I'm a Sole Man!

First things first i got my Sole! After many many sessions trying over last couple years it came on my 2nd session of the year for them only weighed 1lb 6oz took Lug worm on a 1 up 1 down rig :)

Dont need to cast far for these, had this right under my feet pretty much. (Think i was singing im a sole man for 30 mins after i caught it hahaa)

My first Red Mullet of the year went 1lb 4oz took lug-worm again on a running ledger :)

Me & Alex went Congering, so with the conger competition coming up was in need of a bit of practice to went to new mark we never have fished at night only for 2 hours and we managed 1 Eel each :) 

Here is Alex with the best Conger of the night going 16lb+

Then i managed a whip too!

Myself and Ben der Bates targeted some Sole & Red Mullet on the Worms and he wanted to bring his lure rod down and did! (as we got to the car park i had a phone call of Callum Robertson wanting to know if i was fishing i told him where i was and he met us down there).

I had a spot in mind but when we got there Anglers was already there, so fished a rock near by i also knew there was chance for my sole and reds  So before i even set up 1 Bait rod Ben has had 2 follows and hooks into a fish i run over with the net as he screams with excitement and scooped up a Bass Quick Picture then off to right another day:

Here is a Close up for Mick Ward as he sold him this lure lol  

So Callum got down, i said to him that a couple of Bass around & Ben has had one and couple follows. So he sets up and hooks into them straight away after loosing a couple on first few casts... he got one in! Best one of the session too!  (I wont mention anything about him using smelly worms on the Tenryu when it got dark  hehe )

So now i am sitting there with shame on my face for not bringing my lure rod down  So after this session i was driving home around 10.30pm and i was thinking to my self ah i want a quick bass on lure too, so had a few casts down a spot on way home and manged a small one 

Conger Competition :) 

Myself, Leyton, Ritchie was the 3 Man Team in the above event, 72 Anglers Entered the competition. We was geared up for strong winds and thanks to Leyton who managed to catch us aload of Cuttle fish was geared up with Bait! Weighed my Rucksack before i went down it was 40lbs (Graft) oh well off we went and got fishing. Leyton on the Mackerel Feathers managed the first fish of the session which was a Pollock came in handy for our rubby dubby sack :) ! 

I went on the Bream at first and i had x2 Bream and 1 mackerel . Leyton also got Mackerel so a bit of fresh bait cant hurt anyone :) Leyton then gets a phone call saying that the weather getting real bad! like force 6/7s and heavy rain. At this point Ritchie wasn't keen to stick out the night so he left the mark before dark. So now me and Leyton got on the Beers and waited for Darkness.....Rods went out......waiting game now i said. And what you know on Leyton 1st cast his rod started to bend over!

(Not exactly the monster we were after but gained a bit of confidence as it was first cast!)

Still on the first cast i also managed one around the same size. No piccie going on here i cba lol :)

Then after a bit longer of a wait my rod had a good bite, picked the rod up it was pulling down ...pulling down....pulling down STRIKE fish on :) good scrap and was on the Gaff. Yeah Buddy! its a Weigher weighed on scales around 24lb i was happy with that in the bag it went! 

Then another one came in for me. This one 14lb, Leyton also had another one under 15lb. God we have had a few now it not even 11pm i was thinking! 5 Eels so far Bloody good session really.  

The Texts where going on winding up my mates about how many Eels we have had and my rod Started screaming off! I was thinking bloody hell i whacked this one out very far (like nearly emptied my spool) anyway picked rod up and double striked this fish as could feel some power to it. Wanted to make sure i had hook set! Was coming up pretty easy at first but as soon as i got it towards rocks F*** Me did it pull down, i was not letting it go no where keep drag fully locked and just letting rod bend, trying to tire it out. As it was against the rocks but still deep i could feel line rubbing! This is the point i was like i gotta bully this So Pumping time! Very heavy fish and up came the Head...my words was "Holy S***" Leyton down on the rocks was saying the same i was like omg that head looks like a 50lber (as you do). As trying to gaff the fish  i felt like the line snapped....i think i was ready to cry...but then i hear a voice saying "Yeeeep Yeeeep" Got it!!! My face soon changed to Panic still dont think i have slided down rocks so quick in my life grabbed the Gaff off him and got it on the rocks. i knew i was not in a safe position to carry it around to wear my gear was so i just held it. Leyton brings the bag over, and after struggling trying to get it in it woke up! as i took it of gaff...oh bollocks its going back towards sea (repeat of last year) Leyton starts kicking it haha, i was either depating give it a Bear hug or just use the gaff...gaff it was again in its head. "Leyton go empty my Rucksack" managed to curl it up in there and Zipped up its safe now! :) WHohohooo i weighed it in rucksack with still few bits in it and went 44lbs i was like GET IN (i knew wouldn't be that much at weigh in i was hoping to just brake the 40lb mark tho.  Here it is at the weigh-in going 39lb 12oz :) 

Then i chilled out for a bit Leyton needs one now. He had a couple which got away but then he Strikes he is onto one. i knew this was a weigher by bend in his rod! down i went with gaff and up it came :) Whohoo shake of the hands is required, cut the lines packed up the rods. Waited around till weigh in and rocked up with the fish. Leyton weighing 23lb 14oz.

Final results was: 

1st Daniel ferguson 39lb 12ozs

2nd Simon Gavey 24lb 12ozs

3rd Leyton Hunnisett 23lb 14ozs

4th Steve Mullins 22lb 8ozs

5th Colin Shales & Martin Shales (tie) 19lb 12ozs

Winning team was Daniel Ferguson,Leyton Hunnisett & Ritchie Campion 63lb 10ozs 
Well done also to Lee Jarvis wh managed a pb conger of 19lb 6ozs and just missed out on the prizes.

Anyway enough of those slimmy things :) ...1lb 8oz Flounder i had the other day as well as couple Bass, & a couple Smooth Hounds :)

My new P.B Small Eye 9lb 9oz :) Took whole squid on Running Ledger :)  Literally had the bite 2 mins of the bait being in the water! 

Here is another Sole which i had took lug-worm on a 1 up one down rig, hopefully more of these to come :) 

CHOW 4 NOW 

Catch Up!

Took My Girlfriend fishing with me for a hour and she caught a Black Bream & Dogfish

Bass Competition

Soo was on the stinky stuff for most of this weekend but did manage to wack out a few soft & hard plastics got a couple of 2lb-3lb Bass on the last day on the savage gears...here is some Pictures!

Took Ivan out for a few hours on the Saturday morning and he managed first fish of day which was 52cm of Jersey Bass on a hard lure :) ! 

So good start :)..was within first 30 mins of fishing ..it went quiet on Bass front i managed a Pollack and then couple of Wrasse then it was time to head of for Breakfast and go somewhere else...Went with Ritchie down somewhere else few wrasse no bass :(....Then went down another mark and had some slightly better Wrasse on the Savage Gear Sand-eels in very fast deep flowing tide!

Then i used Smelly stuff till 1am had a good 7 hours sleep! ?Missed the best part of tide as i was meant to wake up at 6am! lol...but went down mark anyway and that's when i had those 2 Bass then went one more spot no joy. called it a day and got ****ed :mrgreen:

Conditions was hard i like swell and white water and tide! but not to be last weekend! Well done to everyone who entered :)

So Bass Comp was Over thank god for that! Vermin Fishing!

General Fishing

Went out Tuesday night for a real fish and managed this Conger 19lb 14oz 

My mate Rob Dingle has been getting a couple of fish too. I was with him when this Red Mullet pulled his rod  in for a swim 1lb 4oz i think it went :)

He had a Flounder aswell 1lb 6oz, but i wasn't with him on this one!

And speaking of Flounder Steve Mullins had a new Sinkers sea fishing club record with this Cracking Flounder 3lb 6oz beating my Club Record of 3lb 3oz. Looked like the fight he got of it was great! and i was more than happy to net it for him :) Well done Steve

So that was just a bit of a catch up! ...Now plan is trying to get Ritchie onto a Conger & maybe a Flounder for myself. Thanks for reading 

Spotted seatrout have been providing a bulk of the action

John Mallia of Buffalo, N.Y., lands a hefty spotted seatrout on a D.O.A. CAL Jig with gold paddle tail.

Randy Honaker of Centerville, Ohio is a happy fly fisher.

I have been fortunate to have found a bunch of cooperative fish.

For many, fishing has been tough because of cold weather, cold water and wind.

My clients and I have been able to fish a somewhat protected spot and catch a bunch of fish. Over the last six weeks, clients are averaging between 40 and 60 fish per outing, including spotted seatrout to 24 inches, ladyfish, redfish, flounder, sheepshead and sugar trout.

The action has been very consistent and steady.

John Mallia of Buffalo, N.Y., fished with me twice and did well each time. Mallia caught and released plenty of spotted seatrout and a few redfish, flounder and ladyfish. Most of his fish came on a D.O.A. CAL Jig with a gold paddle tail.

Mallia tried the fly rod on one outing and caught 20 spotted seatrout on my Big Eye Baitfish.

Randy Honaker of Centerville, Ohio had an excellent outing. Honaker, an avid fly fisher and excellent caster, managed 40 spotted seatrout to 17 inches on Clouser Deep Minnows.

On another outing, Honaker caught and released a small snook and had several other follow-ups and short strikes and a pleasurable outing on the Myakka River. He was using Clouser Deep Minnows.

Ken Taylor of North Port, Fla., had a very good outing. Taylor, who might be D.O.A. Lures biggest fan, caught and released 75 spotted seatrout on a 1/8-ounce CAL Jig with gold paddle tail, 4-inch D.O.A. jerk worm on a 1/16-ounce jig head and a D.O.A. Shrimp.

I fished the bay on my own one day and had a really good time. It was a day in which the big trout were on a good feed. I managed 80 trout, including 25 of more than 20 inches. The biggest fish was a 25-inch trout. All came on the CAL Jig with gold paddle tail.

I even caught three redfish, including a 25-incher.

The Myakka River is a great place when the weather is bad. It affords us a chance to get out of the wind.

Snook move up coastal rivers during the winter to seek warm water. The Myakka River annually gives up a number of large snook.

We use heavier tackle than normal. We prefer medium-light to medium TFO spinning rods with 25-pound fluorocarbon leaders. We’ll cast D.O.A. 5 1/2-inch jerk worms, CAL Jigs, 4-inch jerk worms and D.O.A. Baitbusters.

Fly anglers won’t want to cast anything lighter than an 8-weight. Sinktip or floating lines work well. Flies of choice include Clouser Deep Minnows, Big Eye Baitfish, Gartside Gurglers and Puglisi patterns.

In addition to snook, we also encounter largemouth bass, Florida gar, tarpon and an occasional redfish and spotted seatrout.

You just never know what might take your lure or fly.

Scenery is quite amazing on the river. The banks are lined with stately oak trees and cabbage palms. Alligators often will sun themselves on the banks during the day.

My schedule is pretty hectic these days. If you’re interested in a trip, please contact me as soon as possible to assure yourself a day (or two).

When the water temperature moves up into the 60s, I look for pompano, bluefish and Spanish mackerel to be plentiful on the deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay. In addition, spotted seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle and even gag grouper will be available.

For intrepid anglers, we’ll hit the water before daylight and cast for snook around lighted docks as the weather warms up.

Last time out, I caught a redfish, snook and spotted seatrout (a Saltwater Slam) on fly before dawn.

As always, I would like to thank my generous sponsors: Legacy Paddlesports (Native Watercraft), D.O.A. Lures, Temple Fork Outfitters, Peak Fishing and 7Eye Sunglasses.

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

http://gibbysfishingblog.blogspot.com/

(941) 284-3406