I turned up on time to be greeted by Brotherwarren who’d also crossed the border. Clearly the Norfolk ballet paddlers are in more need of beauty sleep than the Suffolk hardcore ravers ;D the sun was starting to make itself known...
Quickly sorting ourselves out we launched into a beautiful sea. It was calm and flat with only a slight, long rolling swell.
It was lovely to paddle in and we picked up the flood tide as we headed out to try trolling the sandbank on our way down to the harbour wall.
Once down by the wall the force of the rip could be felt. The flood comes down the coast, bumps into this mass of rock and has to go somewhere so consequently turns towards Holland and buggers off. There is quite a lot of water involved in this and more is obviously behind it so the current is quite a bit stronger than that on its way down to the wall. Once you get close it becomes a bit bumpier from the reflected waves and the kayak gets quite literally sucked out to sea. It’s quite good fun really, but not for the unwary.
I trolled in towards the beach, still without a bite before heading to the intended mark. My first pass resulted, as expected (and hoped), in the rod banging about in the flush mount. In came the first fish of the day – a spirited schoolie of around 1/2lb. Unhooked, it went off to fatten up for next year.
A green mackerel sinking Rapala Magnum CD9 had done the honours. Low and slow seems to be the name of the game here right now.
The next couple of hours were pleasant, good exercise and fruitless. I went through quite a lot of lures before deciding to finally use one I’d not tried in the eighteen years I’ve had it as the colour didn’t really call out to me. On went an orange magnum CD11. Bugger me, what fish have I missed in the last eighteen years? It didn’t take long until the rod was bouncing away. At 46cm, lunch was sorted ;D
Just before departing and while chatting to Brotherwarren we spied a couple more yaks launching. I didn’t recognise them but made the acquaintance a few minutes later with Ciscokid and his mate (Paul and Sean?) on a matching pair of catch 390s. Good to meet you chaps – perhaps next time I won’t have to rush off straight away!
I trolled in, heading right into the shoreline, bouncing the lures along the bottom. All I caught, bizarrely, was a stone. It had a small hole in it that was slightly wider than the hook...
That was the fishing done. I was back home by 09:30 and got on with the gutting of my catch. I didn’t realise but we have squid here:
Being so fresh, and with plans that evening I decided to get the barbecue fired up a couple of hours later and proceeded to cook my catch. I began by scaling it, slashing the flanks and coating it with a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and Szechuan peppercorns before enclosing it in a fish basket and putting it over the coals.
It was done to a turn and the skin, crispy and seasoned as it was, was fantastic.
What was more pleasing was that my eldest had seconds, my youngest finished hers and we had more than enough. I’ll be happy catching them that size in future – no point wasting anything:
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