Latest Fishing Reports: My Way 2
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01/2018
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
Jan 2018 by Gethyn Owen
Holyhead at dawn, this was the lovely sight that greeted me as I prepared My Way before sailing on Wednesday morning.
A great mixed bag of fish through the day and with a little space managed some time fishing myself too. A few nice spurdogs around in the deeps
We ate well too, below a most delicious chicken and leek pie made for us by Dawn, wife of My Way regular Keith Heaton.
Keith’s reward … a happy smile having landed a small conger from Holyhead Deep, his first eel for over 20years
For this report with photographs please copy and paste this link into your browser
http://goangling.co.uk/13469-2/
www.goangling.co.uk
07971 924046 -
12/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
Dec 2017 by Gethyn Owen
2017 review - part two July to December
Continuing a look back at 2017, part two covers July to Dec aboard My Way. Our first trip of July saw some lovely weather and some mixed fishing both inshore and in Holyhead Deep.
As the weather continued to play ball, more sorties into the Deeps were rewarded with pollack on the wreck and some great tope action at anchor. Amongst the catches we had plenty of wrasse and pollack to test the light gear with some cracking action from the spurdogs in the Deep.
Staying in July and climbing tides we looked for more rod bending action closer to home. Rays, small tope and big huss putting the rods to the test amongst various other catches. Back off in the Deep towards the end of the month and the fishing coniued to raise smiles. The wrecks offering some great pollack fishing and at anchor rods bent over with tope and spurdogs.
The odd surprise coming along too with species such as Marks some big grey gurnards.
One day towards the end of July and Part of our Pure Fishing competition days the weather was forecast to blow a hoolie for the afternoon. With no sign of the wind we decided on a short run halfway top our normal marks in Holyhead Deep.
Unsure of the rewards, Halton SAC geared up for big stuff and were duly rewarded with over 20 tope, a bagful of huss and spurdog. It was a close run thing, with scores averaging 95points but with Rich and Ron both tying on 109 each. A quick count back found Ron had 9 species to Rich who had 8 thus winning a brand new Greys GR100S 20lb rod and Abu 7000 reel for himself … just by coming out for a days fishing.
Species hunting is great fun, changing tackle, tactics and baits can bring up all manner of fish and add of the fun and enjoyment of the day.
Weather in August started to hamper our fishing; thankfully we’d often be able to grab a day afloat in relatively calm seas despite often being sandwiched between two days of 30knot winds.
Fishing was regularly better than expected given the winds, at anchor a good variety of species and drifting proving very successful with any amount of wrasse – ballan, cuckoos, goldsinney & corkwing together with mackerel and plenty of pollack.
A birthdays fishing trip is always a great idea, with friends and family not forgetting birthday cake too.
When taking the youngster afloat, whether a trip specifically for the younger generation or mixed into a normal day, it’s important to help them enjoy the whole experience. Including a stint at the helm, young Richie making a splendid job of steering to our chosen mark,
As the weather juggled our days afloat, myself along with many others still wanted a fishing fix. So this year I rekindled my enjoyment in fresh water fishing at a fishery local to me, Llyn Y Gors in Llandegfan. It’ll never overtake my love of being afloat on the sea, but offers a great chilled out time catching! With My Way sponsors Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd having companies such as Greys, JRC Mitchell and Shakespeare within their portfoilio, we were well equipped to catch and offer a similar experience to My Way regulars that had had their trip cancelled.
Back afloat and the fishing delivered an array of species and fun throughout August and into September; with many days seeing up towards 20 different types of fish being landed
Using multiple hook rigs can pose the odd problem. Popular and highly effective our two hook muppet rig for Holyhead deep snared it’s biggest of the day in Gethyn. With a 27lb tope on one hook, the tope was lifted into the boat, the tope naturally thrashed about, a little peeved at its circumstances.
The flaying hook embedding itself into his wrist. No real drama, the hook was cut away and pushed through. Job done. The tope, a first for its capture, also released after a quick photograph. With a space available on the boat one day mid September Mark managed a days fishing whilst crewing and bagged himself a lovely male tope of 43lb and his largest tub gurnard to date.
Weather was not the kindest for our Sept Pure Fishing competition with a strong NW breeze forecast, fortunately this eased quite quickly, leaving a fairly reasonable sea for us to enjoy within the bay. It started off wet and windy but as the winds eased the sun came out for a cracking day inshore fishing.
Our last anchor producing a final spree to the finish line with many more fish including a 2nd hound to Alan. Chris and Mark again matching each other for fish, but Chris’ better drifting proving decisive in the end as he took the win from Mark and Alan who had crept up the points list with a steady haul of fish through the day.
For the win Chris received a Shakespeare Agilty 9ft Tipster rod with a Penn Spinfisher 5500 fixed spool reel. The outfit with a retail price of £210 is ideal for fishing at both anchor and drift. The 3 piece rod has a sensitive tip section, that can detect the smallest of bites in all seas, while still having the strength to battle larger prey such as Smoothhounds to over 20lb.
Fishing and Fun go hand in hand, sometimes when fishing for the likes of hounds & tope etc. it’s a waiting game, bait prepared, rods set … wait for the hit. There is always time to chill and have a giggle and this is what happened when I left my GoPro unattended with Nad and Cards near by …
Video Player on website
Days afloat however limited through September and October resulted insome great fishing. With variety and size helping us enjoy our days afloat.
As the weather started to get colder, the spurdogs started to return in numbers in Holyhead Deep along with some good conger action for a few anglers.
Afloat in the bay through October and November and we had plenty of action inshore. With the deeps once again providing the big action for the rods.
Fortunately early spring winter time, we don’t have to travel too far, the spurs seemingly preferring the rougher more broken ground to the north of Holyhead Deep.
It’s not all about the big fish, one most memorable towards the latter part of summer was this little beauty, a leopard spotted goby. You can target these from the shore with relatively good success from a few Anglesey marks, but they’re not so prolific while afloat. This only the 03rd landed aboard My Way
Early November and a few more cancellations with the weather; Iwan and Shelby opted for plan b and a first time coarse Fishing at Llyn Y Gors. They weren’t disanointed with some lovely catches to rods and poles.
Thankfully on the days we were able to sail as the year progressed the fishing continued to prove successful
Despite the weather, its fair to say we’ve had a great time aboard My Way throughout 2017.
Many thanks to everyone that has sailed with us and help make another memorable year afloat, hopefully 2018 will be as successful on the fish.
Many thanks also to our sponsors Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd. With their support we have been able to provide all our customers old and new quality rods, reels lines and tackle from some of the largest names in the industry.
For a full look at Part one plus this report with photographs please copy and paste this link into your browser
http://goangling.co.uk/review-of-2017-aboard-my-way-part-two/
www.goangling.co.uk
07971 924046 -
12/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
Dec 2017 by Gethyn Owen
2017 review - part one January to June
Looking back at the recurring theme of foul weather, 2017 was the not best of years for many around the UK, north Wales no different with numerous days cancelled through strong winds. Days afloat however reduced from previous years were quite frequent and filled with some great fishing and laughs for those that sailed with us.
Our report from 2017 takes a pictorial look back over the year and some of the many great days we’ve had afloat.
We started our new season very early in February and rewarded with an array of species including plenty of fine huss and thornbacks.
The first quarter of any year sees most trips venture out to Holyhead Deep for spurdogs, these hard fighting small sharks are great fun to catch.
From 200ft of water and on 12lb class gear, they offer some tremendous early season sport.
Goes without saying we always eat well aboard My Way and often our crews bring along offerings for everyone on the boat.
Quite popular is Asian cuisine with Aloo Methi & a Chicken Curry from regulars Neil and Paul respectively.
In March we reported our continued sponsorship from Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd, the worlds largest tackle company that boasts some of the best and most popular brands around today. PENN, Greys, Shakespeare and ABU Garcia among them.
Already sporting an array of rods and reels from many selected lines spinning rods, light boat rods, Tipsters etc. we were able to delve into the catalogues and stock up more gear for our anglers to use.
Moving into April and the fishing continues to improve. Inshore the wrasse and pollack provide some good days afloat around the breakwater and rock ledges of Anglesey.
One day in April day stands out amongst the many, plenty of fish inshore with pollack to 5lb on the wreck. Setting anchor in the Deeps we planned a good few hours on the spurdogs, everyone catching plenty but Iwan bucking that trend with 3 tope to 30lb his reward
Fishing can be so fickle! Especially when chasing spurdogs, small sharks that roam through areas on the feed. Below 2 photos from Luke Kelly and his crew, a run out to the deeps was rewarded with over 40 spurdogs in a mad and frantic 90 mins, these together with a few huss and customary dogfish.
The following day with a similar tide & conditions, not a sniff! Huss and dogs only, not even a solitary spurdog lost from its pack. Fishing can be so frustrating at times; everything can be planned to perfection, except the one main ingredient, the fish!
We don’t run trips specifically to the wrecks. My Way hasn’t the speed, and I don’t particularly enjoy that fishing for all day! Maybe if I ate more fish I would!
We have a couple wrecks in the Deeps that fish fairly well for us from late April each year, a couple hours fishing the last of the ebb tide offers plenty of pollack averaging 6lb, the largest a couple years ago went 12lb.
Then we drop the anchor and have fun with plenty of spurdogs, tope, huss and the odd conger eel.
Plenty inshore and spurdogs further out is how the fishing continues into May before we turn our attention to the influx of quality smoothhounds.
Mark Cain smashed his PB last year during the smoothhound challenge with a fantastic hound of 24lb in 2016. He opened his 2017 account on a Weds 03rd May, a couple weeks early from this years event with another mighty fine hound pushing My Ways scales to 20lb 1oz, pictured above
During one day afloat in May we were fishing a mark 8 miles out to sea. Not long into our anchor had a small visitor, a passing swallow needing a rest from its long journey north. The bird stayed with us sat up in the bow for half an hour before moving on for the next leg of its epic journey
Occasionally I get to have a fish myself, light tackle and inshore pollack can be great fun.
Our Smoothhound Challenge is a long established event now, running for 5 days towards the end of May each year. Daily prizes up for grabs for the angler with the heaviest smoothhound. 2017 was another great success, with some quality smoothhounds caught and 5 lucky anglers winning a fantastic rod and reel combo from Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd. See the winners here
June and the great fishing continued, Holyhead Deep with some great spurdog fishing, while inshore the drifting and anchor fishing allowing us many different species and sizes.
Mike Thrussell landing this beautiful 10lb 10oz pollack from the back of Holyhead Breakwater.
Another 20lb hound this time to the tope maestro Iwan and a first hound and another 20lber for Zukia.
Late June and Luke was back for another quality day with friends and family – this time recording some nice pollack, tope and plenty of spurdogs including 2 over 21lb in weight.
The smoothhounds just kept coming
However, smoothhound fishing is a waiting game! You may have an hour or two sitting on your baits waiting for a pack to come through. A little bit of fun helps the time pass. Not always about the fishing …
The first half of 2017 was placed with fish and some great times afloat
For a full look at the report with photographs please copy and paste this link into your browser
http://goangling.co.uk/review-of-2017-aboard-my-way/
www.goangling.co.uk
07971 924046 -
22/12/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
22 Dec 2017 by Gethyn Owen
A great day in the office today following a good few weeks of wind.
Plenty of whiting inshore, a few retained for baits in the deeps for the spurdogs.
Superb fishing in the deeper water with some good fighting spurs and a solitary huss for Keith.
Thanks to Dawn for the sausage casserole, delicious. -
30/10/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
30 Oct 2017 by Gethyn Owen
Fishing aboard My Way on 30th Oct was hectic in the the small window of settled weather Monday brought after the high winds of the weekend. After the glorious calm start to the day, we had a great few hours inshore catching a variety of species, dogs, whiting, huss, dabs etc.
By lunch time the winds had increased as forecast, fortunately the lumpy see only lasted an hour and the tide turned to flood with the wind direction. The spurdogs started to hit the baits as soon as they touched the bottom of the 220ft depth we were fishing. Plenty in the 6-8lb mark with a good number also into double figures.
With 5 lads fishing there was also a space for me to have a go myself, managing to connect with 7 spurs and also dropping a few during our anchor time.
Plenty of fish and a good laugh with a great crew
More photos and reports at www.goangling.co.uk -
06/10/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
6 Oct 2017 by Gethyn Owen
Friday 06th saw the first of our October Pure Fishing sponsored species competition days. Only 4 anglers took part in what turned into a cracking match and a battle royal between 2 pairs of anglers.
On the stern, Zukia was determined to beat her Father Alf, while with bow draws local rod Mark Cain and Wirral’s Scottish international Mickey Duff tested each others abilities. All 4 anglers, hoping to amass a good amount of points to see them win the rod & reel combo on offer in October.
With spring tides and a bay that had been battered with strong onshore winds all week, our day was planned at anchor and started off just outside the harbour. Whiting and dogs started to flow aboard My Way and were soon to become the bulk of the catches. Zukia and Alf matching each other for fish, whilst Mickey was soon pulling in double and treble shots of fish from his bow draw. Mark though was making use of the species adding a small huss and poor cod to his tally.
Moving out to the mussel beds the whiting grew in size, with some near 2lb autumn fish coming aboard in 2’s and 3’s More species were added with tub, red and grey gurnards all making an appearance for everyone except Mickey who was still banging out the whiting and dogfish.
At the mid way stage, despite being 20 fish ahead of Mark, the additional 6 points per species saw Mark only 3 points behind Mickeys lead. Zukia on the stern was leading pops by a few points in their family battle.
An hour in Church Bay next looking for a few additional species, this anchor saw plenty more huss come aboard, . Whilst scoring I was having a fish myself and caught a good dozen of them, one of which, very distinctive with a black patch above one eye it was recaught by Mark 20 mins after I had returned it earlier.
The species count wasn’t the best and a move was called for, a patch of broken ground that could throw up all manner of fish from minies to eels. Mickey still stuck on 2 species but over 100 fish was keen to add a few more now, the points were close with Mark now having a few more species to his name.
From the off Mickey started to consolidate his lead with a conger and mackerel on the first drop, followed shortly after by a few huss and poor cod.
Alf had a smile on his face at this point, not for his fish count, but for the octopus he caught. One that would make a great starter to his tub gurnard main course.
With over 120 fish on his score card, Mickey proved his prowess as a match angler with a winning total of 175points, to Marks 145. Zukia beating her father Alf by a 10points.
A great match and a worthy leader looking towards match two later this month. -
27/10/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
27 Oct 2017 by Gethyn Owen
Friday 27th October saw us fish the final day of our Pure Fishing summer & autumn species competitions. The first leg was fished on October 6th, which saw Wirral based angler Micky Duff set a commanding points lead of 175 to all those fishing the 2nd day in the hope of winning the Greys Uptider and Penn Fathom 20 reel available to the winner of the most points.
Our day started off with a change of plan, we had hoped to head straight out to Holyhead Deeps and fish the last of the ebb tide for possible spurdogs. Sadly the 18mph northerly winds restricted us to fishing inshore. However with a decreasing forecast, fingers were crossed for the high water slack in the afternoon.
Instead all 8 anglers prepared rigs and baits for a couple hours on the mussel beds, a productive patch of ground north of Holyhead. Fishing was hectic, with all anglers hooking into late autumn staples dogfish and good sized whiting. As the tide eased, the huss started to bite, with sizes ranging between 3lb and a few into double figures.
There was mixed experience aboard the boat, a few regulars along with some anglers new to fishing aboard My Way. Alf, Zukia and Mark Cain had all fished the first leg of our October competition early this month and were determined to come closer and possibly beat Mickeys score.
Mark had battled hard with Micky during the first match, similar points for most of the day, Mickeys match experience of pulling in numbers of fish continually through the 8hrs afloat helping him seal the win on that first day. What was nice to see on 27th, was that having been beaten by Mickey earlier in the month, Mark had noted the rigs that were being used to defeat him. The rigs he was using on this day were very similar to those that Mickey had on 06th, so effective Mark was landing double and triple shots of fish on a regular basis from his bow position.
There is no shame in losing when fishing a match, what would be shameful would be to not learn from that experience. Mark had certainly learnt and was making that experience work for him with great effect this day.
Mark managed a bonus fish on the mussel beds when he pulled out a small thornback ray. With each new species worth 6 points and 5 points for a ray, a cool 11 points were added to his score sheet.
On the stern another regular My Way angler Keith Heaton was plodding away with a constant number of fish, but also a very credible number of bull huss. With huss scoring 5 points to the 1 point of a dogfish or whiting, Keith was hot on the heels of mark for most of the day.
These competitions are fun events and there is never anything too serious about them. They are in effect just a normal day afloat catching plenty, the only difference being that I score each fish that you catch on the card and total the points up at the end. As well as the main competition, there were also a couple personal matches going on the boat. Father and son Jason and Luke, naturally wanting to beat each other and Alf, having lost to daughter Zukia on the first October competition, wanting revenge despite this being his birthday treat to Zukia.
Our stint on the mussel beds yielded a good number of fish, the bags mainly consisting of dogfish, whiting, pout an poor cod, but also a brilliant 40 huss between the 8 anglers. As the tide started to increase, we moved inshore to Church Bay. Here the fishing slowed down slightly, with more singles and the odd brace of fishing coming aboard. Whiting and dogfish again the main catches with a few dabs, poor cod and a solitary coalfish too.
With the slower fishing, it was an ideal time for lunch. Keiths wife Dawn had made a fantastic sausage casserole for everyone to enjoy. And it was delicious, not a spoonful left with Mark Cain going in to wipe the pan clean with a few slices of the crusty white bread that accompanied the meal.
By early afternoon, the wind had eased and the sea flattened off nicely and we decided to head off to Holyhead Deep in search of more huss and possibly spurdogs and eels. With the poor weather we’d had of late I’d not been out to the deeps for over a month, spurs were due to make an appearance once again, but to say I was apprehensive would be an understatement. We pushed out a little further than usual, fishing at anchor in a depth of 220foot.
Fortunately the plan worked, Chris Firth was first to hook into something and with over a knot of tide still running it was putting up a fight. Thoughts of spurdog came quickly with the constant shake on the rod tip, it turned out to be a strap conger, a first ever eel for Chris.
A few huss came aboard before the spurdogs moved in. Everyone caught plenty of spurs, many of which well into double figures. Following his eel, Chris managed 5 spurdogs of his own.
Zukia, having not caught an eel or spurdog before managed to knock both off her species list this trip. The first spurdog dropping off at the side of the boat but thankfully with the rig rebaited and dropped down another quickly followed.
Mark hooked into something quite lively from the depths, it looked to be a good spur or small tope, but when it broke the surface it was another conger, a nice eel just shy of 20lb. Marks heaviest eel to date.
Luke was on form in the deeps, huss and spurdogs keeping him busy, catching a bigger spurdog than his father, raising a faint smile when lifting the nice double figure shark up.
On the final count after lines up, Mark Cain had proved himself a worthy winner for the day and to cap it off, with his fish numbers and 9 species he’d amassed 189 fish points, winning the October competition and a brand new Greys uptider and Penn Fathom multiplier for his efforts.
Marks win did have us all laughing, as he won using a brand new Greys GR100S 20lb boat rod and Penn Fathom 15 twin speed that he had purchased only the day before from ABC in Beaumaris.
Mark had tested the GR100S & Fathom 2speed outfit aboard My Way a couple times previously, before deciding to buy. A great set up that worked well for him during this match … he now has two fantastic brand new rod & reel combos, well done!
The match was well fished, plenty to be caught a variety of species, some great food and some good laughs too.
A very big thank you to My Ways sponsors Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd.
They have sponsored some great competitions aboard My Way through 2017 and have helped many anglers walk away smiling, not only with competition prizes but with the excellent quality rods, reels and lines used by novice and experienced anglers alike when fishing with us. -
21/09/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
21 Sep 2017 by Gethyn Owen
A good day afloat yesterday for our Sept Pure Fishing competition. Weather was not the kindest with a strong NW breeze forecast, fortunately this eased quite quickly, leaving a fairly reasonable sea for us to enjoy within the bay.
Our first anchor produced a good number of dogs and whiting, with a few other species including hound and strap conger.Similarly our 2nd anchor on the mussel beds, this time with a good few double figure huss added to the scoresheet and the odd tub gurnard. By the end of this point, Mark Cain and Chris Neden were only a few points apart as they battled for the win.
Drifting was as hard as expected, with only a few small pollack and the odd wrasse coming to the boat. Chris capitalised on this hr, adding 4pollack a ballan and a cuckoo wrasse to his haul, were as Mark could only manage a couple small pollack.
Our last anchor producing a final spree to the finish line with many more fish including a 2nd hound to Alan. Chris and Mark again matching each other for fish, but Chris’ better drifting proving decisive in the end as he took the win from Mark and Alan who had crept up the points list with a steady haul of fish through the day.
For the win Chris received a Shakespeare Agilty 9ft Tipster rod with a Penn Spinfisher 5500 fixed spool reel. The outfit with a retail price of £210 is ideal for fishing at both anchor and drift. The 3 piece rod has a sensitive tip section, that can detect the smallest of bites in all seas, while still having the strength to battle larger prey such as Smoothhounds to over 20lb.
For more reports and photos please visit http://goangling.co.uk
We have spaces available for our Oct competition, please follow the link below
http://goangling.co.uk/2017-summer-autumn-species-competitions/
Big thanks go to our sponsors Pure Fishing UK Ltd for their continued support. My Way is sponsored by Pure Fishing – this includes Penn, Shakespeare, Greys, Berkley and many more http://www.uk.purefishing.co.uk -
31/08/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
31 Aug 2017 by Gethyn Owen
Another good day afloat today, thanks to more settled weather.
Pollack averaging 5lb on the wreck, followed by an anchor with huss and tope. Inshore drifting the wrasse were again obliging with a good amount of these little fighters being caught.
Top marks go to Gordon who is down for a couple days fishing from the North East, wanting to catch himself a first tope. A nice 30lb tope that fought well from 165ft of water was his reward.
For more reports and photos please visit http://goangling.co.uk -
18/09/2017
Fishing Report by Gethyn Owen
18 Sep 2017 by Gethyn Owen
Nice to be back on the water today, our first time for a few weeks thanks to the extremely poor weather we've all suffered with lately. Inshore fished as expected given the northerly winds with dogs, whiting and huss the main catches.
Our anchor in the deeps was slow, no spurs or tope for Laura to tag she she did though manage to tag a couple good sized huss for the Shark research database she collects information for.
Drifting in the deeps worked well, with some nice pollack coming to the rods frequently. Averaging 4lb, Mark with the best at 7lb 2oz
Enjoyable day back at work
More photos and reports http://goangling.co.uk
