THE SECOND COMING
The return of spurdogs to more than 20lb is adding to the variety of species found off North Wales…
Over the past decade, overall stocks of spurdogs have increased in the seas around North Wales as the species recovers from a fall in numbers caused by commercial long-lining during the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Once alive with huge packs of this species, the area has seen them replenish their numbers on the old stamping grounds. Perfectly placed to make the most of this second coming is charter skipper Gethyn Owen and his 32ft Aquastar My Way, based in Holyhead Marina, Anglesey.
Just a few miles out to the west are the Holyhead Deeps, a patch of stone and boulders falling on to cleaner ground and varying in depth from about 200-300ft or more, depending on where you fish.
‘Geth’, as he’s known to his regulars, has built a reputation for finding a string of specimen-sized spurdogs over the past few years, with numerous heavyweights caught by his customers. The best so far was a fish of 20lb 13oz, but he’s had a few close to that weight and just under 20lb in recent years. What also stands out is the consistency of the fishing once the packs of spurs move back inshore after a winter in deeper water.
It’s safe to say that spurdogs are never far away throughout the year, but the bigger fish show in April and May, and again from October onwards, though don’t rule out a big fish at any time.
Early April is when Geth begins to really target the species, but mid-April is when things normally get going. Fishing improves steadily through May and into June. Although spurs are there in numbers through the summer, the smoothhounds and general fishing usually take over. Seeking spurs takes a back seat, purely due to time and other targets, and they return into the mix during the autumn, with October and into November being a good time to target them again.
BEST CONDITIONS
The sea runs fast during the bigger spring tides, so choose the smaller neaps to the middle-sized tides. My choice is when the sequence is rising from small neaps to middle-sized tides, when it can be that touch more consistent, but middle-sized tides dropping towards the neaps produce some great catches too.
The skipper will get you there just as the tide run is beginning to ease, meaning you fish over slack water until the tide really starts to push. What Geth tends to do is fish for something else first, then head to the spurdogs grounds for the optimum time, and move back on to another target elsewhere if time allows once the tide picks up again.
His marks are relatively close together, so there is minimum time lost moving from one mark to another.
Given the depth you’re fishing, you wouldn’t think that the weather is very important, but it does play a part. During the early part of the season, the spurs tend to be hard on the seabed. They will come a few feet off the bottom to chase a bait, or herring, but that’s about it. As the season progresses into May, once the mackerel
arrive, the spurs move up in the water to feed on them. If the mackerel get scattered into smaller groups by rough weather and go deeper, so too will the spurs.
Given a settled period of weather and calm seas, the spurs can be roughly at mid-depth, and sometimes higher. It pays to experiment with the depth you fish until you find the fish. I usually start about 100ft down and work deeper, only going shallower if I can’t find the fish at all.
For a charter party, it’s a good tactic to start by all fishing slightly different depths until the feeding zone is found.
Sunny days tend to push the spurdogs deeper. Cloudy overcast days will see them shallower, as will a day when a breeze chops up the surface water and minimises light levels in the upper water column.
A spurdog’s vision is designed for depth, not working near the surface, so they avoid bright light as much as possible. Spurs are one of the few fish that seem to feed well in easterly winds; nothing will stop these voracious pack fish with teeth from eating.
TACKLE CHOICE
Most anglers would choose a 20/30lb-class outfit, and they wouldn’t be far wrong. However, the tide dies quickly here and a 12/20lb-class rod and multiplier loaded with 30lb braid and 30-40lb fluorocarbon shockleader is the best choice of tackle for power and fun.
You may need a pound or more of lead weight when the tide is running as you start fishing, but either side and over slack water, I got down and held bottom on between 6-8oz when I shot the photos for this article, and could probably have gone lighter if the tide had been smaller. It didn’t affect my bite detection.
You’re really making life difficult for yourself if you go for mono mainline. In these depths, and with a strong tide initially pulling, you’ll need much more lead weight to find and hold bottom, and your bite detection will be limited due to the stretch in the mono. It’s braid on the reel for me.
Mono leaders are okay, but fluorocarbon’s abrasion resistance is far better, and this is really useful for when spurdogs touch the leader with their bodies during the fight, or wrap around the leader too. Their rough skin can quickly scuff through mono when they do this. A fluoro leader also helps protect the braid from the stones and boulders on the seabed. Having less stretch than mono, fluorocarbon combines with the braid to maintain bite detection and feel.
RIG OPTIONS
Your choice of rig needs careful thought. A long flowing trace works okay, but Geth prefers a two-hook rig. The latter offers extra scent because the two adjacent baits draw in the spurs quicker and present baits slightly differently just up off the bottom. Remember, too, that shorter hooklengths do not tangle when dropping at speed through the water column.
I make my rigs from a 70in length of 80100lb fluorocarbon. Using a blood loop knot, I tie in two loops of line standing off the main rig about 10in in length and some 3-4ft apart. Below the bottom loop, leave about 18in of line and tie on a 3/0 oval split ring. Above the top loop tie on a strong size 1/0 rolling swivel. Cut the loops once close to the knot to create a single hooklength about 12in long coming off the main rig. Cut the nose off a 3-4in plastic muppet, slide the muppet on to the hooklength, followed by a size 8mm bead, and tie on a size 6/0 Mustad O’Shaughnessy bronzed hook, or similar pattern. The bead will fit inside the muppets head if you push it in, and keeps the lure positioned nicely over the hook.
Some anglers opt for wire to combat the spur’s teeth. To do this, cut one of the rig’s
blood knot loops, on one section only, tight to the knot to leave a single strand standoff hooklength of about 8in. To the end of this, tie on a size 3/0 oval split ring. Now cut a 10in length of 90lb multi-strand wire and crimp on a swivel at one end. On the other end slide on the muppet, bead and crimp on the hook.
By having the oval split ring tied to the mono stand-off, you can simply clip on a new wire biting length by the swivel if the original wire gets twisted and weakens after catching a few spurs.
Have a few spare wire traces ready in your box to save time too.
Good colours for the muppets are red, pink and orange, but wherever I’ve fished for spurs, I’ve always done well on a luminous green or yellow. A good tip is to let the luminous muppets take on any sunlight just to charge them, or better still, use a camera flash to generate more luminescence just prior to dropping down a newly baited rig.
BAIT SELECTION
The muppets are just for added attraction for your main bait, with fresh or frozen mackerel the top choice. Spurs are not fussy feeders, so bait presentation is basic. You can use body chunks about 3in long, feeding the hook in and out through the side a couple of times to leave the hook point clear. I like fillets for movement; the head section, with the hook passed through the two jaws close to the front, should leave the hook point exposed, and this bait will be full of scent.
Other good baits are the heads and chunks of pollack, whole squid, herring and whiting. You can expect activity from dogfish too, so bigger baits tend to keep them at bay long enough for the spurs to move in and eat the lot.
TECHNIQUE
This is simple leger fishing, but you need to think things through to fish effectively. The main thing is to judge the size of the lead weight and go heavy enough to keep the baits hard on to the bottom when the spurs are at depth.
With the two-hook rig, if I’m positioned on the stern of the boat and not likely to tangle other angler’s lines, I use a weight just heavy enough to hold bottom, so lifting the rod tip on a tight line means the weight will lift and trot back a few feet, which often triggers an instant response from a spurdog.
I prefer to hold my fishing rod all the time, tip down over the gunnel at a right angles to the line, and I feel every little twitch through the braid. When I get a bite, the spur usually pulls the rod tip three or four times. I give them a few feet of slack, wind down to the weight of the fish and pull the hook home. Don’t leave the bite to develop too long because this can result in the spurdog biting off the bait and missing the hook, or taking the hook in deep.
When spurs are up in the water column, just lift and drop the rod tip to work the baits up and down a couple of feet. Your aim is to make the bait look like free-falling chunks of fish after a predator attack, or to mimic small fish.
Spurs are fighters and give a good account of themselves in the tide. Set the reel’s drag light enough to give line when a fish gets its head down, but readjust the drag during the fishing period to match tidal conditions.
Spurs also appear in waves. If one angler gets a fish, others are likely to get bites shortly after, so pay attention to your rod.
This species gets its name from the sharp, bony spurs found on both front and rear dorsal fins. These will puncture skin very easily, and can carry a mild venom and bacteria that can turn a wound sceptic, so be careful when handling these fish.
If you’ve never caught a spur, or remember the old days and want to relive past glories, then Gethyn Owen and Holyhead Deeps offer you a great chance of doing just that.