The frame appears t obe die cast and then machined. Both the ratchet pawl and the gear are made of plastic.

   Many an angler would love to catch a huge common skate from a boat but catching one from the shore is the ultimate prize that many an of us only dream of. Not only did we do this once we actually hooked up eights times in total and landed four,  plus many species that you would never think you could catch from the  same environment.     

The Mumbles, Swansea - Wales

Situated on the west side of the sweep of Swansea Bay, The Mumbles has its own pier, promenade, small boat-launching facilities and boat-trailer parking.

There are a variety of fishing opportunities to suit anglers of all abilities here, with big bass the key target throughout much of the angling year, especially through the summer and autumn months. In the winter you can expect good bags of codling and whiting, along with the odd good dab.

To get there, from the city of Swansea drive west on the A4067 and a couple of miles later you will reach the holiday town of The Mumbles. There are plenty of car parks, cafés, pubs and quaint little shops selling home-made produce.

 span>In summer, worm baits will attract the occasional school bass and eel. Groundbaiting will attract mullet, especially near to weed beds. In autumn there is always a chance of a bigger bass when small pouting pass through. In the winter, codling and whiting (especially after dark) are present.

2 Knab Rock:This is the area west of the concrete boat-launching slip and is favoured by holiday anglers. In summer, mackerel are often caught by youngsters fishing with feathers or fish strips under a float. You can virtually park your car, walk a short distance and cast onto a generally clean bottom. Top half of the tide is best, as fish pass through on their way into the bay. Bass, occasional plaice and mackerel, accompanied by garfish are the main species, yet in hot summers the rarer triggerfish and black bream are also taken. In winter, codling and whiting are frequently taken after dark.

3 The Mumbles Pier:The pier is a traditional structure with a lifeboat station attached. A charge of around £3 per rod is made for entry and it usually closes at sunset. It is a comfortable spot and it generally offers good fishing. The separate lower level at the end of the pier is kept for fishing only.

Mackerel, dogfish, garfish, gurnard, pollack, flatties, conger and the occasional plaice can be expected in summer months. There is always a chance of a good bass to fresh mackerel bait. Try close-in near to the metalwork with smaller baits for black bream, triggerfish and even the odd red mullet. In autumn and winter, codling, whiting, dogs, pouting and dab can be expected.

4 The Mumbles Head:The head with its lighthouse is a rough-ground mark with swift flowing tides. Try to fish at low water but you can easily be cut off on the fast incoming tide. Take care! Don’t fish alone and always take your mobile. This area is accessible for about two hours either side of low water. Spinning is the favoured method and casting into the gulleys will produce good bass. Float fishing the sheltered eddies with live prawn or crab can be great fun on warm, calm evenings. It is not recommended for winter fishing.

5 Bracelet Bay:Further west, just beyond the coastguard station, are patches of sand enclosed by rocks. These can be fished from the left or right-hand side. Spinning or plugging on a rising tide on calm, sultry evenings can produce good bass although a float-fished crab might tempt a triggerfish. Legering into the sandy gulleys after dark with fish baits for conger is possible but pulley rigs with rotten bottoms are advisable. Don’t fish when the wind is strong because the sea can get very rough in this corner.

6 Footpath To Langland:You can find many rocky bays along the path where you can spin or float fish for the species previously mentioned. Do not fish this area when the sea is rough because the big waves will pull you in.

This is the area where you have an excellent chance of a reasonable black bream in August and September. Small pollack and wrasse will also give you good sport.

Tackle Shops:Roger’s Tackle, PilotHouse Wharf, The Marina, Swansea. Tel: 01792 469999.Mainwarings,44 Vivian Road, Sketty, Swansea. Tel: 01792 202245.

Top Tips 1:Never travel alone to these marks and always carry your mobile phone with you in case of emergencies. Top Tips 2:Using floaty beads on your hook snoods will help keep your baits up off the bottom and away from the bait-robbing crabs.

1 Sea Front Pat:On the top half of the tide it is possible to fish onto mixed ground. Legering is the favoured method and the mixed ground is not generally rough enough to require rotten bottom techniques.

Fished the Aust Bank on Sunday with Glyn. Jason was going to meet us at 11am but unfortunately was unable to make it. Anyway it was a new mark for us so off we trotted following the instruction given by Jason. It took about half an hour to get to the mark. It was at once obvious that we had turned up a tad early. Five hours early in fact. High tide was at 1:45 pm. So we had to wait. We did fish as soon as the  gravel causeway appeared. We eventually got onto the bank itself. The tide was a very small one. There was practically no rip in the tide. The weights held bottom no problem. The fishing was poor. Despite all the baits under the Sun we only managed a Strap Conger. That was caught by Glyn. Another angler did turn up about 3 hours before low tide. So at least we could confirm we where on the right mark. We decided to pack up at 7 pm as it was getting dark. By the time we got back to the car it was pitch black. Next time we will get the timing right. But at least we found the mark.

 2009-09-05

Long time no entry. I've had no more Hounds since the end of June. Probably due to the fact I haven't been able to fish that much. Weather has taken a downturn for Jul Aug. 

 Sun 14 June 2009 01:30 - 07:30
Team SPAZ fished Newton Point at low tide 05:00  10.4m Swansea. 9 Smoothhounds to 9lb 4oz where taken all  bofore the turn. Thay moved from the bay out to the right past the point. Lovely morning. About 13  deg C.

2009-05-10 

Just stated fishing again after 20 years. Most of the tackle is still there. Two beach casters, a  Conflex  2600 and a Century Formula Long EZ Sport. I only have one reel left for fishing. An ancient Ryobi T-2. I remember I leant my mate Glyn my Shimano and it never cam back (long story). I still have the Diawa seat box and a load of rigs, weights, leader and 15lb line. So 20 years on and time to see how things have changed.

I hadn't seen my mate Glyn for 20 years so what a surprise to find he still fished on one of the forum's I was reading. So he agrees we should go fishing again. He's been back to it for about five years.

Things haven't change that mush in some ways. Rods are lighter and longer. Although the 20 year old Century Formula … Sport was quite modern and very light with a 25mm diameter butt. I've bought a new Penn 525 Supermag real to replace the Shimano. 0.35 mm diameter fishing line line is now 18 lb and not 15 lb so some things have moved on then.

I've spent all evening tying rigs. Some pennel rigs and pulley rigs. I can use the large supply of Viking 4/0 hooks I still have. I've thrown away all the old mono though. I don't trust it.

Bait has changed very little. I don't suppose peeler crab, Lug and Rag have progressed mush on the evolutionary side in twenty years. I've bought one of those Breakaway carry conversion kit for the seat box.

First thing I need to do is some practice casting. Make sure the new real is working OK. So it's off to the local field. Not a bad showing for first time back to pendulum casting. I need more practice though. I don't lob the weight high enough.

So it’s the first fishing session. In at the deep end, going to fish for Smooth hound over rocky ledges. So It’s pulley rigs and rotten bottoms. The Breakaway is a real revelation. Makes carrying the seat box much easier. It does weigh a ton with all the spare leads. It was about a two mile walk to the mark from the car.

The tide was very shallow so it didn't get far enough out to reveal the best ledges. Hover Glyn did manage to land a small Smoothhound. We where restricted for tiem as we had to leave as the tide turned

More to follow....

2008-11-04

Getting it together slowly. Did some casting and discovered I can get just as far with the old Century Long EZ as I can with the new Kompressor S. About 160 meters most of the time. New 6500 Chrome Rocket is well cool. Glyn has given me a Diawa new type SLOSH. So I can now fish with both rods. Still no fish to speak of though. Known good rock marks don't sppear to be producing Cod at the moment. Probbaly still too early yet.

Some Plugging for Bass notes:

2500 - 4000 sized reel
0.19mm braid, nylon leader etc.

rod/reel ? buy what YOU like and can afford.

plugs ?

just 3 imho

a popper (white/chartruese)
a straight 11-12.5cm bait narrow lip like a tideminnow in a sandeel colour.
a 12.5 - 14cm jointed bait wider lipped like an X-rap(chartruese/white), or similar.

learn to really fish those.
they will work everywhere for Bass at ANY time of day and night.

Chartruese falls right into the middle (in theory) of the Bass's hot strike trigger. I would suggest its pretty accurate.

Keep it simple, catch some Bass, then....
experiment.

Seriously, those 3 plugs will cover surface through to approx 6ft from stopped baits to slow wobble to fast vibrating and all inbetween (if fished with some insight).

Lures can start at a few quid and go into the 20s (and more) for hi-tech Japanese plugs - youll end up buying loads and probably not use half of them (you start to get confident with a particular lure & you will fish it better due to that confidence). Get yourself 3 decent shallow divers, a popper and a couple of deep divers and youll be covered to start

Braid is tops for plugging (power-pro or similar is fine) but make sure you underfill the spool & that the reels got a relativly good line lay)

 2008-12-16

Fishing’s still very poor all along the coast. Some netter got his nets and boats confiscated but still it's bad. Some say it's the sprats in the channel that’s' keeping them off the shore. No1 sore mark is still not producing. Seams to be a lot of fish off Kent at the moment. Perhaps a trip is in order.

 Some Items to purchase me thinks:

 
Mustad Shrimp Bait Rigs.

Booby Bead Rattles

Do I hate pulley rigs?

I know pulley rigs are all the rage but I'm not too sure if I like them yet. They are OK for getting the weight off the bottom if you hokking the fish in the first place is still under investigation.

 1. When I use to use simple paternoster rig the contact between the hook and the weight was direct. Therefore a fish moving off after picking up the bait would hook itself uptide style giving the classic slack line bite. This was enough to set the hook.

2. With the pulley rig the fish has to pull all the line through the swivel before the hook id set. Also the amount of movement at the rod tip is devided by half due to the mechanical advantage of the pulley system. I feel that the bait could be either rejected before the hook is set as the prey does not come against a hard stop but the pulley. Or there isn't enough of a dead stop to set the hook. Also if you strike you have to divide the amount of movement in the strike by half for the hook movement. Which at 100+yards will be zero. So the only way to hook them up is either reel like crazy to set the hook or hope they are already hooked. Also when you lift the rod to feel for the bite you are again loosing out to mechanical advantage.

Mechanical Advantage:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_advantage

Zziplex HSM vs Century Tip Tornado Supermatch

A first time outing for both rods. The Century (SM)  looks very modern in comparison to the Zziplex. (HSM). The HSM is finished in gold underwhipping with black overwhiping. Both rods are very well finished. I put a 7HT Mag on the SM and a 7HT Turbo on the HSM. Both where fished with two hook flappers on this occasion as it was down Oxwich beach. Well to my suprise there is not a lot of difference between the two rods. The HSM is slightly more tippy in the stand. But casting and feel was very similar. So much so thet after fish for a few hours I couldn't tell which rod I had just cast. This makes me happy in a way because the Kompressor S is like chalk and cheese to the SM. I guess this means that the SM is problably under rated. Well not by me after comparing to the HSM. I would say the HSM probably has the edge but as it costs 50% more to buy than the SM it should be. But not 50% more of an edge.

Has anybody else fished with the two back to back? I'm going to lend the SM to a mate of mine who is Zzippy mad to get another opinion. 

Braid on Multipliers.

I've been using suffix matrix pro on a mag elite for well over a year now, in all that time i've only had 2 birdies where i've had to cut away the line, even then only losing 20-30 yards,

I use matrix pro because it's a round braid, as such i treat it no differently to mono, the only thing you have to do is ensure you keep the line tight when loading the spool, and always tight when retrieving. the braid i use is .27mm (i think) and is about the same size as my mono lines generally are.

if you go with a flat braid, which generally has a smaller stated diameter (they measure across the narrowest section!), then it is even more important to keep it tight when retrieving, any loose coils and that's where probs might happen.

i can't speak for flat braids as i've never used them, but i know the suffix is superb stuff. over-runs? never been a problem, they happen but the spool normally goes around once or twice and then the loop locks up, simply pull the line back and it sorts itself out!

give it a go!

this cast was about 150-160m, mags only on no2! i'd recommend you start with the reel slow until you get used to it though!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=geEGI8UVdcI

oh yeah.. snags... with a good leader knot you're more likely to bend out a 6/0 or haul in other lost gear than break the line! just remember braid can be like cheese wire, if snagged then walk forward to slacken the line, place your left hand (assuming right handed) half way between reel and first guide, then turn the rod around so the line stops against your hand and wraps around the butt, then walk backward with the rod pointing to the snag, usually comes free.

in 12 months plus, i'm only now on my 3rd spool of braid, less than 750m has lasted more than a year!

wouldn't worry about backing either, if you do, just a few mm deep, don't overload the spool!

 2009-03-08

 More about boxes and weight and travelling light.

 There has been a lot of chat about fishing boxes of late. I like by box, it keeps everything in one place, and it's dry in there. Nothing worse than having all your kit spread about the rocks or sand. I think people just fill them up with unneccessary tat. Start with an empty box.

Bottom of box:

Waterproofs.

Spare reel.

Bags for fish,

Sunglasses. 

Hat's.

Gloves.

Flask / Sandwiches.

Emergency night light.

Top of  box:

Reel,

Rigs,

Scissors,

Baiting needles,

Leader Line,

Discorger,

 Pliers,

Rotten bottom Pins.

Small container of oval split rings / 6.0 hooks, trebles (for live baiting if required), hook sharpener.

Wet rag.

Dry towel.

 Bait containers. Coolbox.

Container with leads. (pre tied with rotten bottoms if required).

Rational.

 All the rigs for the venue are already made up. Weight.s have rotten bottoms attached ready to go. You can put the wights in your pockets to walk to the venue. If I tak two rods then they are in bags.  If I take one rod then it gets assemlbled by the car and I walk with the box on my back rod rest in one hand and  rod in the other.  I tend to travel quite light. But still take the box. I hate bags as everything gets spread about the place and gets lost  or washed away. The IMAX  basket thats fits on the tripod is good. You can leave your bait in that and bait up the rigs from there. Only problem is it's difficult to view the rod  tip when you stand so close to the rod rest. 

2009-05-10 

Secrets Marks my  Foot.

The thing that always makes me snigger is so called "secret marks".  OK  so we don't know exactly where it is but   putting two and two together you can make a good guess. These marks haven't appeared overnight and won't disappear either.  Then you find out someone's so called secret mark is actually a well known mark  by another  group  of  anglers. As I say the mark's been there for years. I guess it's more re-discover the discover a secret mark.

However if a mark is fishing particularly well at the moment then it 's  probably  prudent to keep quiet about it's current fishing merits unless you want it overrun.  It's a pain when a nice quiet spot  you fish is full of danglers hoping for the big one. Trouble with having to fish on a  Sunday. I will have to do something about that me thinks.