May had been an unusual month with snow on Dartmoor and torrential rain flooding the rivers; as they are fly fishing only, it makes sport impossible. So the solution is stillwater or sea fishing, I like natural conditions rather than stocked waters so opted for the latter. I have fished out of Ilfracombe a few times before and so rang John, skipper of the Bluefin (07969 198429) to see if he had any deep sea trips arranged in the near future.
He had one going out on the Thursday, and during the conversation I told him I didn't fancy catching dogfish and that I had never caught a spurdog. He said it was later than normal for spurdog being winter fish, but as the weather was unseasonably cold we could try, but no promises.
I arrived on schedule at 8am just before high tide. As we motored out of the harbour, I had my first chance to view Damien Hirst's sculpture of a lady on the quay. Unusual to say the least, as she is pregnant and has a section of her stomach cut away to show an unborn child within. Not sure if I would want to see that when taking young kids to the coast, but as I am no lover of modern art I'll leave the more intellectual debates to them.
We went about 10-12 miles off shore to a mark John knew and anchored up. The tide was still running powerfully so we needed 2lb of lead to hold bottom, the Bristol Channel having the second highest tides in the world. This was timed to spread the scent of the bait before the tide started to fall back within half an hour. It turned out that John had put us straught on top of a pack of spurdog!
Once we could change to 1lb after half an hour of lead the sport was steady. There were only four people fishing on the boat plus John, the skipper and we all had 3 spur dog each between 8 and 16 lb. I found that mackerel strips weren't too effective and squid worked best, but another angler bought roach deadbait and swore by that. A few dogfish were caught too, but I was lucky and the one I hooked dropped off as I swung it over the boat.
I did learn several things to take into account on the next trip which I will pass on with the aim of helping others too. The boats rods were fitted with nylon line as much of the fishing is for tourists inshore. If braid is used it has several advantages:-
A) It is smaller in diameter for the same strength and so needs less lead.
B) The lack of stretch at these greater depths means bite registration is far superior and fish are less likely to be deep hooked.
C) The lack of stretch also makes setting the hook easier, especially as the resistance due to the lead weight is less too.
So next time I do this, I will take my own rod and reel filled with braid.
After a successful morning shared with pleasant company, we headed back after 5 hours as the tide was picking up in power again. Five hours fishing and only £35. I think that was a bargain. All my fish were returned alive, but if you wanted one for the pot, as my fellow anglers did, it was skinned and presented in fillets on the return journey.
I can recommend this trip, but it was worthwhile having a talk with the skipper beforehand to make sure you go on a trip that will suit you. If you are a novice or are taking kids, inshore dogfish are good fun and everybody catches, but I prefer less fish but better fishing.
A great day out.