hi everybody, any help for a new fisherman in carmarthen

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:03 pm

hi guys...my names mark, im from carmarthen and recently i have been gettin into fishing big time...i try to go out about 3-4 nights a week if possible

any advice on good spots in this area...i fish mwnt often and last night tried hobbs point on macrel flappers as im dying to catch a conger

anything you guys can help me with would be much appreciated

ie baits, spots, set ups, the lot

thanks, markie

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:24 pm

Hi mate, A warm welcome to the forums, Sorry not my area but someone will reply.
Cheers keith big grin

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:41 am

I'll do my best for you here....

Hobbs Point: Great for the novice, allows access to deepish water, car close by, and there are definitly congers lurking here. People say that a big bait for conger is the way forward - id disagree. A smaller well scented bait works aswell, they are there - but they are smaller 'strap' eels rather than their heavy weight deepwater relatives. You will do well to drag a 20lb fish from the depths there, more likely a good scrap from a 10lb fish.

Best tides are small / neap tides (thats all next week), accross low water is fine, or incoming, down the side of the wall to the left, or from the front. A short thud of a cast get you past the main tangle spots, however the whole place is a tackle graveyard, so bear that in mind.

Bait is best as fresh as possible, with plenty of scent. Squid, Mackeral or combo of the two, guts the lot. Dont hurl out a huge bait, there realy is no need. Ive had plenty of strap eels on smaller baits, 4/0 hooks with 100lb hook leader & used spark plugs as sinkers tied to a rotten bottom (in case they get stuck) - thats a lighter line tying weight to rig.

Multipliers like the ABU 7000 are great for congers as they have a good ratched, and you'll need one. A conger will take a bait so slowly, and retreat back to it's lair backwards, hence a very slow pull on the ratchet, literally a cm at a time, maybe less. Striking into a conger is a tough call, many miss it, a few connect - many get dragged into whatever. A Congere would rather die than release a bait, and boy can they pull.

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:49 am

PS: Hobbs better at NIGHT!!

Also other places for you to consider would be:

Pendine, Amroth, Tenby (South Beach): For Flounders & Bass, best fished accross LOW water, or first three hours of the flood. Use 2 hook rigs with smaller hooks eg size 1 or 2 for flounder, 1/0 at the minimum for Bass. Bass better on a pully rig, baited with worm, crab or sandeel. Get some elastic cotton, as that will help. Ask in a tackle shop how top use it.

Stackpole & Manorbier rock ledges: rough ground but worth it, float gear better over rough ground, unless you like losing weight after weight. Wrasse, Mackeral, Pollack on float gear - outside chance of Garfish from any of them, and also Bass. Doggies maybe even a Ray if on the bottom.

Lougher Estury: Flounder & Bass; no idea where tho.

Laurghne: Estury near Dylan Thomas boat house, flounder, small bass & apparently an outside chance of a Sewin (u'll need a licence to keep one though)

Hope that all helps, it realy a case of trial and error, we all been there.

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:17 pm

hi...thanks for the help, me and my mate fished off hobbs point on monday night, got there at about 2ish tho coz we were looking for other spots, casted out full mackeral fillets and on caught sea weed... will try the combo of squid and mackeral next time we go tho, loving the idea of used spak plugs, must of lost about £6-7 worth of weights down there, will be taking a roll of cotton with me, i watched a few videos on youtube on how to put on bait combos...and going by what you said i think i may watch them a few more times to make sure i get them right

im thinking of going to tenby tomorrow in the day to catch some more mackeral, any advise or is it just easier to go off the boats??

also sorry to be a nag, but do you have any advice for fishing mwnt???

i love that place as it was the first time i went sea fishing and although i was only catching dog fish that went sick all over the place i really enjoyed that night, so i keep goin back there as often as i can

thanks again for the help, i really appreciate it, and thanks for the welcome

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:58 am

Mwnt, never been there - have heard if it though.

Ive just googled it & it looks like a typical cove / beach with a rocky surround. Dont know how deep, but lets assume atleast 10-15 feet at 100 yards, over i suspect cleanish sand.

I dont know how able you are but if it were me id try to get onto the rocks on the side, putting yourself away from mr & mrs average tourist, children, surfers, beach toys etc.

Float gear close in for wrasse / pollack on rag worm, float mackeral slithers or sandeel for pollack, outside chance of a bass, maybe garfish, maybe mackeral. Catch a small joey mackeral or small pollack (5 inches long), lip hook it, add a float and take a stab at a big bass...may work, prob wont - but that is fishing.

Bottom fishing, mackeral, rag worm should produce doggies i would have thought, Crab baits may give you a good shout to Bass & worm baits on small size 2 hooks may produce a flattie.

Mackeral is a great bait, however it is best caught on the day and used fresh. Otyher baits, Rag worm - easily bought in tackle shops, Razor fish - buy or collect eg Saundersfoot beach at low tide, Crab, easier to buy fresh, waste of time if frozen & a mission to collect in numbers if you have no idea what you are doing. Sandeels, buy them, use elasticated cotton to tie on when the go bit mushy.

Rotton bottoms best using 10lb line, it survives a cast better, breaks out fast asell. Hooks, finer wire hooks like an 'aberdenne' can pull free, where a meaier hook will hold fast. Also, dont create complicated rigs with loads of gear.

Weight, link, 2 hook lengths, maybe some beads, a swivel in there somewhere...thats it.

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:15 pm

over on the rocks is were we go...the water is about 30-40foot deep, had lots of doggies there but nothing else so far, apparently on sunday night a guy caught mackeral in the 100s, not sure how accurate he was tho,

i have decided to write down all the fishing i do from now on, ie were,what bait,tide times,wind direction,air pressure, and hopefully with in time i will have learned through trail and error like you said and be more likely to catch fish as often as possible

thanks again for your help...really do appreciate it

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:47 pm

Diaries are good, i have one.

deeper water should hold alot, does depend on what you fish onto, ie sand, rocks, combination of the two.

Mackeral are in, and in numbers (for a change), 100+ fish are possible, 6 feathers at a time, soon adds up. Alot of anglers, myself included, trim the feathers back to three hooks only, what someone will do with 100+ mackeral is beyond me. However, the early summer fish are firmer and better for bait when frozen - so maybe someone stocking up a freezer.

Dont cast too far in deeper water, its suprising what fish will be literally a plonk infornt of you...20 - 30 yards is ample. A belt into the blue yonder, might, i do stress MIGHT produce a ray, sandeel or sandeel wrapped in squid, tied off with elastic cotton will ok.

Many species venture onto cleaner sand at night, congers, rays, doggies, even Huss & especially tope & smoothound.

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:48 pm

the rod i have been using is a more sturdy rod and havent quite got the hang of huge casts with it yet anyways...think about 80yards is my limit so smaller casts into deeper water is wat im trying, can about 3 times the distance on my mates rod tho happy

i was reading an article about predictive fishing...and they guy on that blog said that the best way is to keep a diary of everything you do whilst fishing and then in time you will not need to look back at what you used in the conditions you fished as you would of learnd them

i would recomend mwnt to you, it is such a nice place...and you get to watch the dolphins playing around

Member Joined: Aug 06, 2008 Posts: 32 Location: west wales

mwnt is in our area
great fishing most of the time but very dangerous to get on rocks several been killed need to be agile hehehehehe
mackeral, pollock tope, wrass, conger, bass my son caught off there
bait rag lug crab mackeral and feathers
pollock like small bronze spinners

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:28 pm

it sounds more dangerous than what it is, i broke my ankle 5 weeks ago and i have been there about 6 times since then, my mate that i fish with had a car accident a few years ago and has limeted movement in his right arm and he finds it ok, we have fished off the harder parts to get to aswel

bronze spinners?? will have to try them next time i go up, heard of boys pulling the congers out of there. i want one big grin

spent the day up there on feathers on Tuesday with out so much as a bite :S

will go there again real swn tho, use some mackeral flappers and see how it goes

might get hold of some squid aswel to see how they fish up there

not a huge fan of crab, hate them pinching me...lol thanks for the tips happy

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:46 pm

When using Crab, it refers to Peller or soft back crab.

It not the easieet bait to use, but to some fish the scent is like channel no5....

However, hard crabs, not in their breeding stage (ie when soft) may bite you, but i know few people who use a live hard crab as bait anyway...in fact none.