Last Gasp…20/12/2013

Last Gasp…20/12/2013 One car in for MOT and my wife needs mine, I’m called in for an hours training after lunch before shift, the kids will be on holiday from 3pm so I have to stay close and the weather looks a bit much for Corton, I settle on dabbing at the end of the road again. No Shaun today but Andy and James are coming and Paul is free and will be supplying the usual entertainment again for the first time since the summer. We meet up on my road and trolley the kayaks down to the beach. An easy launch, Paul choosing the biggest wave as always and we head north towards the pier’ I want to try the rocks at Kiddies corner to try for a pout and any scraps that might be feeding in there on one rod and dabs on the other. Small, stinky dead lug and pieces of squid again. We drop anchor and start to fish. There’s a bit of wind and swell but nothing too bad. Half an hour passes without a touch and I have to pull out of a snag on the rock side. Ten minutes later and I have a crab. James has had a dab and a pin whiting. Paul and I haven’t had a bite and Andy has missed his. A few small, missed bites follow and I decided to head closer in; as we haul up Andy gets his first anchored, bait-caught fish from the kayak…not much meat on it! We head in, drop down again and I don’t get a single bite. I pull anchor and drift towards the groynes, haul up and start again. An hour passes without a bite where I had plenty the other day. Never mind, it’s better than being at home. But I run out of time and with Paul upping-anchor I also pull in to find that I have caught, of all things, a shrimp… Paul and I leave, landing smoothly and Andy comes in soon after; I find a dead dab on the tide line and throw it to Paul – at least he’s caught one now! That’s it for the Cuda, it’s being collected tomorrow; I notice that yesterday’s shenanigans have ripped the bungee from the pressure which is quite a surprise; I cut it off, no point leaving the job for someone else. I drag it off the beach for the last time and return home to make lunch. That’s it, hopefully it won’t be my last session before 2014 though…watch this space!