...the plan was a bit more involved than the usual ‘get out on the water and fish’. Being midweek – a Wednesday to be precise – it was not known who would be able to skive. I took holiday, Westie cleared his desk to make his escape possible and Todaymueller’s rota luckily coincided. Norfolkboy and Hungryfisherman also made it to the banks of the Waveney but Steve111 was sadly stuck with two days worth of work today. He sounded sick to me, but that was clearly just with envy!
Now, Hungryfisherman is a regular up here but Todaymueller as well? How come these furriners were hitting the Waveney? Where had we heard their names in the same breath before in recent weeks? Ah. Yes. The Champions League – they were of course the winners of the OK Classic at Swanage. Now, given the choice between entrusting a couple of Prowler Ultra 4.7’s to a courier and inviting mates up for a session on the water was clearly no contest and they felt the same...
I loaded the van before leaving work the day before. The two yellow prize Ultras went on first, hull uppermost, with the demo mango flame one in the middle hull down. This worked a treat and was the reason my Scupper Pro stayed home. I wanted to try the Ultra on fresh water and Westie wanted to try it full stop!
I got home and once the girls were in bed Amos pitched up for tea and to help me sort which lures I was taking. I have a similar problem to most people who’ve seen lures in shop windows – too bloody many of the damned things ;D My proliferation has another twist though. I asked my parents to bring me back some Rapala Magnums from South Africa once and instead they brought back a bunch of other Rapalas, Yo Zuris, Strike Pro’s and other makes. Most of these, which became two birthdays and a Christmas, are totally unsuited so sit there unused and unloved while I revert to the Magnums, Super Shad Raps, J13’s and Shakespeare Big S’s which do work. It’s as much trust and belief as anything else of course although deep divers are not suited to the Waveney so some get ignored for that reason. Anyway, Amos was after a Super Shad Rap and I had a spare so flogged him that and passed on one for free that I’d been kindly sent by Dizzyfish a few weeks back...more of that later ;)
I booted Amos out around ten and went straight to bed. He borrowed one of my magazines and went off to his car (he won’t sleep here because of his snoring). The magazine was a fishing one so stop sniggering in the back row – and bring it back Amos, I need to archive a couple of pages!
I got him up around six and we had a quick coffee and toast before heading for Beccles where John and Ian would meet us around 8am and Tim at 9am. I wanted to get some fishing in first ;D We pulled in, parked up and started to get kitted up – me in the demo Ultra, Amos in his new ride :-* He took too long gazing at it so I launched. I trolled about a mile or so I guess, through two hotspots, and had nothing. I anchored up in my chub mark and had the same. My tiddler mark failed to produce too and the final result was one dace from my dace mark – an eddy by a bridge support. The first fish of the season.
I upped-sticks to go and meet John who I guessed would be almost there by now. I got fifty yards before I met Ian and Amos. Ian I didn’t recognise – different kayak and more beard than the previous time I’d seen him plus sunglasses. He’d been envious of our pike tally last year and had made the effort to join us for the Sixteenth...but would he have enough of a reason to return?
John arrived then and so we tied up and started fishing in various parts of the river.
I had some more dace and the first perch of the season. All tiddlers and very hard to get – the water looked like diluted black coffee which I’d not seen before. I surmised that this could be affecting catches. Like any angler I look for excuses!
It was about time for Tim to arrive so I headed over to look for him. I swapped the Ultra for a custard tart and borrowed his barbecue-equipped Trident 13 and then we set off to join the others on our steady troll up to Geldeston Locks. We got a few hundred yards when suddenly John shouted out that he had a fish on! The first Waveney pike to a kayak this season! It was quite a good one too at around 4-5lb and in this stretch at this time of year that’s a damned good scrap. The champ had triumphed!
We continued up past the pool into the boat house stretch. This usually sees some Jacks take the lures and sure enough Tim was in...Then, as we rounded the bend into the treelined banks that mark the natural area of the river I reminded Tim of the first time I’d met him when he’d pulled a chub from this spot on a Big S. That was the first chub I’d seen on a lure and I headed down that bank in the hope of a take...which is when John got number two!
Ah well...got to keep your guests happy...and at least I didn’t blank!
That left Amos and as we approached a favourite reedbed of mine I stopped to give Tim a clear run, ensure my lures were weed-free and set myself up for the optimum run in. John was in all of a sudden to my left, Tim was in ahead and then Amos cruised past me heading down my line, the bastard! Three Ultras in front of me and ALL THREE HAD PIKE ON!
I didn’t swear a lot, even when Amos sat there causing a hullabaloo in the middle of my swim. I don’t even know why I left my lures out! Anyway, we soon rounded a couple of bends and caught up with Ian...or rather we would have if Tim hadn’t had yet another take fifty yards short of him! This resulted in his PB perch.
Meanwhile, the Champions League showed us the skills with which they’d led the field at Swanage. I despair sometimes, I really do ;D
They looked more photogenic once they cleared the tangle. Well, compositionally anyway!
Ian scooted off again and as I rounded the corner to aim for the spot where my best pike take last year had been I saw him drifting there, a fish in his hands – his first pike on the kayak (he’d had a perch earlier) and the first he’d trolled up. He was over the moon – and rightly so. It was the best fish so far.
Less happy was the bloke nearby into whom Ian had nearly drifted. The fact that I was now also there taking pictures didn’t help and the icing on the cake was the broken-down yacht that drifted into us. Muttering something about ‘fishing is supposed to be peaceful’ the miserable bastard sat there and gave out negative waves to us. There was no way he was going to help the yacht either and so I offered to give them a tow. He was motorised but I had my cranked Nordkapps ;D A 13ft Trident towing a 16ft yacht against current? No worries I told the bloke aboard even though I was doubtful myself and after the third attempt managed to tie a proper knot, looped the rope over my chest and started to paddle the hundred yards to the nearest safe place to moor. Bugger me if I didn’t manage it ;D
We carried on trolling, right through Jack Alley, but failed to get anything more until, almost at the Lock Inn I had a take. In came my PB perch, tempted upon a Rapala Magnum CD11 in Silver Mackerel.
Tim’s was the bigger fish but I was happy with this!
Then we got drunk! With a pint of Canary and a pint of Trawlerboy washing down the beer-battered haddock I was set to forget about fishing and go to sleep. I wasn’t alone in that but we all managed to tear ourselves away and back onto the water, whereupon we headed upstream. This was hard to fish due to the lack of boat traffic which allows the weed to grow and remain in place. The water is clearer but it’s also quite shallow in parts and after a while I decided that we’d be better off heading back downstream. It was about five minutes later that I had a savage take...
This fish engulfed my redhead Big S and once I’d beaten it I set about with forceps to remove it with the minimum of fuss. It was a fine fish, a double or thereabouts in superb condition – long and lean. As I got the lure clear of it’s mouth though it decided to wake up again and thrashed itself out of my grip (when they thrash I let them go to avoid causing damage). Off it went before the trophy shot of the first double of the season.
That was the last pike. We tied up a bit further down and sat around drowning maggots with little to show for it in quantity although we all had a few silvers.
Well, all of us that stopped, that is, except Tim.
Amos was using his new pole, bought especially.
It was time to head in. Amos and John had both thoroughly christened their Ultras and we’d all had a good day of fishing, beer, food and company. Thirteen pike had come out, two PB perch and half a dozen species. Not a bad start to the season even if it was far slower than I’d expected. Tim had done best on the pike front with five, all on the same lure, and all of Amos’ pike had been on the lure I’d given him the night before. Me? My selection had been the wrong lures for the day! I’d managed a couple of pike and a perch so it wasn’t dreadful but there were lures that really should have produced but didn’t...that’s fishing!
Amos:
John:
Another delivery completed...
Addendum: My fishing licence arrived. It’s now stuck face-side down onto the letter with personal details printed on he back. Lift the lower left corner and peel. My question is what d!ckhead thought that one up?
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