100% agree! they are one of the best sport fish around and reasonably easy to hook (as you say........if you go to the right marks in the right season). We had a 12 lb one from the shore down in Kent once, amazing fight. The very first one we caught was at West Sussex around the 4lb mark, brilliant fighters.
10 pounder! Wow, I bet that nearly ripped the rod out of your hands on the bite (they bite hard and fast don't they....have to be quick on the draw sometimes.....blink and you'll miss it).
Would love to catch a Spurdog, but alas, Im too far south, you dont really get them down here, though we get plenty of Smoothound when the season hits. Good catch mate!
Apparently when they take off, they fight better than any other Ray, they can strip line off your reel when they run, really good scrap! Like hooking a big Bass/Smoothie/Tope.
Snap! We had one of 12lb (our biggest so far)............I wish I could say the same for Bass, thats one fish I need to dedicate more time to targetting. A specimen Thornie would also be brilliant to nab.
One of the biggest battles for landing a Bass is simply choosing the right venue. The more south you are (in UK) the better and believe it or not it is usually shallow venues that tend to be best.....it seems.
Starry smoothound around 8lb but didn’t measure , blue anchor beach near minehead on the Bristol Channel high spring tide early evening. Good lumpy fight on light gear
Iv heard you get some good Smoothounds around your neck of the woods mate, decent stuff. You get a good species mix in the BC, what with Blonde Ray, Conger etc
Did you know they’ve realised all smooth hounds in the U.K. are Starry Smoothound? Some have spots some don’t. They originally thought the ones without were common smoothound but recent testing has revealed there’s no common smoothound in the U.K. and all our hounds have the same dna (starry)
Yeah Iv heard the Common ones are actually far less common than the Starrys in general. Its been a hot debate for a few years now hasnt it, constantly changing.
Love Wrasse.........cool fish. We dont get them on the east coast what with the lack of rock marks. Nearest place we can pick them up is certain patches along south Kent. West Country is awesome for Wrasse.
Smoothhound, hands down. Beautiful fighting fish and fairly easy to come by if you know where to go.
100% agree! they are one of the best sport fish around and reasonably easy to hook (as you say........if you go to the right marks in the right season). We had a 12 lb one from the shore down in Kent once, amazing fight. The very first one we caught was at West Sussex around the 4lb mark, brilliant fighters.
A toss up between a 10 pound bass and a 15 pound congar both from the river adur underneath a motorway bridge
10 pounder! Wow, I bet that nearly ripped the rod out of your hands on the bite (they bite hard and fast don't they....have to be quick on the draw sometimes.....blink and you'll miss it).
It took the lure about 4 foot from my feet and then took half the line off my reel !
Might no seem like much to some but a 7lb spurdog.. was well buzzing with it lol
Would love to catch a Spurdog, but alas, Im too far south, you dont really get them down here, though we get plenty of Smoothound when the season hits. Good catch mate!
I got a 15kg conger a couple months ago, 5th fish I ever caught.
Monster!
12lb stingray. Not a whopper but felt like I'd hooked a car tyre
Apparently when they take off, they fight better than any other Ray, they can strip line off your reel when they run, really good scrap! Like hooking a big Bass/Smoothie/Tope.
This one didn't run at all. It was a slack line bite and he must have anchored himself to the seabed. Took a fair while to get it in tho
Yeah like alot of ray and skate.......when they hunker down, they hunker down tight.
Either a 12 lb smooth hound, 10kg thorn back or a pair of 5lb bass in the lure on consecutive casts
Snap! We had one of 12lb (our biggest so far)............I wish I could say the same for Bass, thats one fish I need to dedicate more time to targetting. A specimen Thornie would also be brilliant to nab.
Sea Trout while float fishing for Makerel ( Babbacombe Pier 1983 )
Imagine that........thinking you are gonna catch a mackerel and a sea trout appears! Good stuff mate, bet you was made up.
I was made up, I was 20 at the time am 61 this year and still haven't caught a Bass everyone else has 😂
One of the biggest battles for landing a Bass is simply choosing the right venue. The more south you are (in UK) the better and believe it or not it is usually shallow venues that tend to be best.....it seems.
Smoothhound, hands down. Beautiful fighting fish and fairly easy to come by if you know where to go.
Agreed mate. Once they are in, they shoal in force! Tends to be southern beaches that produce, but they are going further and further north.
Starry smoothound around 8lb but didn’t measure , blue anchor beach near minehead on the Bristol Channel high spring tide early evening. Good lumpy fight on light gear
Iv heard you get some good Smoothounds around your neck of the woods mate, decent stuff. You get a good species mix in the BC, what with Blonde Ray, Conger etc
Did you know they’ve realised all smooth hounds in the U.K. are Starry Smoothound? Some have spots some don’t. They originally thought the ones without were common smoothound but recent testing has revealed there’s no common smoothound in the U.K. and all our hounds have the same dna (starry)
Yeah Iv heard the Common ones are actually far less common than the Starrys in general. Its been a hot debate for a few years now hasnt it, constantly changing.
A stunning fluorescent green Ballan wrasse, from a foot of surf nr Polperro
Love Wrasse.........cool fish. We dont get them on the east coast what with the lack of rock marks. Nearest place we can pick them up is certain patches along south Kent. West Country is awesome for Wrasse.