I don’t seem to get the time to write a catch report about every fishing session I have so I thought I’d write an extract of three combined sessions every week, unless I have a “Red Letter Day” then I’ll most certainly write a more in depth report!
Port Erin Beach
Sunday 8th July – Port Erin Beach
No-one ever fishes the beach, so I am on a mission to catch something from there. I’ve now blanked twice in two sessions but I will not give up. I spent five hours fishing from low water in hope of a flattie but no avail. I’ve taken dabs from the pier a mere hundred yards away, so why not from the beach?
Rather than just call it a day I headed to Port St. Mary Breakwater!
Sunday 8th July – Port St. Mary Breakwater
The pier has been fishing pretty well for a couple of weeks now, especially for the wrasse. So I arrived on the breakwater geared up for flattie fishing. I had a nice colourful rig with beads and a spoon tied to a size: 1, Mustad Blue Aberdeen (3262)!
I proceeded to catch a few wrasse, basically it was one a chuck for about an hour. Then suddenly I had a couple of very gentle taps, like you would when a conger takes the bait. Then the rod hoofed over and the line parted! There aren’t any snags where I was fishing so I’m guessing a small strap conger took my rag and colourful rig!
I didn’t have long left before I had to head home so I put a spinner on my rod in hope of a coalie for my species hunt but after about half an hour of fishing I only managed a few mackerel.
Sandeel
Wednesday 11th July – Port St. Mary Breakwater
I had a small window of opportunity for a couple of hours fishing so I grabbed my spinning gear and headed down to Port St. Mary Breakwater. I was hoping to catch a coalie for my species list. Quite a few have been coming out albeit to everyone else’s rod. I was starting to wonder if it would become a nemesis for me!
The wind unfortunately wasn’t favourable blowing away from the pier. Nonetheless, plenty of wrasse was coming out to a rather packed pier so I thought I’d give it a whirl.
Coalie
It wasn’t long before I had my first bite and I reeled in a sandeel! I then proceeded to take a dozen or so more sandeels or the next couple of hours! They put up a nice fight on my small lure rod. I was just thinking of calling it a day when my rod suddenly developed a healthy bend in it. Bingo! A Coalie! To say I was chuffed would have been an understatement. Not a biggie but a coalie nonetheless! I stopped for a few more casts and had a couple more coalie before heading home.
Tight lines,
Paul
Paul Inglis is an eccentric deafblind angler who is in a constant state of evolution. He resides on a rock in the middle of the Irish Sea known as the Isle of Man. Paul has been fishing for over forty years and is the founder of “Fishing on the Edge”.
