September has gone and good riddance, conditions were so windy that from a full month of bookings we managed only seven days at sea.
During the first weekend in October, the weather started to settle down and fortunately, we managed to get afloat on a regular basis. The start of the month saw us inshore and a good variety of species rewarded the anglers including more huss on the mussel beds than have been seen in a long time. Anglers were pulling in an average of five or six each ranging from six to and 10 pounds. On the drift pollack around the 3lb mark provided great sport with codling and poor cod adding to the bags. Unfortunately, the local seal population also appreciated the fishing and on several occasions traces were left with only the head and gills attached.
My Way regulars Lloyd, Mike and Rob made the 300-mile journey from the south to target the bigger fish in the deep water to the west of Anglesey. Unfortunately a poor forecast meant that the crew were limited to the northern half of the deeps but they were rewarded with some quality bull huss. The lads had hoped for spurdogs but a 20 mph northeasterly wind curtailed their efforts and necessitated a return to Church Bay for the latter half of the day. Thankfully, the weather settled for the second day of the booking and a decision was made to head to the southern end of the Holyhead Deep where mid-October can be a great time of year for big bull huss, spurdogs and the last of the big tope.
Top local, female rod Annie, joined the crew for the day and she was optimistic that she would pick up her first ever spur. With the anchor down, the tide was running hard, but everyone fished through the strong run and retrieved huss and the occasionaldogfish from the depths. As the tide slackened, the anglers experienced a few lost fish and it was not long before Annie was into something decent which after a spirited fight proved to be an excellent 14lb spurdog. She went on to land a further four of the mini sharks during the day.
The biggest of the day fell Rob Field and topped the scales at an ounce under 17lb, another superb Deeps spurdog.
Perfect weather meant that My Way returned to the deep water the following day with a party from the Wirral. The anglers had a great day with the huss and spurs and the best spur of 2012 so far, a fish of 19 3/4 lb topped off the fishing for Graham Ellis. Graham’s first ever spur was a mere 1oz under the current WFSA record, also caught and released aboard My Way a couple of years ago.
A period of unsettled weather followed when a couple of trips were lost but an outing to the mussel beds produced plenty of fish. The emphasis more on catching numbers of fish than targeting any particular species and skipper for the day, Jensen certainly put the anglers on fish. The crew spent an excellent couple of hours catching dogfish, whiting, dabs and small huss. Double and treble shots of fish were boated with regularity.
Aboard the boat, each year fun competitions are organised with points awarded for the different species. Common fish such as dogfish and whiting awarded one point, wrasse and pollack two points and the likes of tope and huss the maximum three points. The latest match took place this month and started with an abortive attempt for wrasse and pollack on the drift. Weather and tide conditions were against the competitors and lot so of gear was lost as the boat sped over the rough ground. A switch was made to Church Bay, where with the anchor holding the group set about catching some fish and putting a few points on the scoreboard.
It was not long before the first of the predictable and welcome dogfish started to come aboard. The stream of dogfish was interspersed with coalfish and codling, which kept everyone occupied up to lunchtime. After consuming the skipper’s butties, the crew ready themselves to try a new mark over slack water, in deeper water and over mussel beds.
Straight away, the anglers into a healthy mixed bag of dogfish, whiting and dabs, which came aboard in double and triple shots. As the water slackened further, the first call for the net was heard and over the next two hours 28 huss were boated including a rare albino huss landed by Tojo.
The final move of the day was for a last hour on the mud just outside the harbour where a couple of ray were added to the score sheets. The winning angler was Colin Gibson, out for the first time on My Way, who had caught a mixed bag including, dogfish, whiting, pollack, codling, poor cord and huss. Second place went to Chris Nedon with Tojo in third and completely delirious with the capture of his gorgeous looking bull huss.
Despite the neap tides being perfect for getting off to Holyhead Deep, the weather once again kept the boat inshore after the competition. Fishing though, remained constant with plenty of variety coming aboard with the bull huss double figure bull huss providing the best of the rod bending sport. On Tues 23rd October, there was a break in the weather and it was back to the Holyhead Deep to concentrate on the big spurdogs.
The anglers were not disappointed, as fish averaged around 8lb; the lads on board caught a number of excellent spurdogs to 16lb in weight. Although bitten off a few times, by what were presumably big fish, despite using heavy mono traces, several new personal bests were established.
If you are interested in a particular date or species to fish for please email or call to discuss your requirements, contact details can be found here.
