Piscatorial Padawan…21.08.2012

Not long ago on a beach not far away…Snapper’s Padawan finally got her chance. With very light winds and a flat sea it was time at last to fish from her newly-rigged Kea. Not quite eight years old, she’s been wanting to catch something big enough to eat for a long time…could this be the day? Taking advantage of Whippersnapper’s Fladen kit, the rod, reel, buoyancy aid and above all the cap, Abigail was also going to test out a prototype kayak rig from Moonfleet Angling. A Gurnard rig made with size 6 hooks, beads and blades I figured it might do well in the clearer water around at the moment and maybe pick up some of the scraps found over the sandy ground between the banks off our local beach. Kitted up and with her Kea inverted on top of my Scupper we wheeled ourselves down to the beach. It didn’t take long; the traffic stopped for us (we used the force) and we were soon line up ready to launch. Grasping her gremlin firmly in hand she was off and away over a small dump and was out past the groynes before I got afloat myself; there’s no stopping her! A boat pulling a shrimp trawl inshore had me in mind of fish being drawn into the disturbed area and we headed for their line of travel and dropped anchor. It was simplest to raft up next to each other and, baiting up with a pinch of black lug and a sliver of mackerel tipping it off, hopes were high. With a 2/0 flapper on my rod, baited the same as he Moonfleet rig we cast out and sat back to await the rattles. Watching her rod everything was a bite. I couldn’t show her what a real bite looked like though as none came and after half an hour without a touch we up-anchored and moved further offshore into deeper water, dropping down again and sitting back to wait. And wait The crabs were active, stripping the hooks in a few minutes and changed over to squid baits. Would this do any better? Well it didn’t hold the crabs at bay but another half an hour passed before the first knock. Missed. Still nothing on my apprentice’s rod. No movement. We changed over to squid on there too. Another missed knock for me. At least there was something about. We tried using the force but nothing materialised and we just sat there chatting. The third fruitless knock on my rod and still nothing on hers saw us make the decision to have a last cast and then head in before boredom set in… We detached and I began to haul anchor. Off went my little Jedi and by the time I was ready to head in she’d just about arrived on the beach. I watched as she landed in front of a bemused family on the beach, dragged her Kea up past the water line and promptly jumped into the water for a splash around in her wetsuit and PFD. She wasn’t all that concerned about blanking as long as she was having fun and, philosophically, decided she’d have another go before the holidays ended. Sounds good to me! So, verdict on the new rig? Not yet, it was my fault, not Moonfleet’s!