Pembrokeshire - the one that got away & more stunning coast line

Now that I'm suddenly the expert on coarse fishing having done it the once (!!), I thought I would give it another go on our last full day here in Pembrokeshire. We tried to visit another fishery for abit of variety but as they were closed for the week, back to Yet-y-Gors we went.

Having caught the first fish (a small roach) I got excited for my day's fishing. Except that was it for hours! Mat sat there catching fish after fish while I failed to get a single bite. Until around early afternoon when I felt my rod bend and my strings tighten....I had hooked A CARP!!! People spend days and  thousands of pounds on equipment and not get a bite from one of these bad boys and there was me with my hired kit and Green Giant sweetcorn niblet bait fighting this beast!

I had Mat and two old boys excitedly telling me what to do, my arms were straining from the fight this monster was giving me and my head was still thinking WTF, this shouldn't be happening, this is only the second time I've done this! After what felt like hours but was really only a few minutes, I managed to get the beast to the margins for Mat to net in. Except he didn't and my carp got away. Arrrggghhh!!!! I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. Mat thinks he may have contributed to the string snapping when he tried to net or it was just one of those things but all I know is there is a 8 - 10lb carp out there smoking a cigar, drinking whiskey and laughing at me! Needless to say, the one that got away was the talk of the fishery for that afternoon.

It was all very disappointing and my haul of five fish compared to Mat's twenty-five equally so. But fishing just like life has good days and bad days.

A few pics below of Mat with some of his haul of fish and more stunning coastline from Thursday taking in Tenby by moonlight where we had a lovely dinner, the water lilies at Bosherston, Huntsman leap and the stunning coastline and 'secret' beaches by St Govans Head.

A beautiful part of the world definitely worth visiting. Thank you Pembrokeshire.

Pembrokeshire - coarse fishing at Yet-y-Gors

So, on Wednesday I went fishing for the first time - and I loved it!  Who would have thought?! It's always been a wish of mine to do it but for whatever reason just never got round to having a go. Until now. I had been going on about it for ages and possibly having worn him down, Mat decided to take me. He hadn't been for 20+ years himself so I think secretly he was quite looking forward to it too.

We ended up at a wonderful place called Yet-y-Gors where the owners Darren and Hannah and their team could not have been more welcoming. With fishing licences in hand, maggots (!!) hired rods and nets and a sense of what the hell is this all about, I cast for the day in the beautiful lakes...

And ended up catching a small perch (my very first fish caught!) tench, rudd, roach and quite a large bream! As you can see from the photo below my bream was definitely bigger although in terms of numbers caught Mat beat me by catching 18 fish to my 13. Who knew he could be so fishing competitive?!

Anyway, I need to hone my technique but I have to say, for a first timer I thought I did pretty well. I apologise now in advance with tales of here's one I caught earlier...

Pembrokeshire - Skomer island & puffin paparazzi

Skomer island just off the Pembrokeshire coast is a beautiful island that prides itself on its stunning scenery, amazing birdlife and being a nature reserve, important research on what's on, in and under its sea. There are lots of seriously knowlegeable folk living on there doing good.

However, the big draw at this time of year are the puffins. That was the only reason we were there. All my life I have wanted to see one close up and I was beyond excited to see them. They are only in Skomer till around August when they fly out to sea having done their nesting bit.

What amazing birds they are. I have to confess to shedding tears when I saw them. I say tears plural because there were literally thousands of them and it was overwhelming to have a dream come true. They are ridiculously photogenic, have bags of character and gave zero f&*ks about the likes of us literally staring in awe at their antics.
The number of long and very expensive camera lenses pointing at them was a  sight to behold too. It felt like a royal photocall or a celebrity film premiere given the paparazzi style kit on show. I couldn't think of a better subject to photograph but my goodness!

I know Mat took some good shots and I may have taken a couple of decent ones with my other camera but enjoy the phone ones below until these are uploaded.

In other news, I completed another 5 miles today walking around Skomer island. I may have fallen over in the process after tripping over a hole but I'm pleased with my progress anyway.
Just think what I would be capable of once all this cancer sh%t is over?!? Puffins are the new inspiration.