Multiple trips, seatbox slips & portions of chips.

The Autumn seems to have arrived early this week with a huge full moon bringing the first frosts and it highlights the speed of this years passing, it just doesn't seem 5 minutes ago I was putting on the frost prevention screen. This has also signified that the summer fish species will soon disappear and that I have missed several opportunities to add crucial fish to the challenge. The first trip on the cards for this blog was to be a shark trip with Bite Adventures, this would normally be a dead cert for a back aching day of multiple sharks, however with my Shark mojo at an all time low, combined with the recent storms I was strangely lacking confidence. The powerful sea storms can result in disturbed water and murky seas, coloured water I have learned can be the kiss of death for catching Blue Sharks. I was up at 5am and as we were finishing boat fishing at 4pm, I chucked the quivertip in the car to have a go for a Golden Grey Mullet. The car was well iced over and as I hadn't taken the precaution of adding the frost deterrent screen it was a case of running the engine and waking the neighbours, and more alarmingly Mrs D. I still managed to pick Chris up by 5.45am and with a great run down to Penzance we pulled onto the harbour wall at 07.15, just in time to watch the sun creep up over the Mount across the bay.

We kitted up with some warm clothes knowing full well we wouldn't be needing it later, at this point the scantly clad figure of Alex appeared at the end of the wall, in his standard shark attire of shorts, bare feet and sandals. We bid each other good morning and chatted about the day to come, its always great to catch up with fellow anglers, exchange a few tails and generally have a whinge about lost fish, or other peoples big fish. Chippy arrived and started running through his boat checks as our final team member arrived, Martin, a nice lad from Somerset who was looking forward to just getting out fishing. The skipper reversed Bite Adventures back to the steps and we climbed aboard feeling lost on the large open deck, the kit was stashed and feathers attached to the rods. The Mackerel were in dense shoals and the trick was to get through the joey mackerel at the surface, as below them were some proper ones, we filled a barrel in 10 minutes, with pristine baits and were then on our way. Below Alex contemplating the days fishing.

We travelled considerably further than I have been from Penzance and ended up around 10 miles off the Scilly Isles, this was a valiant attempt to find clear water. When the engines fell silent the water still looked the colour of Chris's ginger tea, and Chippy could not hide his disappointment. The chum trail was started and the rods sent out with fresh mackerel flappers set at a range of depths going from 20 feet down to 200 feet, we were in over 300 feet of water so a pretty deep area. The skipper knowing I needed a Porbeagle told me to set up a bottom rig with a circle and heavy mono leader, this was to have a whiting flapper hooked up and fished hard on the bottom. Chris set about catching me a fresh whiting but was getting nervous as his braid on the reel disappeared rapidly, due largely to the depth of the water and strength of tide, bigger lead needed. With the feathers now baited and sporting a 1lb lead Chris reached the seabed but the only fish being caught were Poor Cod, far to small for a Porbeagle bait. Chris then started getting Haddock although these were too big for a bait, they allowed Commercial Chris to swing into action, he became a fish refinery, catching and processing the fish as he went. With everything quiet on the shark front and plenty of fish down on the bottom I decided to have a go myself, quickly catching a nice Red Gurnard, followed by a Haddock. Fortunately Chris finally got me a nice big Whiting and the skipper flappered it up and I sent it to the bottom to entice that elusive Porgy. Unfortunately after an hour the rig snagged on something on the sandy sea bed and I lost the lot, the skipper done me another trace and with no other Whiting showing I hooked up a half Haddock, much to Chris's disgust. I added a big lead to keep it down in the strong tide and there I stood like a coiled old spring, rusty and seized, waiting for some shark interest. This was on my 12lb to 20lb class tackle so any shark would make for some exciting times, however after several hours I was becoming a little despondent. Alex had managed to catch the first and only Blue Shark of the day and a couple of others had stuck their heads up through the murk but disappeared again. Its days like this that skipper's clearly suffer as much as the anglers on board, they are in the business to find you fish and believe me they share in the anglers disappointment. As I sat watching commercial Chris and Martin giving themselves a deep water workout, by checking their baits in the murky abyss, I started wondering if my half Haddock was actually still attached. Boom! that question was answered in an instant as the rod was nearly yanked from my hands, the braid emptying from the spool at such a rate it burned my thumb, I had it on the spool to keep it from pulling out as the big lead bounced. I lifted into the departing fish and Chippy got me to the other side of the boat, I needed to check the clutch as the line was still emptying, the skipper concurred the clutch was fine. The fish decided to turn and head towards the boat, but in that instant it was gone, when we retrieved the rig, the back of the bait was gone leaving just the head. Gutted was an understatement and even now 24hrs after, I am still going over my actions piece by piece, this is the second Porbeagle I have lost this year the first biting through the trace. This time I can only surmise that the instant and savage nature of the take, didn't allow for a good hook hold, but the fish was certainly powerful and covered a lot of distance in a short space of time. With that bit of excitement over, the trip soon came to an end and we headed for home with the Scilly Isles still visible to our rear. On the way in I quizzed Chippy about the Golden Grey Mullet that frequent the harbour, he offered me plenty of tips and the other species I asked about was another mini-species, the Sand Smelt, also residing in the harbour.

We docked and disembarked but before I left the boat, Chippy gave me a huge donation to my charity challenge, I am so grateful to everyone that has not only supported the Stroke Association through monetary donations but with the overwhelming help and advice I have recieved, my donations are now over £800! Chippy also chucked a little chum around the steps to aid with attracting the Golden Grey Mullet, he then took Bite Adventures off to her berth for the night. Chris and I swapped the tackle over and as per the skippers recommendations I set up a light pencil float rig, and size 8 hook, baited with a small piece of skinless Mackerel flesh. The advice was to fish this just off the bottom which meant a 12 foot drop under the float. Chris sticking with the commercial theme, used a giant mackerel float that wouldn't have looked out of the way attached to a lobster pot, no doubt he was hoping to fool the shy feeding mullet into thinking no one would be daft enough to try and catch us with that. I was getting several sharp bites which cleaned the hook in an instant and I decided to reduce the hook size further, borrowing a size 14 from Chris, this resulted in the capture of a Blenny, which was followed by another Blenny. We did notice that small fish were shooting up from the murk and grabbing fish particles from the surface, these must be Sand Smelt. With the Mullet not playing ball and the call of the KFC growing louder, I needed to get something from the trip, Chris suggested going shallow with the float and a tiny piece of squid tentacle. As soon as the shallower set bait drifted downwards a group of little fish surrounded it as if it were a new kid at their school, but it was quickly rejected and the gang sank from view. I then baited with a tiny piece of fish flesh which again the little fish gang mobbed around, this time however one of the bigger boys of the group stepped forward and sucked in the bait, I lifted the float from the water with the little gang member hanging on the end. I knew straight away this was a Sand Smelt, and although small it was a stunning little fish with its pearl like scales shimmering in the sunlight.

I thought it would make a better shot to take it on the steps next to the water where I had caught it ,great idea until I realised just how slippery they were. The first shot was lucklily a good one, so well done Chris, the second however was of the fish leaving the scene to return to the water, another potential disaster. Chris thought the whole thing was extremely funny and I just don't think he appreciated just how tricky to hold these little guys are, wait until he gets one I shall see how well he holds it!

Anyway this little beauty made species 69, and saved the day from a challenge perspective, I have had to accept the fact that the Porbeagle Shark isn't appearing in this challenge other than as the one that got away, twice!

The next time I was to wet a line was down at Looe, I needed to drop the shark club trophy back to John Mac, so it made sense to kill two birds with one stone. The night before I had spent the evening polishing the trophy back to its sparkling glory, cant believe how much they tarnish, still, on the plus side no polishing for me to do next year! My plan for this little sortie was to try for a sandeel in the harbour, it was loaded with them the last time I was there, then I would try over at Millpool for a school Bass and maybe a Thin lip Mullet. For the sandeels I had got a set of the Tronix pro micro feathers, these are designed for Sandeel with size 16 hooks and a very fine feather made up in 6 hook rigs. For the Mullet and Bass I had a modified Mepps spinner with the treble removed and a small trailing size 6 hook with a small rubber worm threaded on the hook. Really this should have been fresh ragworm but as I didn't have any I substituted the real thing for a bit of silicon after all it works in other scenarios. Just as I was about to leave Mrs D asked if she could tag along with Matthew as it was a lovely evening, wow I never expected that but it would be great having the family there. We got down to the harbour by 17.45 and I went straight over to start jigging the micro feathers, however I couldn't see a Sandeel anywhere. John popped down to pick up the trophy and we had a quick natter after which he told me that there could be some Sandeels up by Pete's boat, we said goodbye and I headed off to fish next to Force 10, maybe the lucky boat would bring me a bit of luck. I tried really hard to instigate a bite but there were no sandeels anywhere, I was fast becoming despondent, even Mrs D told me to cheer up and catch something, the plethora of flags behind signifying someone had done rather better than me, and now I not only blanked on the boat but next to it too.

With none of the little snakes making an appearance I worked my way back to the car trying at every gap in the moored boats, finally I spotted a target. A large raft of weed hid a rather special fish and despite my best efforts I couldn't get Mrs D as excited about it as me, a rather large 15 Spined Stickleback. The fish blended perfectly with the weed, darting out every now and then to inspect something floating past his lair, my micro feathers only seemed to terrify him, I guess a tiny shoal of synchronised feathers are somewhat scary. I really wanted to catch this fish it would have been one of those red species but with no bait and no size 18 hooks it was never going to happen. Having wasted to much time in a fruitless effort I needed to get over to the millpool before high tide. We drove over to the car park and I set off to find a spot while Mrs D and Matthew went off to hunt sausage and chips. I positioned myself on the outer wall of the pool and tried caster inside and out, I started having a few tentative plucks on the river side and eventually spotted the culprit as a Bass was following a few inches behind the lure. I then noticed my feet were getting wet as the rising tide breached the pools outer wall, I jumped up on the steps and just 5 minutes later water gushed into the pool bringing the hungry Mullet with it.

There were by now bow waves appearing all over the pool from the excited arriving fish, but there was no way the mullet were falling for that plastic ragworm method. Mrs D arrived with a large portion of hot chips and we sat and watched the rising of the fish and the tide, wow those chips tasted good with the sea air to wash then down with. The darkness enveloped us and all to quickly it was time to head for home, it may have been a blank but time spent with the family is never time wasted, so no complaints.

Its now Saturday and the missed opportunity with the saltwater stickleback reminded me I had a chance to fish for the freshwater version, the 3 Spined Stickleback, a much smaller cousin. I knew about a wildlife pond where these little guys were rumoured to be, its a bit of a trek and a tad of a commando mission but worth a shot. I decided to use the pen rod and a size 20 hook to nylon with little maggot for bait, no float as I planned to watch the maggot, the pond was shallow and clear. With the trek completed I could see a few of the little fish sat motionless under the surface weed much like the sea stickleback was. A couple of maggots were dropped in and I watched as they seemed to dart around in different directions, like shooting stars in the night sky, and clearly to big for the mouths of the voracious little fish. I sorted out a smaller maggot but found the maggot skin more effective and after a first frustrating hour managed a number of these little fish, shame they were not in their breeding colours as the males have stunning red bellies at that time.

Anyway these tiniest of our freshwater fish made species number 70, and although not as mighty as a Shark or Blonde Ray they do rule their little world.

The final attempt this week was a two pronged approach, part 1 being to try the River Taw in Barnstaple for a Bass or early Flounder, part 2 was over to Ilfracombe pier and have another attempt at a Spotted Ray. We would fish two tides at two venues surely I could nick something from this 14 hour session, good weather, sociable tides and quality bait. We left home at a reasonable 6.30am and pulled up alongside the river by 7.30am, the area we had chosen was just upstream of the new bridge and an area that fishes well for Flounder during the Autumn.

The fresh ragworm baits were cast out to the channel and a couple of other anglers who had been there since 5am told us they hadn't had a single bite. We were using carp rods for this first mission, they are much more sensitive for the rattling bites of these smaller river fish, but still able to put out a 5oz grip weight if required. Before long the river was in full flood pushing in large rafts of weed and various other flotsam and jetsam, the rods were taken out numerous times but we persevered. Unfortunately venue 1 failed to produce and it was maybe a tad to early for the Flounder but the school Bass should have been moving through. So it was onwards to the next venue and as the best chance of the Rays would be during the evening flood, the afternoon would be spent having fun with the mini species on the LRF rods. When we first arrived the main area of the pier was still underwater and we had to fish from the higher area, I was joined by another fisherman who clearly felt I had a better chance than him. This was a young Cormorant, a pain when they turn up on the lakes but here by the sea is where they should be, so he was welcome to sit by me. The downside was that every tourist wanted to take a selfie with him, the result was a barrage of questions aimed at me about the darn bird, as if it was my pet that I took fishing.

We finally got down onto the lower pier and setup on the middle section where a short cast gets you on to a nice sandy gully, this was information supplied by a friend who has caught a few Spotted Ray from this area.

The far end of the pier was taken over by a group of eastern Europeans and one of them was a man mountain whom Chris, secretly named Shrek, it was clear Shrek was in charge of the fishing party as his two mates, Donkey and Pinocchio were clearly clueless. Don't ever judge a book by its cover but these guys really were fast food fishermen, clearly hoping for something to put in a soup, and both Chris and I had to snigger when Donkey thought he hooked a monster. He was so convinced it was a leviathan, that he put down his beer and spat out his cigarette, the handle turned frantically and the clutch screamed, after 5 minutes he didn't seem to be making any head way on the unseen foe, but he kept reeling and reeling. Both Chris and I could see he was snagged in the bottom at the foot of the pier, and unless he found a hole 300 feet deep the clutch was too loose, eventually Shrek ambled over and tightened the clutch. It was only now Donkey appreciated the gravity of the situation, he was about to lose some of Shreks tackle, a man capable of quite literally popping him, fortunately Donkey was the man with the beers so a deal was struck. It goes to show just how quiet the fishing was that we looked to other so called anglers for some form of entertainment, they just went from one disaster to another. The funniest accident of the day was reserved for good ole Commercial Chris and just as the pier was at its fullest with tourists, families and other anglers, he fell extravagantly from his seatbox and lay on his back, feet in the air with a loud crash. Why do you never have a camera ready when you need one, I know that one of those many visitors will no doubt have it and post it somewhere at sometime. Back to the fishing and I had just noticed the rod with a Bluey section bounce violently, nothing else materialised so I decided to check the bait, hanging from the trace was a Shore Rockling. I love Rockling and I am still chasing the bigger cousin of this guy, the Three Beard Rockling, unfortunately this wasn't it, so a couple of pics and back he went.

Chris then hobbled over, still smarting from his fall, " what's this" he asked? on his trace was another Sand Smelt, amazing I had one from the south coast just days ago and now Chris had got one from the north. You need a photo I told him, secretly wanting him, to find out just how tricky to hold these Mexican Jumping Smelts really are. He started with the gentle pinch, but I told him to try in his hand, sure enough the fish did its stuff and sprung clean out of his hand, " not so easy now is it"!

The mini species fishing was as per usual pretty good and we were soon getting the usual suspects, Ballan Wrasse, Common Blenny, and Rock Goby's but nothing I haven't already had, great sport on light tackle though.

With the flood tide came strong winds and a large swell was already forming, white horses pushed into the harbour mouth and the whole thing didn't feel fishy, time to move to a more sheltered section. We tucked ourselves in around the corner, and on one of the lower decks, it was like a different world and being so close to this amount of structure we decided to focus our efforts on a Conger. I prepared a couple of baits and changed over to heavy mono traces, the rigs would then be lowered to the base of the pier, hopefully to entice an eel from its lair.

Chris then offered to go and get some chips which on this by now rather chilly evening seemed just the ticket, you cant beat hot chips by the sea and for the second time in this blog, I ate alfresco chips with a big dollop of sea air.

With the chips rapidly consumed we just need to add the fish, and we both started getting bites on the light rods, mine transpired to be Pouting but Chris hit the jackpot with a fish I've hoped to get on numerous occasions, the Dragonet. Fishing is a strange old game and both Chris and I have many highs and lows during our excursions and as much as I really wanted one I felt that Chris deserved one more than me on this trip.

What a lovely little fish to end this blog with and as the night fell on that evening that was indeed the very last fish, our Conger baits stripped bare by the numerous crabs. With 70 species now in the bag and things getting harder I'm not sure if there will be enough material to even compose a blog, so they may have to be less frequent. I have it in my mind to try and get to 75 species and then wrap things up, but without a few more of the tricky ones gracing my net, that aint going to happen.Thanks as usual to everyone who has been so supportive with information, donations and also for taking the time to read and like the blog, keeps me going. Lovely to spend time fishing with the family, Mrs D please feel free to join me anytime but if you think your having one of my rods in Thailand, I am not risking it, your far to good an angler. Well done once again to fishing buddy Chris, other than me I cant think of anyone id rather see, fall of their seatbox, I actually mean catch a Dragonet. However if you keep rubbing it in I shall be forced to give new friend Shrek, a case of beer to pop you!