Mini monsters make my day.

Its pouring with rain as I write this latest blog and that long hot start to the summer seems a long time ago as the grip of autumn begins to take hold. Of course with the weather becoming less predictable it is inevitable that boat trips will be cancelled, this Fridays hunt for mega conger aboard Kevin Mckies huge charter boat Size Matters was such a trip. The forecast for strong westerly winds and heavy rain is not the best recipe for a long haul trip, where precision anchoring is critical to a successful trip and in my mind this was a good call by the skipper. With the trip off, both Chris and I needed another option for the day, I looked at my dwindling list of targets, the tides and the strong winds, opting to target a couple of the mini species that have so far eluded me. The two fish I needed were the Tompot Blenny, the bigger cousin of the infamous Blenny Henry and the deadly sounding Short Spined Sea Scorpion, a small fish with the look of a dragon. My initial thoughts were to go straight to Plymouth and fish a few of the sheltered shore marks that are largely protected by the breakwater, Chris was keen and that was the plan. I messaged mate Nick Smith to see if he wanted to join us, and knowing how good he was with targeting the mini species, his experience would be invaluable. Unfortunately Nick wasn't able to join us but we did discuss various other options that would be better with the storm that was forecast, however I decided to go with the original plan and head for Plymouth. Chris picked me up in the popemobil but he needed to be back by 18.30 as his boys band had a gig that evening, this would work out well as high tide was 16.20 and that gave us 6 hours fishing. The mark we arrived at was a large carpark bounded by seawalls looking out to Plymouth Sound, Nick had advised me it didn't fish well over low water and would be better 2hrs up to high water. The area was well sheltered from the wind and the sky was blue with the great yellow orb shining brightly, a perfect day, however looking across to the pier at Mountbatten we could see the waves crashing against the rocks, a different world. Chris reversed the car towards the railings and when the up and over boot door was raised we had a perfect shelter to fish from the back. I had opted to bring my freshwater quivertip rod and fish a two up 1 down rig created from an old sabiki rig, this was light snoods sporting size 12 hooks and the feather material removed. I baited with king rag section and dropped the rig over the edge of the railings and into the water that was only a couple of feet deep at this stage of the tide. We had decided to try here for 20 minutes which could have been a mistake as the mark fishes best with more water in front of it, however as I tightened down on the rig the fine quiver tip shot down and I had a fish on instantly. The little fish kicked to show it was indeed attached and the great thing about this sort of fishing you never know what will turn up, and that's not revealed until they swing in over the railings. This turned out to be a lovely little Goldsinny Wrasse and the last time I fished this mark was during the conger festival and on that evening I had landed a Goldsinny for the challenge. This wasn't on my list this time, but as with all wrasse, they are all uniquely patterned and can be quite stunning.

With the first fish in the bag it heralded a pretty non stop session and the baits were hit as soon as they touched the bottom, we missed plenty as the superfast rattling takes cleared the soft ragworm in seconds. The 20 minute deadline passed and neither of us wanted to move to another mark and leave feeding fish, Nick had informed me that the two species I wanted do get caught from this mark so it was just a case of fishing through the other species. I decided to cast out onto the sand about 30yds out to see if there was anything different from the Goldsinnys that were at the toe of the wall in large numbers. The bite took a little while longer out on the sand but after 10 minutes the tip trembled as something discovered the baits, I struck and wound in to see a small goby of some description. This turned out to be the Rock Goby, a species' I had already had when I fished at Ilfracombe Pier with the family, still great to see these little guys.

Chris also managed a Rock Goby his first ever so that was great news for him, its great to get so excited over these great little fish but there is another undersea world going on where these mini fish really are kings. The water was rising with the incoming tide now pushing in strongly, I decided to try tight to the wall again, as I was sure this would be where the Tompot Blenny would be found. As before the bite was instant but this time the fish gave a great little scrap so typical of a stocky little wrasse, sure enough a stunning Corkwing wrasse was swung over the rail.

The wrasse had a huge Sea Louse stuck to the corner of its eye, I quickly removed this parasite that feeds on the fishes mucus and blood, that was my good deed done for the day, hopefully I'd get rewarded for that act of mercy. I've caught a lot of wrasse with red sores on them and I guess it could be these type of parasites doing that sort of damage. Chris was then hooked into something decent as his rod hooped over and for the second time during this challenge year he landed a fishing reel, the previous year he was letting the sea take them from him.

Just a shame all the gear he salvages is a load of tat, but I'm sure whoever fishes out, his lost rod and reel will think the same. He did get to keep the lead weights that were attached to the barnacle covered mess, so that at least made him smile. The wrasse were on the feed and both Chris and I were on the receiving end of a couple of good Ballan Wrasse taking us to ground, eventually taking the hooks in the process. I did manage a couple of smaller Ballan's including a stunning dark fish, once again proving the diversity of the species and their colouring.

Chris decided to go up to the end where a stone platform jutted out further into the sea, at this point there sat a decaying set of steps that Chris felt could produce something different. The end was occupied by a group of youths who in-between casting their sets of feathers thought it hilarious to dance and balance close to the edge of the wall. When Chris returned having seen enough, he informed me the group were drunk and still drinking, total dimwits who not only risk their own lives but the lives of others. With the tide came hordes of tiny whiting and at first they were confined to the sand 30 yards out but soon they moved in with the wrasse and became a real pain, quickly snaffling the pristine ragworm.

With no sign of either of my target species I was starting to get itchy feet, there were a ton of marks within an easy walk and as much fun as the wrasse were I wasn't here for them. We decided to give it 10 more minutes and I started readying my kit for some hiking, a little bite tight to the wall though resulted in the fish I was after and a cracking Tompot Blenny made me very happy, species 67.

With the photos done and half of the target achieved we were keen to stay where we were and finish the session off on this mark, there after all was still time to winkle out something special. The tompot is a really cool looking fish with its bug like antennae making it appear to be a fish / insect hybrid, if they grew to a 200lb they would be man-eaters, they have a rather aggressive disposition. It turned out that the little rockweillers had moved in to take control of the bottom of the wall and once I dropped back down the bait was ambushed by more of these bolder bullies, and now they were in gangs.

I had tried several times for these great fish and I was making the most of getting amongst them and so I continued to catch them while they fed so aggressively, I even had one take both hooks.

So the Tompot Blenny was well and truly out of my system, I now needed to try for the rarer scorpion fish, a fish I've never ever seen, all I knew was they had been caught at this mark and they were very predatory. I decided to try twitching the bait across the bottom in the hope it would instigate a predatory reaction, it did but from the wrong species as a Corkwing Wrasse pounced on it.

Then it was grabbed by another rock goby which for a second fooled me into thinking it was something I hadn't had yet, these little fish come in so many shades and colours that a positive id can sometimes be tricky.

So all my plans for the scorpion had so far failed and we both decided we couldn't end our session on a tiny whiting, and I changed my rig to a single size 6 long shank baited with a small whole ragworm. Chris had done the same and managed to catch his final fish which was a nice size corkwing wrasse, I had put my bait, danger close, at the foot of the wall where it was quite snaggy. With the high tide nearly upon us and everything packed up except my rod, the fat lady was about to sing, I picked up the rod and twitched from the bottom and it was instantly hit by some minor assailant. I wound in the last fish of the trip and clearly my kind deed of removing the parasite had impressed Neptune so much he gave me exactly what I wanted in the final seconds of the trip, a Scorpion fish. Both Chris and I were equally excited to see this little water dragon, its armour plated head complete with dragon ears and if it had blown a flame from its mouth I wouldn't have been surprised, species 68 in the bag. The scorpion was small, but they don't grow huge it had however managed to engulf the whole ragworm in its initial strike, I have put on a number of pictures as I just love the look of them and photos just don't do them justice.

That was a great way to end the session and what a great 6 hours fishing it was, I even managed a couple of prawns, one Chris used for bait the other I stepped on in my excitement!

Thanks Nick for all the tips and advice, also Chris for driving, getting the bait and for sharing the excitement of that little dragon, great memory's and at least with your latest recovered reel, your tackle value has doubled! I have just found out that the second of my conger trips has been cancelled and fortunately I have had a few eels this year but I guess the new P.B will have to wait until next years trips. I have said it before during this challenge, but since starting in January I have gained huge respect for the mini species that I previously wouldn't have given a second glance too. Hopefully I have highlighted via my pictures and blogs just how amazing our inter tidal species really are, colourful, alien, and thriving, all the more reason to tread carefully and replace what you move, when next visiting the shoreline. Next week is my penultimate shark trip ,down at Penzance and this will be Chris's first and last shark trip of the year ,so hopefully things will improve on the sharking front and we will get a few. I am not even going to say what I am secretly wishing for but starting to think ive used all my neptunes favours up. Stay safe if your by the water this weekend, and tightest of lines anglers.