Saturday 28 February 2015

Mersey Charter Boat Fishing - Tuskar

Well, the sea fishing session scheduled for 27th Feb didn't half turn out to be a faff. Due to forecast strong westerly winds, our planned session on Blue Mink didn't go ahead.  We had already had one session cancelled in January, and now at the end of February we were really on last chance saloon for some Winter Cod fishing so we were determined to get out somewhere. Danny had managed to do some ringing around and got us availability on a boat out of the Mersey. Only 4 of us this time as 2 had dropped out from the original party but we arranged a day, slightly shorter at 5 hours but still enough time.

We had booked aboard Tuskar, skippered by Stan Dickinson. We arranged a 9:00 AM pick up and after a bit of running round to pick Dez up in Preston, via a McDonalds breakfast, we arrived at Priory Wharf for collection around 8:30. We were all anxious to get on board and as we were setting up waiting for Stan to arrive, we were getting ourselves psyched up for a good day. Stan arrived bang on time to get us, first impressions were great, nice sized boat with plenty space to move around and get comfy. Once loaded we were off into the Mersey to our first mark.
View of Priory Wharf as we made our way into the river.

Our first stop saw us on the outside of the main river channel, close to the Bonded Warehouse, the tide was on its way out so was pulling a bit so we went in with 16oz weights on a running leger with a trace of about 4/5ft long to a single 2/0 Aberdeen hook. Danny was first into fish on the day and first strike was a small codling, but still a keeper.

First fish of the day for Danny

Danny added a couple more to his tally before anybody else got in there but eventually Craig and Dez got off the mark with a Dab each

A Dab for Dez

I was left trailing behind with no fish, and I wasn't shy about letting folk know, but after a change of tactic that saw me switch to a shorter trace and pennel rig I eventually got off the mark with what turned out to be probably the biggest fish of the day

Codling for Me

As the tide slowed a bit we moved into the main channel of the river for a bit, hoping the fish will have moved in there where there was a bit more pull. First drop in here for me resulted in another codling although this one was too small to keep so went back safe and sound.  Strangler though that seemed to be the only fish to show on this line.

Once at low water, Stan moved us across to the other side of the river, roughly outside Wallasey Town Hall steps where we would fish until home time as the tide turned and started to come back in. This proved to be a slow line and I think a solitary undersize Codling by me was all this line produced on the day. Stan explained to us that by this time of year we had missed the best of the Mersey Cod fishing and that Nov/Dec was probably the best time for it. We knew that really but wanted to give it a go anyway. As Stan called time I think we all had a good day, some nice views on the day too, especially of the Liverpool skyline.


So, final tally of the day. 

Danny - 3 Codling (2 in size), 2 Dab
Craig - 1 Dab
Dez - 1 Dab (plus about a million crabs and the worlds smallest starfish)
Me - 3 Codling (1 in size)

Final thought of the day - poor Dez doesn't have much luck with the target species. Of the last 3 times we have been out, once for Tope and twice for Cod, whilst not blanking, Dez has failed to catch the target species. Next time he comes out, I think we'll target Pouting and at least give him chance of catching something he wants!!

I would recommend Stan for a days charter fishing in the Mersey, knowledgeable and nice guy - check out the details at http://www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/tuskar 


Sunday 22 February 2015

Getting back in the swing - Horns Dam and Woodshaw Reservoir

As I have previously mentioned, I had been on my little break from fishing but as the new year arrived I was ready to get back into the swing of things. However, the weather and other factors have been against me and so far I've only managed 2 outings.

Horns Dam 

The first session I had was a first visit to Horns Dam in Goosnargh, this was also my first session with my old pal Martin for a while so I was looking forward to it.

After a nice breakfast at a local cafe, we arrived at the fishery. We fished on the dam itself and pegged ourselves on the dam wall end.  We both decided to fish the feeder for the day. My set up was a basic running feeder rig with an 18 inch Hooklength to a size 20 Drennan Silverfish match hook. My groundbait was a mix of brown crumb and bait tech special g. A few loose offerings of hemp and pinkies were in the mix with maggot or pinkie on the hook.

Martin was the first to catch and I had a much slower start but we both caught reasonably steadily throughout the day. Martins stamp of fish was noticeably larger than mine and he seemed to be catching more frequently. He was using a different groundbait mix to me but he was also casting a bit further than me. Who knows what was giving him the edge.

I did chuck together a waggler rod for a bit of a change and had a good run of small roach to keep me busy. 

It was a good session to get back into it and a new water for me that I liked and will defo go back to in the future.

Woodshaw Reservoir

The next session I had was on one of the Warrington Anglers waters that I now have available to me, Woodshaw Reservoir.  Having never been to this reservoir before, the little homework that I managed to do indicated that it was known as a good tench and crucian water in the warmer months but less information was available for winter. The information I could find said that there are roach and bream present so with little else to go on I decided to target the skimmers and bream with a pole approach. I fed 2 lines at 13 metres, one fed heavy and one fed sparingly. My groundbait mix is one that I have used on my local canals with good success and that was sensas Magic mixed with brown crumb and then darkened with a bit of black tracix. I took only maggots with me for hookbait but I did have a tin of corn available in the bait bag if necessary.

Woodshaw Reservoir peg 21

The venue is quite shallow but reasonably consistent depth so I was able to use the same rig for both swims which made it much easier. After feeding both lines as described, I started on the lighter fed line, potting in 10 - 15 maggots. I wasn't expecting a prolific session but with no indications after an hour I switched to the heavier fed line in the hope that some fish had moved in. Sadly, this didn't work either as I still had nothing to show after a further hour. A switch back to my lighter line saw me hook and land a small roach but I was confident it was more fluke than design. By midday I had only the one fish and decided that a stretch of my legs was in order.  As I walked around the lake I had a chat with one of the other anglers (who later turned out to be one of the venue bailiffs) and he told me they had been catching on punch. He was even kind enough to give me a slice of bread and a small ball of liccy to get my swim going. I went back to my peg and set up a short pole line for the punch and fed the liccy on this before re-feeding my other lines in the hope that leaving them a while will see something move over them later.  Despite the local advice, the punch line didn't produce anything for me on this day, despite giving it a good go. I must admit I was contemplating an early exit from the fishery but what was meant to be a last look on the longer lines saw me hit a run of Roach that took my tally to about 15 fish. This restored my faith and I carried on until about 3:30pm and ended the day with 20 nice redfins.



Outlook

After this little dip back into coarse fishing I've got another boat trip planned aboard Blue Mink. After that I'll be on full on prep mode for the years match calendar. Until then.........tight lines