Winter Tournament...24/01/09

Got up at 04:45 this morning and headed for Hopton. For various reasons I couldn't commit much time to this tournament and as I had to be home by 09:15 at the latest things weren't too promising.

Down at the beach I met up with two chaps I'd been chatting to from the WSF forum who are looking at getting into kayak fishing. I left my Trident with them and got on the water for 06:00, paddling out a few hundred metres as the time available and the predicted wind was going to make things difficult otherwise.

A two boom flapper on one rod and a wishbone on the other, with a couple of small lugworm on and some bits of glugged squid and I cast in.

I rebaited every now and again but with nothing happening. After an hour I saw Pinkfoot on the beach getting ready to launch in his new X13. It's got that much extra buoyancy in I reckon it should be christened Zeppelin! Shortly before he launched I got my first knock...knock...knock...



Codling. It was around a pound so I didn't mind returning it. Bloody catch and release comp.

I rebaited and cast out. Pinkfoot turned up for a chat in his new ride - and it looks the business:





then I had another small bite...

...and after a few yards of reeling in it dropped off. A pity, as I suspect strongly it was a Whiting.

Next bite I missed, and then another - both small though...and then, third time lucky!



Pouting. Nicely hooked so an easy return.

The sun was up by now, at last.



The next bite was a corker! The rod tip started banging away and I started into a decent fish - a Codling, probably around 4lb by the feel of things. Luck wasn't with me though and it dropped off not far from the boat without me even getting a glimpse of it.

Then it went quiet. Steve paddled out in my Trident now that the sun was up and paddled around and chatted.



Jason, who had stayed on the beach, had caught a codling so it wasn't a wasted trip for him. It was now 08:15 and I had to pack up. We paddled in. My two hours fishing had resulted in two species for the comp. There is a slim chance that i'll have another short bash tonight but it's doubtful. Hope you lot do better ;D

A knock at the door - Three and Four!...04/01/09

Third day’s fishing on the trot - and my last chance until after I return from the London Boat Show towards the end of January. I’m sure you all realise that it is NECCESARY for me to do these things…even though you would be disagreeing with my wife on that matter ;D

The forecast was 4-5ft swell with pretty strong winds but it’s be near low water when launching so I figured Hopton would be possible (high water forget it - there is very little beach left and I flipped there before).No idea what the temperature was predicted to be but I was going Siberian anyway, my trusty Ushanka being one of the first items packed in preparation. Two and a half rabbits equals a nice warm head and without hair I need it! I didn’t notice the cold when I left the house.



Pinkfoot wasn’t coming to play, Bootster headed back yesterday and Eastangler is not 100% at present so I was expecting to be solo again - but no! Hungryfisherman (Amos) was up for a session, his first in two years and drove up from London, kipping at the beach. Not long after six I rolled up and thrust a flask of coffee in his hand. Then it was on with loading up, rigging up and chatting before rolling down the slope and heading out through the shore break.

The current was, like yesterday, pretty slow and we ended up almost straight out from the launch point with no conscious effort. It was starting to get light too, which makes a change…it was 07:30 by now. We paddled out maybe quarter of a mile and dropped anchor. Bait was frozen black lugworm and squid. I stuck out 5/0 pennel rigs on the outside rods and 2/0 wishbone rigs on the inner ones and sat back to wait.



It took a little while but then I got a couple of tentative bites, neither of which came to anything - and then a yell as Amos started battling with something. He was using a light rod and it was well bent over - a codling was coming up against the current, mouth open and thrashing around a bit - and after a couple of minutes he brought it into the yak. Not a bad size for dinner and something to make the drive worthwhile.



Now, everyone around here is always raving about cod in the wintertime but as much as I enjoy them what I really wanted was a Dab. I’d not had one since October 2007 and that one was undersize (well, apart from the micro-dab an inch long!). Dabs apparently are here in numbers in January and people are reporting catching them all over - it seemed to be all that was coming off the pier last night when I wandered down too. Well, if any rig was going to take one it’d be a wishbone…



I was happy now! Species number three for 2009 and my first sizeable flatfish for a couple of years amazingly. I haven’t even eaten one of these in fifteen years so it was like Christmas to me. (En papillotte with olive oil, sea salt and fresh lemon juice as it turned out this evening and absolutely delicious it was too.)

Next up a bit later was the old faithful, a Pouting. Much maligned I enjoy these as they tend to give an exciting bite and a bit of a pull when coming up. They also taste really good if gutted straight away (Darnsarf’s tip and a good one at that! More flavour than Whiting I reckon). That said, this one was cleanly hooked and was back in the water in no time.



Sitting back I felt that I was being watched. I was too. Fifty yards away a head was poking out of the water, looking at me - a seal. By the time the camera was up he’d dived and was at least a hundred yards away when I next spotted him (the tiny black dot in the middle).



Things were not really happening much today and the wind was picking up - my toes were starting to get cold and my fingers were icing up. I had another tentative rattle or two but failed to get anything onto a hook. Amos was still waiting for a second one too.



Then the tide slackened and that dead patch occurred. The kayak was not keeping station as I wanted and I wasn’t keeping lines tight. I put up with it for a while but as I had to be back around 10:30 today I decided it was time to make a move, feeling a bit guilty as Amos had come a long way (but hey, he was frozen too so I think he was secretly pleased to get of the water too!)



A quick, five minute paddle back in saw me pick up a wave, surf it in and forget to jump out quickly enough. As I started to swing my legs over the side another wave came in and pushed me broadside, tipping the yak to one side. Amos thought I was going in but as my nose was already on the beach there was no real chance…but I suspected he might get wet, and switched to video just in case… :D



Well, he made a better job of it than I did! Up the slope and back to the vehicles with the kayaks and it was time for the goodbyes before I raced back home to get the lunch on. Having enjoyed my smoked codling yesterday I cooked up some (bought) kippers, but they just paled in comparison…and now back to the frustration of being a landlubber again!

And one from the sea…03/01/09

Around midnight I’d found most of the gear I needed for the following morning’s launch and got ready to get into bed for a few hours sleep - only problem being that my mobile was dead, my alarm clock was missing and I had no way of waking up. Luckily there was still some battery life in my work mobile and so I set it to wake me up with the noise of a JCB starting up…

…and it worked bloody well, even through my pillow ;D I haven’t been woken up like that since I worked on Brittany Ferries and had a cabin beneath the lorry deck! A quick coffee was followed by pulling myself into my wetsuit and grabbing a few frozen black lugworm from the freezer, left over from a previous session last year. Then out to the van for the 300 metre drive to the beach ;D (In my defence the yak and kit was already loaded up, as usual, and I wasn’t sure where I’d launch).

The sea looked ok, with a pretty good shore break and clearly some swell behind it. Sticking my Prowler 15 on the trolley and loading it up with my kit I locked up and wandered down to the beach with drysuit and lifejacket on. Too weeks off has clearly messed with my mind as I then had to go back to the van for a paddle ;D Dozy or what?!

Two rods for today as I was short on bait and only had a couple of hours available. The plan was literally to head out a quarter of a mile and fish along there for, hopefully, some dabs. I launched and paddled out, staying dry just but having some good early-morning excitement from the surf which was pretty small but still tricky in the darkness - it was now just after 06:00.

Out a little way I baited up the two wishbone rigs and cast the lines in. Unusually for here the current was doing almost nothing and I elected to drift - something I rarely do.



It was a pleasant morning so far and although I had around a three foot swell and a reasonable wind from the east it seemed comfortable enough and the weights on the rods were holding me fairly still.

[URL=http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c24/609photos/2009%20Kayak%20Angling/?action=view¤t=P1035576.mp4][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c24/609photos/2009%20Kayak%20Angling/th_P1035576.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

A while later and it started to get a bit lighter. I’d paddled a few hundred metres south by now as I’d had no bites and I didn’t want to blank so tried to locate fish rather than just wait for them. It’s not exactly the ideal spot to fish to be honest - I was here for convenience - as it is shallow, gently sloping sand. I was probably only in about 10-15 feet of water at most. That’s why no-one fishes the beach there.

Another move came and I decided to anchor up off the end of the pier. I clipped a pennel rig onto the swivel at the top of my wishbone rig, making use of a fair amount of worm that had been fished with the previous time I’d been out - waste not want not, especially when you know you won’t have time to get any fresh bait at short notice! Besides, it’s not unreasonable to expect the fish to eat it if they come across it…



Not a blank! My first sea fish of the year, a small codling of around 1.5lb, gave a small knock and a lovely fight (I was fishing fixed spool and braid today instead of the usual multipliers). I soon had it in and was amazed at how much food there was in its mouth! Full to the back of the throat and still it picked up the pre-used worm bait.



Well, let’s hope there were some more - I didn’t have long left but it might be enough…and the sun was about to come up…



I wasn’t far out and the tide was still ebbing, it was getting to low water around this time too. The sunrise looked like it was going to be nice…



…it was.



08:15 and it was time to head in. I was hungry and my children had been promised bacon and eggs for breakfast, with me cooking them. I paddled in and lined the kayak up in the direction I wanted to take, the swell still quite powerful and the surf rolling up the beach. I wasn’t up for surfing it in today so figured I’d take it nice and slow and see how things went. Neither the sea nor my Prowler agreed though and a slightly larger wave picked me up and propelled me the last 100 metres into the beach with only a couple of rudder strokes needed to keep the line straight.

Lovely!

First one down!...02/01/09

I feel bloated. I feel frustrated. I have the winter blues from hanging around doing bugger all. I got back from France this morning at about 1:30 and was determined to get out on the yak and paddle some of the pounds away…and try to break my duck for 2009 on my first launch with one of my new lures. So after lunch I escaped as fast as I realistically could and wandered off to my mate’s house where my van and yak had stayed while we were away.

Then I turned around, walked back and grabbed my new lures.

Only having a few hours left of daylight I had to stay close and decided to christen 2009 with a bash at Oulton Broad, a mile down the road. I wasn’t really expecting much as there was a strong north easterly (21mph apparently) and it was bloody cold. Added to that I was going to start on two new Rapala Super Shad Raps (Christmas ones) in Nordic Perch and Tiger Peacock patterns - both of which I expect to bring me some good fish this year as perch is a natural food source around here and the pike seem to go for stripy lures and the fluorescent lures seem to be a winner too.



Now you may think that Father Christmas had been very thoughtful this year but I had in fact bought them myself, from my wife, from one of the dealers I visited to give some training to in December - he’d got these two alluring lures new win and I had to cement our relationship by having them ;D So if they are so lovely why wasn’t I expecting much? Simply because they dive to a depth of 5-9 feet and the broad averages around 6 - and has weed on the bottom. Also, in the margins where I usually get takes it’s about 3 so I’d need to keep them close to the yak.

Five minutes after leaving home I was at the slipway with my trusty Prowler 15 largely de-rigged and read to launch. It had to be trolling today to get my paddle fitness back up after a fortnight off and I planned on doing around five miles.



I was travelling light - apart from the two Rapalas I had a new Shakespeare Big S in blue mackerel (its first outing after retiring my last, lucky, one) and a Big S / Little S combo that Cambornecaperpilot had given me at the Trout Meet. Those, a knife, some forceps and whatever was in my PFD plus paddle and a pair of rods would be my lot. I had paddle pants in the van so left my drysuit at home but really should have been more sensible and remembered my Chota boots as they were in the conservatory - desert boots soak up the wet and get very cold!

There were a few pikers out on the water and I trolled out from the slip to the mouth of the dyke. I kept hanging up on weed and having to clear the hooks and the wind was blowing me around a lot as soon as I got to the houseboats. It was quite amusing because I also had a small swell kicked up from the wind in this area of around a 9-12 inches and it was a bloody pain because of the direction, slapping against the yak and making a lot of noise. I changed over to the Shakespeares as I could let more line out and they don’t dive so deep.

Nothing. I wandered onto the flats. Still nothing. Down the central gully to the corner and still nothing. Two hotspots from the past failed to pick anything up too and apart from a snag that got my heartbeat up (I was back on the Rapalas again) I was starting to expect a blank. I was heading into the wind all the way down so at least I was burning up some lard at least. I hoped I might pick up something near the jetties from the boatyard or the boats moored at the entrance to the dead end (another producer in the past) but nothing and so I wandered into the dead end for a bit of respite from the wind. The dead end is somewhere that doesn’t produce for me; I’ve seen fish come from there on baits, some good ones too, but I’ve only ever had one on a trolled lure, last winter when Norm came down and we had a paddle when he bought my other Prowler 15 from me. I did a half circuit and stopped paddling ready to bring the lures in for a break.

ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Followed by a hell of a splashing commotion on the surface - presumably my Blue Mackerel Big S (ooooh I love them!!) had been taken as it started to rise to the surface and this fish had hit it from below. Even some passers by a couple of hundred yards away stopped and started at it! I grabbed the rod, stowed my paddle and started to reel it in. The fish kept coming towards me so I was being slacklined a lot but it stayed on and I got it near the yak, the afternoon sun giving it a lovely warm glow.



I lifted the rod to bring it closer



Beautifully hooked across the front of the mouth.



I was waiting for it to make a dive and run for it but it hardly made any attempt to escape - too much lying on the bottom feeding occasionally (there were a few parasites on its flanks and it had a deep belly). So I reached down and chinned it, taking the hooks out at the side of the yak, the fish nice and calm with a lure across the front of its mouth...



Unhooked, I lifted it up to take a photograph - I couldn’t fit it all in held up so had to lay it down across my legs. A beautifully marked and coloured fish of around 6-8lb in weight (summer time I’d have said six but it was pretty fat and heavy). It laid there in a docile state. A quick snap and a kiss on the top of the head (first fish of the year) and I slid it into the water whereupon it finally showed some enthusiasm for things, splashed me with its tail and dived down for the bottom immediately. Lovely!



I trolled back across the broad and then headed up to the mouth of the dyke again. The wind was biting and my boots were soaked - my toes were now really cold and I headed up to the mouth of the dyke and back before calling it a day. I was well chuffed to have started the New Year with my old friend - an Oulton Broad pike.