For Fog's Sake...29.12.10

For weeks we’ve been hoping the weather would be alright for an end of year meet but of course the planned date when most could attend was forecast to be too windy and so the next day, although possibly misty, was selected as it would be flat calm.

I got up not long after 6 feeling somewhat less than enthused as the cold side of my 2 week old flu had suddenly appeared the previous afternoon. Frankly, getting in gear was a slog this morning with all the weeks of crap weather and no fish contributing to the general air of really not being bothered. Still, coffee and medication taken I chose the luckiest looking hat of the day, got drysuited and jumped in the van for the drive up to Hopton.

Minutes before I arrived Steve called – had I any jump leads? Sadly not and so all he could do was wander down and see us off, his battery dead. I pulled in behind Fishy, Eastangler, Treedoc and Tangleweed – all faces not seen for too long so it was a nice start and I felt a bit more enthused than I had been. I was still slow getting sorted and down to the beach though ;D

The launch was smooth. The waves were small but of course I still took two into the cockpit as is always the way. Treedoc and Fishy had already gone out and so I paddled to where I expected them to be. Next, I saw a large dark object ahead of me, a bot presumably. No sound and not moving, perhaps it was anchored? Then, just past it were some posts standing upright out of the water. Now I knew damn well that I could not have paddled to the wreck of the White Swan in that time so was nonplussed…until I realised that it was a groyne and I’d managed a U shape course! I turned into the swell and headed straight back out, dropping anchor where I thought fit and settled down to fish.



I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for cod so fished one 4/0 pennel and a size 1 wishbone, both baited with frozen black tipped with squid. Nothing at all was happening. Then Dave and Paul arrived, having been called in after I heard them talking as they transited my stern by about 100 yards. Soon after they dropped down I had my first bite and hauled in a baby whiting.



I could see Dave in the distance, but in truth he wasn’t that far away. Paul was drifting along and then paddled back up past again.



Things were very slow and I wasn’t getting any bites at all. It was flat though with just the gentlest of swell. Brotherwarren called out as he arrived in the vicinity and then came and dropped down nearby; now we were four. He asked me if this was the place. I replied that I hadn’t a clue and didn’t have the faintest idea where we were ;D To be honest I knew nothing more than that I was afloat rather than on the sand and by the sound of the waves the shoreline was off to my left out of sight.



Suddenly, through the fog loomed a Viking:



Fishy, resplendent in his New Zealand sourced Viking Beardhead, had pitched up with Treedoc, the two of them having had no luck wherever else they were.



All of a sudden my rod tip thumped down once, twice and once in my hand a third time. I wound down and knew I had a codling on. The tide was still running and it came up, mouth open. Again on the wishbone rig and I was nervous – the size 1 Vikings are NOT cod hooks and I was convinced I was going to lose it. It was nodding its head and staying down too, giving a good account of itself and finally I got it up, dropped a foot over the side, brought it over it and scooped it into the yak. As I administered the last rites it spat the hook…close!



I carried on for another hour until slack water and then paddled around to say goodbye to the others before heading in. I was further north than I’d thought by one groyne but found my way in without bother due to long-term familiarity with this stretch of coastline. Landing was easy and I trolleyed the yak up the slope, loaded the Scupper onto the van, got changed and drove off to meet a mate for a spot of target shooting with a cod in the boot. It may not have been ideal conditions but Veni, Vidi, Vici.

For Fog's Sake...29.12.10

For weeks we’ve been hoping the weather would be alright for an end of year meet but of course the planned date when most could attend was forecast to be too windy and so the next day, although possibly misty, was selected as it would be flat calm.

I got up not long after 6 feeling somewhat less than enthused as the cold side of my 2 week old flu had suddenly appeared the previous afternoon. Frankly, getting in gear was a slog this morning with all the weeks of crap weather and no fish contributing to the general air of really not being bothered. Still, coffee and medication taken I chose the luckiest looking hat of the day, got drysuited and jumped in the van for the drive up to Hopton.

Minutes before I arrived Steve called – had I any jump leads? Sadly not and so all he could do was wander down and see us off, his battery dead. I pulled in behind Fishy, Eastangler, Treedoc and Tangleweed – all faces not seen for too long so it was a nice start and I felt a bit more enthused than I had been. I was still slow getting sorted and down to the beach though ;D

The launch was smooth. The waves were small but of course I still took two into the cockpit as is always the way. Treedoc and Fishy had already gone out and so I paddled to where I expected them to be. Next, I saw a large dark object ahead of me, a bot presumably. No sound and not moving, perhaps it was anchored? Then, just past it were some posts standing upright out of the water. Now I knew damn well that I could not have paddled to the wreck of the White Swan in that time so was nonplussed…until I realised that it was a groyne and I’d managed a U shape course! I turned into the swell and headed straight back out, dropping anchor where I thought fit and settled down to fish.



I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for cod so fished one 4/0 pennel and a size 1 wishbone, both baited with frozen black tipped with squid. Nothing at all was happening. Then Dave and Paul arrived, having been called in after I heard them talking as they transited my stern by about 100 yards. Soon after they dropped down I had my first bite and hauled in a baby whiting.



I could see Dave in the distance, but in truth he wasn’t that far away. Paul was drifting along and then paddled back up past again.



Things were very slow and I wasn’t getting any bites at all. It was flat though with just the gentlest of swell. Brotherwarren called out as he arrived in the vicinity and then came and dropped down nearby; now we were four. He asked me if this was the place. I replied that I hadn’t a clue and didn’t have the faintest idea where we were ;D To be honest I knew nothing more than that I was afloat rather than on the sand and by the sound of the waves the shoreline was off to my left out of sight.



Suddenly, through the fog loomed a Viking:



Fishy, resplendent in his New Zealand sourced Viking Beardhead, had pitched up with Treedoc, the two of them having had no luck wherever else they were.



All of a sudden my rod tip thumped down once, twice and once in my hand a third time. I wound down and knew I had a codling on. The tide was still running and it came up, mouth open. Again on the wishbone rig and I was nervous – the size 1 Vikings are NOT cod hooks and I was convinced I was going to lose it. It was nodding its head and staying down too, giving a good account of itself and finally I got it up, dropped a foot over the side, brought it over it and scooped it into the yak. As I administered the last rites it spat the hook…close!



I carried on for another hour until slack water and then paddled around to say goodbye to the others before heading in. I was further north than I’d thought by one groyne but found my way in without bother due to long-term familiarity with this stretch of coastline. Landing was easy and I trolleyed the yak up the slope, loaded the Scupper onto the van, got changed and drove off to meet a mate for a spot of target shooting with a cod in the boot. It may not have been ideal conditions but Veni, Vidi, Vici.

Just go and paddle!...24.12.10

I had to go again. It wasn’t a case of begging and pleading today either. No. I made my wife so pissed off with me that she told me to go paddling. Result.

Waves were messy as anything so it was back into the Necky and off to the river this time. Picked up a hitchhiker on the way and we chatted about the teachers we had known at the same school (he was in my brother’s year it turned out) and then, with him dropped off I headed down to the launch in Beccles and got the kayak into the water. The water was the bit between the pontoon and the inch thick ice.



I broke up some of the ice and then noticed a crack down the middle which allowed me to push a 20ft square iceberg into the flow and get myself out with no bother.



Off I went and after 50 yards chucked out a lure and tucked my spinning rod behind my back (spraydeck wasn’t pulled over at the back). I figured that although I didn’t get this as a kayak for fishing from I may as well try to fluke a pike even though it was way too cold for them to go for a lure.



It was lovely on the river as I wound my way upstream through the marshes and past Geldeston. No-one else was on the water and I only saw one angler on the banks. ‘Hi Mark’ he said as I paddled past giving his lines a wide berth…there are ways for paddlers and anglers to co-exist, it just takes mutual respect or the hiding of mutual hatred.



A couple of miles upstream I spotted something worth a closer look – either a muntjac or Chinese water deer, I couldn’t tell as the head was submerged. Funnily enough I am serving muntjac tonight for Christmas Eve dinner. I didn’t want a well-marinated one though!



I carried on up past Shipmeadow before turning around and wandering back. Six or Seven miles in minus plenty with no bites was pleasant enough and at least I knew I could so some limited fishing from the Necky. Okay, so I didn’t get to feel what a pike would do to my balance but I did catch 3 submerged branches, 2 trees and the bank so I have a fair idea.

That Sinking Feeling...23.12.10

Well I began my day by taking a look at the sea on the way back from Asda. It was filthy! Good waves, 4ft+ but not much gap between them and they were tripping over a bit early but it looked rideable and they were fast and so following breakfast (I cooked for 9) I got kitted up and wandered down to the beach. I chatted to a couple of the local surfers who were watching from their van then launched. The wind was very strong and head on as I paddled out and I just couldn’t make headway against that and the constant foam. Managing to get halfway to my chosen jumping off point I turned to take a good one that was coming in where I was and rode it all the way in, jumped off, picked my Yakboard up and went home to fry some other fish.

I say fish but I mean christening my new ride. I brought home a new yak yesterday which has taken some saving for and which I’ve wanted for a good few months – a Necky Chatham 17 in ‘Advanced Composite’. White with a yellow top side she looks lovely and the reviews are all good. I figured I’d have a quick blast around Oulton Broad and then go and dish up a nice lunch of Muntjac Stew that I had bubbling away. It's all Carpyken's fault. He inspired me a year ago.

Oulton Broad was iced over. With the sea off limits the only remaining option was Lake Lothing. Parking up at Harbour Road I carried the Chatham on my shoulder down to the ‘beach’, floated her and hopped in through the cockpit.





It was very windy and blowing straight down towards me. I stuck my Nordkapp in and off I went. The acceleration was so much more than I’m used to and I was cruising at a good speed in moments. I didn’t feel unstable and it was as though she ignored both the wind and the incoming tide. Off I went up towards the harbour mouth.



I passed YH89 Lydia Eva which summers at South Quay in Great Yarmouth but returns to Lowestoft for winter maintenance. Built in Kings Lynn in 1930 she is the last surviving steam-powered herring drifter.



I turned at the CEFAS Endeavour, opposite Asda, and paddled back again with the wind and current behind me this time. It made no odds – I never felt any difference in speed or effort, nor did I when the river changed course and I went across the wind. I played about with the skeg a bit and got an idea of how it affected things (having never used one before) and carried on past my launch point to go and look at the historic vessels at the marina end.



First up was a tarp-covered LT472 Excelsior, a restored fishing smack built in 1921 and the last surviving sailing trawler.



Next I went off towards the wreck of the Probe, MMS 1086, last used as a survey ship operating from Lowestoft in the 1960’s. She was and was sold for scrap in March 1969 after searching for oil and gas reserves in the North Sea when the company went bankrupt and their fleet disposed of.



Next up was the wreck of the MFV Yellowtail, LT326. The water was really high now, higher than It’s ever been when I’ve paddled down here and I was able to paddle onto the wreck and have a nosey at the inside.





Across the water and further down I went over to MTB 102. Launched in 1937 she was the first Motor Torpedo Boat of the modern era and crossed the English Channel eight times to rescue stranded servicemen from the beaches around Dunkirk and later carried Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower on their review of the D-Day fleet prior to the Allied return to Occupied Europe.



Not a bad christening for a new boat and my first SINK. A good few miles in strong wind and hail with plenty to see. Now to persuade my wife that I can paddle the ten miles to my parents for Christmas lunch and she can pick me up with the car!



Sorry about the picture quality – my camera was set to 1600 iso.

That Sinking Feeling...23.12.10

Well I began my day by taking a look at the sea on the way back from Asda. It was filthy! Good waves, 4ft+ but not much gap between them and they were tripping over a bit early but it looked rideable and they were fast and so following breakfast (I cooked for 9) I got kitted up and wandered down to the beach. I chatted to a couple of the local surfers who were watching from their van then launched. The wind was very strong and head on as I paddled out and I just couldn’t make headway against that and the constant foam. Managing to get halfway to my chosen jumping off point I turned to take a good one that was coming in where I was and rode it all the way in, jumped off, picked my Yakboard up and went home to fry some other fish.

I say fish but I mean christening my new ride. I brought home a new yak yesterday which has taken some saving for and which I’ve wanted for a good few months – a Necky Chatham 17 in ‘Advanced Composite’. White with a yellow top side she looks lovely and the reviews are all good. I figured I’d have a quick blast around Oulton Broad and then go and dish up a nice lunch of Muntjac Stew that I had bubbling away. It's all Carpyken's fault. He inspired me a year ago.

Oulton Broad was iced over. With the sea off limits the only remaining option was Lake Lothing. Parking up at Harbour Road I carried the Chatham on my shoulder down to the ‘beach’, floated her and hopped in through the cockpit.





It was very windy and blowing straight down towards me. I stuck my Nordkapp in and off I went. The acceleration was so much more than I’m used to and I was cruising at a good speed in moments. I didn’t feel unstable and it was as though she ignored both the wind and the incoming tide. Off I went up towards the harbour mouth.



I passed YH89 Lydia Eva which summers at South Quay in Great Yarmouth but returns to Lowestoft for winter maintenance. Built in Kings Lynn in 1930 she is the last surviving steam-powered herring drifter.



I turned at the CEFAS Endeavour, opposite Asda, and paddled back again with the wind and current behind me this time. It made no odds – I never felt any difference in speed or effort, nor did I when the river changed course and I went across the wind. I played about with the skeg a bit and got an idea of how it affected things (having never used one before) and carried on past my launch point to go and look at the historic vessels at the marina end.



First up was a tarp-covered LT472 Excelsior, a restored fishing smack built in 1921 and the last surviving sailing trawler.



Next I went off towards the wreck of the Probe, MMS 1086, last used as a survey ship operating from Lowestoft in the 1960’s. She was and was sold for scrap in March 1969 after searching for oil and gas reserves in the North Sea when the company went bankrupt and their fleet disposed of.



Next up was the wreck of the MFV Yellowtail, LT326. The water was really high now, higher than It’s ever been when I’ve paddled down here and I was able to paddle onto the wreck and have a nosey at the inside.





Across the water and further down I went over to MTB 102. Launched in 1937 she was the first Motor Torpedo Boat of the modern era and crossed the English Channel eight times to rescue stranded servicemen from the beaches around Dunkirk and later carried Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower on their review of the D-Day fleet prior to the Allied return to Occupied Europe.



Not a bad christening for a new boat and my first SINK. A good few miles in strong wind and hail with plenty to see. Now to persuade my wife that I can paddle the ten miles to my parents for Christmas lunch and she can pick me up with the car!



Sorry about the picture quality – my camera was set to 1600 iso.

Well that’s quite enough of that thank you…08/12/10

I don’t think things have gone worse without a disaster occurring. I got to Hopton with the water half up the wooden ramp, a bit of a shore dump but no great issue there. It looked swelly but okay beyond so I got the yak and myself ready and wandered down to the water via very slippery, frosted slope. By now the waves had got closer together and some were starting to get little bits of white on them but no matter. I waded in to my lower thigh and got in just as a random wave came in at an angle, side swiped the kayak and squeezed in through my pee zip – I’d rooted around to get something out of a pocket earlier and not done it up Anyway, I swung it back and went straight out. The tide was pretty strong by now as all the traffic had been in my way and although I was making progress the sea was starting to get snottier. Enough was enough, I’d go piking instead, this was unfishable.

Of course, all my piking gear was at home and I had neither cash nor fish bait so had to go back whatever. Of course I checked the sea again at the end of my road and it was fine so I unloaded again and then went and parked the car at the bottom of my road and walked back. I got set up to go and then walked back again for my paddle. High water was galloping closer all the time.

I launched, got out back and seemed to have little assistance. I barely drifted at all when i stopped. I watched as a boat trawled the line from the pier down to the mark I was headed for and so chose to go a bit deeper in another hole. Down to CEFAS I paddled, dropped anchor and cast in.

The next hour resulted in not one bite. The sea started to pick up and then the wind started to build. Crests were forming and I was getting fucked off so I up-anchored and paddled back into the wind and still-flooding tide (it should have slowed but hadn’t) which hurt somewhat as my fingers started to ice up. The surf had picked up a little but was easily dealt with and I dragged the yak home on my C-Tug.

That’s it. Day’s off have shit seas, days at work have calm seas, the cod haven’t arrived, the whiting have buggered off and snapper is going on the river for the next few weeks. I’m fed up wasting my time and my worms.