Charlene - I've been to paradise and have also been to me!

Jonah strikes again! A fishing weekend once again coincided with strong winds, which resulted in Sunday and Monday's planned boat trips being "blown off". To rub salt into my wounds Geth informed me that smoothounds had been taken to 20lb plus on the Friday.

 I arrived in Wales around lunchtime on Saturday, and after picking up some bait it was time to put Plan B into operation.






On my last welsh adventure I had visited Trefor on a reconnaissance mission and the photos of Trefor are from that visit . Plan B was to target coalfish from Trefor pier.

This weekend I would be living dangerously! There is a warning sign advising that the pier is dangerous. Clearly access to the pier is at your own risk and at the end of this session I realised quite how stupid I had been to ignore the signs, as a number of the pier legs were missing! The local council, strapped of cash appear to be waiting for nature to take its course so that they can save on demolition costs.

I would like to say that the session was pleasurable but with driving horizontal rain and strong winds it was an endurance test. The gusts not only threatened to knock me off balance but could potentially bring the pier structure down from under me.






To target the coalfish i fished a small strip of mackerel on a cut down set of sabikkis. This worked a treat and a succession of small coalies were landed along with a couple of small pollack. It is not until you catch both in the same session do you realise how different they are.

In Yorkshire immature coalfish are known as billet and I remember fishing for them in Scarborough
harbour, float fishing with light tackle and mussel as bait.

Trefor is famed for the variety of mini species it produces and by substituting the mackerel for a piece of ragworm I hoped to attract a dragonet or goby. Unfortunately I could not get through the small wrasse.

After three or four hours of fishing the tide down from high I was relieved to get back to the safety of the main harbour wall. Trefor is a stunning venue, being backed by Snowdon and its neighbouring peaks.

I would once again re-iterate that I had been somewhat foolish fishing off the pier and would advise others not to follow my lead. If I return to fish Trefor Pier in future it would be from a kayak!

Unlike Charlene I've been to paradise and have also been to me!