02/08/2026 - Metal magic

A combined birthday and anniversary celebration involving several pints of Wye Valley Brewey’s excellent "Butty Bach" put paid to any ideas of a morning session yesterday. I was a knackered after the previous two early mornings anyway, so enjoyed the lie in instead. 

The plan had been to go wrasse fishing up at Fishguard and I very nearly headed there this morning, but having woken up shortly before 0500 hrs for some reason and not able to go back to sleep I decided to head to the estuary at Lawrenny for a bass session. Got there just after first light, the sun just starting to illuminate the mudflats, and drove down to the quay. The tide was already a couple of hours into the flood and I had therefore intended to bump soft plastics in the flow in mouth of the side channel. 

However, as I got togged up I could see a lot of bird activity out in the main estuary, so walked up to the breakwater for a look. A flock of gulls were diving on a shoal of bait fish and there was also the occasional strike from beneath.  Whilst all of this was happening some distance out of casting range I thought it would be worth a punt, so clipped on a 17g chrome Slingshot “surface iron” that I had recently purchased from Lures Edge. Whacked it out as far as I could and started retrieving it close to the surface. Within a few turns of the reel handle it got whacked by a small bass that punched well above it’s weight in the current. From that point onwards it was constant action with the lure getting smashed as soon as it hit the water. 

By the time that the birds and presumably the baitfish had finally drifted away an hour and a half later I’d had 27 schoolies, all like peas in a pod. Whilst it had been great sport, with about an hour left to high I upped sticks and went to a spot higher up the side channel to try and find a bigger fish. Worked a Savage Gear slender scoop shad around the clumps of bladder wrack in the hope that a big mama would come nosing in after an easy meal. However, it wasn’t to be and I was eventually pushed up against the wall by the incoming tide. I couldn’t really complain having just had my most prolific bass session so far. It had certainly been a case of being in the right place at the right time. 

I just wondered if a heavier lure would have given me enough distance to get right amongst the action and possibly the bigger fish. Oooh look, they do a 26g version. Where's the credit card......

25/08/2023 - Estuary blues

Whilst we'd already had our main summer holiday in France, I'd got enough leave in the bag to be able to have a few days in Wales either side of the Bank Holiday. The weather forecast leading up to our departure had been all over the place, but it looked as if we were going to be in for some cool, windy, unsettled weather. 

Tides were not ideal either as we would arrive in the middle of some very small neaps. However, the bass and LRF gear went into the car along with everything else anyway. First morning I was up at 5 AM to get down to the estuary for low tide. The forecast had been for light winds, but as I got out of the car I could hear the sound of stays pinging against yacht masts in the breeze. Got the waders on and walked down to the water's edge, the dropping tides evidenced by parallell lines of seaweed and various bits of flotsam and jetsam. 

The wind was coming over my right shoulder and riffling the surface of the water, but around the corner in the lee of the quay it was nice and calm and looked spot on for some surface lure action. Therefore started off with a Fishus Espetit, with a teaser fly on a dropper tied on with a water knot about three feet up the fluorocarbon leader. Second cast I'd just started "walking the dog" when there was an eruption just in front of the lure as a fish snatched the fly. Played it all the way in and was just drawing it into the shallows when it came off! The angle of the light on the water had prevented me from seeing the fish the clear water, so consoled myself that it had just been a little 'un from the lack of significant resistance. 

Thought this might have been a good sign, but despite working the area hard over the next hour I had no further takes or follows. The tide was pushing in now and the new digital display on the quayside had started ticking over as the water level began to rise. Swapped the lure for a shallow diver - a Megabass X-120 - and started making my way against the tide up to the mouth of the inlet. However, despite thrashing the water for another hour, I was still fishless when I reached the point. Despite it being a small tide, there was still a decent incoming push and the mullet (some huge ones judging by the distance between their dorsal and tail fins!) were now taking advantage of this, flaunting themselves as they made their way to who-knows-where further upstream. 

Snipped off the teaser and swapped the lure for the normally reliable Savage Gear V2 weedless eel and started bumping the bottom in the flow. My enthusiasm was waning now and when the lure became irretreivably stuck in the rocks I called it a day. The following morning I was up early once more, but headed further up the estuary to a spot I'd noted on one of our walks where another inlet (known as a "gut" in these parts) joined the main channel on a sweeping bend. My theory that it could hold fish at low, slack water seemed to be confirmed as I walked down to the water. 

The margins were alive with mullet, pushing right up into the shallows to feed. Therefore started with an Espetit in a mullet pattern to "match the hatch", again with a teaser tied in above it. On only the second cast the water exploded and I found myself connected to a fish, albeit very briefly as it ran straight into a big clump of bladderwrack before I could react and came off! Had fleeting visions of deja vu and missed chances, but was rewarded a few casts later with a schoolie that stayed attached. There was more surface activity now that didn't look mullet-related and casting into the general area I started getting bangs and knocks on the rod tip, before hooking another bass on the Espetit that was barely hand-sized! Had four more of these ambitious little buggers on both the surface lure and the teaser, before I swapped over to a Megabass X-120 in an attempt to get away from them. 

However, this didn't work as on the very next cast another tail nipper hung himself on the end single. Luckily I wasn't frustrated for very much longer because they seemed to clear off as quickly as they arrived. Unfortunately so did everything else as the action completely died a death! Half an hour later the wind that had been coming over my shoulder suddenly changed direction and starting blowing stright into my face. When I felt the first few spots of rain I looked up to see the far bank of the estuary greyed out, so decided to hot foot it back to the car, only narrowly getting to shelter before the heavens opened. So a a difficult and disappointing couple of mornings, but at the very least it was more information added to my expanding file on bass fishing. 

This was added to further by a subsequent trip to the local tackle shop where I was told that a 10-pounder and an 11-pounder had recently been caught and released at Lawrenny - now they really would put a bend in the Nebula!

02/06/2023 - a bar of Welsh silver

Flashed down to Pembrokeshire with the wife for a few days at the end of half-term. Proved to be a good decision as we left a cold, grey Nottingham on Thursday morning to be greeted by blue skies and bright sunshine a few hours later. 

As usual I'd packed enough tackle to cover a range of eventualities, including a new bass lure rod - a 9', 7 - 35g HTO Nebula - that I was keen to put a bend in (well, new to me anyway - second-hand, but in mint condition and a bargain off eBay at £80). Therefore headed down to my usual estuary mark at Lawrenny just after dawn on Friday morning. Whilst I would normally fish the first couple of hours of the flood, tide times dictated that I would be fishing the ebb instead, so it was a bit of an exploratory trip for that reason.

The water was gin clear and the shallow, flooded margins were as smooth as a millpond, so I started off by working a surface lure - a Fishus Espetit - over the top of the clumps of bladder wrack hoping that a bass was waiting in ambush. However, by the time I had worked my way along the length of the beach I'd not moved or even seen a fish. Standing on the old quay wall I tried a couple of casts out into the main estuary. However, the first flush of the ebbing tide was bringing loads of floating weed downstream, fouling the line and forcing a change over to sub-surface lures. Over the next hour or so I worked through a range of patterns - both hard lures and soft plastics - with absolutely no interest from anything until finally arriving at the old faithful Savage Gear weedless sandeel. 

The estuary had really started to empty out now and there was fair old rip whizzing past. Casting the sandeel upstream I let it hit bottom before bumping it back with the flow. Had done this a few times when I felt the satisfying thump of an aggressive take through the braid. Let it dog around in the clear water testing the rod before drawing it into the shallows. Wasn't huge, but it was nice and plump and in mint condition. Quickly unhooked him and sent him on his way and then carried on with re-newed enthusiasm for a bit longer. However, that proved to be my lot, but at least I'd avoided the blank and christened the new rod. Took the long way home, popping into J & M Tackle in Pembroke Dock for some ragworm before stopping off at Hobbs Point for a bottle of seawater to keep them fresh. Tide was well out by now, but there was a chap fishing off the pontoon so went down for a chat. 

Turns out he was after the mullet, legering breadflake with a string of freebies pinched on above the lead, "washing line" style. He seemed to be getting plenty of interest judging by the rattles on his rod top, but the crafty beggars appeared to be good at avoiding the hookbait. Left him to it, but not before obtaining a few more tips and adding another potential quarry to the list!

18/08/2022 - A purple toe and some baby bass

Headed down to Amroth with the wife after returning form Milford. Taking advantage of the low tide we walked the length of the beach and around the headland in the direction of Marros. 

However, whilst trying to keep track of a seal bobbing around just offshore I smacked my bare, right foot into a rock sticking out the sand. Hobbled back to the car and by the time we got back to the house the top joint of my middle toe was completely numb and resembled a red grape! The next morning it was still swollen and had become a deep, port wine colour. As there was little or no pain I could only assume that it was just badly bruised rather than broken. It certainly wasn't painful enough to stop me going fishing. 

I therefore set off to Lawrenny at first light with the bait rods to fish the flood. Arrived just as it was brightening up and, apart from a few plaintive cries from the juvenile gulls wanting breakfast, it was completely silent. Plan was to fish with a two hook flapper baited with rag on one rod and a running leger baited with crab on the other. However, when I unwrapped the latter I found that the soft backs that the tackle shop had given me had obviously started to harden up before they had been frozen. Made mounting them on the pennel rig a bit more difficult but with use of the scissors and plenty of elastic I eventually had a bait that I was happy with (and hopefully the bass as well). Popped both rods out into one of the gullies running down the beach, dropping the baits onto the crease formed by the incoming tide, and sat down to wait. 

About an hour in I had a big pull down and immediate drop back on the crab. Picked up the rod and wound down into a fish that was already steaming off upstream towards Creswell Quay. However, after a few seconds everything went solid as it presumably went through a clump of weed. After a bit of alternate slackening off and pulling the rig came free minus fish. Despite the disappointment (and a few expletives) I saw that as a good sign that there fish about. 

However, that turned out to be my one and only chance as I fished the next 3 hours all the way up to high tide without another bite! The only other excitement was when a peregrine came ghosting in low over the water, causing a flock of seagulls to scatter in noisy alarm. 

Not to be outdone I returned this morning, this time with the lure rod. Arrived a couple of hours after low to find it was dull and overcast and the wind had switched round, blowing straight up the inlet from the main estuary. Found a bit of shelter in the lee of the sea wall and started off by "walking the dog" with a topwater over the shallows, but bits of weed coming in the with the tide kept fouling the hooks and killing the action of the lure. Therefore switched to my favourite X-130 in sardine. Waded slowly along the beach towards the point and was eventually rewarded by a thump on the rod tip, resulting in a schoolie bass not much bigger than the lure! Carried on, chopping and changing lures as the water clarity changed, and had another schoolie on an X-130 in candy. 

On the point itself I changed again to a Savage Gear sandeel, the extra weight required to get the lure down in the current, which was now ripping past the old wall. Allowed the lure to swing round, bumping bottom, before retrieving it back along the crease. A few casts later another thump on the rod tip resulted in one more schoolie, although it felt a lot bigger in the flow. The weather had turned pants by now, black and overcast and gusty. I'd also got fed up of being hit in the crotch by the wind-blown chop, so headed back home for a coffee and a bacon sarnie. Might have a rest day tomorrow - can't cope with two early mornings in a row at my age! I've also had a tip-off about trigger fish that I might follow up on the right tide (thanks Dave!).

24/08/2021 - Pembrokeshire Part Six (A bass at last, but not for me!)

Failed dismally to catch a bass on lures last time we were in Pembrokeshire at what is usually a reliable venue, so I was keen to try and make amends. However, rather than artificials again I decided that I would try bait fishing this time, so duly made a trip to J & W Tackle in Pembroke Dock for some worm. 

Plan was to fish the last couple of hours of the flood on the estuary at Lawrenny, which meant a 0530 hrs start. Our lad James was with us this time and, whilst he normally wouldn't surface from his pit much before mid-day, to my amazement he agreed to accompany me. The beach at Lawrenny is steeply shelving at the top, but then levels out with a far gentler slope out to the main river channel. Breaking the beach up are a series of shallow gullies that certainly looked to me as if they would act as both food traps and natural funnels for any fish coming up the estuary on the flood. On my last lure-fishing trip at low tide I'd lined each of the gullies up with landmarks on the near and far shore, so I could be sure of landing a bait in one of them if we arrived nearer high water. 

The small neap tides of the last trip had also been replaced by some big spring tides that I hoped would push the fish further up the estuary. However, it also meant that the water level was already well up the beach by the time we arrived and the gullies were submerged, so I got to put my plan into action. Set up a one up, one down rig with each hook baited with a couple of the bigger worms and cast it out as far as the crease formed by the incoming tide. 

Felt the lead hit the bottom with a satisfying clonk that meant that it was lying in the gully and not in the weed and then settled down to wait. Passed the time chatting with the lad, spotting mullet and watching a couple of cormorants work the shoreline further down the beach. 

Saw several little egrets flying upstream, along with the usual oyster catchers, curlews and other waders. All in all a very pleasant morning, particularly as we were now in glorious sunshine and there wasn't another soul about. The lad also got to try out his plant ID app on his phone, finding the rather unimaginitively named "seaside sand plant" then discovering that not only was it edible but that it had an aftertaste reminiscent of capers! Two hours therefore passed very quickly with just a few rattles on the rod tip from small stuff, an occasional check on the bait and a couple of moves up the beach ahead of the advancing water level. By this time there was only a couple of metres of beach left in front of the sea wall behind us and we were now contemplating packing up. Bent down to start clearing up to suddenly hear James shout "Dad!" and then see him grab the rod, which had been in the process of flying off the tripod and out into the estuary had he not intervened!

He confirmed there was a fish on, so I let him carry on playing it into the beach. A couple of minutes later we were looking at a small, but very welcome bass. Popped him back and then carried on with renewed enthusiasm that lasted approximately another ten minutes, an earlier promise of eggy bread and bacon being too hard to resist. Two bare hooks also suggested that the local crabs had switched on, so confirmed it was time to go.

Went back to the venue the next day, not to fish but just to have a look what it looked like on the corresponding spring low tide. Rather than the exposed bed being full of the additional features we had hoped for, I was shocked to see how barren it appeared. However, on closer inspection the bed of the river channel was covered in shellfish - mussels, winkles, dog whelks and even some small native oysters that we threw further out into the channel away from any less responsible members of the public.

Made me think of the elusive gilt head bream that are meant to be present in the estuary and whether this would be a feeding area for them, but that could be a path to madness! 

Talking of which, a trip out on the SUP on the last morning of our trip explained to a certain degree where all the mullet go. Often when I've been lure fishing for bass at low water large shoals of mullet would swim past me, lazily heading upstream on the incoming tide to who knows where. Taking advantage of the last hour of the flood I therefore launched at Lawrenny and had a quiet paddle around the little creeks and bays upstream where I spotted loads of mullet over and amongst the beds of seagrass. Another area they seemed to like were the old barge channels dug to serve the limestone quarries at West Williamson. Unfortunately this piece of information doesn't make them more catchable, quite the contrary. 

Anyway, I've got a hot bass tip to follow up next time we're down!

02/08/2021 - Pembrokeshire Part Three (Bass blanks!)

Lost the first of the days that I'd planned to go bass fishing to Storm Evert. Had gone to bed the night before with the rain hammering on the canvas roof of the camper and woke up in the the morning at stupid o'clock with the rain still lashing down and the wind blowing a hoolie, so stuck my head back under the duvet. 

On Saturday morning the conditions were a lot better, although it was still grey, overcast and breezy. Drove down to my estuary mark near Lawrenny just after first light not knowing what to expect and it wasn't until I was down at the low water mark that I was able to judge the impact of all that rain. Wading into the shallows my boots disappeared from view in the murky water before I was up to my knees, so visibility wasn't exactly brilliant. Coupled with the wind and the chop the conditions weren't brilliant for lure fishing full stop, but I thought it would at least be an opportunity to try out the new Savage Gear weedless sandeels, so started off with the 22 g version in white pearl silver. Had a few wind-up casts to wet the braid then started punching it out into the wind that was blowing straight in my face. Certainly cast like a bullet and on a straight retrieve it had a nice, tight wriggling action......much like a sandeel not surprisingly! 

Worked my way methodically down the beach towards the point, casting every couple of steps. As I did so the tide started pushing back in and the water clarity started to get a bit better, so I swapped to a sandeel in a more natural green and silver. However, it was to no avail as I ended the session fish-less. I was still impressed with the sandeels, my only gripe being that after just a couple of hours bouncing them off the rocks and mussel beds the paint on the jig head was already very chipped.

Was back again on Sunday morning to find that conditions were far better for fishing hard lures and possibly even for nicking a bass off the top. It was still overcast, but with just a gentle breeze that was now coming from over my shoulder and that was barely causing a ripple. Water clarity was also much better, so started off with my favourite combo - an IMA Skimmer with a sandeel fly teaser tied onto a short dropper a couple of feet up the fluorocarbon leader, together giving the impression of a predator chasing a small fish.

Proceeded to "walk the dog" up to the sailing club pontoon and back, casting short initially in case anything was mooching about in the shallows. However, by the time the flood had started I hadn't raised anything on the surface lure, so swapped it for a Megabass X-130 and carried on working my way down to the point. Travelling in the opposite direction now was a procession of mullet, lazily finning along with the current with their backs exposed, some real lunkers amongst them (I've yet to discover where they are actually going!). I was therefore hopeful that a bass might be amongst them. Had a couple of definite "fishy" rattles and at one stage saw a micro-schoolie shoot off the bottom and make a grab for the teaser, but I still reached the point fish-less. I therefore snipped off the fly and replaced the X-130 with a soft lure, alternating between a Snowbee stinger shad and the Savage Gear sandeel. 

Stood on the point casting them across the current and letting them swing round, bumping bottom before retrieving them against the tide. However, despite ringing the changes and covering loads of water I again ended up with a blank. Walked back to the car a bit dejected as I've never failed to catch at this venue before and wondering whether the large input of freshwater into the upper reaches of the estuary due to Storm Evert a couple of days ago had been a factor. All of this left me in two minds whether to return on Monday, but with it being the smallest tide of the week and with this possibly being another influence, the duvet won again! However, still ended up down on the estuary a bit later for a walk culminating in a very nice crab sandwich and a less-than-local pint (depressing given the number of craft breweries there are in Pembrokeshire). I feel a wrasse session coming on now so better sort out some bait!

29/08/2018 - Summer sea round up

Signed up to the Sea Angling Diary project a while ago, not only to provide myself with a bit of an incentive to get out and do some fishing, but also to put back into the sport and to help provide accurate information about the impact that recreational angling has in the UK. You only need to look at the recent restrictions placed on recreational bass anglers and the subsequent acknowledgement that this was based on poor data to realise what importance such a study could have. A few days after signing up on-line I received my pack, which included a fishing log, a handy fish ID guide, a tape measure and instructions for logging catches using the dedicated web tool. August saw two family trips down to Pembrokeshire, so a few sessions were duly planned to fit around the prevailing tides. What follows are the diary entries for those trips - some more successful than others!


02/08/18 Hobbs Point, Pembroke Dock, -0.5 hrs HW +1.0 hrs. Grey and overcast with drizzle. Fished off the pontoon using a two hook mini flapper baited with bits of raw prawn. Had loads of rock gobies (as usual!) and a solitary, male corkwing wrasse. 

Lost three rigs to something that either broke me off or dived into the kelp and snagged me.  Did spot, but failed to tempt, several large mullet under the pontoon. A target for another time. Popped into Raven Trading just as the bait digger arrived with that morning's freshly dug haul of ragworm. Result!

03/08/18 Milford Haven wall, -2.5 hrs HW +1.0 hrs. Grey and overcast with showers. Had been warned that the harbour authorities were getting a bit zealous and had been kicking anglers off for "anti-social behaviour", so set up to the left of the mackerel landing stage and well away from the lock pit. Fished a double mackerel fillet at range on a pulley pennel rig hoping for a bass or a doggie and a two hook flapper rig baited with ragworm closer in for anything else. Got to high water with no interest in either, so fished down the side with the LRF rod with a mini two flapper baited with scraps of ragworm to relieve the boredom! Had several corkwing and ballan wrasse, pollack, shannies and a surprise silver eel (an addition to the species hunt) before my stomach called time and I headed home for breakfast.

 



















04/08/18 Cleddau Estuary, Lawrenny Quay, LW +4 hrs. Sunny intervals with a light, changeable breeze. Had sorted out my gear the day before to find the tip ring on my lure rod had broken off in transit. However, a quick trip to see John at Raven Trading saw that easily rectified and at minimal cost, much to  my relief. Started by fishing weedless, soft plastics over the slack water period without any hits, before switching to hard lures as the tide picked up. However, I was only able to manage just one small schoolie on the usually dependable Megabass x120, so got the bait rod out for the last half an hour. Fished a two hook flapper baited with ragworm out on the crease and had bites straight away, resulting in two more schoolies. Saw a huge shoal of mullet topping at the mouth of the inlet. They all moved upstream past me in procession as the tide turned, presumably heading for their (as yet unknown) feeding grounds.


05/05/18 Cleddau Estuary, Lawrenny Quay, LW +1.5 hrs. Bright and sunny. Planned to fish with lures again. It was very still and calm when I arrived, so I opted to fish on the top. Set up an IMA salt skimmer with a sandeel fly on a dropper three feet up the leader as a "teaser". Fishing around the moored boats I had seven strikes in quick succession, which I converted into five schoolies - two on the teaser and three on the skimmer. Was building into a great session before I was called away to deal with a family crisis.


25/08/18 Fishguard inner breakwater, -0.5 hrs HW +3.5 hrs. Sunny intervals with a brisk westerly breeze, so fished off the right hand side of the breakwater, drifting float fished mackerel strips around over the kelp in the hope of a pollack, wrasse or garfish. Saw a grey seal catch and eat a large mullet a bit further along the breakwater and wasn't too chuffed when he later popped up right in front of me although from the way he barked at me I don't thnk he was pleased to see me either! After a couple of hours I'd had nothing on the float, so got the LRF rod out and switched to fishing angleworm and fish strips on a mini two hook flapper down the side instead. Had several small pollack and a tiny little poor cod, which was at least a new species for the year, before packing up. Still haven't really got to grips with the venue. It always looks more promising than it actually is, but I'll be back again in the Autumn to for codling and whiting.

26/08/18 Saundersfoot Harbour inner wall, -0.5 HW +1.0. Overcast with a stiff, offshore breeze. Had been looking forward to having another go for the garfish at this venue for a while. Arrived in the early evening just before high tide to find a few people already set up on the inner wall, including John and Jay from Raven Trading out species hunting. Was less impressed to find that the sea was very coloured due to the high winds we'd had earlier in the day. Set up the float rod anyway with mackerel strip and fished bits of prawn on a mini two hook flapper down the side of the wall. Had two shannies, so at least avoided a blank, unlike everybody else around me! There was a brief moment of excitement when John spotted a fifteen spined stickleback on the surface, but even this had disappeared by the time he'd set up a rig for it. Not a session to remember!


27/08/18 Hobbs Point, -0.5 HW +1.0. Overcast with strong westerly wind blowing straight up the Haven. Nearly turned around and went home. Had planned to have a go for the mullet under the pontoon, but it was so choppy it would have been like fishing off a boat! Fished a two hook flapper down the wall instead baited with whole raw prawns for a bass, pollack or wrasse and a mini version on the LRF rod, again baited with scraps of prawn for the mini-species. Bite detection was a bit difficult because of the wind. However, the rock gobies were obliging and I managed nine of these and a single pollack before I'd had enough.

In summary, I didn't really set the world alight this summer, but I suppose that's reality and not Youtube! Looking forwards, apart from the sad and tragic family event that cut short my first trip down to Wales, we received the happier news that my lad had passed his A-levels with flying colours and confirmed his place at Exeter University's campus at Falmouth to do Zoology. 


Whilst it's a flipping long way, it will hopefully open up a whole new world in terms of venues and species. First trip will be in September via Exmouth, so fingers crossed! 

19/02/2017 - Early season species hunting

Half-term saw us Wales-bound once more and with it my first opportunity to cast a line in saltwater in 2017. I had decided that, despite my obvious handicap of living in the East Midlands and nowhere near the sea, I would join a species hunt this year. Twenty looked a reasonable target, based on what I've caught over the last couple of year plus a few new, targeted species that I've not fished for before, such as flounder, bream and a couple of the other goby and wrasse species. I was also keen to try out my birthday present - an HTO Rock Rover travel rod. I duly joined the World Sea Fishing Forum Species Hunt 2017, printed off my card and was raring to go.

Unfortunately the weather had been cold and wet prior to our arrival, so first trip down to Pembroke Dock for high tide I was met with a murky, coloured sea and another angler's rubbish (there's a tackle bin ten feet from the top of the steps, you knob!). Had set myself a target of five species for this holiday - pollack, coalfish, rock goby. black goby and common blenny - but still saw this as achievable despite the conditions.

Set about seeing what I could winkle out using isome, angleworm and raw prawn fished dropshot-style or on a scaled-down "two up, one down" rig. I was pleasantly surprised to catch a couple of pollack fairly quickly, both on pink isome. However, things were very slow after that and I struggled until a switch to prawn brought a solitary rock goby. Again, I was surprised that there weren't more of these around as come the summer you won't be able to get away from the things!

With the tide starting to run out again, that was first session over. However, it had a sting in the tail because, as I bent down to pick up my tackle box, I felt the all-too familiar stab of pain in my lower back. Don't know whether it was standing in the wind for an hour that did it, but by the time I got home my back was in spasm.

Next morning, suitable reinforced with one of the father-in-law's back braces, but still in pain and hobbling like an old man, I headed to my shanny "hot spot" on the estuary at Lawrenny.

                                                                                                                  The tide was still flooding in over the top of the old quay, so I waited for it to slacken off before dropping a bit of prawn tight down the side of the wall. Again, in the summer this would have been met with an instant response, but on this occasion I had to wait for a few minutes before the solid tip of the Rock Rover registered any interest from below. However, it was at least the species I had come for. 


Only managed to add one more after that. Had a few casts with a Savage Gear sandeel to see if there were any pollack or coalies about, but to no avail, before limping back to the car. Contemplated trying the weedy margins on the way for a common or sand goby with a splitshot rig, but it was too murky to spot anything, so decide to leave that for later in the year. 

Following day I hobbled back to Pembroke Dock. The sea looked a bit clearer and it was a bit warmer, so more pleasant for me although it had probably done nothing for the sea temperature. Managed a few more pollack from the off, followed by a couple of rock gobies. However, didn't look as if I was going to add to the species tally when I had a little tremble on the rod tip. Had a nice surprise when a tiny long-spined sea scorpion appeared on the surface. Switched to the sandeel again when the tide started running in the hope of a coalie, but drew a blank. Still, whilst I'd not quite managed to get the exact species I was after, I was off the mark and in the hunt and already looking forward to Easter when I'd be back again!