Ffrith fun fcuk ups froth flounders frolics...

Nagged by the boy that its high time we went fishing again as its been at least a few days since we were out digging bait or drowning it again. so we headed down to our very local mark the Ffrith where i managed to pump about 45 prime lugworm yesterday, ready for a crack today.

the tide was still dropping when we arrived and not all the gullies were exposed leaving wide bands of relatively calm water between some spectacular looking surf.

I tackled up the boy with his trusty penn beachcaster and leeda multiplier with a 2 hook clipped down rig and 5oz lead, but quickly went to 6oz as the leads wouldnt hold bottom when the weed hit the line. the cracking surf caused an undertow that tripped my leads out. he had a second rod today as well, my lil 11ft bass rod with a shimano 8000re fixed spool cobbeled on. that too had a two hook paternoster and 5oz lead - it was fished downtide from the rest and given room ro roll about in the current. bait was freshly pumped lug. both rods were fished at short to medium range as the strong wind and tiderip was causing difficulties to cast and control a long line.

my rods were next to be rigged, going for the old faithful shakespeare surf 12' 9" mx rods and abu multipliers. although i fished a 2hook clipped down on one rod, with lug as bait, the surf just screamed bass so on the other i fished a 3/0 pully pennel with 3 large blacks and a squid head and squid strip all held in place with elasticated thread. this was lobbed short at about 40yrds while the 2hook rod was put out as far as i could chuck it.

immediately the wind was causing issues as the sheer pressure on the line saw an ungaurded tripod blow over several times (warned you son!) and the 6oz grippers were tripping out after about 10-15mins which coincided almost with bait check times anyway, but when they did trip they raced off downtide at a fair rate of knots! I found a few postcard sized flounders in the sand gullys by raking the sand with my boots which was encouraging for the future.

I really felt that this tide was going to be the one that got me the bass ive been hunting for the last few weeks and when a massive slackliner occurred on the lug/squid 3/0 pennel rod i really thought this was the bite i was after! I was met with a firm resistance on retreiving and soon had the "bass" in the receding surf with my son shouting "its massive" & "its all silvery white" i was praying id nailed one but when i lifted the rig out of calf deep turbid white water a flounder of about 1&1/2lb popped out... still the wife loves baked/poached flounders so not all was lost.

i soon rebaited and recast all my rods then went to check on my sons gear. he was feverishly trying to dig lugworm out with a kiddies spade from aldi with little success. his first penn rod was bite and baitless but when i checked the second fixed spool rod, jesus! At least 80yrds more line has been stripped off! The line is heading towards liverpool (and nearly reaching it judging the amount of line missing) so i pick up the rod and start reeling like mad to get in touch with what i can only assume is a tope from the amount of weight on the line and the distance it travelled against a tightened clutch. as im doing battle with this unseen leiviathion which is kiting through the surf, my son asks what the little lever on the back of the reel does "its the baitrunner" i reply - oh he says "only when i flicked it over all this line poured off so i left it then thought id flick it back!" at this point the reel spool literally implodes onitself and cravks tears and rips jamming the reel solid. the spool looked like id crushed it with a set of molegrips! So i run to my bag to get my heavy duty rubberised builders gloves i use for lug pump work and handline the obviously now british record bass to shore. i get hold of the sjockleader and i can see a large dark grey shape kiting slowly with the flow, now im thinking ray??? I stride over and inspect what is 100%a new pb, and so it proved to be, i have indeed never caught a binliner as large as the one i landed today...

So anyway, sort my rods out (both tripped out again) recast, and head to check my sons remaining fishing rod. Between us (he's only 6) he reeled in what appeared to be half a kelp forest but as i was stripping weed off the leader knot my little boy started shouting and jumping up and down. yes, after several blank sessions, one velvet swimming crab and a weaver, Jack has finally landed a "proper" sea fish - a decent flounder which was exactly 1cm longer and broader than mine and 1oz heavier so he won todays "contest" unfortunatley, this one had swallowed the hook and several attempts to revive him after snipping the hook were unsuccessful. still the lad was happy, he gets to feed mummy (he's extremely proud) mummys happy as she loves fish and im happy as he has finally got off the mark so i dont need to feel so bad when i catch and he blanks. shame about the shimano spool, but ive got a spare knocking about and the penn beachcaster, i cant seperate the butt and middle section. any one got any ideas to try out? My son's suggestion of hitting it againt the rocks is on the maybe pile!! Looks like we are off out early tomorrow to fish the 2-3hrs up to high water, see if depth of water has any affects. really have the urge to ledger a whole baby squid around the end of those stone breakwaters over high...

Those bin liners fight well!

Great read, I shared your lad's excitement there!

Does the rod section have stoppers in/ can you remove the butt cap and pour something in there? I would say WD40 but after that thread the other day I'm not so sure

Dare say you know the bend over and put it behind your knees trick ( or is that for hiccups?)
Put the rod somewhere warm and dry ( never realized until I read somewhere recently that damp carbon fibre swells - the dunking might be where your trouble started) or take his advice, hit it against a rock and buy a new one.

Or

http://www.reelreports.com/articles/getting-a-stuck-fishing-rod-apart-363.html

Great read mate well done young jack on the flounder happy days

Good report well done. Your stile of fishing wears me out I read your report and I'm knackered.

Ive popped it on the airing cupboard to dry out overnight but if that doesnt work then i'll try the advice the article suggests. its not a massive issue as we walk to the beach anyway. im loathe to damage it as ive had this rod for years, it was my first multi beachcaster and is a lovely well made used and abused rod. just holding it reminds me of my first fish of many species landed with it, as well as the satisfaction of mastering reel up and reel down casting styles with my first multiplier (a very second hand abu 6500 c3 rocket open cage - now dearly departed) i cast reel down now as it suits me better for reasons i will explain to those who ask but i learnt it all with this trusty penn. seeing my son now using it is a real pleasure. if i could get photobucket to allow me to get past the "capture image" varification page id post the pics!

What you can try is cool down the joint with frozen stuff then pour
hot water over the female section pulling at the same time

Great report and well done Jacko

Great read mate if your butt cap comes of give a liberal sray of SIlICONE spray leave upside down over nite then put over boiling pan of water and twist this always works for me hope this is of help mate

Paul wrote:

Dare say you know the bend over and put it behind your knees trick

Have you been to that bar again with Nobby

Cheers lads, i'll give it a go. yeah, perseverance does pay off. when the fixed spool reel detonated i was all for throwing in the towel (or the tackle!) and heading home. still, it couldve been worse!

I long for a session when i go fishing, catch a few fish and just come home with no disasters befalling me along the way!!

Well done to you both good read , I love ffrith beach had a few bass from there first time I fished it few years ago , must go back there soon , well done

well done on your flounder jack and dad

That trick of the rod behind your knees, and using your knees to force your hands apart does work if you are by yourself, though 2 people should get a better grip with 4 hands