tomcat

vlad i live in wolverhampton so not too far from you. i have a prowler 13 which has always amazed me how stable it is on the water although i'm lighter at 160lbs. i have 2 years experience of kayak fishing so while i'm far from expert i would be happy to pass on any advice. i shall be having a week on the yak(weather permitting) 1st week in june based in my caravan in aberdyfi but fishing out on the reef just north of tywyn for tope/bass/bream & you are welcome to join me. geoff

by the railway bridge on the river dysynni

just got back from 2 weeks holiday in aberdyfi. only got the kayak out 3 times due to breezy weather & then only for morning sessions. had loads of bream & mackerel on the sarn-y-bwch reef, plus a few bass & the odd pollack & wrasse. strangely no dogfish(yippee!) put a tope bait out for a couple of hours on the only day calm enough to anchor but nothing doing. was joined by 2 bottlenose dolphins one day for a few minutes which was a fantastic sight. there was a massive shoal of mullet about 100 yards off the dysynni mouth which i wasted time on as i had assumed they were bass - if anyone fancies a crack at them they were there every day last week plus another smaller shoal under aberdyfi jetty at high tide. tomcat

I'm in Aberdyfi for 2 weeks commencing 17th august & will hopefully be getting out on the reef at Tywyn a few times. Anyone know how its been fishing recently for mackerel, tope, bream & bass. I had a fantastic week there early june but have not fished it since. Also if anyone is in the area during those weeks & wants to meet up for a trip out then let me know. Thanks. Tomcat

Barry May i apologise if i caused offence by calling you a "fishmonger", in hindsight it appears i may have overreacted. The point i was trying to make is that the irish have the correct approach to bass fishing in that they take the longer term view that by enforcing bag limits etc the quality of the fishing is enhanced for everyone to enjoy and protected for the future. Whilst i also get frustrated by the constant interference of the over-regulated "nanny state" we live in, i feel that protection of our bass is necessary, due to their commercial value. I was brought up on the 1st class bassing to be had on the welsh coast during the 70"s and was heartbroken to see this fishing devastated by commercial greed during the 80's. The welsh bass are slowly recovering now but it upsets me when i see anglers killing large numbers of bass for profit, as i see this as an unsustainable approach and a very selfish attitude. I am not claiming to be perfect as i kill the occasional fish myself, but hope that this post explains my feelings on the matter a little more reasonably. Tomcat

barry the whole idea of imposing a two fish bag limit is to discourage fishmongers like yourself who, by your own admission are not satisfied until you have removed at least 30lb of bass per day from the water. i look forward to the day when the same laws are brought into force over here, plus a 45cm size limit. tomcat

Thanks for the replies. I shall get onto Glasgow Angling or Hiro & see what they've got. Otherwise I may tie my own. Tomcat

Does anyone know where I can get some tiny sabiki feathers for catching sandeels for bass bait? I've see them advertised down to about size 6 , but I'm looking for real tiny feathers about size 16 or even 18. I've watched a chap using these size sabikis under aberdovey jetty & he gets his from america but would be grateful if someone could put me onto a UK supply. Thanks

I had a 5 1/4lb bass off the welsh coast a couple of weeks ago with pipefish in its stomach. never known that before. maybe the pipefish are occupying the ecological niche left by the demise of the sandeels through overfishing? tomcat

I was out on the reef at tywyn for a few days tues 5/6 to fri 8/6 & had some excellent fishing. Other than the usual bream(to 2lb),mackerel(plenty in the deeper water just south of the reef),dogs & huss here are a few highlights. Tuesday saw a tope about 25lb on half a fresh mackerel. No tope wednesday but had some nice bass to 3 1/2lb on surface plugs from a bait bust indicated by a flock of gulls. Concentrated on the bass thursday on plug & fly & had 3 fish inshore then moved 3/4 mile out to another bait bust & had another dozen or so. On the water at 6am friday & paddled out through a school of dolphins(fantastic!) to the daily bait bust & had a brilliant time with about 15 bass to 5 1/4lb all on the fly. Packed up about 9.30am & back to the caravan in time for breakfast. One of the best weeks fishing I've ever had & shall be back for more for 2 weeks commencing 18th august. Tomcat

Stu I've accidentally caught turbot from the sandbanks at the mouth of the Dyfi estuary a couple of years ago while deep spinning for bass. It occurred to me then that they could be caught by design by drifting over the banks with sandeel or mackerel strip. Just be careful of the currents - I only went out at low tide slack water. Geoff

Good luck this weekend, I can't make it but will be there w/e 23/24 sept. As Simon says the tides will be huge so please take care when going over the top of the reef especially mid-tide as there will be a big swell caused by the tidal flow even if theres no wind. Tomcat

Had a session on the sarn-y-bwch reef yesterday morning. First hour on spinners/plugs for the bass as there were plenty of gulls working the water inshore & gannets further out but no luck. Every time I paddled close to the action the birds & fish moved elsewhere - very frustrating(& tiring !). Birds & bass disappeared about 9am so set up a baited shrimp rig & moved futher out for the bream & found them in numbers, catching about 30 plus 1 mackerel.Great fun on a light spinning rod. All bream returned except 2 for the pot. Put the mackerel out on the tope rod for the last hour but no good. Trolled a J11 rapala on the paddle back in & picked up a small bass about 1.5lb(returned). All in all a very enjoyable morning plus beautiful scenery & glorious weather. Will be back next weekend for more. Tomcat

I shall be at my caravan in aberdyfi this weekend & will be up on the reef at tonfanau either very early saturday or sunday morning for the bass/bream/mackerel/tope. Let me know if anyone else will be there Tomcat

I've just bought a small(14 inches diameter by about 2 foot length), collapsible lobster pot in the hope of taking a lobster or two while out fishing on the yak. Has anyone out there used these before as I'm unsure how much weight needs to be added to the pot, and the best way to attach the weight(s) to stop it drifting. I shall be using it on rough reef ground about 15 to 30 feet deep with a fairly strong tidal flow. Thanks for any help. Tomcat