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  • 12/09/2016 Fishing Report by stuart cross on Celtic Wildcat (Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire)

    12 Sep 2016 by stuart cross

    Report on-board Celtic Wildcat

    Me and my family have just returned from our annual shark fishing trip aboard Celtic Wildcat skippered by Nick O’Sullivan. Luckily for us we got all three days in with different conditions every day. Day one started with a mirror calm sea, not ideal but very pleasant. Our team consisted of me, my wife, mini me [aka Andrew] my mum and dad. Mum and dad are 76 and 74 but when there are sharks about more like 16 and 14!!. We were joined by Greg all three days who lives locally and helps Nick regularly. He is a cracking chap and a very knowledgeable fisherman. I picked up plenty of mackerel from Andy’s Baits in Portsmouth on Sunday morning which were packed in nice and tight in a large polystyrene box this was taped down and covered up ready for the Monday morning. These baits were still frozen Wednesday evening - amazing!. The secret being take out enough for the day 'ONCE' then fill the void so no warm air can lift the temperature and re-seal. If you look after your bait your bait will look after you!. No time wasted chasing the elusive baits and more time having your arms pulled off, lovely!
    The sharks were high in the water as predicted warming themselves up in the morning sun. A little lethargic early on but as our magic potion drifted further off in the tide they came on the feed.
    With our baits set up to 60ft most of the sharks came to the rods close in around 30ft, a few rug rats mixed in with nice fish to 70lb, then mini me lifted into a great big lump that made his 9\0 sing and put a lovely grin on his face. Fifteen minutes later and 110lb blue was on the deck-excellent a ton up fish the first day to my 13 year old son!.
    We had four rods out and my wife was on guard with the butt pad on. I see her reach for the close rod as the bottle float is semi pulled under, away it goes, a quick tighten of the clutch and she lifts in to a very good fish. She runs hard down deep and close to the boat, I know its a big fish so i give my wife gentle encouragement 'that’s a bloody big fish don't cock it up' .I then get the female stare so retire for a mars bar and a drink. Three good strong runs and my wife is holding her own 'your doing great carry on' i say the stare changes to a loving smile and I'm saved from certain death. The fish hangs under the boat out of sight- true characteristics of a big blue. My wife piles the pressure on and lets the bend in the rod slowly lift the fish. A couple of short runs and we can see colour- now we can see a bloody big fish! Nicks got the wire, she’s neatly hooked in the corner with the circle hook- ropes on and she’s on deck - wow - measured weight of 172lb. I can't believe it what a great fish! Family photo and she’s away. I'm very proud of my wife's efforts and skill. Many people would have lost that fish but she kept calm and landed the fish of a lifetime and I got a cuddle!!. A great family photo and we are all buzzing. We catch a total of 18 blues the first day.
    Day two and we have a fresh breeze, the sharks are deeper today not one seen on the surface. We set our baits accordingly and indeed the deeper far out baits take most of the fish. 17 blues today up to 90lb with a good few in the 60lb-90lb bracket. These fish fight hard and we all have our fair share. Now my dads not slow if a reel starts screaming so to combat this mini me held the rod on the bow and cornered Bri in so he couldn’t get to any rods (a cunning plan that kept my dad under control since he was suffering a severe case of ‘shark fever’).
    Suddenly Andrews reel started screaming at an alarming rate. The sound of a Penn 9/0 in full song is music to any fisherman’s ears. This was no blue, the spool nearly empty, he puts the clutch to max and the fish slows, turns and races towards the boat going very deep. Trying to keep up with a fish with an empty spool is impossible but mini me is cranking as fast as he can. 15 seconds and the fish is back on. He loosens the clutch slightly and now the fish is deep taking line rapidly. Disaster! The rod springs straight and the fish is gone.
    On inspection the 80lb main line is cut through clean. We all stand in silence looking out beyond the floats. The Megladon is gone ! We are gutted. It must have picked up the line with all the slack. I praise Andrew for his efforts as he did very well but it was not to be. What it was we will let you decide but it was VERY fast and big lifting Andrew off of his seat!
    We catch a few more blues and then its home time with the monster on all of our minds.
    Day three the forecast was lively on the way out but improving all day. We left mum behind due to the bumpy ride out .At 74 there is no point being bashed around. My dad was going even if we had to row there!.
    A young lad called Nathan and his dad joined us today. He had not caught a shark before so we soon changed that!
    A few rug rats to start with then I saw my deep rod bend more than it should before straightening. I hovered over it, everyone else said I was seeing things but the float slowly moved left on the surface and then gently bobbed. I called Nathan and as he grabbed the rod the ratchet sang. In gear, lift the rod shark on! This fish took line at range straight away, always a good sign. Now for someone that has only landed a 3lb trout before landing a 109lb shark is a fair effort. It put up a great fight and could easily have been lost under the boat but Nathan was having none of that, a great fish for his first one although it did cost his dad a beef and mustard sandwich! I missed out on my 100lb fish this year but it was worth it to let the lad have his. A couple of quiet spells followed by ‘shark soup’ as Nick would say.
    We landed about 19 again with me getting a fighting fit 90lb fish a cracking day. Now I am not saying my dads keen but we have all reeled in and started to tidy up, Nick is warming the engines and my dad still has a bait in ‘come on we are going home ‘we all shout so instead of reeling in he walks his bait from the bow to stern, bang shark on!- only a small one but he said Ah Ha- that makes it five each day for me!!.
    To some it all up a cracking three days, thanks to Andy for his excellent bait, RokMax for some quality terminal gear Greg for his tireless help and great company and to Nick for making it so good again. When you put good ingredients in your pie it tastes bloody good!
    Shark fishing is on the up with more fish are turning up year by year.When the horrible practice of finning is eventually stopped worldwide it will be a lot better. Please look after your fish, circle hooks set with a reasonable amount of drag is the way forward 90% of our fish were hooked in the corner of the mouth with the odd greedy small one taking it further back. With the barbs crimped down they will do no harm and be lost very soon.
    To look after our sport we must be sport fisherman and treat all our catches with respect.
    Stuart Cross.

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