Mullet practice before the tournament...30/06/08

Tide was up when I launched into Lake Lothing. Wind was starting to die and I anchored up by the wrecks - the other side to normal. I cast out a 2bb float with a maggot on and waited.

the float was bobbing around all over the place, fish were hitting it. They did this for ages...and soon the sun came down.



Constant battering of the poor float finally resulted in it going under - really positively. No fish was attached when i reeled in though so probably a mullet at last :D

That was the only firm bite. I reckon the fish were attacking the float. I'm going to put sikaflex on it next time ;) I heard some good splashes (4) behind me throughout the course of the evening but the only thing that even came close to the yak was



Next time I'm playing for points.

Playing in the waves...24/06/08

Well I can’t fish every day so tonight I grabbed a demo Yak Board from the yard along with thigh straps, a seat back and a short Lendal Fusion with a 45 degree feather – very different to my usual long 60 degree feathered stuff but a large, stiff blade and short shaft are apparently what is required for white water. It was nice to go out after such a hard day at the office…



Andrew should be back tomorrow so at least we’ll get a rest :D

David – the Lendal guy – goes every fortnight with some mates to play in the surf or standing waves by the harbour and I finally had the chance to take him up on the invitation to go and play. It’s only fair – he did come fishing with me one time. He leaves off before me and I had to go home and pick up my drysuit and say goodnight to my daughters so by the time I arrived they were already out in a selection of Necky play boats and Pyranha yaks. I parked up, unloaded (a lot quicker when you can carry a small yak on one shoulder, paddle in the free hand and not grab rods and tackle etc) and wandered down to the harbour. The current was pretty quick and fortunately going out as I’d never paddled a Yak Board before and being 8ft long and wide with a flattish hull it’s not quite got the speed I’m used to – and nor has the paddle.



I launched, put the thigh straps on and paddled into the water. First impressions of the yak were that it was very manoeuvrable – each paddle stroke turned the nose so perhaps not an ideal touring boat but that isn’t its function. It was stable, it was quite light in the water and very, very easy to turn – ‘on a sixpence’ springs to mind – so ideal for its purpose in that respect. It’s quite a wet ride as the yak is not very deep and the seating position is low but this is of course better than being high, dry and falling in every two minutes. It was also comfortable to sit in with plenty of space for my hips (the downside for me of the Frenzy).



There are a few banks in the harbour mouth and quite a run through – a few rips to play with too.



As I got closer to the mouth – and the standing waves – it started to build. Thirty seconds after this picture I ran into larger waves which I couldn’t stop and snap but you get the idea.



I went out of the mouth into 3-4ft waves, many of which were breaking and headed around the end of it where David and the others were already playing. David immediately grabbed the Yak board while I said my hellos etc.



He went back in his Necky and I proceeded to play. My playing is pretty simple – launching myself up and over waves, turning and spinning on them and generally getting a feel for the yak. David on the other hand plays a bit more seriously:







I dunno what he was doing but it was deliberate and looked good although I doubt it could be done on the tray I was sitting on :D Mind you, he didn’t stay in all the time…



The others were having a good time too



and I was able to take a close look at the design of their hulls in a fine display of synchronised drowning!



No such displays of immersion with this chap – he did plenty of this and it was good to watch:



Of course this was as much about the banter as it was the playing in waves and it was nice to be out in a group (there were 6 of us at all stages of skill)





Once the tide dropped and the wind eased the waves picked up a bit and a few of them were actually pretty good for surfing on – nothing really classy but when you got a good one that wasn’t broken up (as most were – it was quite messy water) you could have a good run into the beach on them. The Yak Board really came into its own there and was so different to the Prowler 15 or Trident in that instead of turning side on and flipping or sinking on the nose and dumping you (although I did drop the nose one time and had the yak shoot up vertical, me sliding out of the thigh straps through gravity and landing on my feet, reaching round and catching it beautifully). No, it tracked nice and straight and turning was easily corrected by the paddle and/or the thigh straps and at the end of the run in shallow water it was a case of spinning it around with one or two strokes and heading back out. It was SO EASY!

Soon of course it was time to come back in. I’d had a couple more dunkings, both through not paying attention and not because of the boat itself and was able to do a deepwater entry in drysuit and PFD with ease. Coming back through the harbour mouth wa s interesting – big standing waves, again breaking here and there, but I couldn’t surf them because the water was still coming out and also rebounding off the structure. It was actually quite difficult to make much headway against this and I should have done like the seal I saw and headed out the other way in the stream at a good rate of knots! Head up out of the water at 5 knots easy with the sun in the right position it would have made excellent viewing! But no, I had to get back to the van and so we paddled in slowly. Not all the way mind you, I did get out and walk at knee height at one point which surprised some people on the bank.

Back at the launch point in calmer water I tried standing up. It didn’t have enough buoyancy for me to do that and the centre of gravity was in a raised bit so I couldn’t manage it but it was worth a try. Out we all got and I slid it into the back of the van – the perfect size – and got out of my paddling gear before the drive home. Great fun, I learned quite a bit about paddling technique and responding to / using surf and decided that I really ought to get myself a Yak Board to play with. I just need to try it for flat water to see if it’s any good for trolling from and if it is, well, I might just buy and rig one for those evening sessions. A great evening. Cheers Ginge!

A Family Paddle...22/06/08

It’s summertime again and my wife fancied joining the girls and I for a paddle for the first time this year…the lure was double-edged – a paddle up river and a drink at Geldeston Locks, a favoured haunt and an ideal target for a paddle. Personally I needed the break after photographing two weddings yesterday and not getting out since Thursday. Life is hard…

We left home to a very windy overcast day and by the time we’d picked up the Trident and got to our launch point at Beccles the sun had come out although the wind was still going to take some effort to paddle against when it was head on (lots of bankside tree shelter for the majority of the journey though). Flo took the Prowler 15 with Abigail (3) in the tankwell and I had Eloise (5) in the tankwell of the Trident, both the little ones in wetsuits and PFD’s. I also had a my two trolling rods out with the same lures as the other nights – the beauty of leaving stuff set up and hanging around – Rapala J13’s in Firetiger and Blue.

Launching by the pool we started paddling upstream against the wind and current but as we weren’t intending to race anyone it was an easy enough paddle. Within minutes Flo had spotted a Kingfisher and there were bright blue and green dragonflies everywhere – it’s such a beautiful paddle up there.



Surprisingly it took a while, maybe half a mile before the first pike grabbed hold of the blue Rapala…



There seem to be absolutely loads of these swimming around at the moment and surprisingly they pull well when down-current feeling far bigger than they actually are. Anyway, number one went back in after the girls got a good look at it.



Numbers two and three followed, similar size





And then I struck into something far stronger. I called my wife over and gave her the camera as it peeled line off yet again and the rod arched accordingly…this was a strong fish and it was heading alternately out into the current and back for the reeds and lilies. It took a few minutes before it came in



At around 10-12lbs.

Back in the water it swam away with a flick of its tail and we carried on up river and carried on with the mini jacks…we eventually caught up with the girls as they’d stopped to look at a ‘family’ of dragonflies



Eloise counted up as we went along…5…6…7…8…and immediately after dropping the lures out after number 8 and less than 500 metres from our destination the yak stopped!



Obstruction!

The rod bent over, the line screeched off and we had a fight on our hands. A slightly bigger fish this time, thicker and full of energy, playing me against the current all the time. We’d just battled against strong winds for half a mile, then repeated some of it as the previous one had been unhooked and now we were heading backwards again, fortunately into a reedbed after not too far. Flo was not going to give up her hard-won paddling and refused to join us as the fish ran again and again, thrashing the surface at times until finally it was subdued enough to chin it out



Across my lap I admired the markings and then slipped her back into the water and away.



The Lock Inn was reached and tying up to the mooring posts we stopped for a picnic of smoked salmon rolls and crisps, olives and designer salad (spinach or something) and a well earned ale, the girls enjoying themselves



And me and Flo too



See? I know how to show a girl a good time! Marriage guidance? Pah! Get your wife wet regularly and things are fine.

After basking in the wind and sunshine for an hour we swapped passengers and headed back. At times we could just sit with paddles out of the water and make a couple of knots or more – perfect trolling speed – but things had gone quiet. It was halfway back before we had a run and Abigail was able to watch the battle from close up. Pike number ten was again a baby of around a pound.

While we were looking at swans



My wife and Eloise were watching a 2ft snake swimming past them!

We were nearly back when



The rod was hammering away in the holder and the Firetiger became invisible



This was a bloody good fish again and really pulling me about. I got it up to the surface for a better look



Flo rounded the bend and wandered why we’d stopped again. Which was of course the moment that 12lb or so of Pike decided to jump out of the water and tail-walk! I heard a ‘Yippee’ from her and then Abigail tell me it had splashed her!

The lure was down the back of its throat so I brought it in to deal with





Those J13’s are fast becoming my favourite river lures – they’re catching me some good-sized fish as well as the babies. They run too deep for the Broad but they’re just right for the river it seems.

A short paddle later and we were back to the pontoon. As Flo came in a few playboats headed upriver.



So, can you stick a child in the tankwell, and will they enjoy it if you do?



I guess so! A cracking day on the water, my PB pike from the yak and from a lure, at 11 fish my most pike in a day and a happy family. Time to load up and get some rest before the next session.

Paddling for a pint...19/06/08

Well it’s that time of year again where the nights are mild and relatively light...the time of year when me and my mate Liam take the yaks down to Beccles and launch for the 3 mile paddle up to the Lock Inn at Geldeston for a night-time pint of locally-brewed real ale and so last night we set off for the first session of the year. Usually I just paddle and we go at a fair pace but as the season has just started and the pike were feeding well on Monday night I couldn’t resist so we took it easy while I trolled a couple of Rapala J13’s which are currently producing the goods here.

I’d left my camera at work (Johnson Indoors) but had brought something else from the yard (Johnson Outdoors) – the Sprinter. The plan was that I’d troll upstream on the prowler with Liam taking the Sprinter and swapping over for the way back with the rods stowed. A bit of trepidation getting in and getting used to the rudder pedals but Liam, who was already getting wet through the scuppers, managed to stay upright and spent some time getting used to things while I slowly made my way up. As he was in the quick yak I gave him my Enchantment Carbon to make best use of and had the cheap Day Tripper for myself – I’d forgotten how pleasant this paddle (a freebie with my first yak) was to use. Nice and solid, not heavy and easy to pull through the water.

Things were a bit quiet at first but after the first half mile I got a run, bringing in a small Jack of around a pound. Quickly unhooked it went back in and swam away. We carried on and then my phone went – a mate telling me about his friend who’d just been chasing Catfish on the Ebro with some success (sounds like a challenge for a yak!). He brought me luck – a second run, similar size, which was soon unhooked and followed a few hundred metres further on by a third twice the size. The fourth took soon after and poor old Digs was starting to sound a bit fed up about being at home in Lahndan Than. Fortunately the fishing slowed for a while and I paddled with him on speaker. Then, as pike number 5 screamed off (a three-pounder this time) I shut him up by putting the phone next to the reel which had the clicker set :D After this we rang off and Liam and I headed into the last stretch about 20 minutes (at this slow pace) from the pub. That’s when Pike 6 turned up – another small one.

It was a really calm evening, the water was like glass, the foliage all full, only a couple of boats out and a few anglers here and there – it’s a quiet stretch as it becomes un-navigable past the pub and the Waveney here just meanders through marshland. It’s always a pleasant paddle and the reward at the end is more than worthwhile – the food is good too and we often go up with the children. Still, enough of this – Pike number seven was screaming away and the rod was banging away in the flush mounts – a better fish this time of around 5-6lbs and a decent scrap which pulled the kayak around until I was facing back the way I’d come…soon unhooked and returned and we finished the paddle up to the mooring – poor Liam having more difficulty than I at exiting the Sprinter from 4ft below the bank but managing to stay out of the river. Now, the most Pike I’ve had in a day I think is 8…this was seven in maybe an hour and a quarter! Cracking stuff.

It was folk night and all the beardies were tapping and strumming and singing and dancing like whirling dervishes (only slower) outside which is where we sat and drank a half of Fruitbat (5.5%) and some Elderflower ale whose name I forget (4%) which was very pleasant.

Come 11:30 it was time to go back home so we got down to the waters edge – the level 2ft higher by now – and swapped yaks. Now, I’ve paddled the Sprinter once back in October and hated it. This was going to be a proper paddle though so more indicative of it. By the light of a full moon and under stars that weren’t spoiled by ambient light from streetlights we headed back along the water.

The Sprinter is a bit tippy so you have to get a feel for it – it’s not bad, but you know it’s not too bothered about staying upright. The rudder pedals are not quite as intuitive as those fitted on my trident but the responsiveness of the rudder is far greater. Initial acceleration is surprisingly less than you’d think – it’s quite a heavy boat – but as soon as it’s moving it keeps picking up. Liam, a better and more experienced paddler than I, was in the Prowler with my Enchantment Carbon again (I found it too long for the Sprinter) and I suggested we have a short burst to compare the speeds. Bear in mind I usually follow him whenever we’re on the water! Anyway, the first 50 yards or so we were both paddling strongly and neck and neck…then the Sprinter started to slowly pull away (maybe hull speed was reached on the Prowler?) and then I was tearing off and leaving Liam standing after maybe 150 yards. Quite an interesting comparison. It also pays to not put all your effort into the stroke as at speed it seemed to go better with a slightly relaxed pull. You still feel it’s heavy and it creates quite a wave (straight rather than sculpted bow profile) but it does make light work of distance. I enjoyed paddling it quite a lot but it’s not a kayak I’d personally acquire for myself – it’s for speeding along and getting fit and I prefer a more leisurely pace with lures out the back or kids in the yak. I suppose I could get Tuna trolling from it but I’d likely get pulled over by a Mackerel! We made easy work of the trip back though, around half an hour with bats flying about and loaded up and set off, getting back at 12:40. A lovely evening out and a good bit of sport too.

Four Days, Four Launches...14-16/06/08

Saturday night…

I decided on Saturday night to have another crack at the Bass in the estuary and perhaps get lucky with a Mullet. My youngest and I had dug a few harbour rag on our way to the park (slight detour) and so I was set to go as soon as they were in bed.

I paddled out to the wreck and anchored off.



Nothing.

I moved around a bit and watched the sun setting.



Still nothing bar a crab.

A few small rings of fish topping but still nothing as the sun set more.

Then it started to rain and I decided that at 10:30 enough was enough. Besides, I had to get up early the next morning…I blanked, but I’m claiming it as a Mullet session to save embarrassment!

Father’s Day…

…dawned beautiful and I had got up early to use half of my present from the girls - twenty ragworm :D - beat that! A quick coffee and I was on the way to a new launch site. I only had a short session available so I figured that the spot I fancied for sole and bass would be better to access by driving close, parking up and launching off a little beach I sometimes went for a picnic up until a year or so ago. I hadn’t figured on it changing so much since then…

I unloaded, hauled the yak up onto the sea wall and wondered where the hell it had gone. Still, nothing ventured nothing gained and there were a couple of square metres that could be used if I could get to them.







Clambering over the rocks with a Prowler 15 on your shoulders is not fun. Glad I didn’t have the Trident!

Loading up, tackling up and getting ready was interesting as the moderate swell was turned into a decent wave as it reached the steep incline of the beach and I got a wave or two over the bow on launching before it flattened off a few metres out. I paddled out and dropped anchor near Ness Point – the most easterly point in England.



I blanked apart from 3 crabs.



It was a lovely session but even so…I came back in to a cooked breakfast from my wife and a total of four cards from my girls before heading down to Southwold for a seafood lunch on the harbour.

Start of the Coarse Season…

16th June….that’s a day for all us coarse fishermen in England. It’s the start of the new season. Tempted though I was to ask Andrew for the day off I decided that I had too much to do after the show I was at last week and went in instead. Funnily enough it was the last day of the season when I packed up slightly earlier than planned and drove over to the office to be offered the job…three months seems an age ago. So I turned up at work with the Prowler 15 on the roof of the van (my Trident is in a mate’s garden at the moment and a bit heavy for getting on the high roof of the van on my own). The back of the van held my rods, PFD and wet gear along with a coolbox containing the other half of my Father’s Day present – a pint of maggots. I ask you, who could want for more thoughtful daughters?

5:30 couldn’t arrive soon enough and ten minutes later I was out of the door and on my way. I headed back to where I’d finished the season but from a different launch point. I figured on going in at the pool, trolling downstream to the bridge and anchoring up. My rods were rigged with a pair of jointed Rapala’s bought for peanuts at Bass Pro last month (firetiger and blue) and the match rods had size 16’ with a float on one and a feeder on the other.

A few hundred yards downstream and the reel screeched. Game on, my first pike of the year…and it threw the hooks as it tail walked. A couple of pounds or so. Undaunted I carried on.

Zzzzzz



Another few hundred yards had passed. It looked like being a fine session and I brought in a jack of a pound or so. I was chuffed to start my season on a Pike.



Theoretically I should have carried on trolling as the pike were on the feed but I elected to stop and do some tiddler bashing. I anchored up at the bridge and cast out.

The float went straight under and in came a small Dace.



A few more followed and then the first of the Roach came aboard.



I had a few (and missed a lot, even though I was stepped down to a size 18) and then decided to have another troll downstream to the bypass bridge. Near the mouth of the quay the reel started to sing again…

A hard fighting 3 pounder, unhooked and sent on its way.



I went back up to the bridge and tried again for some more tiddlers. More Roach and Dace followed (only on the float – the feeder didn’t get a fish all evening although I did miss a couple of bites on it).



Then, and I was very happy to see species number 4 and a fish I do love, in came the smallest Ruffe I’ve ever seen.



It hit ten o’ clock and the light disappeared – it was like a switch going off as the fish stopped feeding and I couldn’t get a single bite so I slowly headed off again to the launch point. Of course if paddling I may as well be trolling and so the rapala’s went out again although I didn’t expect anything in the dark. I was halfway back when

ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Fish on!



This was a decent one too. I soon had it alongside and after a few last runs got my hand under its gill covers and brought it alongside.



Hooks out, I had to hold it at arms length and bring the camera right back to fit it all in – around 8 pounds I guess.



What a way to end the first day of the new season – 3 Pike, 18 Dace, 6 Roach and a Ruffe. Love it!

The first Broads session of the season…

Well, I had some maggots left – most in fact – so decided on a launch after the girls went to bed. This time I headed for Oulton Broad as I was time-critical, not getting onto the water until 8 o’ clock. Iaunched and paddled out from the yacht station towards the north-western edge.



Nothing came on the troll and the lures were running a bit deep for the Broad. I anchored up and a chap in a rowing boat came up and said hi. It took me a couple of minutes to recognise the (in)famous Peter Waller who I’d not seen for a long time. He lives on the edge of the Broad and had already had a few fish since the season opened…I bet he was champing at the bit!

Down went the float – although I never saw it do so and in came a micro Perch, one of the most beautiful fish in freshwater here although this one was somewhat on the anaemic side.



Nothing else came to my bait and so I headed west to try near the mouth of the dyke. Plenty of small fish topping but they were pre-occupied with midges and didn’t want to know about the maggots. I had one missed bite and that was it. So I moved again.

Again fish were topping but not biting my maggot and apart from a couple of large lunges ten yards from me at the edge of the reeds (I suspect a livebait would have had a pike in seconds) nothing was doing. Then I noticed the sky…



Blimey – were my eyes deceiving me? The float had gone. I didn’t believe it at first…yet I couldn’t see it so I must have a fish on? Yes, I could feel it pulling away and in came a perfect little Roach.



I came in having had two tiny fish that would have struggled to have weighed an ounce all-in but another pleasant evening on the water had passed. Tomorrow night is beer and as long as it isn’t raining It’ll be at the Lock Inn at Geldeston on the edge of the Waveney were the paddle is tranquil and the beer exceptional…of course my mates will have to slow down as I’ll be trolling…