A couple of Lowestoft Kippers...30/11/08

When it's like this



and you have these



You can make that



to catch this



so you may as well go home and have these:

Pre-dawn launch at Hopton...29/11/08

Should have stayed in bed; Red weed and no fish.

Flippin’ Weather...21-22/11/08

It’s starting to get a bit cooler now and with the sun rising later and setting earlier time available for launching is more restricted than in the past few months. I got a heads up that the weather was going to be poor for fishing this weekend -for poor read impossible – and when I finally got around to checking I realised that it was indeed the case. However, with swells of between 10 and 16ft forecast for Lowestoft on Friday and Saturday I figured that if I cleared the decks by late afternoon Thursday I could comfortably take the following day off…

Friday morning and I was able to enjoy a more leisurely breakfast with the girls and even do the school run again at last. It was rather cold and I was quite pleased to get home into the warmth. A few hours of painting and decorating was required before I could play but with my youngest and my wife heading off to the school after lunch it was time to get changed and wander down to the beach.

As a kid I loved the film ‘Big Wednesday’ and watched it over and over. There’s always that expectation when you know a big swell is predicted and you head down to the beach hoping it’s true but sadly Magic Seaweed had suckered me in again, along with the half a dozen surfers who were out. That said, it was still looking good and there were some long, powerful swells coming in and breaking a hundred yards out, averaging about 6ft or so and the surfers were riding a few of the better ones. This was the second time I’d taken my new Yak Board out for a surf (I fished from it a couple of weeks ago too) – the demo ones gave me such fun I had to invest – and it looked like I was in for a whale of a time.

One drawback with the Yak Board compared to the fifteen footers I’m used to is that I always get the feeling I’m standing still when paddling out…the glide and speed is sacrificed for superb manoeuvrability and stability in the rough stuff…and this slow movement was to be my downfall many, many times. I got on in knee deep water and began the paddle out. Some of the waves were breaking a way ahead, others closer in and the foam was rolling under me with some spraying my face to waken me up now and again. As I got out further I started trying to judge where to cut through…he who hesitates is lost of course and I’d nearly always end up with a big old bit of water rearing up and breaking as I was almost through…it took ages before I was out far enough to chose my waves but it was comfortable here and I watched a few good rides from the surfers before going for some of my own.



The first wave I caught was superb – a nice big one came rolling in and was building to break soon after I was on it…I paddled hard and as it reared up behind me I was on the downward slope and accelerating beautifully…stern rudder right…stern rudder left…brace…paddle up…and then stern rudder on the right again to turn myself beam on and hop out in a couple of inches of water on the beach. Beautiful! A perfect run in and a great start – I just had to get back out there again…

I took a few waves in the face, got knocked off backwards a few times, flipped a few times and slid off the side too but in the hour and a half I was in the water I had seven superb rides and by the end of it I was able to run along the wave as well as just straight in front of it. An excellent afternoon’s playing.

Come Saturday and I was itching to go again. The weather was not overly conducive to spending time on the beach but needs must and the surf was supposed to be better today…sadly it wasn’t until late afternoon that I could grab the Yak Board again and go and play:



I dragged my mate along on Flo’s Yak too – she won’t play in this weather but he’s as stupid as I am. Well, more so in fact as he was in a wetsuit. I took a pic of him in his old helmet but he looked such a cock that I shan’t be so unkind as to post it. That said, he didn’t get a painful whack on the head from a yak today, unlike yours truly, and I bet I looked a cock wearing it.

We had the same issues getting out but even worse. The waves were shorter today and with the lesser intervals it was hard work getting out. Eventually we’d make it but more often than not a turn and surf-in was the order of the day. Still, Liam hadn’t had a go in proper waves before:



(I was holding the Yak in the other hand hence the movement!). And then the snow started up again. Standing in the sea during a blizzard is highly recommended for all those whose parents were unable to afford a private education as I gather it is makes one absolutely spiffing, what. It had gone dark as well.



It lightened up after the squall had passed and we’d both had a ride out of it. Then it was time to sit out back and wait for another – there were some magnificent waves rolling in and it was still snowing.



We were drifting out and try as I might I couldn’t pick up a ride on these, maybe getting on top but never dropping down onto the face. (Edit: does that sound sexual to you?)



I finally picked up a decent one and ran all the way in. Liam and I had taken off next to each other and maybe thirty yards apart and I was in a slightly better position on the face to manoeuvre and avoid the breaking top – I went all the way in and saw he’d wiped-out (surfer term) about halfway in. Not that I didn’t manage it myself quite spectacularly many, many times this weekend I hasten to add. It was starting to darken up now and warm coffee’s beckoned. Having had a whack on the head while standing in the surf on the wrong side of the yak when a wave broke in the wrong place I wandered ashore to chat to Liam. It was time to go…but one last ride was on the cards.

We both wandered out a bit and then got aboard. We paddled out next to each other and about halfway out a big wave came rolling in. I heard Liam say there was no way he would get over it so he was going to turn and surf it in, and that’s what he did. I wasn’t ready to turn and so tried to climb over it – up at a crazy angle, over the top and down with a thump! Well chuffed but surprised too as I figured I was going to be dumped. I took the next one too and then a big bugger with my name written on it came barrelling in and there was just not a hope in hell…but I wasn’t far enough out to surf it in so I gave it my best shot even though I just knew…up I went, climbing vertically up the face as it started to break… ****…then I did what felt like a full 360 degree backflip (it was an easy 180!) still on the yak and then, disengaged, did an underwater somersault revolving right around the paddle. Excellent! Came up for a breather, as you do, grabbed the yak which was amazingly right there, hopped aboard, paddled out some more, saw another that I wouldn't get over, started to turn, got halfway around so i was beam on and did a 300m surf with the yak pointing the right way and me (jammed in) sitting across the yak. I came in laughing my head off. Asking Liam if he’d seen that run in he replied that he had and it was a good one…”did you realise I was side-saddle and had absolutely no control over things whatsoever?” I enquired…



Roll on tomorrow... 8-)

Hopton or Bust!...15/11/08

Another early morning and this time the parking was blocked by barriers. The wind was pretty forceful but the sea looked okay and as the tide was down it promised to be a far easier launch than the previous week. Carl had beaten me to the launch site and so we set about unloading and rigging up. He was on lug and squid again while I went for rag and squid. Until the lug are bigger and better I’m not bothering to waste my money on them – the whiting will take anything you stick in front of them and the cod are about in large enough numbers that the rag is still successful for them too.



We launched as the sun was coming out and paddled out a few hundred yards slightly downtide before dropping our anchors, Carl further south than I.



The current was screaming through – I guess at around five knots plus – and I had to lift my rudder to reduce the noise and increase stability – such was the force I had to push it straight with my paddle before I could do anything. Still, the swell wasn’t of any concern and the chop was slight too and my anchor held first time – glad I stuck some chain on again.



I started getting bites on the running leger pennels but couldn’t seem to connect for a while and then I managed to hook into a lump. The rod was heavy and it was pulling strongly – it felt like a double to me for a while and I actually had to pump the fish in. The embarrassing part of this was that it was a codling that only went about 3bs!! The current was that fierce and the bugger had its mouth open into it that it was hard work. Still, it was a nice size for the plate.



I had plenty more bites but just couldn’t connect to them – I was using a lot of weight to get the lines down and was having to bow the line to set the things on the bottom and so bites were missed as I was striking into nothing and the fish appeared to be heading uptide – successful hookups seemed to be as much about luck as anything else...but then another came in, a Pout which gave the hardest bite of the day. Third fish of the day was one that was a bit scrawny and so I was glad it was lightly hooked – so it followed the Pout down.



I altered the bait presentation and stuck both rods down again…and waited. After ten minutes I decided to lift and bounce them just to check they weren’t snagged and within seconds of putting one back down it started to go – another decent pull and the second keeper came up. Not quite as big as the first but not too far off and so it joined its kin in the footwell as I baited up once more.



I had to be home for ten and the tide was still screaming…high tide made no effect it seemed and lumping all my bait onto the rods for last casts I was rewarded with my third keeper. It was time to head in. On the way I stopped (ish) to chat to Carl who was now inshore of me after some anchor warp tangles that had needed a landing to comfortably sort out and I paddled hard for a few minuets while we had a chat – he had the luxury of time and the common sense to stay put until slack water came. Me, I just paddled inshore at a good angle to go in straight!! The water was well up and I was restricted on where I could beach so went in between a couple of beach anglers who weren’t having a great deal of success this morning. Nice blokes and I stopped and chatted with them for a while – I hope things picked up later for them but they’d had some decent cracks of the whip recently so it wasn’t all bad. While this was happening of course the tide had eased and the cod were starting to feed harder – Carl was well into them by all accounts but fortunately I was unaware of this and had been reminded by phone that I was already late getting home…another five fish and another launch closer to my target for the year – and a good, enjoyable and taxing session too. Gutting them at home with my girls (they like to see what’s in them so I don’t do it at sea) the fish all had small hardbacks and shrimps in them. The same knife was wielded for the ensuing minutes and soon six more fillets found their way into the freezer for the coming year. It looks like a good year for getting value from the price of the worms!

Wetter than an Otter’s Pocket...02/11/08

I still had a few Ragworm left over from Thursday’s trip out off Gorleston and wanted to use them rather than let them go to waste. I should have launched on Friday – it was lovely – but I had to be elsewhere doing other things and so I decided on Saturday morning for a sessions. When Pinkfoot phoned that night we decided that Hopton, between Lowestoft and Gorleston, was the place. Reports suggest loads of codling and cod too were available a few hundred yards out…it had to be done.

I was up early and after coffee headed north to the launch point. Just before arriving I got a text from Carl – he wasn’t coming having checked the forecasts – when I arrived and looked at the sea I couldn’t blame him; it was unfishable. The wind was howling, the tide was running, the whole sea was choppy and had white horses as far as the eye could see and the surf was around 4ft and strong. I didn’t even unload the kayak.



I intended getting the Yak Board out later and going for a play back home but just ended up losing the opportunity once too often before the rain came. Ah well, there’s still Sunday…

Up early again. Halfway through my coffee I went into the conservatory and noticed that it was raining. That’s me out then. I read for a while and then when the girls got up I fed them, got them dressed and we went down to the car boot sale – I needed some leads and there’s a bloke who sells them out dirt cheap – with the subsequent plan being the wildlife park next door to create havoc in the play area. Two problems here – the first was that the tackle guy wasn’t at the sale and the second, after a forty minute wait, was that the play area didn’t open at the same time as the park. Seen one lion you’ve seen them all, and when you’ve seen all the ones in one place a hundred times there’s no point hanging around so we went back home.

Enough is enough. The rain had stopped half an hour after I’d first seen it. I was going out again. I got kitted up and drove back to Hopton thinking things would be better. They were and they weren’t.



The surf was lower by about a foot but the tide was higher, almost up to the wall and so a nose-down launch off the wooden slip would be needed. This would mean water constantly being over the bow and front hatch area. Worse was that the time between waves was short and they were breaking in about the worst spot for the launch. I didn’t hold out much hope but it looked manageable past the surf zone and there were loads of boats out a few hundred yards offshore.



I sat there and tried to get the measure of it. I couldn’t deploy the rudder at launch because of the slipway so would have to paddle straight out – no problem providing that there wasn’t a strong current or wind problem. It was clearly shelving steeply too and the waves had a lot of power in them so I’d need to make good headway to counter the backwards pull. I’d also need to time things to avoid the worst sets and the waves breaking over the front if possible.



My first attempt saw me make little progress – because of the angle the nose was straight down and the waves were dumping onto it. The cockpit was filling with each dump and the drainage through the scuppers stood no chance – especially with a transducer through one of them. I retreated. Unloading the rods I decided I may as well try again so put them back. I should have stuck with my original decision as it turned out. I got out to where it was breaking under good control but with the cockpit full of water and then a big wave came in and dumped right in my lap. I was knocked off and the kayak flipped onto its side, the next wave pushed it back over when I’d righted it and I righted it once more, grabbed my paddle (it’d escaped my grasp but was nearby) and went back up the slip. I’d snapped a rod. It was clear that I wasn’t getting out from here. Back up the slope I went and loaded up – the Rag would have to go in the freezer as emergency bait and I’d have to stick to Yak Boarding.

Back home I grabbed the Yak Board out of the van along with a Carlisle 197cm White Water paddle – my usual paddles are too long and the blades are too narrow so I’d borrowed one of these too. I’d never tried a proper white water paddle with it and wandered down to the beach. Some surfers were about and I found a clear spot a hundred yards south of my normal spot. Bloody surfers always take the best part of MY beach. I wouldn’t mind so much if they spent less time sitting in the water and more time surfing. (I am practicing to be as intolerant of surfers as they are of kayakers…does it show?)

Out I went, taking some big waves in the lap that would have probably flipped me off the Prowlers, launching over some and down the back with a thump, easily staying head on as the responsiveness of the yak and the catch of the paddle makes manoeuvring a piece of cake. I got out to the launch point and waited for one…here it came…

…I paddled hard and caught it…I was on it’s top and surfing…I paddled a couple more strokes and dropped down onto the face and took off…lean back…paddle up…paddle to the rear to rudder…to the left to brace…to the rear to spin and head back out…lovely!

The third time I wet out was fun. I timed it wrong and took a breaking wave full on in the chest and face. Imagine just brown and white foam coming at you and lifting you bodily, in a seated position, off the board and out of the thigh straps still holding your paddle at a good speed! I grabbed the yak and went out again. Surf five was a bit low, slow and unexciting so I tried for another decent one to end the session on. I couldn’t catch a decent wave! Finally after a few attempts I got on one and came in all the way. I went home well pleased – and pleased that there’s already some fish in the freezer!