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Friday 31 January 2014

Ripping It Up…31/01/2014

Ripping It Up…31/01/2014 Can I get a fish worth catching this month? Can I get a big one for the Warbird 220 Challenge? Can I beat the weather? Not on the sea, not a chance. It had to be the river and fingers crossed for a pike on the troll. I’ve not fished the Waveney since the surge except right up past the sluices so I decided to give it a try in the hope there’d be a chance… It’s the first time I’ve trolled properly from the Midway. I pulled up at the pool and carried it one-handed onto the pontoon, rigged the cameras and rods up and hopped in, heading down through the ton stretch. The water was right up, dirty and ripping through. I drifted with only the occasional steering stroke and as still faster than I wanted to be; clearly a lot of run-off coming through from the marshes. Still, the weather was mild enough as I passed through the town. “Photobucket” Biteless. I had my banker Eco Narrow on the one rod and a handmade wooden one that my mate Paul from Heroes on the Water had sent me to try out. He’d done alright with it cast but I troll and the two tactics aren’t always compatible in a lure. Well, I wasn’t able to see the action of the lure but from the vibrations of the rod tip as I moved along it certainly looks like a winner to me. Maybe not to the pike on this occasion but I think it’ll produce the goods when conditions are more suitable. “Photobucket” I turned just short of the quay and started paddling back again. I had to put my back into it as the funnelling by the bridge made things quite heavy going…between the bridge supports I’d estimate about three knots as ripping through there so I passed my launch point and headed upstream to Barsham where it bends and widens and deepens, still hopeful. “Photobucket” I got to Barsham and sapped over to an Eco Snake, being the only sinker I had on me, and started chucking into the bay by the sluice in the hope that I could find a lurking pike. I only found lurking snags though but fortunately I wasn’t tied up on the side that the pipeline drains from… “Photobucket” Things weren’t worth further exploration upstream so I decided to head home again, trying to hold my speed down and got all excited when I hooked a tree as I rounded a bend a bit tight. That was it for excitement though and after a few hours of at least being out I pulled up at the pontoon, hopped out and went home. No freshwater entry for the Warbird Challenge then.

Monday 27 January 2014

Missing You…27/01/2013

Missing You…27/01/2013 The cod have been hiding lately, at least the eaters have. I’ve not had a single one this year as yet and it’s a missing definite from the species hunt for the year. Mind you, I’ve not been targeting them really as there seemed little point with the boats and other kayaks reporting very poor results of late. However, there appeared to be some movement at last with some pan-sized fillets on some marks and a lot of babies close in. The trouble is, the weather forecast was strong winds and rain… …which is why I was late getting moving, I figured I may as well go on the river and try for a pike or two, if it wasn’t in flood and if they hadn’t been wiped out by the salt surge of last month. With the right gear selected, the right clothing put on I loaded the car and went to start it. Nothing. Fair enough. It wasn’t raining and the wind wasn’t what was forecasted; change of plan. Time for a codlet from the end of the road. First though, with my rear camera pole already attached it was time to work out the siting for my forward one. Ahead of where I’m planning to put the front paddle keep bungee but behind the sail attachments if I fit one. An eighteen inch RAM mount was going on, allowing full movement forward, backwards and to the sides and with the ball riveted and sealed, a quick change of tackle and rigs, a couple of wraps of worm and a bag of squid I was off. “Photobucket” Yes, it was windy but the sea was alright, not too lumpy as the sandbanks block most of it around low water which was only a couple of hours away. I was heading a few hundred yards out and expecting whiting, dabs and small cod, the latter being what I most wanted, a tick in the box. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” “Photobucket” The Warbird 220’s were still on my Xtraflexx 10-30g rods, which was silly light but would at least give me some feeling from the tiddlers, I’d just need to take care lobbing the 4oz breakaways out gently, and instead of going too small I fitted a 2/0 pennel to one rod with a 2/0 flapper on the other. I dropped anchor and tipping the worm off with squid I cast and waited. “Photobucket” In minutes my pennel rod was bouncing away merrily. I struck, felt the fish on and reeled in. It was off and so was the squid. I tried again. Same again a few minutes later. This went on…small fish and a rod with too much flex meant there wasn’t enough pressure on the hooks. Still, I couldn’t do anything about that now. I carried on. “Photobucket” Finally! I whirled the handle like a Dervish, kept the rod tip high and in came the first fish of the day, a baby whiting. It would make a perfect livebait at the right time of year and with the right rig but not today, it got a reprieve and swam away strongly. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” More missed bites. Almost everything came from the pennel rig, the flapper mainly ignored. In fact it only had two bites all the time I was out…but at least the pennel was doing the job and with the pieces of squid getting smaller and hooked more times my luck had to change surely? And then, another hit! “Photobucket” Up it came and as I swung it clear of the water I saw the darker bands on the back and knew that I’d got what I wanted, the perfect size too as I’ve been getting tiny starters this year…a perfect mini-cod! “Photobucket” I was happy now, the cold and wet – the drizzle started when I anchored - was no longer of concern. I moved. I don’t normally but I decided that I should have a little play under the pier, which I’ve never fished, just in case there was another species or two lurking in the rough ground below, feeding on the seagull waste. I dropped anchor uptide and slowly let out more and more warp until I was about thirty yards away. This would do. I lobbed the baits out. I had more swell here, beam on, but nothing too bothersome. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” I had one bite here, quite a good one, but again no result from it. Best I return in summer, it must hold bass then, surely! The groynes do after all. I gave it an hour though and then decided that slack water was imminent and I could expect nothing more. I up-anchored and headed in, catching and surfing every bit of swell I could and finished with a nice ride into the beach. “Photobucket” Now, we’ve had some pretty harsh weather of late and the beach, which is a nice bit of sand for people to fill with takeaway cartons in summer has washed away progressively more and more, exposing wood and concrete that’s been hidden for decades between the next groynes to the north. In my bay however the level has dropped massively and the sand has gone leaving only stones. I’m not used to dragging kayaks up high banks but I guess I’d better get used to it. “Photobucket”

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Slug It To Me…21/01/2014

Slug It To Me…21/01/2014 Monday was a beautiful day with no wind. I had to wait for a courier and rig the MidWay for bait fishing though so Monday was a dry day spent drinking coffee and surfing the internet. It was while I was flicking through World Sea Fishing that I spotted something that piqued my interest though. A catch report with a difference…this fella had fished the northern bay on Sunday and had Coalfish, Rockling and Flounder, the photos proving they were what he said they were. Oh. Three species there that I wouldn’t have expected to get…I’ve only had Coalies up in Scotland and had only heard vague rumours of them locally, same as the vague rumours of Pollack. I’d never seen photos either. I‘d not had a Rockling since I was a teenager either, a quarter of a decade or so ago and I’d never had a flounder. In fact I’d only seen the one caught locally and that was in my teens too. Tuesday was a no-wind day as well and I was off both the night before and the night after. I was going to make the trip. A post on Anglian Kayak Angling was edited and I had a couple of co-conspirators; James and Frank. Originally planning Corton they were as happy to go to Sea Palling instead. With Frank picking up some fresh lug Instead of James I got my head down ready for the morning…to the sound of fog horns. I’m sure they no longer serve any real purpose other than to annoy me. It was still there when I woke up. Freezing fog. It was -2.5 on the stay-at-home-in-the-warm scale. No wind though. And it was light already so I’d have expected a bit better. A bit of chaos going on at home, loading the kayak, organising the children, defrosting the cars and grabbing the right gear and then I was off for the thirty mile drive north with a broken heater and a squeegee scraper for constant screen clearance of the inside and occasional on the outside. I think I’d better get that fixed instead of buying bait. I pulled up an hour later having driven past the closed charity car park in the seafront car park – two hundred yards and a fiver separates the two…James and Frank were there already and we got the kayaks unloaded and ready, got the drysuits on, the tackle rigged up and then went off to park to the north. It was quite a trek and then, when I pulled up in a suitable spot I was all alone with two left boots to walk the mile back. Halfway and Frank arrives in his car having decided it was too far and checking he charity car park – closed but not locked. He returned me to my car and I headed back, paid my quid and fetch the kayak. A quick drag over the ramp and down to the sea and, with trolley stowed, I was ready for the first sea fishing launch on my new ride. There was some trepidation as the 3-5ft surf/dumping waves/swell was rolling in… “Photobucket” …so I watched and waited, finally jumping in on a flatter period and not intercepting any waves for a good fifty yards; up and over, dry. “Photobucket” James was next, heading up a little way to a sandbar with a bit more shelter and only took the one wave. We sat and waited for Frank, expecting him to swim as he ignored the flat bits and the shouts to come now. I was going to watch this. Fortunately (disappointingly) he made it out fine going over a couple of half-decent waves. We headed north. “Photobucket” We had to stick together due to the fog and had to stay inside the reefs because of the size of the sea. We were sheltered here and besides we were scratching for bits rather than targeting dinner. This area is a kind of sanctuary for small stuff presumably with some larger fish coming in to feed perhaps so we might get lucky. I dropped anchor in 6-8ft and cast one rod towards the rocks and one downtide, what little tide there was here. Rank moved further up towards the end into 15ft and James sat a bit inshore. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” Frank was first up, small whiting taking the bait. I was fishing the Warbird 220’s with size 2 feather rigs baited with small fresh lugworm tipped with unwashed squid. Not for the feather’s attraction, being dirty water, but as short snood paternosters. 4oz breakaway leads held them fairly well though I did get some bumping from them. I sat and waited some more. “Photobucket” James had a dab. I’d not had a bite. Frank had caught again too; I hauled anchor and moved up into the deeper part and cast again, sitting back to watch the rod tips. “Photobucket” What would be my first sea fish caught on the MidWay? Would it be a new species, would it be the longed-for rockling or coalie? The rod jiggled a bit; I struck…and started to reel in, feeling something on the end… “Photobucket” “Photobucket” Good stuff, my first dab of the year…second saltwater species point for 2014 too. My smallest ever dab too! “Photobucket” I rebaited after releasing it and waited…not for long. I struck and in came perhaps my smallest ever whiting. This would be fantastic to drift down the reefs in the summer, the bass would nail it in short order! The small hooks were a good idea. “Photobucket” I was still waiting for my oddities though, what was next? Well, not a lot. The flow eased off to nothing and well over an hour of no movement and no fish passed, and then the dabs went crazy as the flow started. Thirty seconds or so and I had a bite each cast, good fun, good sport but only a couple of deep hooked keepers…but then, as Frank came over to say his goodbyes, success!!! “Photobucket” Imagine that, a sixty mile round trip to try for one of these, a rockling or slug as it’s more commonly referred to. People don’t like these – they take baits meant for bigger table fish, are slimy and slippery and good for nothing. They’re also very different, quite attractive and have a bit of character about them. They’re also impossible to grab hold of! “Photobucket” Great, a rockling, but which one? There are 3 bearded, shore and 5 bearded about; indeed Dave had landed a larger one of the former a few days previously and a few miles north; I took a close up and counted the barbels; 5 bearded rockling. “Photobucket” Frank paddled back to get a photo and I reciprocated. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” “Photobucket” I sat back to wait events. “Photobucket” With Frank gone James, who’d had a flounder to add to his list, came over and joined me closer to the reef. There were some good waves rolling in through the ends, some of them up to 6ft which lifted us straight up, pulled against the anchor trollies and hauled us backwards. It was somewhat exhilarating when they came through and we kept shouting warnings across…the MidWay didn’t miss a beat though. “Photobucket” Then, while dealing with one rod the other started to bang nicely. I struck it and left it there, banging away. I knew the fish was on. Winding it in soon after though I kicked myself for my foolishness, it was off. What had I done – again? I’d lost it. I really should learn. No matter, I carried on hauling the dabs while James, spawny chap that he is, landed a two-inch sole! Marvellous, and was I jealous? Yeah! Only ever had one, my first kayak sea fish way back in 2006. Still… I was getting really cold now, James too. We decided, with time getting on, that we’d have one more fish each and then head in. James landed a dab minutes later and then…and then…and then…I waited. Finally the rod bucked, I struck and started to wind in. Things weren’t happening, the drag was slipping so I gave up and not wanting to lose this fish – I’d changed to my little rig with size 6 hooks – I handlined it the rest of the way, grinning and whooping when I saw it and hauled it aboard; my first ever flounder! “Photobucket” I’d done it, two out of three. I was chuffed, well worth the effort. We up-anchored and I paddled over to the gap at the end of the reef to try and catch a wave. They were big but not standing up and I was shaking from the cold making he kayak wobble. I picked some speed up but each rolled under me, bringing me closer in to try again. With James just behind and close by I turned and saw a biggie, curling nicely. We were too close and my legs were shaking, I’d not have any control. In my Scupper, familiar as I am with it, I’d have been fine bar the shaking. With the RRRapido I’d have scooted along and had a marvellous ride. I didn’t dare this time, my rods strapped to the hull and the thought of a soaking before driving back with no heater saw me chicken out, turn and ride back over it. We headed towards the sand bar and landed calmly instead. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” We got moving as soon as we could, once we’d hopped out of the yaks and the blood had started to flow we chilled further, rapidly. It took a few hundred yards to get back up to temperature. It had been a marvellous session despite the conditions and well worth the effort. The sun finally appeared as it set most of the way home and all I had to do was inch through the traffic back to the house. A postscript I suppose. I was slightly damp in my drysuit which I’d finally dried out after taking water in during myself-rescue practice last week. It’s now worn out after three or four years and a good couple of hundred launches. Time for some new replacements. With my Sidewinders also shot it’s going to be a big package when the courier comes through the door with a the latest version of the Palm Aleutian drysuit, which is apparently superb, for the winter and an Ion bib with either the Alaska or Oceana touring jacket, to go with my Symbiant Tour buoyancy aid and Kola boots which have served me well over the years.

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Damp Squib…15/01/2013

Damp Squib…15/01/2013 I woke up to rain and a text. The text was from Paul and was about the rain. Paul doesn’t like to fish in rain and nor do I. The problem is Mark was free today only and knows where all the big pike are. A quick call to him and he told me it was raining so I went back to bed. But Mark was free for today only and a check of the forecast pointed to it not raining so a bit of bullying later I picked Paul up; I wanted to christen the MidWay with a pike and a good one at that… It rained all the way up to Wroxham but stopped a couple of miles short. So we pulled up and unloaded, got the kayaks ready to paddle, got the rods and tackle set up and clambered into drysuits. Meanwhile I turned my back on Mark who’d initially laughed at and then stolen one of my Warbirds. The next time I turned around he had tried to steal my kayak. These Norfolk folk are a strange bunch. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” I say drysuits but I don’t really mean mine which was still damp from my previous testing of my new kayak…so I was destined for a damp day whatever. No matter, we launched. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” “Photobucket” We headed upriver a little way and with floating deadbait traces on my Xtraflexx 10-30g rods and my Warbird 220’s attached I attached a smelt and a herring and lobbed the baits out midriver while Paul pranced about scaring the fish off and Mark did the same as I. “Photobucket” We waited…and waited. It took over half an hour before my enthusiasm was as damp as the day and so I headed across the river to try fishing the bend, attracting the first amorous swans of the day, one of which came to kiss the back of my kayak before heading off. “Photobucket” Which was what I did after another fruitless half an hour. Mark also moved and we tried another favoured spot, waiting for another half an hour before I decided I was going on the troll with Paul. Out went a lucky banker Eco Narrow and a Jointed Minnow 13. “Photobucket” Paddling was a breeze, I had to hold the kayak in check as it just wanted to accelerate all the way through the built up stretch of bank and on to the wilder, tree-lined banks. I didn’t have so much as a pluck at the lures; no weed but no pike either. This was not going as I’d hoped. “Photobucket” I decided I‘d been far enough and ought to go back to the baits so turned and trolled back to find Mark. Paul lingered in the background as I started to feel amazed at how far we’d come in the short time we’d paddled – I’d got myself a mover here for sure! Back into the town stretch and I heard a shout from behind; Paul had a fish. I turned, snagged my lures and went to get some photos. Not a large fish but he’d christened my new reel, a Maxximus 11+1. Loaded with braid he loved it and had felt everything the jack had given. “Photobucket” “Photobucket” “Photobucket” We continued through the town and returned to the launch point with Mark nowhere to be seen. I decided I may have more luck with a livebait and, with my IM10 2-16g and a waggler I started chucking out single maggots and pulling in roach, my first fish on the MidWay… “Photobucket” And a perch… “Photobucket” Finally I had a roach of a useable size and rigged it for a pike; this had to work surely? I located Mark again and started to fish while he walked to McDonalds to get the coffees. Meanwhile I got plagued by swans. “Photobucket” Coffee and fishing, I’ve spent worse times afloat! I still couldn’t get a pike though and nothing on the waggler here either. Mark was in the same boat so to speak and Paul’s lures weren’t catching either so we set off to a promising spot. That was no good either so it was back to the launch point, fishing the corner. “Photobucket” Perch were chasing the small roach, the same sort of size I was catching; then a rudd…I may not be catching pike but I’d knocked the first three species off my freshwater list. “Photobucket” Time was getting on, we had another half an hour. I put the pike rods away and moved under the bridge to try for another species or two. Another chap on the bank was fishing light with a leadhead and a jellyworm near us, catching perch and chub. I just had more of the same and then it was time to get loaded back up and drive home; it was then, while putting the kayak on the roof, that I watched him land a pike twenty yards from where we’d launched that morning. Oh well; we set off home, regaled by Mark on the phone telling us of the near-twenty he’d just landed. So, not only was the weather, my drysuit, car and kayak damp but so was my enthusiasm. Still, there’s always next time...and at least the kayak was dirtied now! “Photobucket” “Photobucket”