A change is as good as a rest.

Davey on Sun May 22, 2011 2:55 pm

After chasing Rays for the last, god knows how many weeks, we decided a change was in order.
So armed with crab and worm we were set up at Cowes Friday by 8pm, made a change with no cliffs to scale.

The tide was still running and there was copious amounts of weed, so distance fishing was impossible, so I dropped a flapper rig baited with Rag about 10 yards out hoping for a few new species until the weed stopped.
10 minutes and I get a good bite and the fish put a good scrap up but i manged to land it on a size 2 circle hook, a nice 6lb smut.

Good start if unexpected, after another hour the weed ceased and the other rod went out with crab on. Bites were infrequent but as the packs of hounds moved through Mick and I were getting Bites.

Mick managed one of around 4lb, then we were both in to a hound simultaneously. Fish landed Mick's going 5lb 8oz mine 6lb 13oz.

Though mine looks bloody they both went back strongly.

After that we just kept dropping fish, and they felt good ones too, though I managed a small one of about 4lb.

Chris who didn't have crab was getting nothing so Mick gave him one of ours, and he was straight in to the best of the night at 9lb 1oz.

Well it was getting near high water and with no sign of the bream or sole to worm I changed tactics on my other rod.
Off came the flapper and a flowing trace with chunks of mackerel went on. Cast short no more than 10 yards.
10 minutes and a good bite and the target was in, albeit a small one, at 1lb 8oz just legal but it went back all the same.

Well the weed was back now so we decided to move along to Gurnard.
I put my flapper back on and was in straight away with a Pollock, Mick had another smut around the 4lb mark, but we continued to drop better fish on the way in, despite checking or changing hooks. By 5am the bites had stopped so we called it a night.