Move from one side of the Bristol Channel to the other and you’ll find changes in the smoothhound sport.
A smoothhound session in South Wales produces interesting comparisons with sport on the opposite side of the Bristol Channel
Having fished many parts of South Wales targeting big rays, I’d never gone in search of the area’s prolific numbers of smoothhounds. That all changed this summer when the species proved very unpredictable along the Somerset side of the Bristol Channel. It was my Sea Angling Adventures colleague Rob Yorke’s idea to head over and take advantage of the fishing along the South Wales coast. He’d ventured to Aberthaw a few times in previous years and had bagged up, including a session when trying to fish with two rods was impossible due to the hounds hitting the baits within seconds.
Mainly known for its coal-powered power station, Aberthaw is situated near Barry, on the coast of South Wales. Opened in 1963, the power station is located at Limpert Bay, on the outskirts of the village of Gileston. I hoped it would be the scene for a repeat of Rob’s hectic session.
Joining us were Gav Cuthbertson and Dan Bassett. At around 7am we arrived at the car park, unloaded the vehicle and headed out towards the low-water reef in front of the power station. Accessibility is generally easy. It’s a flat walk along the path, after which we climbed a staircase ladder and strode out over pebbles on to the reef ledges.
From here, we could cast out into the fastflowing tide of the Bristol Channel in search of a monster hound. We still had around two hours to low water, so it gave us plenty of time to set up our equipment and get ready to cast out our fresh prime peeler crab baits (purchased from Euro Angling in Torquay).
We had all chosen to go for the Century T900 beachcasters. I had matched my pair with Penn Fathom 15 reels fitted with a Phil Stares mag conversion and loaded with 20lb Asso mainline and an 80lb shockleader.
We all selected short pulley rigs.
These were armed with a single size 4/0 Octopus hook and a Cox & Rawle Chinu.
Importantly, a rotten-bottom release device is needed when fishing over the rough ground to enable your lead weight to be ditched if snagged in the rough ground. It still allows you to get your rig with, hopefully, a fish back every time. I tend to go with the same strength line as I am using for my mainline, with a couple of knots tied that will weaken the trace.
DEEP WATER
With everything ready to go, I stepped forward and cast out the first bait of the day, with Dan to my right and Gav to my left, followed by Rob and a local angler. I placed my rod in my tripod, engaged the rachet on my reel and adjusted its drag. Always remember that hounds are extremely hard fighting and can pull your rod off your tripod and into the sea.
By now the sun with blazing down and the forecast predicted it was going to be an extremely warm day with hardly any breeze, if any. As I started to bait up my next rig with a crab and squid bait, I looked up across the Bristol Channel towards Minehead and wondered what the day would bring compared to sport on that side of the water.
By now Rob, Gav and Dan had cast out and were baiting up their second rigs. Another angler turned up and set himself up fishing into the bay. The tip of my rod was arched over, indicating plenty of tidal pull.
The reef/rock formation was a lot different to what I’m used to on the Somerset side. Everything seemed a lot deeper on the Welsh side. However, most of the high-water ray marks along the Welsh side are rock venues and only really replicated towards North Devon. The depth is one of the main attractions for the fish and makes South Wales a fantastic place for shore anglers.
As I started to take a few photographs, my attention was quickly drawn to my rods, as one rachet started to sound with the classic sign of a smoothhound swimming off with my bait. I started to tighten my drag and leant back into the fish.
When fishing over this type of ground, it is important to keep tension in the line in order to hold the fish high in the water rather than allowing it to go to ground. I normally tend to keep my rod between the 10 o’clock position and lift the rod back while gaining line to the 12 o’clock position, pumping the fish up higher towards the surface.
As my leader neared the reef’s edge, Gav reached down and grabbed the hound, which was just under double figures. It was a good start and it was nice to see a fish out of the ebb.
After helping out with my fish, Gav walked back to his tripod to be greeted by his Daiwa Black and Blue 30 starting to scream. This time Rob headed towards the water’s edge, so I attached a freshly baited rig to my leader clip, but watched as Gav’s rod tip arched right over.
As I stepped forward to cast, Rob lifted another hound of at least 9lb out of the water, so I put down my rod and grabbed the camera to take a trophy shot. Soon Gav released the fish. One of the great things about smoothhound fishing is to witness the fish swim off so strongly.
Finally, I headed back to my rod and sent the bait out to the horizon. The action would continue. Rob then struck into a fish and Gav headed down to the water’s edge while Rob remained further back with his rod tip arching over. Soon a fish of around 9lb was landed. They were not the big specimens we sought, but still great sport, particularly as we were catching them in much deeper water than we were used to; these hounds were really showing off their true strength.
GREAT REWARD
As the tide neared low water, sport began to slow over the slack period. As soon as the tide started to turn, and the rod tips started to arch over in the tripods, the screaming reels started once again. Rob’s was the first, followed by Gav’s as the hounds moved through. Again, the fish were around the 9-10lb mark. Poor
old Dan seemed to be in the completely wrong area because he couldn’t buy a bite.
In my opinion, while the depth of water on the Welsh side seems to produce more fish, I think that fishing the Somerset reefs gives a much better chance of hitting that big specimen as normally you don’t tend to see a fish below the 10lb mark.
Once again, the sound of my rachet sounding had me sprinting over to my rod. After tightening the reel’s drag I started to lift the rod tip back and gained line on the fish.
I could tell straight away that this was a good hound because the fish would not come up straight away. I simply held the rod tip high and applied pressure and, once I felt the fish moving, I started to lift, reel down and gain line. The fish was using its power in the tide and I could see my mainline moving downtide with the fish. As it got closer to the shore it remained deep and moved right, then left, in its bid to escape the hook.
As Gav reached down to the water’s edge and lifted up the fish, we knew it was one we were going to weigh. I placed my rod in the tripod and grabbed the sling, which supports the fish while being weighed. After zeroing the weight, the fish was placed into the sling and took the weight to 13lb 12oz – a nice specimen (see page 22). After a couple of photographs, the fish was returned. Once more, we blasted out fresh crab baits as the tide started to push us back up the reef.
The session ended with a total of 27 smoothhounds, which was a great reward for our three-hour drive from Devon. If you’ve never ventured to the South Wales coastline in search of fish, you should give it a try. The sport really will have you coming back for more.