Tywyn, Wales.

Hi guys, had a successful trip to in Wales and thought I would share it with you. Tope were the target fish, I believe you call them Soupfin.


After a week of night shifts I get 6 days off and with the weather looking good, I made the long drive to Tywyn. Arriving at about one in the morning I went straight to bed ready for an early start.





The day dawned bright and warm and donning my widest brimmed hat I made my way down stream . Its good fun running the last few hundred yards on the fast water and out through the surf.



I paddled out to where I had had success in the spring, I was soon getting fish with mackerel and bream coming to baited hokies. The bream made for tough little livebaits. They lasted hours, mackerel would only last 20 mins or so.



No sign of any Tope on the first day, so the next I tried a spot further out. I had loads of bream and mackerel, so I was never short of bait. Paul came out to say hello and tied up to a nearby pot buoy. Where he too had plenty of bream action. With the tide running it was easy to spot where the reef rose up off the sea bed.



And to prove that small hooks are not always required to catch bream, here is me catching one on a 5 'o hook and a half a side of mackerel ;D .

   

Still no sign of any Tope so for my last day I tried a spot overun had given me to try when I had fished in the spring . [ thanks James ! ] . I put on a bream livebait and amused myself by feeding a friendly seagull.



Suddenly my livebait rod roared off. I put the reel in gear and waited for the line pull tight before hitting it. Fish on ;D  It went on a couple of runs before stopping for a breather, giving me chance to switch on the video. Then it was off again, about 50 metres in front of the yak it leaped right out of the water   . Brilliant. Eventually the runs got shorter and I gained line. Remembering Curly's advice on how to get a tope onto a kayak, I took the reel out of gear, engaged the ratchet and pulled the tope on board at the second attempt. I unhooked it and held it up for the camera before letting it go. Jobs a good'n



With the day getting on and a long drive ahead of me it was time to head in. But the excitement had not finished for the day. Because a swell had started to roll in and there was a bit of surf at the river entrance. I hung off the beach picked my time and went for it Despite a wave turning me side on I got back to the river still upright.



Then all I had to do was drag the yak up the river and head on home. But I still had time to stop and admire the view on my drive back through Snowdonia.

Nice work on the Tope!  Beautiful countryside and another thorough report.  Well done!   

Cheers on landing that nice tope!! My buddy almost landed a 6'+ on 30 lbs braid when it broke the braid less than 10' from his kayak on the surface. Well, next time for him!!

But back to you .............. thanks for posting another report from across the Atlantic! It's nice to see other fellow kayakers from various parts of the world having fun fishing and catching species that is uncommon here. Look forward to reading more!!

Love the smile on your face when you picked up that fish and held it up to the camera. Also liked how calm and collected you were getting the deck ready to land the fish....good lesson for all of us. Keep on smiling.

Love the way you took your time playing the fish.  Thanks for another great report, video, and pictures Todd.

Really like your reports, keep'em coming, so sharks do relax if you can get'em on their backs...