The alarm went off at 05:20 ‘yesterday time’ which was anywhere between 04:20 and 06:20 in ‘today time’ but quite frankly that sort of philosophical debate is for afternoons. Coffee down the hatch, drysuit and mukluks on and I was in the van headed for Hopton again.
Next up was a stonking bite – ‘codling’ I thought! Pulled it up, battling all the way:
That was a keeper. Gutted and gilled immediately pout are good eating and not to be sniffed at. Decent fillets too.
The sun started to come up (I love that time and have missed it – there’s no way on God’s earth I’m watching sunrise in summer!) and Carl was determined to catch up with me – it seemed that the 20 metres difference between us was enough to change the fishing at this point of the tide.
More codling followed, more whiting too, and another Pout, a bit smaller this time:
…and then a dab! My third of the year…
The first 1.5 hours was good sport with plenty of fish about…come whatever time the tide slackened off ( 8ish?) it went dead and because of the strong (25mph+) wind in the opposing direction the bloody yaks wouldn’t swing back around fully …after at least a couple of hours of this I decided to call it a day after trying to uptide – the result being a nice, pink anchor line… ;D
Carl was getting excited – all his rods were bending and pulling and he was frantically trying to catch whatever it was on the end – had he turned and seen me hauling him towards Paul and I (we were chatting) he’d have not bothered ;D We chatted for a bit and then I up-anchored as Paul got ready to drop down again:
A quick photo shoot (cheers Carl) and I wandered back to the beach. Lo and behold there was Mr Sleepy! Steve had wandered down to the beach after a nice, leisurely lay in (not been married long) and was there to see what I’d caught (4 codling, 7 whiting, 3 pout and a dab) and to see me judge a wave wrong, over-compensate the stern-ruddering, over-power the brace and end up on my arse in the water. Oh well, the drysuit needed a rinse!
Loaded up, we ranted about the tossers who’d left the beach looking like a sh!thole overnight and stuck all of their crap in my tankwell to be deposited in the bin 150 yards up the slipway on the way to where they’d most likely have parked the night before.
Well what a session…I was a bit delayed getting down to Hopton but pitched up just after 8pm. Dumping my yak and gear at the top of the slip I then returned to the road to park, being unable to get in due to all the beach anglers. Tim (Westie) had arrived by the time I got onto the road too so we wandered down to the launch together. It was a night of firsts – Tim’s first night launch (with his brand new Overrun Nav Light), my first fishing session in my new yak (with my brand new New Zealand Scupper Pro) and hopefully, for Tim, his first ever codling…
Steve was already out so we paddled out to join him over the rough ground a few hundred yards out. The tide was still fairly slack and all he’d had was a whiting so we were hopeful but not excited. Neil (Spiny) had been out earlier and been inundated with whiting but we knew the codling would be around. We dropped anchor and ended up either side of Steve in a reasonable swell…
…it didn’t take long.
First codling in the bag, and a decent fish – a perfect christening. This was followed soon after by a good whiting that I also kept. Another few had minutes passed when the rod tip went again and another codling came up after a bit of an effort, followed by a smaller whiting that went back for next year. There were very regular bites, knocks and rattles and things were going great. This all happened in maybe half an hour – I almost up anchored and headed into shore there and then, satisfied! The plan was to head back in, land by the beach anglers and ask if they had any spare worms as I’d only taken two worms and had run out already ;D Optimism and the pleasure of being out decided against it for me though and I stayed. The next fish on was another decent codling but then it went slack…up came my trace only to find that my snood had parted. A combination of rough ground, codling/whiting teeth and line that was too light cost allowed one fish a lucky escape.
Things started to quieten off as the tide picked up and then Steve was into a fish – and a bloody good one. He got dragged south about 50 yards (and ended up alongside me) before finally boating a beauty! His scales at home didn’t go high enough but he got it weighed this morning at 7lb 7oz gutted, so that would have been over 8lb fresh and ungutted – his PB.
For some reason our yaks kept swinging into each other after this. I had one more codling that saw me tightening my drag and actually fighting a with abnd then I just sat around for an hour. I was getting no more bites although I lost a big crab on the surface but Steve caught up with me. Tim had by now broken his duck with a whiting and soon after we heard him get his first codling. Perfect – the night was complete…or would have been if Steve didn’t immediately draw ahead of me with the final codling of the night. We then up-anchored and paddled in to the beach landing in the right spot with no dramas.
Back on the beach the camera came out again and I actually took some pictures of dead fish – not something I normally do. My haul:
The same fish in the tankwell:
Steve’s fish added for scale:
not bad eh?
No real surprise he’s smiling, is it!
Tim also had something to smile about:
Big hands that fella ;)
Back to Steve’s for a drink and then off home around 2am, fishing cancelled for the morning due to the weather predictions. Lucky really as I had stuff to do ;D
I woke up in the night coughing from a heavy cold and decided I may as well take a look out of my window…and the first arrival I saw was AndyD kipping across the road, his Mango Scupper Pro on the roof of his car…I don’t know what time it was but even the chavs were in bed by now. I went back to bed for a few more hours – it had started…
Coming downstairs before seven I got the kettle on, made the children’s packed lunches and loaded a tray with bacon…Abigail came down as excited as I and, once she had got herself dressed we went out to start waking the travelling yakkers…first Andy and then, around the corner, Tratty, Lozz and Trudy, Richi and Fatflyfisher. Dishevelled, the lot of them ;D
By the time they’d all made it in a bunch of others had also arrived and so I started rushing back and forth to the kitchen with more tea, coffee and bacon butties (my girls tucking into two butties apiece before school as well!). I fed around a dozen hungry, tired yakkers before we left the house for a walk up to the beach to look at the sea.
It certainly looked impressive – snotty as hell with white horses everywhere, close together, all too short to surf in and completely useless for fishing. It could have been fun to play in (with the right yak) and the banks offshore looked the most spectacular but a visit to the tackle shop was requested by a few people and I had to nip over to the office for a couple of hours.
Returning straight to the Holiday Village I got on the water after meeting up with Starvinmarvin and Overrun and headed for the pike. Amazingly I heard that Richi had gone onto fresh water…there had to come a time ;D It was still blowing quite a strong easterly and I launched into this. I’d rigged my sail but hadn’t yet readjusted it from the Trident 15 settings so failed to do any sailing in the direction I wanted to go and gave up after crossing the Broad. Trolling two rods with a variety of lures I spent the next few hours failing miserably and couldn’t even catch any silvers on my maggot rods. Alarmingly I’d blanked in my own backyard! Thankfully I seemed to be the only one, with happy tales of quality roach, pike, perch and bream being related to me. The meet was going to be alright!
At some point I headed home to put my girls to bed before returning for drinks in the clubhouse. Tarponben pounced the moment I walked in the door, demanding to be allowed to buy me a drink in payment for the best day he’d ever had kayak fishing…he looked disappointed when I only asked for lime and lemonade (cold and tablets steering me away from a beer). We then spent the rest of the evening chatting about fishing, kayaking and his girlfriend having my babies before we got kicked out and headed for the chalets from where I departed for my own bed after a hot drink.
“What time are we launching tomorrow Snapper?”
“Nine”
“NINE?????????”
“Yeah, we’ll have a lie in, see you at 8:30”
And sure enough I was there at 8:30 to get people out on the water – it was a sea launch for most of us. Unfortunately electricity and closed cafes had conspired against things so one group headed off to search for food while the other was led to Tesco for sandwiches and then onto the launch point at Hopton.
Steve111 turned out of his road as we arrived and we all wandered down together. He launched with some of the lads while Carpyken and I stayed with some others, seeing Sprinter and Seagypsy out through the shore dump before heading out ourselves. I was expecting good things as the wind had veered to offshore after the pounding from the previous day’s easterlies – stirred up bottoms… I headed slightly north and tried to put down next to Steve who was already on two codling. Good ones at that. I drifted a bit further than I wanted but was still in the general area. The wind was pretty stiff and the current was running already. It didn’t take long, and first up was a Pouting:
People were spread out a bit but all within the general area. I caught a few good Whiting over the next hour or so, some worth keeping too (I usually return Whiting)
There were also some Smoothounds about and I had a Starry pup double-shotted with a Whiting on black lug / Squid cocktail:
Jaws!
A second batch launched, heading for an offshore mark and left the bait beneath Richi’s van – PNGwin wanted some more squid so I headed in to get it. Paddling back out I gave him some squid and checked on some of the guys down that end of the pack before dropping anchor to join them. Not long after Sprinter pointed out that I was dragging anchor…and so I was. I figured it might catch again soon but half a mile later, registering 0.7mph on the GPS, I decided to lift my anchor and paddle back – and what a drag that was! I left Onmas still drifting along while I got back and dropped down again.
Soon after we were treated to something special – a close pass by the Excelsior:
It’s the first time I’ve seen her at sea and what a sight! The last remaining sail powered trawler she was built in 1921 and worked commercially for the next 15 years. She is now the only sailing trawler that can still tow a traditional full size trawl and a Lowestoft girl to boot! (Insert joke about a large fishy box!)
Not that it made up for the hard graft fishing here…I’d only had a bloody starfish!
Aha…but what is this nodding away? Pull into the fish and…solid! Up against a couple of knots current a 4lb Codling pulls hard and it took a bit of coaxing before it ended up in my lap:
Sorted! Now to settle down and wait for another…
While Curly got bored and went for a mooch about others were also waiting:
…and then my rod tapped again and I struck into a back-arching dogfish!
I love dogs, me!
Satisfied, I headed back into the beach a short while later after assisting Seagypsy in his first up-anchoring attempt in a running sea – never a nice moment ;D We followed this with an energetic paddle in with me landing through the dump straight after Seagypsy who went in straight as a die. I dare say I was closer to coming a cropper to be honest! I weighed my two Codling in at 4lb and 5lb4oz respectively – good fish.
Back up the hated slip and off to the Broad…okreally was on his way with the demo trailer filled with toys for us to play with. Tratty was straight onto the Nalu - jumping in before Todaymueller who was really wanting to have a go but wasn’t kitted up…
Bloody surfers always make these things look easy! I’d had a crack at it a week before on a 4ft swell and trying to stay on it was impossible for me when I got into surf ;D It hadn’t occurred to me to practice on flat water first!
Of course, he had to come off eventually and Todaymueller got his turn:
He took to it well…not like others we could mention…
Darnsarf could have churned butter in his trousers! Me, I stayed on dry land catching tiddlers after a quick shakedown in the Torque. Straight in with a Perch ;) Tarponben tried a Dorado as Tratty went swimming…
After playing with the toys for a while and me dropping off the potential first fish on a Torque (2 inch Perch) it was time for a drink before heading home to see the girls and returning for drinks and stories in the clubhouse again.
Next morning I was going to launch in my own time and I was on the beach for 7 having dragged Hungryfisherman in from the road outside my house for a coffee first. I left him getting set up and was anchored by 7:30. Still way too late for me ;D The tide was running quite gently this morning and the wind hadn’t picked up yet. I was straight into Whiting but nothing bigger came along for a while. It was lovely out here.
I was joined a couple of hours later by a few more yakkers and then, during slack, the rod tip nodded away just after rebaiting a pennel with black and squid…I lifted into it and for the first time ever had a codling on at slack water! I felt this fish every step of the way and it was GREAT! It was around the 5lb mark and was pulling, nodding and fighting back. Ben asked me what I had on – ‘probably cod’ I said ‘but it feels like a conger and we don’t get them!’
I’d been gutting, gilling and de-heading my whiting during slack and suspect this may have brought it in. I then gilled and gutted this one too and the stomach contents were illuminating – shrimp, crab and sole:
A Malibu arrived on the water during the morning too, carrying a stranger…Pinkfoot was back on the east coast at long last, well and truly missed, but had sadly donated the ‘paddling out cod’ to Lozz ;) Norfolkboy wasn’t far behind and it was good to see some of the local boys out and about at Hopton again.
With Ben slightly inshore of me the time was passing nicely but I wanted to be 200m south, over the rough ground so up anchored and went down to join Lozz and Fatflyfisher. Unfortunately my anchor put me slightly out of position and I apologise if I was in the way chaps! I doubly apologise for the cod that came up soon after!
Mind you. It didn’t take long before Lozz was into another:
Back to the beach and while chatting to Lozz he suddenly came out with a classic Lozz-ism:
“f**king hell!”
this was followed by a run down the slip and my observing of him watching his Dorado float away… ;D
With his hands in the air and a very audible ‘f**k it!’ I decided to go down and retrieve it – good practice at trying to swim in a drysuit and I could do with rinsing it off anyway. Always nice to try a re-entry in an unfamiliar yak too. Straight in easily enough and I came in as okreally arrived…and Westie who had got here too late.
Back to the site where Bucketboy had been all day and drinks were followed with setting Amos loose with the Torque for some photos…he even ambushed a random couple on a Frenzy and Yak Sport at full speed ;D
Most people had departed by now but there were still some on site and more drinks followed for another late night before returning in the morning to get the chalets emptied and presentable. Then it was off to Beccles with AndyD, Tarponben and Hungryfisherman for a final session. Amos wanted a pike and so the idea was to get a livebait going and get him one…so I bullied him until he took the minimum of gear and got on the water ;D
First cast, known spot, typical fish – 1/2lb Chub in the bag in seconds:
Too big for a livebait it was returned and followed by a Dace that went on. Some more Dace followed across the river…
…along with some Roach.
But no pike and so I headed down to the boathouses to join Amos who was getting into decent roach and perch and enjoying himself. I got straight into them too and Andy soon joined us – Ben heading off in search of pike. Time soon came to head home and with a final fish – a Perch – we headed off.
Ben had caught himself a couple of pike so was beaming again as we paddled back up to the car park.
Andyseemed happy as well.
That was it. It was over for another year. Another fantastic meet, with a great bunch of yakkers, loads of great moments, excellent craic and good fishing…all left to say is THANK YOU to all who came and joined in…THAT is what makes a meet. See you next year!
