First time kayak fishing. 27.08.11

On the 27th of august I went fishing with my dad at Hopton. We were about to go home when dad felt quite a sharp tug he gave it to me to reel in; it was extremely hard to pull in but after about 10 minutes I finally got it in. It went bonkers

It was huge and heavy, it was very wiggly and strong.

It was fantastic!















I was unbelievably proud, she was stoic against the wind and rain, determined to catch a smoothie, didn't give up the battle (one strong smut that was!) and was happy throughout. It wasn't until the paddle back in when Eloise started to flag (we'd had to come in out against the tide already as my warp snapped) and she did try and persuade me to tow her the last bit. She was such a credit to herself; she's got her great aunt's genes! i got her up just before 6 for the drive to Hopton. She was all trained up on a multiplier the night before and paddled her kea out against over 2 knots of tide. The only take came on my KP and spinning rod so while I tucked it under my leg (as it ran uptide) she wound the other rods in then took this rod and hoiked it up to the surface, fought it and then at the end passed it over to me to bring aboard. 5lb 12.5 ounce female starry and the strongest fish i've felt there. I was so proud of her!

We went off to Sealife afterwards to see them swimming in the tank there and of course she wanted to come out again the next day Last nigth she was able to feed her sister, parents and grandparents on a very nice meal of smut too, making her a proper hunter-gatherer! All south east asian recipes - Smut jungle Curry, Smut Fried in Turmeric and Dill and Smut Braised in Black Caramel. That is one tasty fish.