It had been mentioned here and there over recent weeks but we only committed to such drastic action during a brief encounter at the supermarket the day before; she should come to mine. So, it was a date and after a brief nap following my last shift another man’s wife pitched up on the doorstep while my wife was out and promptly stripped in the hallway before squeezing into neoprene. Boy would James be jealous at not being there with us.
I, meanwhile, was making coffee and averting my eyes like a gentleman. Damn this conscience of mine. Down went the coffee and I ran upstairs to grab the last bits required and we left to head down to the beach. You see Marisa likes eating fish. She also knows how to paddle and learnt to fish as a girl. Her PhD in fisheries science (specialised in Tench) wasn’t going to be much use to us as either of those skills but never mind. Ideal partner for a casual session then, up for a session and totally at ease with a rod in her hand.
Enough of the innuendo, James will be inconsolable especially as he has pink hotpants on his mind this week. We launched and headed straight to the pier. I’d intended being about 45 minutes earlier but this hadn’t worked out and even though we set a brisk pace north we missed the tide and by the time we got to the rocks the tide was going the same way as us.
Not a complete disaster, being quite slow still, but with the water coloured up with lots of suspended sand and clarity perhaps three inches the additional movement of the lures running against the tide and the slower speed possible would have really improved things.
Still, it was as much about going out for a paddle as seriously fishing. I’d even taken three fillets out for lunch for us and Flo, who would be back by then I guess. Anything caught was going home with Marisa anyway.
Well, we chatted all the way up to Ness Point and she saw a part of Lowestoft she never has, in fact I don’t think she’s paddled on the sea and usually she’s in a canoe rather than a kayak. Not a problem as the sea was reasonably calm on the way north. Turning and sticking the lures back out I had one that wasn’t running straight so swapped with Marisa as I was staying in closer to the rocks, putting the other as an unused rod on her kayak. And off we went. Now the tide was in our favour, slowing the kayak nicely and making the lures vibrate beautifully. I got halfway and bang! I called her over and gave her the rod, the pair of us manoeuvring out from the rocks.
A fabulous fight followed, Marisa was shrieking and laughing and really enjoying the whole thing, amazed at the power of her first bass. She did all the work until I moved in, grabbed the trace and landed it (tricky part without a net and I know where the sharp bits are).
I unhooked it and handed her the fish for some pictures. She marvelled at it, the sheen, the whole look of it, everything. She’s seen ones I’ve caught that day but there’s nothing quite like one straight out of the water to appreciate a fresh run bass.
We carried on back down and the wind started to build along with the tide. Up ahead she spied a seal and moved closer, getting to thirty yards or so before it decided to stop eyeballing her and splashed away in a turning dive. A big bull seal, another new experience that was greatly enjoyed.
Yep. The waves were building.
Out came the Orca, dredging all night long across from my office, and seemed like a good photo op!
By now we were approaching the harbour mouth and it was decidedly lumpy. Close in, where it was rebounding, I didn’t stand a hope though I carried on trying – I was being bounced up a couple or three feet in quick succession and being pushed laterally. Some concern for Marisa but she seemed to be coping…
This just left the worst bit of all. The southern end of the pier has shallow water that chops up at any excuse, the flood tide was now really hammering through at a couple of knots and being propelled up and out with the rip, chopping up in the shallows and bouncing back off the wall. The wind played a role too and we had sandbanks for a lot of the way in on a dropping tide too. What does this mean? This means that I was testing the MidWay in the nastiest conditions (though not the largest) I’ve taken her though so far, with that pointed bow burying while water was coming over both sides and the stern with waves hitting me from three directions, it was far more secure than I felt it was though and once I settled into it I enjoyed the sensation of a more agile ride. This also means that even a novice paddler in a Tempo can paddle against wind and tide and through a challenging sea upright and with a smile! She loved every minute of it and was buzzing for the half-mile plus that we had of this.
It flattened off a lot once we got within a couple of hundred yards of the beach and though it appeared flat the low waves rolling to the beach were moving fast and the pair of us surfed in.
I fetched the car and Flo, loaded up and the three of us went back home to enjoy a fine lunch of panfried bass fillet with a chilli and balsamic dressed salad…and a San Miguel of course. There's nothing quite like like fooling around with a married woman.
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