woot

I bought a light telescopic mitchell spinning rod on e-bay for about a tenner last year and used it off a yak for mackerel, pollack and bass. I was really pleased with it and it folds away to a really short section for stowage. I also have a really nice telescopic 12ft pike rod which is a quality rod that folds down to around 2ft 6" this rod has been on many holidays and handled all sorts of things including 4 nice pollack all on the same string of feathers, not really suitable for yakking but goes to show that telescopic rods do not have to be cheap rubbish.

I used to fish Llangorse a lot all through the year. If you want to experience the best the pike have to offer fight wise have a meet in the summer and fish lures or if its still allowed livebaits. In my experience the best fights come from fish 10-15lbs with explosive takes, fast and often airbourne runs, any bigger than this and they rely on their weight and tend to stay deep with steady slow runs. As a word of warning if you hook a big un and you are anchored it will be difficult to land without the a big un going for the rope to tangle you up. We always pulled the anchors up as soon as we hooked a good fish as we used to anchor both ends of the punt and got tangled too many times. Besides that if you were in a wide open space it could be a good feeling to be towed around the lake by a 20lb plus pike

More numpty questions - I have been looking at the Calcutta shads and have been once again been totally perplexed by the amount of choices 5 sizes 28 colours with further options of split tails and curltails! HELP, can you cast these things or are they only for trolling? any recommendations for size and colour for close in pollack fishing? I was hoping to anchor or slow drift over rough ground, gullies, reefs etc and cast and retreive them. Tempest sidewinders- look good so again are they suitable for casting and should I go for 4" or 6" and are they suitable for casting, retreiving (these are leadheaded). Cheers

Thanks guys more good info, Doo what sort of terrain/depth do you look for for successful trolling with the rapala? when you say the pollack take the lure when stationary what do you mean? am I missing or something or if stationary won't the lure just float on the surface?

Thanks Moley that is exactly the sort of recommendations I was after. More details about the taget area - launch from large wide shallow sandy beach with rocky headlands at both ends that then follow a line of cliffs/bays for miles in both directions. The beach is at the very back of the horseshoe of St Brides bay so not an area of massive tides. Most of the fishing with be in shallow water with no extreme tide flow and I would like the option of both casting and trolling

I have been watching the forum intently for a long time whilst toying with the idea of buying a yak specifically for fishing, I have finally bitten the bullet and bought Happy Hookers kitted out P13. I am now in the fortunate position of looking forward to spending lots of time in Pembrokeshire in the coming summer with a new toy to play with. To set the scene I stay in a house 150 yds from the beach of Broad Haven (North) so this is where I am likely to do most of my launching although I do intend to put the P13 on the roof occasionally if necessary (maybe for meets, trips to recommended marks etc). I want to be able to go out have a nice paddle in nice surroundings and have a bit of fun fishing thrown in. I am guessing my fishing is going to be almost exclusively lure fishing. Here lies my problem I have been looking at e-bay and some web sites and am very wary of the “most lures are designed to catch anglers not fish” rule. I would like to spend the winter stocking up with lures for the summer but want to make sure I am buying wisely. Before someone suggests doing a search on past threads I have been down that route and taken some suggestions on board. So put yourself in my position what would be on your shopping list of lures and why and how should I fish them when the time comes? Please try to be as specific as possible because some of the things I am finding confusing are things like leadheads , jelly worms, shads, rapalas etc come in so many weights, lengths hooksizes colours etc that even when I think I know what I need I am unsure of which particular ones to order. I enjoy bashing mackerel for the Barbie, catching Pollack on light tackle and would love to latch on to a decent bass but have so far only managed a few tiddlers. So here we go with some fantasy fishing/shopping to get your juices flowing through the winter months. If you had a new yak ready for a summer of fishing and an empty tackle box what would you be buying this winter to fill the box and how would you fish them? A few links would also be nice because its fantasy shopping for you but I do actually need to buy this stuff. Cheers Woot

If you do have to sell I would be interested to know how much you want for the set-up (and I work in Cardiff so pretty local)

Thanks for the kind offers guys, I will definately take you up on some of those offers. keep the posts going they always make interesting reading and make sure you post news of any forthcoming meets. I have a drysuit from when I had a RIB but I can't see me being keen on getting out in a yak until I can do it in a wetsuit. Don't bother trying to convince me its not cold, I dived in Pembs for over 10 years and waterski all year so I know its Bl**dy cold. Richard- wildlife spotting is one of the reasons that yakking appeals to me, getting to see seals, porpoises, dolphins etc is always a buzz for me and as you know Pembrokeshire has a lot to offer.

Rich Your post arrived whilst I was typing the last reply so more info. Unfortunately I don't live in Pembrokeshire yet, I own a property in Broadhaven and spend as much of my time as possible down West. Both myself and my wife have good jobs in Cardiff and can't quite bring ourselves to make the break and move although we talk about it most days. I have had my own boat for the last few years that I keep in Neyland marina and use as much as possible throughout the year for exploring as much of the area as possible. I did see a few people fishing from yaks close to Hobbs point when I was out in my boat a while ago. I made a very slow pass at a respectable distance but didn't go in tight to say hello in case I disturbed them or my wash got their bums wetter than they probably already were. I keep my eye on the posts and will try and get to one of the meets in the area one day just to say hello particularly if there is a Scupper Pro present so that I can see one in action and pick peoples brains.

Thanks for the replys guys, great response couldn't have asked for more. Thats a great result for me I think the gap is already 12" so just a wee shuffle would be enough. I won't be fitting a fishfinder (famous last words) I may want an occasional feather for mackerel or bass/pollack on jelly eels but nothing serious. My main launch would be Broadhaven Beach (North) and my target is to paddle to Stack Rocks/Hen and Chicks to watch the seals etc or paddle back to Broadhaven after being dropped off at either Nolton or St Brides Haven. I have followed some of the posts of you guys fishing in Milford Haven, I am suprised that you haven't targeted some of the easy access wrecks like the Behar just outside Sandy Haven.

I am thinking about buying a Scupper Pro TW ready for the summer. I have two BIC Bilbao's that I use for fannying about but fancy doing a bit more touring/fishing around the pembrokeshire coastline. Can anyone answer the following for me: Due to its length I will be keeping the yak outside in the gap between the house and the shed/oil tank, what is the minimum gap I would need to to store the yak on its side? Is there a reason that I shouldn't store the yak outside permanently? Is there any way I could secure the yak? I was thinking of something along the lines of passing a cable through the scupper holes and padlocking it to the house but don't know if the holes are too small, any other suggestions?

Sounds like you are in for a good trip. I fished Llangorse for many years and have had pike upto 23lbs. There has been some good advice for the virgins amongst you, I will add a few things. When I starting piking I was advised to modify a set of wire cutters by putting 12" handles on them. I achieved this by crimping tube extensions onto the handles of a set of cutters using a vice. If you have the facilities welding or brazing would be even better. If you get a good pike your trace will be chewed and need replacing anyway so if the unhooking looked difficult in any way I simply cut the trebles in whatever way necessary to minimise time out of the water for the fish. Even with long forceps and barbless the fact that more than one arm of the treble may be hooked in can prove difficult in fish that have taken deadbaits deep before moving off. Secondly if you are at anchor and deadbaiting it can be difficult to stay in touch with your bait if you are swinging. For this reason I used to deadbait with a float. Ledger the deadbait and use a self cocking float as your indicator set just a few feet deeper than the depth of the water. I used to make self cockers by tightly wrapping plumbers solder around the polystyrene sea floats. The polystyrene is soft enough to allow the solder to "bite in" and stay in position. Lastly my most successful baits in Llangorse were always mini rainbrow trout we used to buy from the tackle shop closely followed by half mackerel (for some reason the tail half always outfished the heads).

Richard Thanks for the info, bizarrely I have only just read it because I have been away in the scillies. I am familiar with Stack Rock and the Hen and Chicks after diving them many times. I think I will take peoples advice and get out there on my Bics and have a go. I will have to have a look at making some heath robinson rod and paddle holders and getting out there. Cheers Woot

Once again thanks for the info. I will probably pop into WWC one day as I drive past every weekend. You know how it is though once i go and have a serious look that will be it and I will be the thick end of a grand worse off but probably very happy.

I was just having a look at Up & Unders website for something else and ended up fantasy shopping. Came across the Tarpon 140. Looks like a fantastic piece of kit but the price frightened me to death. By the time I had bought one, a trolley, a roof carrying system of some sort and kitted myself and the yak out my wallet would be having palpitations. On a serious note how easy do you find it to put on and off your car and get down to the water at the pembs beaches?