It was a special birthday coming up for the wife and she’d decided she’d like to go back to Cape Verde for her birthday. After going to Boa Vista for our honeymoon and catching small sharks on spinning gear, I was more than up for returning, but this time with some heavier gear.
This time we booked to go to the main island of Sal, the hotel was a bit more kid friendly to keep my 10 year old happy.
As soon as we booked I set about choosing what gear to take.
I decided on the Tronixpro Xenon Travel 12’6″ 3-6oz with a Penn Battle II 8000LL LC and a Shakespeare Agility 2 Exp Beach 11ft 6in Travel Rod with a Penn Spinfisher 6500 LL for my boy.
I also packed some spinning gear with the Nomura travel spinning rod and a Penn Battle II 4000 being my option.
On arrival the country’s motto of “No Stress” really did kick in, so we chilled out for the first few days and did the family stuff along with an island tour. We also did a trip where we got to walk out onto a reef where juvenile Lemon Sharks hang out and swim amongst your feet. I did see some good 2 meter shark about 10m further out!
We were staying in the Dunas resort with Bikini Beach on the shorefront.
I was hoping to get some prawns from the restaurant but didn’t see any when I was there, so had to catch some bait myself. You aren’t allowed to fish inside of the breakwaters but the lifeguards did turn a blind eye if you were right on the end of the inside groin. I took some bread from the restaurant in the morning and went to try my luck for some bait. I fished the bread on a weighted float with size 12 hooks on 10lb fluorocarbon, it wasn’t long before the shoals of Mullet and White seabream were smashing the bread and I soon had a few in my cooler bag.
Landing a good fish on the front of the groin would be very difficult, so we headed onto the beach. It looked very rocky but as I was there I might as well give it a go. Indeed I was right, it was a grave yard! I had a few casts and a few bites which got instantly snagged, I’d guess they were eels, as when I reeled in my tackle I was missing some hooks. I even switched up to pike traces but they didn’t fare any better.
We watched the sun go down then decided to head back to the bar to enjoy some cold beer.
My second trip out I stepped up my end tackle and went for some 6/0 Sakuma 445 Circle Extra and some AFW 49-Strand Stainless Steel Shark wire to see if I could land something tidy! The swell was up a little from my previous session and getting the Bream was a little bit harder due to the waves rolling into Bikini Beach but I managed to get a few.
I decided to head a little further down the beach and set up my rods with half a fillet of Bream. It wasn’t long before the Shakespeare bent in half and the braid was flying off the Spinfisher at an alarming rate! I flicked the live liner off and set the hook. It felt a good fish with some powerful runs back and forth in front of me. After getting it under control I waited for a wave to come before lifting it over the shore reef and onto the sand.
It wasn’t the biggest but fought much bigger than its size. Nevertheless it was a shark from the shore. I baited back up in hope of another.
I was fishing today with a friend I’d met out there, Martin. It wasn’t long before the rod tip started moving, this time a gentle bite. As I’d already had a shark I let Martin have this one so I let it develop and hit into it! I could see this wasn’t a shark but something was definitely pulling back and didn’t want to come in.
Soon there was an eel on the beach of about 3lb! I tried to take a picture but the thing just wouldn’t stay still!
With Eels (especially the Morey type) not being my (or Martins) favourite things, the long nose pliers came out. I went to remove the hook when it coiled back up itself and regurgitated a whole fish! What a sight that was! I think Martin may still be having nightmares!
With the hook removed it slithered down the beach and out of sight! We cast out again and when chatting decided to book the shark tournament with cvfishingholidays.com.
I had already spoken with Jacopo on Facebook and he seemed to really know his stuff!
We were picked up from the hotel at 6pm and drove about 10 minutes to the beach mark. On arrival the Shimano rods and reels were already set up and ready for us to fish, with hooks baited with Herring and Mackerel combos. Martin and I brought our boys so I went one end, Martin the other, with the boys in the middle.
There were a few others on the beach with us and it wasn’t long before the sharks started to show.
It wasn’t long before my rod bent over and line screamed from my reel.
I grabbed the rod and set the hook and could tell it was a better shark than my previous. Fighting these warm water fish is very different to fishing back in the UK. They really do put up a fight!
Martin’s rod was the next to go and he was dying to catch a shark!
But no such luck this time. He landed this fish which I believe is called a Cobina or also known as a Grunt.
Next up my boy’s rod pings straight, slack line! So I grab it and take up the slack until I feel the weight of the fish. I feel him pull so set the hook.
With a bit of help he managed to get this one in.
There were a couple more Cobina caught plus some more Black Tips and a Dusky.
To top the night off my boy’s rod buckles over, like nothing I had seen that evening. I set the hook and instantly knew this was the biggest of the night. I handed Ifan the rod and tried to help him!
But this fish was too big for him and he was soon complaining so I happily took over!
This was a battle, with runs back and forth for a good ten minutes until I got him to the surf!
The swell by this time had picked up to an 8 foot shore break, there was a lot of toing and froing as I reeled in with the incoming wave, then as it dropped back the fish stripped all the line I had regained! This went on for several waves with a few attempts by Jacopo to grab it out of the surf until finally he managed to get him.
And there it was, a cracking Black Tip Reef shark at 114cm, I’d estimate not far from the 30lb mark.
All the sharks were handled carefully and returned safely by Jacopo and his crew. They worked really hard to get us on the fish, fresh baits every 20 minutes, chumming the water and even casting out for you if you were a beginner.
I really can’t rate the guys enough and can’t wait to go back out there and try another trip with him.
]]>
We got down to Saundersfoot for 8am and we were on the water by quarter past, Stuart was right the conditions were beautiful! With flat seas and very little wind we began the 2 hour spin to the mark out in the Celtic Deeps.
It really was a beautiful trip out with plenty of Dolphins accompanying us along the way. There was plenty of the “are we there yet?” as the excitement built during the long spin out. We took it in turns to prepare the chum as more mackerel and other ingredients were added to the bucket.
Nearing the mark we decided to pull numbers out of a hat to decide on who was going first. First to go was Anglers Corner staff member Lewis who had the unluckiest draw of number 6. Next up was staff member Clayton who did just as bad with 5. Our bait digger Mark went third and drew the golden piece drawing out number 1. I followed with number 2, Dan with 3 and Paul with 4.
Once at the mark the chum bags were quickly put out and the floats baits soon followed. So the waiting game commenced!
Indeed the weather was great but it actually turned out too good in fact, we weren’t drifting as much as Stu would have liked so our chum trail was not traveling. We tried the first spot for a couple of hours with plenty of small whiting, gurnard and spur dog coming to the boat but the sharks were just not showing! Going against what he should Stu decided to leave our chum trail and try another spot he thought where the shark may be.
A quick two mile spin and we were back fishing again, hoping that the shark would finally show. We didn’t have to wait long, within about 15 minutes the ratchet screamed as the first shark was hooked! All our normal fishing rods were quickly reeled in, well as fast as we could reel in a 12oz lead from 100 meters! With a good fight the first shark was at the boat.
I was up next! The anticipation and wait was murder! Pacing the boat, sitting down, standing up, just waiting for the clicks of the ratchet, I really didn’t know what to do with myself. But it wasn’t too long before the ratchet started to sing as the second shark of the day was hooked. Using a 30-50lb class rod and a Shimano TLD these fish put up a fight! When they want to go they go and there is not much you can do about it.
Next up was Dan (left) who gladly joined the trip after we put out a Facebook post looking for interested anglers.
Paul the plumber was next (right). I think his smile says it all!
Finally the rest of Team Anglers corner were up. Clayton had this lovely one (left).
And finally number 6 Lewis was up (right). His long wait was over and now all six of us had hooked a landed shark.
As there were sharks showing interest in our baits and floats! We decide to stay a little longer and try for some more and what followed was something that we’ll all remember!
There were a few sharks showing but one in particular came right next to the boat, it was checking out the chum bags for ten minutes but we just couldn’t get it to take a bait.
The mackerel was changed for a fresh whiting and finally it took the bait! As it was so close to the boat it didn’t know it was hooked at first, luckily as the line had got tangled around the prop! The brush came out and we managed to free the line only for the line to get wrapped around the brush! We freed that quite easily and the shark came to the side of the boat with very little fight, then it realised something wasn’t right and steamed off. It was a hairy battle then knowing the line was damaged but the Sakuma line held its own and we managed to finally land the biggest shark or the day.
That finished off a brilliant day on the Ebony May that everyone really enjoyed. So much so that we’ve already booked a trip out for next summer!
If you’d like to book a trip out the Ebony May with Stu you can find him here
https://www.facebook.com/ebonymayfishingcharters
https://www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/ebonymay/
We are proud to introduce to you and sponsor the ‘Ebony May’, a charter boat fishing out of Saundersfoot, South West Wales. If you have ever considered hiring a charter boat in Saundersfoot or West Wales then we highly recommend you take a look at the ‘Ebony May’.
The Ebony May offers a quality and comfortable fishing experience. The boat is a 2 year old 10 metre cougar catamaran which also has twin Yamaha 300hp outboards. This gives a cruising speed of 25 knots and a top speed of 40 knots, because of this you will get out to the fishing grounds quickly, which will allow you more fishing time. It was purpose built and designed with the anglers comfort, space and safety in mind, hence the boat features on board toilet, undercover seating and a live bait tank.
The boat is suitable for wheelchair use and has access doors on both sides. In addition, you will find there to be ample fishing space which includes down both sides of the cabin. The vessel has the most up to date electronics package, it is also fully licensed and coded for 12 anglers for up to 60 miles off shore.
The Ebony May offers all the comforts you would need to have a pleasurable and enjoyable fishing trip. Due to its powerful outboard engines, it can take you to the fishing hotspots further out from the Saundersfoot Harbour, and get you there quickly without waiting too long.
See the last section for the Ebony Mays Specifications and pictures taken on the boat.
I have fished these waters for the past 30 years and been a charter skipper for the past 17 years. I am a serious fisherman myself, and pride myself on never having a blank trip, I specialise in tope fishing May/June/July. Furthermore we also fish for Pollock on Bristol channel wrecks , and Lundy. We also fish for blue shark, and porbeagle shark off Lundy and celtic deeps from June onwards. In shore fishing is also excellent, targeting species such as Bream, Wrass, Pollock, Bass, Skate, and a number of other species. From July onwards we also fish for Bass, using live sandeel which is great sport.
2018 Summary Report by Stuart Denman
‘What an awesome season we had in 2018. The good weather enabled us to fish well out into the Bristol channel. In May, we began targeting mid channel wrecks and the Lundy area. Catching good quantities of Pollock, Cod, Spurdog, and Tope. average Pollack 5 to 8 lb. Also at the end of May, June, July, Tope arrived in good quantities inshore. Largest Tope caught this year 68lbs, caught on a shallow in shore mark.,fresh mackerel providing the bait, we had several trips with .over thirty tope landed. We were privileged to have Dave Lewis from Sea Angler magazine out with us in June, writing an article on the excellent Tope fishing in our area. On the day we landed several Tope up to 45lbs. June, July, August, September, we caught good quantities of Bream, Wrasse (Ballan and Cuckoo), Skates and Rays, Turbot, Bass, Smoothhound, Bullhuss, Pollock, Coalfish, Garfish, and several other species. This shows the diversity of fishing in our area. Looking forward to 2019. Now taking bookings for wreck/Lundy trips in May/June. Also, Tope fishing begins May-July. I am convinced on the quantity and size of the Tope that we caught in 2018, that there is a new welsh record Tope waiting to be caught in our area. With the lifting of the Bass ban allowing us to catch Bass, we will also be targeting Bass using live sandeels from June until October, drifting inshore reefs. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank customers old and new. Really excited for 2019.
In the meantime, check out my new website! - http://www.saundersfootseafishing.co.uk/’
Licensed For: up to 12 passengers
Code Of Practice: 60 miles
Hours: 2hr / 3hr / 4hr / 5hr / 6hr / 7hr / 8hr / 9hr / 10hr / 11hr / 12hr / Multiple Days Trips
Type of Fishing: Mixed fishing. Trips can be arranged to specialise for Tope - (June-July.) Bass - (June-November.) (Skate, bream, dabs, pollock, smoothhound) Mixed bottom fish throughout the year.
Tackle Available: Yes - Contact Skipper
Bait Available: Yes - Contact Skipper
Boat Specification: Cougar 10 metre catamaran (4 metre beam)
Facilities: Toilet facilities. Tea and coffee.
]]>
The fishing
The Upper Lliedi Reservoir provides top class fly fishing all year round for both the novice and the experienced angler. From the early season booby fishing to the autumn dry fly fishing for the fish taking midges on the surface. I have learnt a great deal fishing at this reservoir, especially how to fish nymphs because from April through to June the fish feed extremely hard on the fantastic hatch of buzzers and other insects which hatch in their thousands every year. The bottom half of the lake offers some very deep water right at your feet which often means there is no need to cast to the horizon as fish patrol the ledge around 10 yards out.
Early Season
At the start of the season Llanelli Angling Association stock the reservoir with a very good number of fish, this is often when the reservoir fishes the best. With very cold temperatures this time of year and not a lot of flies hatching, the fish tend to feed deep in the water column. The best way to target these fish is with Di 7 fly line (a fly line that sinks 7 inches a second) with two boobies on a cast spread around 6ft apart and 4ft to the first fly. Let your fly line sink right to the bottom and retrieve your flies very slowly with a figure of 8, you will receive a lot of taps and knocks when fishing like this but don’t strike until the line goes solid! The whole of the Upper Lliedi Reservoir fishes well this time of year and the hot flies are a Cats whisker booby, Viva Booby, Tequila booby and a gold head damsel.
Spring
This is my favourite time of year to fish the reservoir as fish start to turn their attention to the big hatch of buzzers which happens at the Upper Lliedi Reservoir every season. One of the best spots this time of year is at the top of the lake around pegs 1-3, the water is not as deep as around the damn area and the water warms up quicker, as a result the insect life is more prominent. My set up for targeting these Buzzer feeders is either a floating or 3ft sink tip fly line, along with an 18ft leader with 4 buzzers or Diawl Bachs (depending on how deep the fish are), my flies are spread 4ft apart and 6ft to the first fly. If you struggle to handle a long leader with multiple flies that’s not a problem, another fantastic way to fish is to fish a single heavy weight buzzer under a strike indicator and keep changing your depth until you start getting takes. It’s key this time of year to fish your flies very slowly or static just keeping up with the slack line in your.
Summer
Summer can offer the most challenging fishing at the reservoir, the water temperature rises and fish retreat to the depths. The fish get stressed in warm water and as fish have no eyelids they try to get out of the sun by going down deeper in the water. Even though fishing can be challenging this time of year the fish are still there to be caught, the most productive time to fish in the summer is early in the morning when temperatures are at their lowest and late at evening when the temperature starts to cool again. In summer I find the fish tend to feed at the top of the lake around pegs 1-4. Fish feed on the hatching buzzers, shrimps and fry so I find that one of the best methods is fishing the “washing line”, this is where you have a point fly like a booby or a Foam Arsed Blob (FAB) on the point and flies up the cast such as Diawl Bachs, Cormorants or Crunchers. I like to start with a Sparkler booby on the point which causes a disturbance in the water and also imitates a little fish (fry) and 3 Diawl Bach’s up the cast with either pearl cheeks or a red holographic head which also imitates fry but also looks like hatching buzzers, I will start on a floating line if there is a light wind, if there is a strong wind then I will fish either a 3 or 12ft sink tip to pull the flies under the surface and anchor them down.
A typical Swiss Valley Fish, Fully finned and hard fighting.
Midday in the summer, fish will go back into the depths and sulk there until the sun dips behind the stunning scenery and the temperature drops. The fish can still be caught by reverting to early season tactics fishing with fast sinking lines and boobies, it’s also worth fishing a large fry pattern such as a humongous or a snake on a sinking line varying the retrieve, this can often throw up some of the larger specimens which swim in the depths searching for fry to eat.
Autumn
When Summer ends the air and water temperature drops, the fish then come out of the depths and start to feed heavily again. This is a very exciting time of year as fish are very active on the surface either feeding on the hatching buzzers or smashing the fry shoals in pods. In the Autumn I like to fish high in the water, going no deeper than an intermediate fly line. If it’s overcast and a light ripple I like to fish high in the water with emerger patterns shuttlecocks, shippmans buzzers and diawl bach’s tied on light wire hooks to keep them in the surface. I would fish these flies on a copolymer leader as copolymer is lighter than fluorocarbon and stays up in the water surface and does not pull your flies deeper. The second way to enjoy fishing in the autumn is to fish for the fry feeders, this can be very exciting as you will often see the fish chasing your flies at a rate of knots and the takes can be savage so I would recommend slightly stepping up your tackle, I would recommend using at least 10lb fluorocarbon and the hot flies are a Humongous, snakes, Minkies and Zonkers fished either on a floating line or an intermediate. Fish tend to spread all over the lake this time of year so any spot can produce the fish.
Tight lines
Fishing in Morocco - Have you ever thought about going to Morocco for the fishing experience of a lifetime, then please read on as I write about my experience. Maybe it will help you decide whether to finally make that booking!
18 months ago I wanted to do something different, fish somewhere out of the norm and to a destination that I hadn’t visited before. My partner Katy had never been on a fishing trip with me in the past but this time she was going to come, so when I looked at Morocco it seemed perfect. We could fly to the lovely city of Marrakech, spend a couple of nights there in one of it’s beautiful riad’s, then travel to the Atlas Mountains to Lake (BEO) Bin El Ouidane, home of black bass, zander and what would be my target species African Carp with a lake record of over 70 lb.
After doing the tourist things and city sight seeing in Marrakech the time had come for our driver to pick us up to travel to the lake, a few hours later we drove over a brow and I got a first glance of her, and she is massive, to be exact over 15,000 acres at it’s fullest.
We spent the first night in the hotel situated at the lake side, and then the next day taken by boat with all our gear to the location where we were going to be fishing for a week, an area not accessible by any road vehicles and extremely remote, it looked perfect!
During the week we caught absolutely stunning carp, wild fish that didn’t look like they’d seen a hook before, a beautiful mirror carp tipping the scale at 46 lb and the largest common which was an outstanding 59 lb.
Morocco Carp Club are the people that make it all happen, they sort out the transport, also a daily food drop with all the essentials, and all the fishing & camping kit that you'll need which is too large to be taken on a plane.
So if you haven’t yet booked next years holiday or fishing trip, maybe this is something different that you might want to look in to, speak to Sam and the rest of the team at www.morocco-carp.com
For more photos, feel free to check out my Facebook Album.
Lastly, here is short Youtube video of my trip:
Tight Lines,
Last Saturday I fished with my local fly fishing club (Llangennech Angling) at Paper Mill Trout Fishery in Fforest-fach, Swansea for the club’s last competition of the year. With temperatures plummeting to near freezing over night the water is getting a lot colder, this makes trout fight a lot harder and this weekend was no exception. Paper Mill offered some of the hardest fighting trout I’ve caught in a long time!
We started fishing around 8.45 AM, my starting setup was an Airflo Fast intermediate fly line, approx 16ft of Airlfo G5 Fluorocarbon and a black snake fly on the end. Within my first three casts I had two pulls and a nice fish follow right to the bank, I knew by now I had the correct setup and that the fish were in the area. Ten minutes later I had my first fish on the bank, a fin perfect Rainbow trout (approx 3lb) which took the black snake half way through the retrieve. This time of year I find it’s crucial to keep varying your retrieve until you find which speed the fish are willing to take your fly at. Around twenty minutes later I had another fin perfect rainbow on the bank which gave a great fight and took me around ten minutes to land. After I had landed this fish it was time to move peg, as we rotate around every forty minutes to give all the anglers a chance to get on the fish.
I arrived at my second peg which looked extremely fishy, the wind was blowing into the bay and a little stream ran into the lake where there was heavy tree cover on the opposite bank. I started again with the same setup, first cast I was into another hard fighting rainbow which unfortunately threw the hook. After a quick check of the fly and leader I made another cast to the tree lined bank and could see a fish follow the fly instantly creating a ‘bow wave’ pushing water out of the way, I slowed the retrieve and the line locked up solid and another great fighting Rainbow was landed, this time weighing 2 ½lb. After another ten minutes of fishing everything went a little quiet, the fish were not showing as much interest in the black snake so I decided to change my setup. My second setup was a floating line with a Frog Hair indicator along with a very small biscuit blob set around 3ft under the indicator. The first cast made was to the little island to my right, the indicator shot under instantly but my strike was delayed and the fish was missed. On the second cast the indicator shot under once again, although this time I hooked the fish and it took off at a rate of knots. I knew this was a good fish as it kept on taking line and lunging deep under the surface. Fifteen minutes later the fish surfaced and it was just as good as I thought, five minutes went by before I could finally manage to net the fish. It was an excellent fully finned Rainbow, weighing in at 6lb 11oz. This won me the heaviest fish of the day and also resulted in me having the heaviest bag of the day, weighing 15lb 10ozs.
Don’t let the cold weather put you off fishing in the winter, wrap up warm and you can experience some of the hardest fighting fish and some exceptional fishing!
For links to Paper Mill Trout Fishery, please click here.
Check out a video of Lewis's fishing experience below:
Team Anglers Corner has been put together to bring you fishing stories from around the world as well as looking at new and innovate fishing tackle from today’s top manufactures. We want to share angling tales from fishermen, whether you are trying to conquer your local venue or traveling to exotic destinations to catch that dream fish. We hope to provide useful information from what tackle and bait to use at certain times of the year, tips on tackle set ups for the various fishing disciplines; carp, sea and game fishing and more.
Join us as we explain that fishing in different countries may not be as hard as you think, and how traveling with fishing tackle can be made easy and safe. We want to show you around and invite you to join us as we attend and review our local venues near to our home town of Llanelli on the South Wales coast line. Sharing catch reports will also be a big part of the content, and we encourage you to help us by sending photos of fish that you’ve manage to net.
We have access to all the latest fishing tackle in our store, so we will be able to show you items that are new and that we think will give you a definite edge to land that specimen fish.
Carp fishing will feature a lot on our webpage, as everyone loves catching big fish on light tackle, like many other fishermen we consider fish safety to be paramount, this is why we want to demonstrate how to land, hold and weigh the fish safely so it returns to the water healthy to fight another day.
As you can probably tell we want to try and feature pretty much everything, but if there is something particular you would like to ask, we will be more than happy to try and answer your questions as best we can.
Sea, Coarse, Game, it doesn't really matter so long as its fishing.
We already have a team of anglers willing to share their stories and to give advice, all of which have a real passion for angling. Our authors come from various backgrounds and have been fishing for many years, although we think we can cover most of the different aspects of fishing, if you think you can add something to our team and would love to share your angling knowledge and experiences then please do get in touch. Sea, Coarse, Game, it doesn’t really matter so long as its fishing. It is the thing we all love reading about and the one thing that we will never stop learning.