After a handful of poor sessions at the end of the previous month, the SWFF decided to stay closer to home in hope of a few conger. Shane B, Elpez2k and SeaReed took the short journey to black pipe in hope of some action.

The lads set up just to the right of the small platform, there were a few others fishing a little further down the wall. 1st casts hit the water around 2 hours before high tide. The 1st hour flew past with no action for our trio.

Into the last hour of flood and Elpez2k got excited as his tip of his rod started bouncing around only to find it was a crosses line with Shane B. Just before high tide and the codfather turned up with Bessy hoping to do some damage.

High tide came and went, the SWFF members had a long discussion about the current state of the fishing and what could be causing the severe lack of fish. Not even the mighty Bessy could bring the conger or any other species out to play.

Some of the other anglers were now packing up, they had also been plagued whith the curse of the weaver fish. 2 hours down the lads called it a night. Not a good start to the month, but it couldn't get any worse than last month could it???

SeaReed and Elpez2k headed back west in hope of a few dogfish to get the months stats up and running. With the fishing being so poor at many of the SWFF's favourite marks, the thought of an easy nights fishing at Cold Knap appealed to both Elpez2k and SeaReed who was by now becoming most fond of this venue.

Rods were set up and in the briny around 2 hours before high tide. Elpez2k was on for his 5th blank in a row and unoptimistic of there chances. SeaReed put down the challenge that if he caught a fish his name should be changed to the Cold Knap Kid, challenge accepted game on!

Within 5 minutes of casting Elpez2k was jumping with excitement with the 1st tidy bite in god knows how many sessions. As the carbon fibre bent over for the 3rd time Elpez2k jumped to the Rod expecting a hooked fish to be waiting. Just as he got to the rod it stopped bouncing around, 5 minutes of torment proceeded as Elpez2k desperately looked for signs the fish was still there. He eventually reeled in to find his hooks stripped of bait and no fish.

All was quiet up to high tide, the lads just sat and chatted with a change of baits coming every 20 minutes or so, but no bites and no fish. Watching some people trying to get there footie back from the briny was about as exciting as it got.

The beach was quiet and becoming quieter by the minute. By the time the ebb had arrived there was only our 2 SWFF members fishing on the far right and a single light on the far left of the beach. With plenty of bait left the decision was made to fish on. Around 1.5 hours down and SeaReed picked up his rod to go for a change in bait, as he started to reel in he was met by some hefty resistance. Unsure whether it was a fish as no bite had been seen he continued to struggle to wind in until around 40 yards out when the culprit broke the waters surface. "CONGER" shouted Elpez2k as he ran down to the waters edge to help with the retrieval. Finally ashore the lads took some quick photos and weighed the beastie; he came in at 4lb 6oz enough to claim SeaReed the biggest fish of 2006 so far and the new title of the COLD KNAP KID!

No more action after the conger, CKK not bothered though and extremely happy. Elpez2k was left wondering if golf would be a more rewarding past time.......

Cold Knap Kid - 1 conger

Elpez2k - Blanked

With the fishing at an all time low for the SWFF, Shane B and Elpez2k decided to try a different approach and headed to Aberthaw armed with light spinning gear and a selection of lures.

Low tide was around 8pm and obviously the light would be a factor. the lads set up by the inlet domes around 7pm. Conditions were a little rough for spinning and the sky had gone over cast despite the excellent weather all day.

The lads fished around the domes for around an hour trying various lures and gills. With the light fading and no takes on the lures the lads decided to do a little exploring whilst at this relatively unfished venue. After a chat to a couple of other anglers the lads headed over to the hot water outlets for one last try.

With only around half hour of light left the lads set up quickly on top of the right hand outlet. On his 6th cast Elpez2k hooked into a small bass caught on a Dexter wedge. The fish was quickly unhooked and returned unharmed. The lads fished on for around half hour until the light and incoming tide put an end to the evening’s proceedings.

Elpez2k - 1 Bass

Shane B - Blanked

July hasn't been going well for the SWFF, with this in mind Elpez2k and CKK headed off to Goldcliff in search of specific species. The species in question was of course the conger. Roughly a year ago the Codfather managed to land his 1st fish in a 10 year absence at this venue, which ended up being the beginning for the SWFF. The fish in question was a conger of around 8-10lb.

Armed simply with squid and mackerel our intrepid duo headed along the seawall to the far left hand point and set up about 30 yards past the sty. First casts hit the water around 6pm. There were plenty of other anglers stretched out along the seawall which was still bathed in sunshine. The 1st hour went quickly as the lads soaked up the sun and discussed plans for the following weeks fishing.

Up to high tide things had been dead apart from a crab’s claw that CKK had managed to detach from its owner. A scream further down the wall signalled a fish landed by a young lad out with his father it was to far away to see what it was, but it wasn't a conger. 

Into the ebb and with the sun setting it looked like another blank session for our brave SWFF members. Then around an hour down Elpez2k had a clonking bite, as he struck the end of his rod developed a healthy bend as he connected with the fish. The fish came to shore easily and elpez2k quickly ran down the seawall and collected his prize a nice conger eel. He quickly weighed (just under 5lb) and photographed the fish before CKK headed down the seawall to set the beastie free. Elpez2k stood at the top of the wall doing a merry conger dance chuffed that he had finally broken his Goldcliff duck!

No more action for our dynamic duo except for another crab for CKK. The lads packed up around 9.30pm and headed for home, mission accomplished.

Elpez2k - 1 conger

CKK - blanked

Once again Elpez2k and CKK headed west this time to a new venue for the SWFF Porthkerry. With the fishing at an all time low it seemed to be a perfect opportunity to try out a new venue (at least you've got an excuse if you blank). The lads arrived around 8.15pm with high tide being at 10.15pm. After the short walk to the beach they set up in front of the large house set back in the park behind them.

First casts hit the water around 8.40pm and the lads settled in for what could be a long night. With still some daylight left Elpez2k set up his spinning rod and had a few casts hoping for a stray Bass. He turned around to see the end of his beachcaster twitching in the distance. After a quick dash up the beach he found the culprit still to be there, a quick strike confirmed connection with a fish. Happy days a fish on the 1st cast, as it broke the surface around 30 yards out Elpez2k could see it was his 2nd conger in as many trips. This one was much smaller than the Goldcliff eel, weighing just under the 1lb mark. 

Within half an hour of Elpez2k's conger CKK's rod detected a bite. Quickly on his feet he struck the rod and connected with a fish. CKK soon had the fish to the surface and yet again it was another strap conger. The fish was quickly photographed and returned. This ugly mutha was around 1.5lb in weight. Both members now happy that they had caught and only an hour into the session, things were looking up!

Up to high tide and the earlier encounters with the congers had been forgotten as all had gone quiet on the fishing front. Changes in tactics to target any other conger in the area were not working and not even the scratchers were picking up any bites.

Into the ebb and much the same no bites, no fish. Elpez2k was starting to get pissed at the amount of terminal tackling he was loosing to the snag infested seabed. By 11.30pm Elpez2k called it a night after his 5th rig was lost to the bottom. CKK fished on for half hour or so hoping for at least one more fish. Just before packing up he had another bite looking suspiciously like a conger bite. Alas it came to nothing and the lads headed for home with a tally of one conger each.

CKK - 1 Conger

Elpez2k - 1 Conger