21 July

Simon Williams reported on his Tope season.  Fishing out of Caernarvon Bay in his own boat he and a friend have released 66 Tope to-date up to 43lbs.  None of the 50lb plus fish he’s had in previous years but definitely his best season ever in terms of both sport and numbers.

On one afternoon they released 22 Tope, mostly fish in the 18 – 25lb range, for an aggregated total of 472lbs.  All were taken on 16lb test tackle, and the catch came in just 4 hours!  They were fishing a falling tide and finished up catching them in just 9 feet of water.

The largest of their fish – the 43 pounder - ended up doubling back and when just yards from the boat took off in two greyhounding leaps – clearing the water on both occasions.  That wasn’t just the head or tail, literally the whole fish!  And any number of others went semi-airborne in that depth.