[bobthedog]

My start to the year hoping it's more successful than last year.
1.) Dab.

2.) 5 Bearded Rockling.

 

[bobthedog]

A session at Sandsend beach last night produced plenty of small fish but more important another 3 spieces for the list.
3). Coalfish.

4). Whiting.

5). Codling.

 

[bobthedog]

Had a choice last night sit & watch dancing on ice or brave the elements, no brainer really. There was 3 guys fishing for cod when I got there, think they thought I was mad setting up for flounders or a schoolie. Result one guy had 8 coddling from 2 to 5lb & I caught whiting and a couple of flounders.
6). Flounder.

 

[bobthedog]

Found myself in Whitby last night, while the other half went to see her mum I sloped off to the end of the pier to "socially distance". Armed with a light rod a few 1 oz weights and a trace with "bling" on it. Bait was a rummage in the freezer coming up with a pack of old blacks & a small bag of frozen salted mackerel strips. It wasn't the best time to fish being the last couple of hours down, there must have been less than 3ft of water as you could see the bottom. From the off it was a bite a chuck fishing cast & slow retrive in an attempt to keep the crabs off. My tally for the night 15 dabs & a plaice for the list. One thing I noticed when using mackerel most fish were lip hooked with a section of black the took it down every time.

7). Plaice.

 

[bobthedog]

8). Mackerel

A guy fishing near me with his young son, the lad caught a mackerel but was struggling to lift it up the pier wall. Dad lent forward to hand ball fish up just as mackerel flicked off. With the release of tension the spinner shot up embedding the treble in dad's forehead. The hook was in up to the bend, rather than inflict further pain I unclipped the spinner leaving just the hook & gave directions to the hospital.

 

[Goateeblank]

8). Mackerel

A guy fishing near me with his young son, the lad caught a mackerel but was struggling to lift it up the pier wall. Dad lent forward to hand ball fish up just as mackerel flicked off. With the release of tension the spinner shot up embedding the treble in dad's forehead. The hook was in up to the bend, rather than inflict further pain I unclipped the spinner leaving just the hook & gave directions to the hospital.

Ouch. Could have been worse!

 

[bobthedog]

Thought I'd try a beach mark a couple of hours either side of high last night in the hope of a turbot. Unable to get any fresh bait it was the standby frozen squid & mackerel strips out of the freezer. Nothing exciting just a few dabs until an hour after high then thought I'd missed a bite close in. Wound in to find hook had come off, turbot missed? Next cast same spot bang, mission accomplished not the biggest but a turbot all the same.

9). Turbot.

 

[PhilR]

Turbot!
I definitely want one of those.

 

[bobthedog]

Just checking the venues before you come up.

 

[bobthedog]

My old mate PhilR was up visiting family last week & also had a few fish on his list for his spieces hunt that he can't get down south. So we started 3 days of trips to see what we could do. First trip Whitby West pier target was Coalie & Dab, not really a problem from here. As we tackled up he saw someone nearby get a weaver, another spieces on his hit list. To cut a long story short he achieved all 3 plus another 3 he already had. I managed the billet & dabs plus a long spined sea scorpion putting my tally up to 10.
10). Long spined sea scorpion.

 

[Goateeblank]

Well done Guide bobthedog! I hail from Middlesbrough, but been down South since l was 12. Love Whitby. Was looking at cottages last night! Need coalie and dab and fish and chips! On 34, target 40. Good luck on your hunt.

 

[PhilR]

Well done Guide bobthedog! I hail from Middlesbrough, but been down South since l was 12. Love Whitby. Was looking at cottages last night! Need coalie and dab and fish and chips! On 34, target 40. Good luck on your hunt.

Small world. I hail from Guisborough. Dab and coalie a virtual certainty from Whitby WEST Pier.

 

[bobthedog]

Could be the last report of the year. My mate phoned me to say I needed to get my backside up to the Isle of Whithorn as he had put a lot of mackerel fillets in the freezer for me as well as a dozen joey mackerel for pike baits. His cottage was going to be empty last weekend so an ideal opportunity for me to go in these covid times.
Not the best fishing conditions with the wind having a lot of east in it (blows right onto the rocks there). I managed to find a sheltered spot for float fishing, being big tides the flow further out was a good 6 to 8 knts to fast for bottom fishing as it would pull round into snaggs instantly. I had plenty of fish, pollock to 1.5lb & wrasse to 2.5lb. Under the conditions my last shot for a banker spieces was a shanny off the jetty. First attempt on a falling tide plenty more wrasse but no shanny, tried again the following day on a rising tide they were queuing up to take the bait. Looks like the little blighters feed on the flood & disappear back into their holes on the ebb. With low water just after dark I did try a couple of marks in Luce bay for bass & dogfish. Unusually no sign of a dog missed a couple of bites that could have been bass & landed a flounder.
All in all not to bad for the conditions, 4 more spieces for the list.

11). Ballan Wrasse.

12). Corkwing Wrasse.

13). Pollock.

14). Shanny.

 

[PhilR]

Well done Bob. No sign of a weever yet?

 

[bobthedog]

Think I've lost my chance of one now. There's been quite a few rough seas since you were here so I think all summer fish have pushed off now. Only thing left round here now would be a bass.