Swansea marina (River Tawe) 14-16.9.2021
Entry posted by The Flying Tench in general
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Three days in Swansea fishing as part of a week's family holiday on the Gower. It has to be said that this was salt water fishing (well, maybe a bit brackish), and my experience of such contests is that the fish normally come away with a 'clean sheet'! Though on this occasion I had built up my courage by watching a youtube video by some local youngsters who made it all look rather easy, catching small fish of a wide range of species. So I was hoping to get plenty of bites and catch even if the fish were very small
Day 1 I ledgered ragworm, and caught a decent fish! A flounder of about 10 oz. I was well pleased. In addition I had three bites which I failed to connect with. Maybe the fish were too small for my ragworm?
Day 2 I made the rash decision to switch to bread in the hope of a mullet. Slow to say the least, but towards the end of the day I saw lots of bubbles coming from a patch of water close to the edge. Then followed very tricky bites, with the float going down about an inch and staying still, just under the surface. BUT I did actually hook a small mullet which duly careered all round the swim before coming off the hook. Then a kindly local angler, who normally fishes for mullet, offered to show me the where and the how the next morning. Wow!
Day 3 Of course I was full of expectation. Mullet are often found under boats where they feed off the weed growing on the hull. He had found one particular boat hosted a good shoal of fair sized mullet, but it was too far to float fish. Accurate casting of a ledger was needed. He predicted we would very soon have little knocks from mullet, and he was right. Normally, though, they didn't produce hittable bites, rather the reverse. As if to mock the angler they would slowly remove the bread from the hook until the metal was showing, and then they would refuse to have any more to do with it! But just occasionally they would get fed up and pull the tip round with a solid take! I started to get the hang of the casting, and things looked good, but gradually it became clear the mullet were not in a bold mood, and neither of us caught.
But, unlike yesterday, the smaller mullet started to show lots of interest in the bread crusts we were chucking in, and at one stage it was quite dramatic with silver flashes everywhere. And one two of them were by no means small. After my friend had gone, and I'd had a nice lunch at the nearby sailing club, I returned with a float rod. Alas, the mullet had lost some of their enthusiasm. It may have been that the sun had moved so that the relevant area was now in shadow. They seemed to positively LIKE the bright light. In short, I didn't catch.
So not much on the bank after 3 days, but an interesting and enjoyable time, of course with many questions. One thing I have wondered about is the use of groundbait. I used bread crumb, both in the feeder and balled in round the float, but it didn't seem to interest the mullet - whereas at times chucking in bits of bread (which sunk) or crust (which of course didn't) did. I've been wondering whether liquidised bread might have been more effective?
Comments or advice from those who know more about sea fishing than I do would be welcome!
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