When the wind blows – Smash the Huss

What else is there to do on a Saturday afternoon with an incoming tide and a heavy Northerly wind blowing down in the West of the country? Well if I had a better bait selection on the day I would have gone after the Bass but with a few frozen Mackeral and some other bits and pieces I decided to head out with my father to our local Bullhuss haven and get stuck into these aggressive large dogfish.

It really is comfortable fishing at this spot and with the Northerly winds that were blowing the spot would be fishable as it would be from behind us. Usually we fish this mark when things are a little quiet as you are almost certainly guaranteed to get a pull from a Huss at this mark. We hit the mark and rigged up. I was using my all round surf rod with the trusty Daiwa SL20SH. My dad used my new Daiwa Saltist Nero which he seems to like a little to much!

Rigs were simple pulley rigs with 6/0 Cox and Rawle Uptide Extra hooks as the Huss are sometimes a little playful with the bait and will drop it numerous times before taking it properly. With these hooks we increase our hookup rate dramatically which is an added bonus. Before a number of times the Huss would just come off half way in during the fight, not with these hooks.

I bought along a small spinning rod to get some fresh bait and there is nothing more I like to use than a live Coalfish. It seems to pick out the better bullhuss and eliminate pesky dogfish. So I got into some Coalfish and Dad was first to cast one out. Not long after he was into his first huss and getting it to the side it wrapped and touched the braid with its body parting the main line. Oh well, its fishing. Not long after he was into another fish and it was turning into a case of the father showing the son how it is done. I climbed down to lift a lovely Bullhuss up for a photo.

Well I seemed to be just getting bait for my dad but I did however get a take of my own and with the soft action of my surf rod I had a fine Bullhuss at the side. Once again taken on the live Coalfish. After a quick photo I released the Huss and with the evening drawing to an end and the cold hands setting in we called it quits and headed home to the warm fire and a cup of tea where we argued who’s was bigger. Nothing like father-son competition.

 

 

Until next time,

Tight lines.

A Weekend of Conger Eel and Bullhuss

Day 1 – 14/03/2015

Finally the weather cleared a little to give us the opportunity to head out in the saltwater again. This being my preferred area I was more than eager to wet a line again. Pat Gill from Irish Kayak Angling got in contact with me and we decided that we would fish for some Bullhuss and Conger Eel. We were restricted to the locations that could be fished due to the winds forecast which were generally in the South East direction. Not a great wind to fish in and I was bought up being taught that this particular wind does not produce the best results. Well, we decided to fish anyway. My father joined us on the Saturday and we tried a new location that consisted of a tidal run and a deep channel.

We had a rough idea of what was lurking about. I opted to fish the channel first but was consistently bringing up Dogfish after Dogfish which prompted me to move in to the rock faces where the water dropped off very nicely with the intention of a Conger Eel. The rig I used was a single hook ledger with 50lb trace line. On the business end was a 4/0 Cox and Rawle Uptide Hook. I know that Conger Eel can easily cut through a mono trace line but I am not a huge fan of wire traces. Also the 4/0 Cox and Rawle Uptide hook was intended for the channel fishing but I decided to see what it was capable of. Conger Eel have an extremely good sense of scent detection so I went with a Mackeral head cutlet for bait and dropped it in the position that I felt confident the Congers may be.

It was not long before I had some interest on the bait. I waited for a convincing take and I set the hook. I could feel the weight straight off and just trying to get the fish up away from the rocks is the first objective. I applied pressure but the fish had other ideas as it pulled line from my Shimano Trinidad TN14 reel as it tried to snag me up. Great fight from the fish and shortly a large Conger Eel with an angry face greeted me.

I managed to slide the Conger across my lap to get a few photos. They can be very aggressive so if I was not confident in my own abilities I would not lift them onto the kayak. To my surprise this Conger Eel was a little more placid but I took no chances and held him firmly. After a few photos I put the Conger back in to head back to its hideout. Once released I was contacted by Pat who informed me that he was into a good Bull Huss so I paddled over to him to get some photos. He was not kidding when he said he had a good huss. It was a really good fish and Pat carefully lifted it out for a photo. Pat was delighted and sent the Huss back.

I then headed over to my father to see what he was getting. He had landed a nice Pollock but was being plagued by Dogfish. By this time the temperature was dropping which led us to call it a day. Tomorrow was another day to see what we could get.

Day 2 – 15/03/2015

The Sunday morning came and looking out the window I was greeted  by the same wind as yesterday. Taking this into account Pat and myself decided to fish the same location as the previous day. It was a chilly start to the day and I even wore gloves paddling over to my preferred spot. We anchored up just off an island with the tide pushing out. Same tactics as the day before. Single hook ledger traces and some Mackeral Baits. It was not long before we were hitting fish. We landed more Bullhuss in the morning. Great fun but I decided to go exploring and Pat decided to try his luck at a Conger Eel.

I always enjoy exploring new locations. Watching the fish finder screen as the contours of the bottom change frequently, as do the depths. Every now and then passing over shoals of baitfish. Its a good way to get a mental image of what the bottom is like that is being fished. I paddled a good distance and tied up under a bridge. I like fishing around structure and I think in the Summer this could be a place I might visit again. I tried a bait for a couple of minutes only to be met by the ever present dogfish.

On the paddle back to where Pat was fishing he told me about a Conger Eel he had lost and that it must of been a monster. There is no doubt that there is more than likely some very big Conger Eel in this area. He also told me he landed a smaller one and he was delighted. Once again the temperature started to drop and we decided to call it a day after I had a little mishap but I will post about this separately as I feel all kayak anglers should know about it.

So an eventful weekend with good company and some quality fish as well. Great to get out again on the salt water and fingers crossed for some good weather. Below is the video from the day.

Until next time,

Tight lines.

Fishing Report 07-02-2015

Plans had been made to go out after some Bullhuss. A couple of friends of mine were interested in hitting the mark I fish for them so I was more then happy to join them on the day out. It actually turned into two days but the second day I will post separately as it was a different location. Back to the Bullhuss.

James, Karl and myself met up at the local fishing store. Check out the links page for info on the shop. After a chat with Kevin Brain, the owner, and picking up some bait, we were then on the way to the mark to hopefully get into some Bullhuss. Another friend of mine, Pat, was due to meet us down at the mark.

I am a firm believer in having fresh bait. So this was my top priority. I find it gives me a better feeling of confidence. I anchored up in the channel. The downside to this day was that the tide was running out and was due to be low in the afternoon. This was not great as fishing was going to take place in water that was not moving. This is not the best conditions for this mark as the Bullhuss I have found will feed when the tide is running.

I used two rods with single ledger rigs on them for the Bullhuss and baited them up with some of the frozen Mackeral purchased in the morning. Both rigs used Cox and Rawle Chinu 2/0 hooks. I would often use a 4/0 hook instead but with the slack water conditions I opted for the smaller hook. I bought along a light spinning rod to catch some bait. On this rod I rigged up some small Sabiki Feathers which I baited with small strips.

It was very apparent that the tide was going to have to start pushing in before any real action on the rods was going to be had. The Bullhuss rods were being plagued by Dogfish during the slack water. Finally I got a whiting to use for bait. I rigged it up live and hoped for the best. It was not long before I had a take but it turned out to be the ever present Dogfish. One of those days.

I was getting more action on the baited feathers and I had a few tiny Grey Gurnard. I love these fish. They are so inquisitive when caught on the underwater camera. I find they almost seem to smile at you. Maybe the lack of Bullhuss was messing with my mind but never the less I fished on.

    

I headed into shallow water to see was anything lurking about there but nothing showed. The wind dropped completely at low tide and the sun was shining. What more could I ask for in February.

Finally the Tide started to push in. Pat had a number of Bullhuss as did James. I paddled back out to the channel and anchored up again. It was not long before I joined in the action with a small Bullhuss but I was glad to see the guys get their target species. On a side note, Pat got some Mackeral. I am still surprised to see them at this mark at this time of the year.

A great way to end the days fishing. Really good weather, good company and some fish. It was a pity about the tide phase but it goes in the notebook so plans can be made around the tides for this mark the next time.

Until next time,

Tight Lines.

 

Fishing Report 19-01-2014

It seems that I cannot look out the window without wondering whether there are fish waiting to be caught or not. The weather forecast for this day was predicted to blow up in the afternoon so I got up early in the morning and looked out the window. Not a breathe of wind and to my surprise, some sunshine. Luckily the car was already loaded from ,my previous days fishing so all that was needed was to load some mackeral I had frozen. Driving down to the spot it looked good. I wanted to see were there any Bullhuss around and also to try out Cox and Rawle Uptide Extra Hooks that they sent out to me.

It was a short paddle out to the drop where the channel flowed through. I anchored and fished in around 40ft of water and using a single hook ledger trace which can be seen in the video below. The tide was flowing in and I sent out a mackeral head bait on my trusty centre pin reel on a spinning rod. I had another rod with me which was rigged with some sabiki feathers which I used to try get some fresh bait. The first fish to be caught was a mackeral. Strange, but I did not complain as I had some fresh bait now.

My trusty spinning rod and centre pin then had a knock and then the fish started taking line. I was a little impatient and struck into the fish. After a couple of seconds, nothing. The line went slack. Not like me but it is fishing. I checked the bait and it was then changed to the fresh mackeral head. While fishing with my second rod I managed a tiny whiting. It was when this fish was bought on the kayak that the head bait got picked up again. This time I left it a bit longer before setting the hook. I was delighted to feel the solid weight and knew it was a huss. After a brief fight I bought the fish onto the kayak. A nice bullhuss. It made the cold hands worth while.

 

After a quick few photos I put the bullhuss back to hopefully grow much bigger. By now it was time to up anchor and head in. The wind had come up quite a bit at this stage but nothing I did not feel uncomfortable with and my kayak dealt with the chop easily enough.

Until next time,

Tight lines.

 

Fishing Report 11-11-2014

Bullhuss have always seemed to evade me whenever I tried to target them in the past. I came to the conclusion that I was fishing the complete wrong areas as everything else I was using including baits and rigs were perfect. Eventually I came across an area that my father and me fished from the shore and hit into some good bullhuss. The only thing to do was to get out on the kayak and catch some.

The area I fished was a tidal stretch that had a 40ft channel. I anchored in the channel on the out going tide. My plan was to use one of my spinning rods to catch some live bait. From past experience the dogfish love and cannot resist latching on to any dead bait so this was out of the question. To catch the live bait I just used a simple double hooked rig with small size 10 hooks baited with some frozen mackeral. The fish finder showed shoals of fish on the bottom as they passed by and it was not long before I had some fresh live Whiting. The Whiting where rigged on a single 4/0 hook ledgered on the bottom.

While the two live bait rods were out I continued to use the spinning rod to see what else could be swimming around below. Mackeral, Whiting and a Grey Gurnard showed themselves and of course the Dogfish made themselves known too.

           

The first Bullhuss to take was a really good fish. The take was a few knocks then the line started to be pulled off the reel. I hit into the fish and had a really good fight from the Bullhuss. I did not realise that these fish give such a good account of themselves which made it even more enjoyable. When the huss came to the surface I was delighted to see such a fine fish. I lifted him onto the kayak and of course he tried to bite me but I managed to control him.

The morning proved to be endless rod bending fun with a number of Bullhuss taking the live baits. The spot makes an excellent alternative to deep water if the weather plays up.

The last Bullhuss I caught before paddling back in was very surprising and a little sad if I am totally honest about it. When landing the last bullhuss it became clear that the poor fish had swam into a net which was cutting through its skin around its neck as it was growing. I am not sure what type of netting this was but it certainly did not look nice for any fish. I cut the net off the bullhuss and sent it back on its way.

On the way back in I tried my luck up against the wall near the launch spot for a scorpion fish. I used my double hook trace which I caught my bait with. Within ten minutes I had a rattling bite and lifted into a small fish. No monster but a species I was looking for. A nice looking Scorpion Fish. They are such interesting and aggressive little fish which makes them fun to catch. Needless to say I went home happy with a good day day out.

Until next time,

Tight lines.