As I type this it looks like Summer is making way for Autumn, Carp are getting their heads down and feeding hard in preparation for Winter and in the sea the Summer species are moving on and the annual Whiting infestation has already begun.
The reality is I haven't been able to do much fishing and when I have been able to get out it's usually been pretty hard going!
I spent a week down Cornwall with friends and though I fished every day and a couple of evenings I didn't have much success. I went down there dreaming of giant Bass, Turbot and Small Eyed Rays but the reality was small Pollack, Wrasse and my first ever Garfish on LRF gear. I did manage this Ballan Wrasse of about 2 lb whilst fishing a beach in the evening:
Other than that I had a day fishing lures down Brighton and managed to catch Mackerel, Garfish and Bass. The Mackerel and Gars took a Dexter Wedge and the Bass were caught on surface lures, at 1 lb 10 oz and 2 lb 14 oz they weren't monsters but it's always nice to catch something different.
After a bit of a break I'm also getting back into my Carp fishing, my first trip to Roosthole since going to France in May resulted in me catching eight fish with the biggest being just over 10 lb.
I started the year with all these plans to catch big fish and new species but it wasn't to be, I still have hopes of catching a few Flounders from the Adur and maybe a nice Pike from the Thames but the Small Eyed Rays and Turbot will have to wait until next year. The good news is I'm now on 4 on 4 off shifts so I plan to fish much more next year.
