Dawlish Warren Devon

[Dice123 9]

When to Devon begging of June last year catching mackerel and sea bass all the time naw same time this year not a bite no nothing anybody knows what it is like naw

[the_stig 6,614]

was it raining last year ..

[Dice123 9]

Yes pall but still was warm

[NEWKID 27,047]

Had a few mackerel sat on the evening tide ( freelining sandeel on liight gear) shoals of them chasing the Brit about, that was between Dawlish and Teingmouth on the sea wall, along the railway lines...

Had 2 bass and mate had 1 Friday on the back beach at teingmouth again live eels...

Heard the spit at the end if the warren and the back into the estuary has been fishing on the live eel..

[Tiercel 6,986]

When to Devon begging of June last year catching mackerel and sea bass all the time naw same time this year not a bite no nothing anybody knows what it is like naw

Bait feeding fish follow the bait, in turn bait fish as a general rule swim into the wind and as the winds are variable they are not in the same place all the time. Once we found fish, you could usually follow them for days by watching the wind direction.

 

Say for an example the fish were on a mark and the wind chaged from southerly to westerly the fish would usually be on the best ambush spot west of the mark that they were on the previous day. Depending on tides etc, fish have ambush spots where it is easier to catch the bait fish, wrecks, reefs anywhere where they can spend as little energy as possible to catch their dinner.

 

Any mark will only fish in the right conditions, like a storm beach will fish well during or just after a storm when there is good surf running. The surf churns up the sand and exposes the food. Another time a beach fishes well is when the wind is coming off the land, the bait fish will be swimming into the wind and get as far as the beach with no where else to go, thats the time you see large shoals of mackerel just off the beaches and with the mackerel will be the large bass feeding off of them.

 

TC

[NEWKID 27,047]

Good post again TC

 

We were watching the mackerel shoals forcing the bait fish against the sea wall before smashing them, right under our feet... I've seen this a lot on beaches etc where the use the land as a wall to pin them almost.. You could see the working the shoals from 200-300 yards off and gradually towards casting range, it was great fun with a free lined live eel. 6lb line and a very light spinning rod flicked amongst them, they weren't joeys either..

 

Tried a plug out over them incase a decent bass was lurking but no joy lol...

Edited July 18, 2013 by NEWKID

[Tiercel 6,986]

Did you not think about live lining a mackerel or even ledgering a live mackerel? When long lining for bass with live mackerel first you had to find your mackerel for bait, once you found your mackerel it was odds on that there were big bass and ray with them also. Drop a couple of lines where the mackerel were would always produce some good fish. All you had to do was stay with the mackerel and you would have a tidy bag by the end of the shift.

 

TC

Edited July 18, 2013 by tiercel

[NEWKID 27,047]

I did think about it TC, the shoal was constantly on the move sometimes 300 yards off and then for 10 mins close enough to cast to... In hindsite I should've chucked a mackerel out and left it and waited...

Fished peeler after dark, but not a touch..

[Tiercel 6,986]

It's remembering the hindsight thats the hard part of fishing.

 

TC

[Tiercel 6,986]

I did think about it TC, the shoal was constantly on the move sometimes 300 yards off and then for 10 mins close enough to cast to... In hindsite I should've chucked a mackerel out and left it and waited...

Fished peeler after dark, but not a touch..

If the fish are preoccupied on one type of feeding it can make them oblivious to any other type of feed. That said, I have seen some good catches made on black lug even when the bass are shoaling, when they have a shoal of whitebait on the surface we used redgills and bubble floats, once they go down one of the guys lobbed some worms over and he started catching straight away.

 

I got out some crab that I had onboard and not a touch, yet he was still catching with the lug. I seen him do it a quite a few times sometimes it worked, others it didn't.

 

That is one of the facinations of fishing to me, just when you think you have it sussed something happens to turn all you've learnt on it's head. So you start again with that little bit of extra knowledge. Untill the next time, and the next after that.

 

TC

[NEWKID 27,047]

You never stop learning TC, that's for sure 30 years of fishing and every time I come away thinking I should've done this or that lol

It's that, that keeps you captivated.... I'd like to spend an hour or 2 picking your brains over a pint lol..

Mind you tbh we were like school boys chasing the shoal along the small wall with our light gear, laughing and taking the mick it might of only been mackerel but it made for a few laughs ( and a tasty BBQ) plus they're fun on light gear..

Cheers

Kev