A Hundred not out. Hopton...21/12/08

The forecast looked 50:50 for the weekend which is good enough for me and so I decided that as Saturday would not be possible due to the staff Christmas party but Sunday was the ideal opportunity for me to hit at least one target for the year…I’d intended to hit it last week but wanted to tie in another target if possible and so hadn’t made a second launch. So, at half past five after a really bad night of poor sleep (too much cheese the previous night) my alarm went off and I headed downstairs to get coffee’d and dressed for a six o’clock rendezvous. I had to get out – it was my last chance for the year anyway as I’m away on Tuesday and can’t take my kayak.

I couldn’t wait and so sent Bootster a text to say I’d meet him at the beach and pointed the van northwards. Soon after I pulled up alongside Pinkfoot who was readying his Mini-X by the side of the road before heading down the track and parking (eventually) behind Eastangler, Bootster turning up shortly afterwards. Bootster and I hadn’t been out since about April and so it was good to catch up again for a session. Eastangler was back after his debut a fortnight ago and, well, Pinkfoot and I seem to be down here a lot together – the Suffolk/Norfolk border kayak angling community is starting to grow in number!

Everything loaded I headed down to the beach. It was still dark and we’d be starting out under navlights and head torches with the sun not coming up until we were already fishing. Pinkfoot headed out first and I watched as Eastangler launched before pulling my Prowler 15 into the sea, clambering aboard and paddling through the shore break on my hundredth launch of 2008, waiting at the end of the groyne for Bootster to get afloat.



We paddled out and anchored up about a third of a mile out I’d guess. We were on an ebb tide and it was reasonably strong but not as bad as it has been lately. It was the shortest day of the year too – so I’d scrounged an extension to ‘elevenish’ – in other words I’d aim to be home at midday ;D

I fished a pennel on one rod, with lug and whole squid, put down a (flatfish spoon rig which kept tangling) on another, a three-hook flapper on a third and my current favourite, a wishbone rig, on the fourth. The sea was pretty kind to us today so four rods was easy to manage and I wanted to see which rigs would produce the desired Dabs…

It turned out no rigs were producing anything for me – after a couple of hours I was blanking badly, with only 3 missed bites and a starfish (I think it’s called a Brittlestar) to show for it. And I don’t know where that came from!



However, I kept at it, fishing lug with squid strips on the smaller rigs, using 2/0’s in the hope for flatties. Funnily enough all my bites had come on the same rod and rig – I’d swapped off the flatfish spoon rig for a wishbone with attractor blades between the beads. Thinking about it afterwards I suspect that the flashes were being actively sought as the larger fish are feeding heavily on sprats at the moment. However, when I finally managed to make a capture I decided enough was enough…



Yes, a Whelk. Fairly and squarely caught – it had wrapped its white bits (well I don’t know what they’re called!) around the bait and was trying to eat it. It didn’t put up much of a fight though – they’ve got nothing on a prawn, I tell you. So it seemed to me that I could either catch odd critters like these, pull my anchor and see how Bootster was doing or watch the skeins of geese fly overhead…



I went over to Bootster. He was doing alright – he had a codling while I was there, his fourth…I hung around chatting for a while and he gave me some blacks to try, so I headed off, dropped anchor again and started to fish. I stuck some blacks onto a fresh pennel rig with a squid, cast in, then rebaited the other hooks with fresh lug. It was only a couple of minutes in the new spot before a rod started to go:



A Pouting maybe – but I wasn’t blanking now! It had come to the attractor blade wishbone which had the lug and the whelk on it. Soon afterwards another fish came to this rig too:



Lovely job! On a 2/0 and a small bait taken when the sprats are here in force? The codling are feeding heavily on them at present – they were regurgitating them on the yak, their stomachs were full of them when gutted yet still they were hitting small worm baits – and funnily enough my pennels didn’t get hit once all day.



Next up was another pouting – this time on a three hook flapper on normal lug tipped with squid strip. Then it went quite for a while, until the tide started to ease slightly…and then the attractor wishbone rig went again with a good knock and another codling came in.

I needed one more…I didn’t have long left either…I started to bring rods in and then…bang bang bang! Fish on, and pulling strongly. Same rig and a 12lb class rod. Here it came…up and in!



It had again taken the lug/whelk snood. Well, I was made up and decided to take a photograph of target two – my five hundredth fish of 2008:



Rods in, anchor up and I paddled in. The wind had really picked up since launch and it was fairly hard going. The tide was still ebbing even an hour after high water and I was making about a knot against both. Eastangler and Bootster were meanwhile having a natter…



Eastangler was staying out but Bootster and I went in, him leading in my Trident. Pinkfoot was further south but joined us on the beach shortly after. He was chuffed to bits – he’d got another species for the year and had a few fish to take home too.

We stood around chatting away for a while and then headed up the slope to the transport – there’s no better way in my book to hit your big targets than with friends, and to hit my hundredth launch and five-hundredth fish on what is almost certainly my last session of the year was brilliant.



So, that’s me done until next year and I’d just like to thank, publicly, all those of you who I’ve fished with this year and who have helped, inspired, amused and taught this old dog new tricks. It’s been a cracking year!

Do Your Flies up!...12-14/12/08

Sometimes the weather just falls into place for a fun weekend and looking at my local forecast it looked a belter – big, rough seas on Saturday with smaller swell on Sunday; I could just visualise a Yak Boarding session followed by a Codling bash…

…except I was already intending to be elsewhere, amongst friends, trying a brand new type of kayak fishing – Kayak Fly Fishing!

Kayakflyfisher had arranged for a group of us to meet up on a private Trout lake down in deepest Berkshire, the county of my forefathers (well, on one side) and so on Friday morning I found myself driving south far too early in anticipation of a weekend every bit as enjoyable as the one I would have had at home – but with more time on the water should I want it. I was loaded up with kayaks, paddles, fishfinders and assorted stuff as well as food, bedding and clothes. Three and a half hours later I turned down a muddy track, hopped out and wandered over to a hut where KFF, Darnsarf and Litl666 were already hitting the cuppas pretty hard, and it was not long before one was thrust into my hand. A quick fly casting lesson followed and I judged myself incompetent but able to hit the water from a kayak without missing.

People continued to drift in over the course of the afternoon and evening, usually proceeded by a phone call along the lines of:

“Dave, I’m at such and such a place, how do I get to your place?”

“No good asking me mate, I live in Southampton.”

Despite that, they all managed to make it here eventually and with dinner out of the way it was down to the serious business of opening the wine.

And Beer.

And Tequila.

And Brandy.

And Single Malt.

I must confess that not a single drop passed my lips. Honest! I kept it all down. Not long before three in the morning I decided to slur it a day and rolled out to my van where my sleeping bag awaited me.

I awoke four hours later to the sound of my alarm going off on the wrong day. I chose to ignore it in the hope it would go away. Ten minutes later it went off again. On the fifth round of attempting to wake me up I decided that I had to find it and switch it off, whereupon I went back to sleep to the soothing sound of gently drumming rain hammering down on the roof. Another hour or more passed before I crawled out and slithered up the now-muddy path to the lodge where a cuppa awaited and Cambornecaperpilot was getting ready to cook up a welcome breakfast. With that inside me I felt a million dollars. Sadly, the current exchange rate puts that at about three quid so I dragged myself into my drysuit, slung my Yak Board in the lake and paddled out to where I hoped the hungry Trout were. After blanking for a while I wandered about a bit to see how the others were doing:











About as well as me then!

I chose to take a Yak Board for a few reasons – firstly, my Trident and Prowler 15 are both overly large for the venue – an eight acre lake – and also have enough obstructions on them for the flies to hang up on. It appears from photographs that it was sitting somewhat low in the water at times but it was just right for the job – I could move all around the boat and fished facing from all sides of it at one point or another.

A burst of excitement – Sharkhunter had tempted a rainbow with a green Damselfly…the first fish out of the lake to us hardy paddlers, and a nice size too as it went to 2lb 5oz when weighed later.



I carried on fishing and although I had a swirl behind my hook before this, nothing else came along all day and so after my hands decided to rebel I went in for a coffee and a break before venturing back out again.

I spent the rest of the afternoon variously beating replica flies to death, paddling about, drifting and casting or watching Trout come to the surface and waggled their fins at me in the way a small child waggles fingers attached to the sides of their heads or the ends of their noses. Anyone would think that they were blind or wanted to live forever. Eventually I decided that enough was enough and I hauled myself out of the water and went to warm up, get out of my drysuit and prepare for an evening of banter, eating and drinking. This involved a hilarious tour of Berkshire in search for a Tesco three miles away and the hilarity of a foghorn deciding to go off in the back of the van ;D

A good barbecue followed…


…and I partook only of a single beer and half a glass of wine whilst downing plenty of Cokes as I’d have to drive home on Sunday. It appeared that Sharkhunter was set to win best fish, best bag, best team prizes all to himself! Not only that, he’d brought his camper with him and was the only one that could have a shower so, we carried on drinking and the banter at times got out of hand and had us in hysterics; a sample of our merrymaking provided below for those with broad minds…



It was an earlier night this time – people wanted to get out on the water earlier as it was close – only one fish separated the leader from the pack. Granted, it was the only one but it promised to be a more pleasant day on Sunday – did I mention that the rain only stopped on Saturday when the sky ran out of water during the night?

Up a bit earlier after a bloody cold night in the van (drysuit had fallen onto my sleeping bag whilst driving to Tesco) I went in and cooked breakfast for whoever wanted – a big pile of dead pieces of meat with toast was duly consumed and I watched as the others launched, including Santa n his way to invade the Island:



I stood and nattered to everyone, watched as Todaymueller caught a rival fish, loaded up my van and welcomed Starvinmarvin along.



He’s finally found a Kayak his size…



Around lunchtime I decided to head for home, three and a half hours away, so that I could see my daughters for a while before bedtime and get an early night myself. So with a final thank you to kayakflyfisher for organising a cracking weekend of banter, yakking, fishing and hilarity I climbed into the van and headed northeast. I’d watched the others go out that morning but had stayed ashore myself - I had discovered on Saturday that Fly Fishing is not for me, being far too refined and gentlemanly for a fishing thug such as myself, also I didn’t want to clamber into a cold drysuit and I wanted to avoid a definite blank on my hundredth launch of the year…my next one.

Chilling out...06-07/12/08

The original predictions early in the week were for huge great swells that I could go and surf my Yak Board on and so I was quite excited through the week while out on the road and formulated a plan to go in the river for a freshwater session on the Saturday and play in the waves on Sunday. With my parents wanting to take the children over the weekend as well it meant that for once I could have a lie in and still have a decent session.

Back home late on Thursday it became clear that the promised big waves weren’t coming and so I changed my mind and decided on a sea fishing session on the Sunday but nothing too special – just using up the bait in the freezer. With Pinkfoot phoning up planning on a launch too it was agreed that we’d go to Hopton…and invite Eastangler along too for the first session on his Elite.

I’m jumping ahead. I left the house around 11 on Saturday and headed out to Beccles, stopping on the way to buy some maggots to mix with my breadcrumb and use as hookbait. Launching down by the pool I trolled a pair of Super Shad raps up to the bridge with no luck before tying up alongside the bay I usually catch Chub from.



The water was running quite fast and it soon became clear that a float was just a waste of time. Changing over the float rod I then began fishing a pair of rods with feeders on, the line kept taut by the flow. After a while with no bites I figured that it was pointless continuing so I would be better advised to head off to the mouth of the boat yard and fish the corner where Roach, Bream, Dace and Gudgeon often shoal in winter.



It was slow! I was here a lot last winter and had some hectic fishing sessions but this was nothing like it. Clearly the fish hadn’t moved up in numbers yet and I was just faced with the residents…eventually one of them took the bait…and came off the hook while I was bringing it aboard. A nice winter Roach in great condition and of a decent stamp. I cast again and sat back to wait…

…the tip rattled and I was in again…



Another like the first and I rigged it with a circle hook and a float and cast it out for pike. I carried on for a while and pulled out a couple more similar Roach and at one time watched my pike float moving around erratically, going under briefly once or twice. Reeling in at one point I noted that one flank had been scaled from the anal fin forward to the head but alas the pike had either been small or not too hungry and it hadn’t grabbed hold properly. I moved.


I tried again, hoping to pick up a pike along the wall and cast the maggot baits further down into a hole that sometimes produces Roach, Perch and Dace. Still nothing was happening and so I trolled back towards my launch point before tying up for a last hour near a reedy bend facing the town and waited.



Chilling? My toes were like ice and with darkness falling I headed back to the car and home. Not much in the way of fish to show for my time on the water but on such a crisp day it was a pleasure to be out.

Come Sunday morning I was raring to go…my alarm went off at 6 and I got straight up and headed downstairs for coffee. There was no rush – we’d planned on meeting around 7am and taking things easy. Leaving the house I scraped some ice off the windscreen and headed for Hopton, driving down Beach Road and getting my kit sorted out earlier than planned. I’d left my tackle bag at home but with the bait from last week frozen onto rigs and a bunch of leads sitting in one of the bags in the van I was okay to go as I was. Pinkfoot soon turned up followed by Eastangler and once we were all set we headed down to the waters edge.



It was bloody cold. When it came to putting the C-Tug in the front hatch I couldn’t undo the buckles at first – they were frozen solid. The straps had to be forcibly peeled from the plastic too and there were maggots frozen to the hull all over the place.



But it was a lovely morning…



Eastangler’s first launch was going to be easy. There was little in the way of wave action, just some breaking stuff at the shoreline which shelves quite steeply. Of course by the time he went into the water a set was coming in that was slightly larger and slightly more powerful than the rest and he had to put up with it breaking over the bow. This was a good thing and another good thing was that I followed after it had passed!



We paddled out, not too far but in thirty feet of water and towards the rising sun. The current was far kinder than on previous visits, it being neaps this week.



After Eastangler’s anchor was down and set and he was comfortable I dropped mine and started to fish. Bites were not forthcoming and I began to wonder if my idea of re-using my whopping great cod bait from last week and frozen blow lug was a good idea. Then I got a bite on the cod rod (I had a two hook flapper and a wishbone on the other rods). I missed it of course. Then another came a while later. Then finally, the wishbone rig rattled away and the first fish came aboard – a Whiting that was popped back in, being easily unhooked.



The apprentice was doing alright too – not catching yet but he was happily fishing away. To be fair he only had some squid and mackerel out of my freezer as it was a last minute thing this time – I expect him to outfish me next time as Pinkfoot always does.



It was a glorious morning and as usual we provided the entertainment for the locals who are clearly impressed with our antics and frequently attempt communication through use of hand signals.



Then Eastangler had a Whiting on, he called over – his first yak fish – and as I watched the little bugger escaped! Ah well, at least he didn’t blank and it took me months to get my first fish from the sea. Soon after…Oh my… the cod bait had a good couple of pulls…I tightened down on the fish and pulled up an optimistic Pout.



I was happy enough, that was another fish and the second species of the day. It was also cleanly hooked and after a quick snap it went off to pick on some food its own size.



It wasn’t long after that when I got a thumping great bite on my wishbone rig and the rod arched over…I was using a lead with no grip wires on and so this was a new experience for me. I tightened down onto it and in the flow with its mouth open I had a nice time bringing it up to the surface…a nice size of fish this…



A Codling. I was hoping for, but not expecting, one of these. The local angling forums have been full of people bemoaning the lack of cod now that the sprat shoals have moved in and so it was a bonus to me. Going around 3.5-4lb I took a quick photograph and popped it back in the water to rejoin its friends.



Yeah, right. Actually I knocked it on the head and popped it in the fridge for the following evening. A good choice too as it turned out rather delicious.

I was to get one more Whiting in the next half an hour before packing up and then with our anchors lifted we wandered over to see Pinkfoot who was staying out a bit longer. As usual he was well ahead with six codling (2 deep-hooked fish kept) but was a bit fed up at losing a dab the size of a dinner plate. Well, who wouldn’t be? We said our goodbyes and headed in through the slight surf, up the slope and off home. My target was actually a new species and nine more fish but there’s always next time…and hopefully you’ll be joining us again Eastangler!

A couple of Lowestoft Kippers...30/11/08

When it's like this



and you have these



You can make that



to catch this



so you may as well go home and have these:

Pre-dawn launch at Hopton...29/11/08

Should have stayed in bed; Red weed and no fish.

Flippin’ Weather...21-22/11/08

It’s starting to get a bit cooler now and with the sun rising later and setting earlier time available for launching is more restricted than in the past few months. I got a heads up that the weather was going to be poor for fishing this weekend -for poor read impossible – and when I finally got around to checking I realised that it was indeed the case. However, with swells of between 10 and 16ft forecast for Lowestoft on Friday and Saturday I figured that if I cleared the decks by late afternoon Thursday I could comfortably take the following day off…

Friday morning and I was able to enjoy a more leisurely breakfast with the girls and even do the school run again at last. It was rather cold and I was quite pleased to get home into the warmth. A few hours of painting and decorating was required before I could play but with my youngest and my wife heading off to the school after lunch it was time to get changed and wander down to the beach.

As a kid I loved the film ‘Big Wednesday’ and watched it over and over. There’s always that expectation when you know a big swell is predicted and you head down to the beach hoping it’s true but sadly Magic Seaweed had suckered me in again, along with the half a dozen surfers who were out. That said, it was still looking good and there were some long, powerful swells coming in and breaking a hundred yards out, averaging about 6ft or so and the surfers were riding a few of the better ones. This was the second time I’d taken my new Yak Board out for a surf (I fished from it a couple of weeks ago too) – the demo ones gave me such fun I had to invest – and it looked like I was in for a whale of a time.

One drawback with the Yak Board compared to the fifteen footers I’m used to is that I always get the feeling I’m standing still when paddling out…the glide and speed is sacrificed for superb manoeuvrability and stability in the rough stuff…and this slow movement was to be my downfall many, many times. I got on in knee deep water and began the paddle out. Some of the waves were breaking a way ahead, others closer in and the foam was rolling under me with some spraying my face to waken me up now and again. As I got out further I started trying to judge where to cut through…he who hesitates is lost of course and I’d nearly always end up with a big old bit of water rearing up and breaking as I was almost through…it took ages before I was out far enough to chose my waves but it was comfortable here and I watched a few good rides from the surfers before going for some of my own.



The first wave I caught was superb – a nice big one came rolling in and was building to break soon after I was on it…I paddled hard and as it reared up behind me I was on the downward slope and accelerating beautifully…stern rudder right…stern rudder left…brace…paddle up…and then stern rudder on the right again to turn myself beam on and hop out in a couple of inches of water on the beach. Beautiful! A perfect run in and a great start – I just had to get back out there again…

I took a few waves in the face, got knocked off backwards a few times, flipped a few times and slid off the side too but in the hour and a half I was in the water I had seven superb rides and by the end of it I was able to run along the wave as well as just straight in front of it. An excellent afternoon’s playing.

Come Saturday and I was itching to go again. The weather was not overly conducive to spending time on the beach but needs must and the surf was supposed to be better today…sadly it wasn’t until late afternoon that I could grab the Yak Board again and go and play:



I dragged my mate along on Flo’s Yak too – she won’t play in this weather but he’s as stupid as I am. Well, more so in fact as he was in a wetsuit. I took a pic of him in his old helmet but he looked such a cock that I shan’t be so unkind as to post it. That said, he didn’t get a painful whack on the head from a yak today, unlike yours truly, and I bet I looked a cock wearing it.

We had the same issues getting out but even worse. The waves were shorter today and with the lesser intervals it was hard work getting out. Eventually we’d make it but more often than not a turn and surf-in was the order of the day. Still, Liam hadn’t had a go in proper waves before:



(I was holding the Yak in the other hand hence the movement!). And then the snow started up again. Standing in the sea during a blizzard is highly recommended for all those whose parents were unable to afford a private education as I gather it is makes one absolutely spiffing, what. It had gone dark as well.



It lightened up after the squall had passed and we’d both had a ride out of it. Then it was time to sit out back and wait for another – there were some magnificent waves rolling in and it was still snowing.



We were drifting out and try as I might I couldn’t pick up a ride on these, maybe getting on top but never dropping down onto the face. (Edit: does that sound sexual to you?)



I finally picked up a decent one and ran all the way in. Liam and I had taken off next to each other and maybe thirty yards apart and I was in a slightly better position on the face to manoeuvre and avoid the breaking top – I went all the way in and saw he’d wiped-out (surfer term) about halfway in. Not that I didn’t manage it myself quite spectacularly many, many times this weekend I hasten to add. It was starting to darken up now and warm coffee’s beckoned. Having had a whack on the head while standing in the surf on the wrong side of the yak when a wave broke in the wrong place I wandered ashore to chat to Liam. It was time to go…but one last ride was on the cards.

We both wandered out a bit and then got aboard. We paddled out next to each other and about halfway out a big wave came rolling in. I heard Liam say there was no way he would get over it so he was going to turn and surf it in, and that’s what he did. I wasn’t ready to turn and so tried to climb over it – up at a crazy angle, over the top and down with a thump! Well chuffed but surprised too as I figured I was going to be dumped. I took the next one too and then a big bugger with my name written on it came barrelling in and there was just not a hope in hell…but I wasn’t far enough out to surf it in so I gave it my best shot even though I just knew…up I went, climbing vertically up the face as it started to break… ****…then I did what felt like a full 360 degree backflip (it was an easy 180!) still on the yak and then, disengaged, did an underwater somersault revolving right around the paddle. Excellent! Came up for a breather, as you do, grabbed the yak which was amazingly right there, hopped aboard, paddled out some more, saw another that I wouldn't get over, started to turn, got halfway around so i was beam on and did a 300m surf with the yak pointing the right way and me (jammed in) sitting across the yak. I came in laughing my head off. Asking Liam if he’d seen that run in he replied that he had and it was a good one…”did you realise I was side-saddle and had absolutely no control over things whatsoever?” I enquired…



Roll on tomorrow... 8-)

Hopton or Bust!...15/11/08

Another early morning and this time the parking was blocked by barriers. The wind was pretty forceful but the sea looked okay and as the tide was down it promised to be a far easier launch than the previous week. Carl had beaten me to the launch site and so we set about unloading and rigging up. He was on lug and squid again while I went for rag and squid. Until the lug are bigger and better I’m not bothering to waste my money on them – the whiting will take anything you stick in front of them and the cod are about in large enough numbers that the rag is still successful for them too.



We launched as the sun was coming out and paddled out a few hundred yards slightly downtide before dropping our anchors, Carl further south than I.



The current was screaming through – I guess at around five knots plus – and I had to lift my rudder to reduce the noise and increase stability – such was the force I had to push it straight with my paddle before I could do anything. Still, the swell wasn’t of any concern and the chop was slight too and my anchor held first time – glad I stuck some chain on again.



I started getting bites on the running leger pennels but couldn’t seem to connect for a while and then I managed to hook into a lump. The rod was heavy and it was pulling strongly – it felt like a double to me for a while and I actually had to pump the fish in. The embarrassing part of this was that it was a codling that only went about 3bs!! The current was that fierce and the bugger had its mouth open into it that it was hard work. Still, it was a nice size for the plate.



I had plenty more bites but just couldn’t connect to them – I was using a lot of weight to get the lines down and was having to bow the line to set the things on the bottom and so bites were missed as I was striking into nothing and the fish appeared to be heading uptide – successful hookups seemed to be as much about luck as anything else...but then another came in, a Pout which gave the hardest bite of the day. Third fish of the day was one that was a bit scrawny and so I was glad it was lightly hooked – so it followed the Pout down.



I altered the bait presentation and stuck both rods down again…and waited. After ten minutes I decided to lift and bounce them just to check they weren’t snagged and within seconds of putting one back down it started to go – another decent pull and the second keeper came up. Not quite as big as the first but not too far off and so it joined its kin in the footwell as I baited up once more.



I had to be home for ten and the tide was still screaming…high tide made no effect it seemed and lumping all my bait onto the rods for last casts I was rewarded with my third keeper. It was time to head in. On the way I stopped (ish) to chat to Carl who was now inshore of me after some anchor warp tangles that had needed a landing to comfortably sort out and I paddled hard for a few minuets while we had a chat – he had the luxury of time and the common sense to stay put until slack water came. Me, I just paddled inshore at a good angle to go in straight!! The water was well up and I was restricted on where I could beach so went in between a couple of beach anglers who weren’t having a great deal of success this morning. Nice blokes and I stopped and chatted with them for a while – I hope things picked up later for them but they’d had some decent cracks of the whip recently so it wasn’t all bad. While this was happening of course the tide had eased and the cod were starting to feed harder – Carl was well into them by all accounts but fortunately I was unaware of this and had been reminded by phone that I was already late getting home…another five fish and another launch closer to my target for the year – and a good, enjoyable and taxing session too. Gutting them at home with my girls (they like to see what’s in them so I don’t do it at sea) the fish all had small hardbacks and shrimps in them. The same knife was wielded for the ensuing minutes and soon six more fillets found their way into the freezer for the coming year. It looks like a good year for getting value from the price of the worms!

Wetter than an Otter’s Pocket...02/11/08

I still had a few Ragworm left over from Thursday’s trip out off Gorleston and wanted to use them rather than let them go to waste. I should have launched on Friday – it was lovely – but I had to be elsewhere doing other things and so I decided on Saturday morning for a sessions. When Pinkfoot phoned that night we decided that Hopton, between Lowestoft and Gorleston, was the place. Reports suggest loads of codling and cod too were available a few hundred yards out…it had to be done.

I was up early and after coffee headed north to the launch point. Just before arriving I got a text from Carl – he wasn’t coming having checked the forecasts – when I arrived and looked at the sea I couldn’t blame him; it was unfishable. The wind was howling, the tide was running, the whole sea was choppy and had white horses as far as the eye could see and the surf was around 4ft and strong. I didn’t even unload the kayak.



I intended getting the Yak Board out later and going for a play back home but just ended up losing the opportunity once too often before the rain came. Ah well, there’s still Sunday…

Up early again. Halfway through my coffee I went into the conservatory and noticed that it was raining. That’s me out then. I read for a while and then when the girls got up I fed them, got them dressed and we went down to the car boot sale – I needed some leads and there’s a bloke who sells them out dirt cheap – with the subsequent plan being the wildlife park next door to create havoc in the play area. Two problems here – the first was that the tackle guy wasn’t at the sale and the second, after a forty minute wait, was that the play area didn’t open at the same time as the park. Seen one lion you’ve seen them all, and when you’ve seen all the ones in one place a hundred times there’s no point hanging around so we went back home.

Enough is enough. The rain had stopped half an hour after I’d first seen it. I was going out again. I got kitted up and drove back to Hopton thinking things would be better. They were and they weren’t.



The surf was lower by about a foot but the tide was higher, almost up to the wall and so a nose-down launch off the wooden slip would be needed. This would mean water constantly being over the bow and front hatch area. Worse was that the time between waves was short and they were breaking in about the worst spot for the launch. I didn’t hold out much hope but it looked manageable past the surf zone and there were loads of boats out a few hundred yards offshore.



I sat there and tried to get the measure of it. I couldn’t deploy the rudder at launch because of the slipway so would have to paddle straight out – no problem providing that there wasn’t a strong current or wind problem. It was clearly shelving steeply too and the waves had a lot of power in them so I’d need to make good headway to counter the backwards pull. I’d also need to time things to avoid the worst sets and the waves breaking over the front if possible.



My first attempt saw me make little progress – because of the angle the nose was straight down and the waves were dumping onto it. The cockpit was filling with each dump and the drainage through the scuppers stood no chance – especially with a transducer through one of them. I retreated. Unloading the rods I decided I may as well try again so put them back. I should have stuck with my original decision as it turned out. I got out to where it was breaking under good control but with the cockpit full of water and then a big wave came in and dumped right in my lap. I was knocked off and the kayak flipped onto its side, the next wave pushed it back over when I’d righted it and I righted it once more, grabbed my paddle (it’d escaped my grasp but was nearby) and went back up the slip. I’d snapped a rod. It was clear that I wasn’t getting out from here. Back up the slope I went and loaded up – the Rag would have to go in the freezer as emergency bait and I’d have to stick to Yak Boarding.

Back home I grabbed the Yak Board out of the van along with a Carlisle 197cm White Water paddle – my usual paddles are too long and the blades are too narrow so I’d borrowed one of these too. I’d never tried a proper white water paddle with it and wandered down to the beach. Some surfers were about and I found a clear spot a hundred yards south of my normal spot. Bloody surfers always take the best part of MY beach. I wouldn’t mind so much if they spent less time sitting in the water and more time surfing. (I am practicing to be as intolerant of surfers as they are of kayakers…does it show?)

Out I went, taking some big waves in the lap that would have probably flipped me off the Prowlers, launching over some and down the back with a thump, easily staying head on as the responsiveness of the yak and the catch of the paddle makes manoeuvring a piece of cake. I got out to the launch point and waited for one…here it came…

…I paddled hard and caught it…I was on it’s top and surfing…I paddled a couple more strokes and dropped down onto the face and took off…lean back…paddle up…paddle to the rear to rudder…to the left to brace…to the rear to spin and head back out…lovely!

The third time I wet out was fun. I timed it wrong and took a breaking wave full on in the chest and face. Imagine just brown and white foam coming at you and lifting you bodily, in a seated position, off the board and out of the thigh straps still holding your paddle at a good speed! I grabbed the yak and went out again. Surf five was a bit low, slow and unexciting so I tried for another decent one to end the session on. I couldn’t catch a decent wave! Finally after a few attempts I got on one and came in all the way. I went home well pleased – and pleased that there’s already some fish in the freezer!