I parked at the bottom end of the reefs at the Waxham Access and then dragged the Scupper over the dunes. I rather like the ramp at Hopton now ;D I was on the water by around 16:30 and used the last of the ebb to wander north after launching towards a seal that started at me until I was a couple of boat lengths away, at which point it dived away.
Nothing on the first reef and then bang! Rapala Sliver takes the first fish halfway up the second reef on the outside. A schoolie of around 36cm (the MLS) it went back; I’m not generally a catch and release angler in the sea but I prefer to eat a fillet per person than a whole fish per person and as bass aren’t exactly the hardest fish in the world to catch the schoolies are appreciated for the sport they offer rather than their nutritional value.
Next reef saw a blank but the following saw another fish, again around the same size and again on the Sliver. By the time I arrived at the main beach access I’d had five fish, 4 to the Sliver and 1 to the other rod which variously sported a blue/white Rapala J13 or orange/white Rapala Magnum CD11. Statistically the sliver was the best lure, but statistically the inside rod closest to the reefs was also the best lure…and this remained the case for the rest of the evening with the inside rod taking 90% of the fish irrespective of the lure used.
I continued north but had no fish on the remainder of the reefs other than a couple of Sandeels on a shrimp rig and dexter wedge that I trolled for a while so turned and paddled back against the last of the ebb. I could see another yak in the distance and then spotted Westie on his way up. Just as I got level with the end of the first reef north of the main beach access I had another schoolie which soon went back and then paddled with Tim a bit. He’d had one so far, having only arrived recently. He then went to change lures and I headed down towards the other yak, catching another fish as I got close. Then pulled one in on the other lure that had stayed floating while I dealt with the first; Tim paddles past and asks if I’ve had a double hook up which gave me gloating rights. These were increased as I’d cast the first lure back out just before realising I had the second hook-up…make that a triple hook up Tim ;)
Chatted with the other fella, he’d had a couple so far; nice chap. I then continued south and caught a few more ;D Tim was also catching and the sea was starting to calm a bit – it had been choppy and quite swelly since I’d arrived, so much so that I’d considered going inside the reefs but the Scupper is designed for this sort of sea and I sat it out and soon got into the swing of things.
The fish seemed to go off and at a total of fourteen I decided to head in and go home. I couldn’t even get anything on my popper and so I drifted in around the edge of a reef to have a smoke and paddle in when I picked up another fish ;D Chatting with Tim it was felt that yes, we should go in but also that it would be illegal not to paddle back via the reefs with lures out…the last cast mentality I guess. An excellent law that, the last 3 reefs producing another five fish for me, some for Tim as well (we both had a couple from two passes over one spot) and then we headed into the beach again.
I landed by a shore angler who’d had a couple of bites but no fish, the seals patrolling back and forth all the while he was there. As for me, I managed a total of nineteen bass, 2 sandeels, a shore crab and a mussel (don’t ask!) and Tim was somewhere around ten bass too. I kept my four bigger ones (one for lunch, one for Onmas as he gave me the lure I was using when he gave up and two for a barbecue tonight at my brothers’) and one of 37cm that had its throat stapled shut by hitting the lure a bit too greedily. All in all it was a cracking end to my week and even though I trolled for around ten miles after helping unload three containers of kayaks and was worn out when I got home it was well worth it. I’ll try the outfall at Great Yarmouth next if I get a chance this week to see if they’ve arrived down here yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment