After 3 manic months scouring Cornwall, Devon and Dorset for fish, racking up almost 8,000 miles and getting up at some un-Godly times just to get to various marks, I am taking what I believe is a well deserved week off from fishing and blogging. I'll be retreating to my summer training camp to get into peak physical and mental shape ahead of the eagerly anticipated SWSF shore competition on the 17th July!

West Bexington was the venue once again for Saturday's session and you may think that i'm hammering this venue this summer, but that's the beauty of Chesil Beach - it is so diverse and it can throw up absolutely anything. This weekend I had the pleasure of Jack and Tony's (Airmech) company during the day and I was joined by Nath and Curt for the evening session. It was a long old day but what with the beautiful weather, great company and several different species it was a cracker. If only all these upsides didn't come with shingle..............

We are very fortunate in the South-West to have so many different fishing locations within an hour or so that it would take a life time to fish them all. Every month I challenge myself to fish a completely new mark - I go through the same process each time researching it, which bait, which species and which rigs and I find it very satisfying if all this "homework" results in a decent day's fishing. This weekend I joined up with Toby (cornishclay), Lee (Leeder) and Thomas (thomas7) to give Branscombe Beach a crack - it was a completely new venue for all of us but we went with high hopes of smooth hound and perhaps a bass (or two).............

Recently I have taken the opportunity to re-visit Chesil Beach - a place that is synonymous with my own personal fishing upbringing. It was the first beach I ever fished from, where I learnt to cast, gut my first fish and caught a whole variety of species for the very first time. On Saturday I made the trip down to the Portland end of Chesil Beach to fish the wreck of the "Royal Adelaide", a renowned trigger fish (although June is a bit early for them) and black bream mark...........

I have always been a fan of spinning, whether it be for mackerel, pollack or of course bass. It is the perfect method of fishing if you want to dash out for a last minute impromptu session as no bait is necessary and there is definitely no need to pack a heavy tackle box. Spinning allows you to go after the fish rather than waiting for them to come to you - if you're blanking in one spot, just move on to the next, it's that simple!

Contrary to what you may have thought, this post is not about an affliction caught by some poor, unfortunate sailor on shore leave, it is in fact another weekend session report. Still euphorically bouncing and with a distinct swagger in my walk after last weekend's bass and smooth hound, I thought that I would get out again and try and continue my "hot" streak. However like a player at the tables in Las Vegas fresh from a big win, fate has a way of bringing you back down to earth with a bang.............

Ignoring the title of this post for the moment as I will explain that later, this is actually an epic tale of intense Bank Holiday fishing. One man taking on the odds and manning it out until he got what he felt he deserved.

This weekend I took in the delights of East Portlemouth and on Sunday I ventured up to West Bexington (Chesil Beach). Here is how I got on.........

Many people take the ability to sling a bait out seaward from a beach, pier, breakwater or rock for granted. I must admit I certainly have throughout my fishing career. After all it is not the most complex action in the world, all you need is balance and a little co-ordination. How hard can it be................?