder's Bum. Next trot down the float disappeared again. Felt a fish briefly before it came off. Wound in to find one of the maggots had folded over onto the hook point. Doh! Not something you really want to happen on a day when bites are at a premium. Gave it a few minutes longer, but I was on borrowed time by now, so reluctantly headed off. 

Again, it had been hard work with just half a dozen fish in almost five hours. Running out of time to turn it around!

28/02/2025 - Hard going all round

Friday last week promised to be a dry sunny day with light winds, so I booked the morning off for a quick grayling session on the Derwent. Didn't reckon with the hard, overnight frost that had me scraping the car windows. 

I just hoped that it hadn't knocked the fishing on the head. Whilst it was fairly bright when I eventually left the house, as I descended into the river valley it became increasingly foggy and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees to below freezing. Got togged up in the empty car park and made my way across the footbridge, which looked like  a portal into another world! The river, however, looked spot on with just a hint of colour. Made my way upstream in the gloom, interested in seeing what re-modelling had occurred following the winter floods. However, apart from a couple of fallen trees it looked pretty much the same as twelve months ago. Dropped into the swim at the top of the section and sent the float down the run. 

After a few minutes I had my first bite but, after a couple of heavy thumps on the rod tip, what felt like a decent fish came off. After that bites proved hard to come by and after an hour in the swim I'd only had three grayling, including a baby not much longer than my forefinger. Moving downstream, the next two spots were complete blanks and so I found myself in a usually reliable swim downstream of the island with little to show for my efforts. The sun had burned off the fog by now and it had turned bright and sunny. Would this bring a change? First trot down the float buried and I had the first decent fish of the morning that gave a good account of itself in the fast flow. Thought my fortune had changed and that I'd dropped on them at last, but had another fruitless half an hour before moving on again. 

Headed to "the beach" downstream of the footbridge and found that the sand bar deposited last winter had disappeared and the swim was now slow, deep and boily, so carried on a little further to a nice walking paced glide. Again, had a fish fairly quickly but then it was back to scratching for bites and after one final fish I'd had enough. Unperturbed I decided to venture back on Monday afternoon with the remains of the maggots. Finishing off work as quickly as possible I was out the door for 3 PM. It was again bright and sunny when I arrived on the bank half an hour later but, in contrast to my last visit, the temperature was well into double figures and warm enough for me to dispense with my jacket.

With time limited I focussed on the swims I'd caught in last time but after an hour and a half I'd only had one small grayling that I'd somehow lasooed around the tail, so it didn't really count. Dropped into the last swim as the light was fading and managed just one more - at least it was hooked in the mouth. Left slightly perplexed and wondering where the hell all the fish had gone! With the pleasant weather continuing into the week I'd also booked Wednesday morning off but, not wanting to flog what was obviously a dead horse, I decided to follow up a lead instead.

Scott in Soar Tackle had mentioned seeing a big pike during a match on a local section of the River Soar so, after scraping 'round for a few deadbaits, I bought a day ticket online and headed off bright and early. The section in question was opposite some boat moorings, so started off putting a bluey into a gap between two barges and a lamprey down the nearside margin. After half an hour without a sniff I leap-frogged upstream and again put one rod over to the boats and the other down the side. 

After another 30 minutes I was contemplating moving again when the float over the far side started bobbing. Seemed to take an age for the fish to commit and eventually trundle off, but when I wound down I must have pulled the bait straight out of its gob judging by the slash marks on the flanks. Doh! Put it back out for a bit longer hoping for another chance that never came, so moved swims once more. As I was doing so a chap stopped and asked how I was getting on and mentioned that a 17 lber had been caught recently just upstream, so at least confirming I was in the right area. Put both baits out over the far side next to a floating pontoon and was again on the verge of moving again when I saw one of the floats bob and then move off. 

Gave this a bit more time and waited until it had built up a head of steam before hitting it but, even then, the resulting jack was only hooked in the nose by a single point of the bottom treble, which promptly fell out in the net. Tried a couple more spots after that, but had no further interest so headed home for lunch. Again, a bit disappointing despite the glorious weather and regularly being buzzed by at least three different kingfishers, probably more interested in each other than in me. At a bit of a loss what to do next! 

25/02/2025 - Beaten up on the brook

Went back to Lithuania at half term to catch up with the lad. Had a pleasant few days wandering around sunny, snowy Vilnius, visiting galleries, indulging in their cafe culture and eating lots of nice food. 

Even fitted in an impromptu cross-country skiing session that turned out to be great fun, if not hard on the arms and calf muscles. Temperatures had been below freezing every day, cold enough for round ice floes, looking like giant, frozen lily pads, to form on the River Neris that runs through the city centre. It was therefore a bit of a shock to arrive back at Luton Airport to find it was 16 degrees! Back in Nottingham my thoughts soon returned to fishing and how I could fit as many sessions on the rivers in the time left available. Looking in my work diary a meeting up at Ripley gave me another opportunity to drop in on the brook on the way home, so the tackle went in the car along with a new, "virgin" ball of cheesepaste, made at the weekend out of the Christmas leftovers from the freezer. 

With the days getting longer I didn't have to rush and was on the bank for 1530 hrs. Baited up a few spots with some bits of paste before fishing them back to the start. The brook was running at a nice level, with a greenish tinge, so I was confident of a few fish. Proved to be case as first cast in swim number one resulted in a greedy chublet. Missed a couple of tentative knocks before moving swim number two. Again, first cast down the side of a tree stump resulted in another chublet that I retained in the net as the swim looked too good just to hold one fish. 

Sure enough, his brother joined him in the net a couple of minutes later. Moved downstream of the tree stump and popped a bait over on the far bank crease. Again, within minutes, the rod tip nodded and pulled round resulting in another chub that, judging by the damage to his tail and gill plate, had survived a recent encounter with a feathered or furred predator. Things were looking good, so I was full of confidence as I moved into my "bogey swim" - one where I was yet to successfuly hook and land a fish despite getting several bites. However, weirdly I didn't have a single touch, althought the bait came back looking as if it had been attacked by something. Crayfish? My final swim was the pool downstream of the footbridge. 

If I was to catch a better fish it was going to be here. Put a fresh lump of paste on the hook, gave it a blob of "lava" and then swung it out into the middle. Again, the bite was almost instantaneous. Struck into a much bigger fish that gave me a glimpse of a deep, brassy flank on the surface before it bored headfirst into some over-hanging brambles on the far bank. Felt everything go solid, so slackened off and felt the line between my fingers. As soon as it started to move again I gave it full welly. However, everything went limp and my rig came back minus hook. Bugger. Re-tackled and gave it a couple of minutes before casting out again. A couple of nods on the rod tip and my strike connected with another decent fish that splashed on the surface before making a bee-line for the near bank. 

Tried to get an angle on it to stop it getting into the over-hanging vegetation but, sickeningly, everything suddenly went slack as the hook pulled out! Luckily any dog walkers had by now disappeared up the field, so they didn't have to listen to the string of expletives that coloured the air. Baited up again in the vain hope that it would be third time lucky, but as the light faded the rod tip stubbornly remained still. To add insult to injury it started raining, so I packed up and trudged back to the car feeling a bit crestfallen. Either of those fish would have easily been my best from the brook so far. Hopefully I'll have another opportunity to redeem myself, although I need the weather to behave itself for the next couple of weeks - not to rain like it's doing now!

02/02/2025 - Lanzarote round up

My friend Rob hit the big "60" this month and to celebrate a group of us headed off for some winter sun on Lanzarote. 

Our base was on the south-western tip of the island near Playa Blanca, so in the weeks running up to the trip I did some research on likely fishing opportunities, with Scott Hutchison's blog here being an excellent source of information. Along with the LRF gear I put in a heavier lure rod and some plugs and jigs to target the bigger pelagic species from the deep water rock marks, althought that would be entirely down to the weather and it was already looking as if it was going to be a bit windy during our stay. Caught the plane from Birmingham at 0900 hrs and by mid-afternoon we were unloading the hire cars at the Villa. Rest of the day was spent settling in, having a quick walk around the local area and then enjoying a few beers watching the sunset.

First morning we had a walk from the villa along the promenade past the lighthouse at Punta Pechiguera and on towards Playa Blanca. The view across to Fuerteventura was spectacular as was the coastline, which was being hit by a heavy swell driven by the north-easterly winds. About an hour later we arrived at the beach at Playa Flamingo, found somewhere to have a cold beer and a bite to eat and took stock of the surroundings. It was a lot more sheltered down at the beach, which is protected by two man-made breakwaters consisting of large rocks and concrete blocks. The arm of the breakwater to the right of the beach looked to be more accessible and provided access to some deep water over boulders. 

Therefore left the others to do some snorkelling and picked my way over onto a reasonably flat rock. Set up a "extended" drop shot rig (see here) with a size 10 wormer hook, baited up with a Gulp! angleworm and flicked it out. Felt it down onto the bottom and started jigging it back. Had a bite straight away and was soon re-acquainted with an old friend from a previous visit to the Canaries, an ornate wrasse, which was followed up to the surface by several of his friends. After about an hour I'd had two dozen, along with a couple of Canary damselfish and a solitary diamond lizardfish. At this stage my friends Rob and Stuart snorkelled round to tell me that they'd seen barracuda, parrot fish, bream and garfish at the end of the arm that I was stood on.

However, rather than risk breaking a leg on the first day of the holiday and with the wind and swell picking up I decided to walk back towards the villa and have a look at one of the big rock pools I'd spotted below the promenade. Made my way carefully down the cliff, dropped my baited rig into the deepest section of the pool...and immediately pulled out another ornate wrasse! Had a couple more followed by a damselfish before changing tactics and tying up a simple splitshot rig to sight fish what looked to be either blennies and gobies sat amongst some boulders in another part of the pool. Turned out it was both as first cast I had a rockpool blenny that was followed by a Madeiran goby, a new species for me. 

Caught half a dozen of each before some rather large waves started breaching the rocks and swamping the pool making it decidedly dodgy to hang around, so I headed back to join the others for dinner - some nice thick tuna steaks grilled on the BBQ. The next day we had an explore of the local area, firstly climbing up and around the volcano that we could see from our villa, Montana Roja, before going on to the salt pans and black sand beach at Salinas de Janubio. 

From there we headed to El Golfo to see the green lagoon at Playa de Los Clicos, before heading into town for a cold beer and a plate of grilled limpets (if eating fish-flavoured rubber erasers is your kind of thing!). Suitably refreshed it was back in the cars and onto Los Hervideros to watch the massive swell smashing into the headland. The following day was as equally full on as for Rob's birthday we drove up to Timanfaya national park. The coach tour around the incredible volcanic landscape was well worth the 20 Euro entry fee and the casual way that the driver threw his vehicle around the corners within inches of viscious looking outcrops of jagged lava provided extra excitement! Suitably entertained we had lunch cooked over a hot air vent before jumping back in the cars and heading back down south to Playa Papagayo.

What we hadn't reckoned with was that access was via five kilometres of teeth-rattling dirt track. However, the stunning white sand beach backed by high cliffs certainly made up for it. Whilst the beach was quite busy with sun worshippers I spotted a track going off to the right and after scrambling down the rocks I found myself perched above a deep gully with a sandy bottom. Starting by casting a Savage Gear Psycho Sprat into the deeper water and then jigging it back parallel to the side of the gully. Third cast I had a confident take resulting in a small Atlantic lizardfish. Had a couple more of these before I let the lure stray too close to the rocks and got snagged up, losing it in the process. 

Switched to Gulp! on the dropshot rig, but this only resulted in one ornate wrasse after another with just the odd damselfish to break the monotony so, after getting snagged up again and losing my rig, I headed back to the beach to see how the others were getting on. Could see shoals of mullet and the odd garfish amongst the swimmers and Rob reported seeing several types of bream near the rocks fringing the bay. However, whilst we were outside of the prohibited period for fishing off Spanish beaches, the additional rule of not fishing within 150 metres of swimmers and divers made me reluctant to chance my arm and risk the wrath of the locals. Therefore contented myself with a quick explore instead before we headed back to the ranch to continue Rob's birthday celebrations. 

The following morning I was up at first light and back down on the rocks near the villa where I found an even bigger rock pool immediately below a large cave that looked like somebody's temporary dwelling judging by the clothing and other items that I could see. Casting my dropshot rig into the deepest section and slowly jigging it back it was a bite a cast. Unfortunately it was virtually all ornate wrasse again and in less than an hour I'd had 28 of the buggers, together with 3 damselfish. 

Rather than use up all of my Gulp! I headed back for breakfast, although I couldn't resist sight-fishing for a couple of rockpool blennies on the way. After breakfast we headed up north again to to walk around Volcan El Cuervo, a virtually perfect volcanic cone, the smooth sides broken by a single gash where molten rock had spewed out to create to surrounding lava field. As a bonus we were treated to the sight of a Barbary falcon hanging in the wind before it stooped into the crater. After that it was on to the caves at Cuevo los Verdes, not actually caves but part of a lava tube formed by molten rock forcing its way out to the sea. After the best part of two days in the car we decided to stay local on the Friday and we all walked to Playa Flamingo again. 

Rather than venture out onto the straight away I made my way onto some flat rocks at the bottom of the headland to the right of the beach. Somewhat inevitably it was the usual wrasse and damselfish that greeted me, so it wasn't long before I was picking my way along the breakwater anyway. Took the dropshot rig off and clipped on a Psycho Sprat intending to give it a proper go with the lures. The wind was coming over my right shoulder, so I was able to cast into the deeper water with ease. After half an hour of thrashing the water I'd only had one small lizardfish to show for my efforts. However, with my interest waning and the thought of a cold beer becoming more and more tempting my lure was suddenly taken with a thump by something that immediately took off at warp speed, bending my HTO Rock Rover double and making the clutch of my reel sing. 

The next 5 minutes were extremely hairy and I expected the braid to snap on a rock at any time as the fish tore up and down alongside the breakwater. Thought it might be a bonito, but as it tired and came up to the surface I saw it was a small jack. I'd not bothered bringing my net, but could see that it had been nailed in the corner of the mouth by the assist hook so swung it up onto my rock at the first opportunity. With a distinctive black stripe over the eye I later identified as an almaco jack, another new species. Unhooked him and then watched him shoot off before carrying on with renewed enthusiasm. However, with just one more small lizard fish to show for my efforts I switched back to the dropshot rig. More ornate wrasse followed and I was on the point of giving up when out of the blue I had a colourful Madeiran rockfish. 

By now I was really in danger of being cut off by the incoming tide, so I quickly packed up and went to join the others for a beer and a plate of fried calamari. On our last full day the consensus was to have a day chilling by the pool. However, I decided to walk along the coast to where a partially built and now abandoned hotel overlooked some large rock pools. The swell that had been bashing the coast all week had significantly reduced and and along the coast I could see a few locals spinning and floatfishing from the rock ledges below the cliffs.

When I got back to the villa I found that a few of the others had gone to check out the other local beach at Playa Dorado. A bit later my friend Jason sent me a picture of the breakwater, which looked far more accessible than the one at Playa Flamingo, so I quickly had a bite to eat, jumped in the hire car and headed over to join them. Was kicking myself that I'd not checked this spot out earlier in the week as halfway along the breakwater the rocks gave way to deep water over sand that looked ideal for putting out a bait rod. Instead I tied on a Psycho Sprat and starting casting out into the open water. Second chuck the lure was taken on the drop by what felt like a small fish, but as I wound it in closer the rod suddenly hooped over. Spent another 5 minutes frantically trying to keep the culprit from cutting me off on the rocks, but eventually saw that I'd hooked a massive Atlantic lizardfish that presumably had sought to make an easy meal of whatever had initially taken my lure.

Popped him back and carried on for a bit, but after no further interest switched over to the dropshot rig. This resulted in a few, much smaller lizardfish before I started getting small, pecking bites and the Gulp! angleworm came back looking like a string of beads. Had an idea of what was responsible and a couple of casts later this was confirmed when I swung in a Guinean pufferfish. Had another soon after, but then got snagged up and lost my rig. I'd gone through virtually all of my drop shot leads during the holiday, so took that as a reason to call it a day. We certainly enjoyed our stay on the island and I had managed to get a few, short sessions in and catch plenty of fish. 

However, the wind and swell had made it impossible to to get out onto the rock marks with the lure rod and I had to content myself with dabbling with the LRF rod in the sheltered spots. The lack of variety of fish was a bit disappointing as I was hoping to add to my tally of bream species, but at last the almaco jack and Madeiran goby were new to me. Cheers Lanzarote!