At the end of the road from the office is a track down to the beach and this provides an easy launch to a mark a few hundred yards away where some bass have been coming out and so Tuesday night saw me avoiding the traffic out of town with a planned couple of hours after knocking off. I parked up, trolleyed the Scupper down to the water’s edge and launched into a beautiful flat sea. I didn’t bother to troll but instead took one rod, a catch bag and a landing net with a handful of lures. Oh, and an anchor.
I anchored up just short of the mark and began casting a Dexter Wedge out towards the corner of the structure. Nothing for the first couple of casts so I swapped to the other corner…2nd cast and I had a bump…3rd cast and I was in! A nice 2lb bass obligingly came into the net and went into the catch bag – a perfect eating fish.
Ten minutes later and it was joined by its sibling, this time on a Sidewinder ;D
Further attempts in the next hour or two proved fruitless and with the idea of sharing my good fortune I headed off home via Taffsteve’s. Steve’s parents had arrived the night before and Steve had been offshore for a while so I popped in for a chat and a drink and gave the fish to them for a meal, Steve thoughtfully taking one fillet off for me which tasted very good when panfried in olive oil…lovely crisp skin.
Wednesday saw me hitting the same mark, this time joined by Steve with a fly rod and his father casting lures. A fruitless couple of hours followed but it was nice for Steve’s dad to get to sea following his river session last year when he’d not fished – just laughed as we tiddler bashed ;D Like father, like son – they both blanked together! Not that I did any better…but at least we saw a seal.
Thursday night was lovely. The day had been warm, the wind was very slight and I decided at last to hit a mark off Gorleston that I’d briefly trolled a couple of weeks before. In the meantime some fish had been caught by friends so I travelled down to the pier and launched for the mile paddle to the mark.
A few hundred yards before I arrived I chucked out a Dexter and trolled it briefly. I chose my spot to stop and reeled it in slowly. I was off the starting blocks with a schoolie that went back into the sea. No blank tonight then!
I cast the Dexter and a Sidewinder for what seemed an age before the next fish came in – a keeper this time around 2lb.
Nothing further happened and so I decided to head to the end of the feature and then troll back and head home. I set off…
Unbelievable! There were bass breaking the surface in a feeding frenzy! I must have seen twenty or more as they splashed around in the calm, clear water. Now, we don’t really get clear water so I really had to make the most of this week and with this target now presenting itself to me I cast straight into the area…a second later it was fish on as another 2lb’er came into the boat. Then a schoolie. Then a larger fish that threw the hook next to the yak…this was exciting! The only times I’d ever seen this sort of display was in South Africa when shoals of Bonito or Yellowfin hit baitfish shoals. They went off the boil for a while and so I cast in another direction. It took a few minutes and then it was fish on again!
I alternated between the two spots and was rewarded with fish hitting the lures or getting hooked regularly. I decided to try my popper too – I’ve never fished poppers before so was experimenting and now see why people love it so much ;D I must have had the lure struck thirty times or more, sometimes long enough to feel a powerful first run and always able to see the follows and flanks of the fish as they hit the lure…but I couldn’t hook up. More practice required! My phone was in the van so I couldn’t call Steve but soon both he and his father turned up having decided to give it a whirl. I felt smug as his flyrod left him frustrated and then decided to go and chat to his father. I swapped over to a J13 and trolled over to see him, catching another 2.5lb fish on the way.
Eventually, as the tide started to build it went quiet and I only coaxed out one more fish. I left them as it began to get dark and headed back to the beach having lost count of fish – on the beach I checked the hatch and found that I’d got seven keepers between 2 and 3lb in addition to the three I’d returned, one or three I’d lost and the thirty or so hits on the popper – an absolutely fantastic evening’s sport unlike any I’d ever had here. What made it more special was the fact that I appreciated how rare the conditions were and had probably caught as many keepers in one session as I’d ever had in all the preceding years. Steve, alas, managed a schoolie on the fly ;D But we saw porpoises so that was okay.
By the time I’d finished dealing with them at home it was nearly midnight; 14 lovely fillets frozen down for the family and I to enjoy.
The following morning saw me leaving for work early and going to see Bill, Paul and Tony launch. I wished them luck and gave them what info I’d got from the evening before but with different conditions the fish just didn’t oblige in the same way. I was gutted for them, especially with the effort they’d made…surely their rewards will come soon enough though.
Friday evening came and I’d planned to head to North Norfolk and fish with Westie. Of course, hearing how I’d fared we decided mutually to return to this mark…what a difference a day made! The wind built up around lunchtime and by the time we launched into a force 4 southerly the sea had become swelly with a fair old chop and a shore dump that needed watching. The water had coloured up too and in three hours all that came in was a brace of schoolies that went back. Coming in with a sea that had picked up had its moments too – the main one being me surfing in beautifully only to go side on when I hit the beach and get rolled by a dumping wave. It felt as though the yak went over me. Disconcerted I didn’t think quickly enough and got bowled over by a Scupper Pro seconds after getting back on my feet…evidence courtesy of Tim! No harm done other than to what little pride I have ;D Disappointed with the results, we went to mine and ate pizza before planning the next morning…
…Saturday was intended to be a mackie/smut/tope/bass offshore session up north but being down here and with a strong wind and rain showers the order of the day we elected to get up at 5 and launch from Lowestoft near my house. The plan was to head up to the rocks by Ness Point and fling lures about and troll for the bass there. It’s a well know local mark and I’d caught there a fortnight prior. In the end though I went back to bed for an extra hour, set fire (not burnt, actually set fire) to the toast and we crawled down to the beach and a disgraceful 7am ;D It was drizzling and our enthusiasm had left us. Still, we tried…
…and failed. So we radioed the harbour authorities and got permission to come in. Again, nothing happened so we headed back out into a sea that was even more lively and had quite an exciting trip back to shore.
There was a fair swell coming in and at times it was big enough to surf. It was like this when we went in but this time Tim was the one upside down. Sadly my camera sat at work all weekend so I missed it :(
We played in the waves for an hour before heading back to mine and making a brunch of salad (prepared by Tim and bought by me a few days before because it was on offer and at least showed willing) and deep-fried battered bass from Thursday’s fillet collection. Yummy! I wasn’t sure how bass would be done like this, being a moist fish, but it was every bit as good as cod and I’d happily cook it like this again. We digested it over a laptop full of Rapalas courtesy of Cabelas and then parted company.
Fishing was looking iffy for Sunday and I pretty much decided that Sunday night was the only possible and I’d treat myself to a lie in. With it looking crap generally I warned Amos that it wasn’t likely to be worth the fuel to come up from London only to be talked into going by Mark, a newcomer who’d been out with us at Sea Palling a few weeks back and now had an Ultra that needed a soaking! And so my lie-in became a 7am launch at Gorleston again ;D What commitment to the cause! A seal popped up to say hello a few metres away while we were on the water’s edge…did that mean the fish were close in?
The first hour or more saw no action at all. Mark headed ashore to change over to baits as trolling and casting had done nothing for either of us. I headed in after a while and paddled back out with him, tieing up further north than before and started flinging a Dexter in with my five year old 7ft spinning rod (tip snapped off years ago) and 12 year old Shimano fixed spool (one of a pair bought in a Christmas sale). Bugger, me! A few minutes and it was fish on and this one was hard as nails! Then, off. I wound in. Maybe it was replaced by another or maybe it had slacklined me but there was definitely a fish on now and up on the surface a tussle ensued before I finally netted it ;D A definite PB that went straight in the hold for weighing, measuring, gutting and freezing later – 58cm and 4.5lb ;D The only photograph came from my phone but at least it’s a photograph…the next will be taken when we share it on Christmas Eve.
Nothing happened for ages again and so I decided to troll. I had a couple of divers on, one which had caught for me a few days before and another that I’d had for years but never used. The latter was the one that took a schoolie which was returned. The next pass, however, saw the former taking a 2lb’er! I’d promised Bill a bass a few nights before and having failed now had one to donate. The poor bugger is wasting away ;D
Quiet again. Some SINK paddlers came out and paddled past. Their timing was impeccable; we were almost on high water so they were heading south but not very far ;) An hour earlier and they could have had a decent paddle. A shrimper came past next. Then the sailing club came out to play and Taffsteve (the skiver) was noted tearing around in his hobiecat like some southern Pimms drinker. Then the tide eased right down and I headed out on the troll again. I’d lost my Dexter on a snag earlier and now managed to donate the small Rapala and a brace of Sidewinders to the White Swan Décor Society before deciding enough was enough and it was time to tie up and just fling a lure for a while. I hitched my anchor reel over an upright and started to cast. The only Dexter left was too big. I switched to a Sidewinder – it didn’t like to go into the wind very far. I stuck the popper on even though I figured it was too rough and the fish would be down deep.
BANG! A fish hit the lure, I saw its flanks. I missed it. I recast
BANG! Straight away it hit again! Nope.
Bang! Third time lucky and it tore off sideways bending the rod into a good curve. It took line and made two lunges before throwing the hooks. I was getting pissed off now – that was a good fish and again the popper had failed to hook into it – I’m missing something here, I need to go on a popper course ;D
I eased off the drag; this had been too tight and was probably the reason I’d lost the fish (braid). I recast but the fish weren’t playing now. I changed lures and tried some more, even the J13 failed and this should have been perfect for what I was aiming at…nada.
Back to the popper and Bang! A hit and a flank shown. I recast.
Bang! I hit the fish and the rod bucked in my hand as it tore off. No mistake this time, the fish was on and staying on. It felt huge, the take had been hard and the run fast. The fight was great and I was amazed when a 2.5lb’er came in having outfought its big brother. This one was going to be Mark’s dinner.
Mark came over soon after. Baits had done nothing for him. He was on crab which turned out to be the contents of my biggie’s stomach but they weren’t interested. Hearing that I’d had another he went to tie up to another upright. This is when it all went awry. You see there was another upright below which became uncovered when the preceding swell came through if it was a bigger than normal one. It happened to do this under his stern and pivoted him off the yak instantly. He was in the water and unclipping myself I checked he was okay before fishing out his floating gear while he got back on quickly and with ease (and no assistance). I returned his kit and went to try and retrieve his buoy and anchor line. I didn’t realise that an anchor was attached to the end of it and as luck (bad) would have it after trying to free the line and realising what had occurred I decide to cut the buoy off. This is when a swell pushed me into the space above the same upright and the trough did the exact same thing to me! Fan-fucking-tastic. Now I was in the water. I grabbed what gear was floating about (lure box and catch bag) and swam back to the yak. I flipped it upright, climbed on and then took stock. Yep, both leashed rods still in one piece. Paddle still present and leashed. Lures that I was in the middle of changing retrieved and lure box retrieved. Two sidewinders and a feather rig missing.
Oh. Shit. There was something else too. In my rush to assist I’d not thought to secure my spinning rod…and no, it didn’t float. Nor, it seemed, did my 3 week old landing net which couldn’t be leashed as it would hinder scooping fish out and had yet to have foam attached to it. The total cost to the day was now running at around sixty quid. I swore rather fluently and rather loudly. It was probably sufficient to drown out the laughter of the beach fishermen and holidaymakers on the beach ;D
We fished for a little while longer, my main aim being to try and snag my lost gear and then headed in without further drama. I hauled out my catch, removed the front hatch of the Scupper and walked it into the sea where it got half-filled with water and was promptly sluiced out ;) There are no flies on me – just on my yak ;D
Ready to go I called Bill to let him know that dinner was served (bugger the Icelandics eh Bill?!) and Mark and I left the beach. Bill arrived, I gave him the fish, found a couple of quid on the grass (did I have a good day or a bad day?) I didn’t have a bass for my father (they’d called to invite me for dinner but I went straight over for lunch instead) but I’m sure that’s only a temporary setback. It did give me the opportunity, going that way, to call into Lathams on the way and buy a new landing net and a couple of Shakespeare spinning wedge things though so I’m ready for the new week ;D My new spinning rod and reel, ordered yesterday, should be here before the weekend too ;D
