IFM Welsh Branch Summer Sea Fishing Trip - Report

Undeterred by the strong winds and driving rain (typically, the previous day had been dry, calm and bright), nine intrepid Welsh Branch members and friends set sail from Swansea marina on a damp Saturday morning in July for the rich fishing grounds just off Port Talbot. Our skipper for the day was the highly experienced Dave Axtell (Seren-Y-Mor). Dave has a reputation for finding fish regardless of the conditions and he soon had us over a large shoal of mackerel. After three short drifts we had enough fresh bait to tackle some of the larger species we hoped to make contact with during the day.

One of the attractions of deep-sea fishing is the element of surprise. You never know what will pick up your bait, although you can pretty much guarantee that the ubiquitous dogfish will make an appearance at some point. True to form we caught plenty of dogfish, but we also caught an additional seven species including a surprise codling and a baby tope. Other species landed were conger eel, pouting, bull huss and a single thornback ray. Everyone on board caught fish despite the miserable conditions. Mair Lewis on her first fishing trip won our competition for most species caught so well done to Mair as she was up against some very good anglers.

Of course, the success of any fishing trip is judged on more than just the number of fish caught. A good skipper can make all the difference and we were fortunate to have Dave at the helm. Dave was keen to tell us about the changes he has seen over the years such as mackerel arriving earlier in the year now and increasing numbers of warm water species turning up in catches including trigger fish. Dave is also a keen conservationist and encourages catch and release and bag limits for species such as black bream. He is certainly not impressed when he sees anglers killing large numbers of these fish.

We were also fortunate to have expert ornithologist Pete Clabburn on board. Pete drew our attention to a number of birds throughout the day including storm petrels (not easy to spot skimming over the waves), diving gannets, kittiwakes and a lone Arctic skua. Most of us had never seen a skua before so to see one just off Port Talbot was an added bonus.

The fishing, the company and the wildlife ensured that the time passed swiftly and before we knew it Dave was instructing us to reel in for the last time. We arrived back in port in good spirits and all agreed that the day had been a success. There were even a few mackerel left over to take home for the barbecue. We plan to make this an annual event and we will also be organising a cod fishing trip this winter so keep an eye on the website for further announcements.

Rob Evans (Hon Sec. Welsh Branch)
7th August 2006

 

Mair Lewis caught this stunning baby tope along with five other species.

Jerry Davis with his impressive thornback ray (safely released after capture).