I could have called this Corton Dogging but that’d cause a server overload going on local infamy…but dogs and hounds were the order of the day. The day itself began at 05:00. And again at 05:05, 05:10 and finally 05:15 when I finally decided to stop hitting the snooze button and drag myself out of bed. I had to really, Wilmy was going to kick me in the pants if I didn’t turn up twice in a row!
Coffee, bait (squid, garfish and black lug) and out the door. I was dressed for summer, my Sidewinder bib and brace and a cag sufficing for conditions today. The Scupper was on the roof with a rudder finally attached in readiness for drifting the reefs at Sea Palling soon and the rod were in the car. I had pretty much everything with me except the proper camera…
Text from Wilmy as I approached Corton, he’d just woken up. Never mind. He’d probably head to Sea Palling himself now as he’d miss the tide by the time he could make it here. Fair enough, sea to myself today. I trolleyed everything down and across the shingle of a beach that has changed again and with the CV-Tug inside the hatch launched onto a nice flat sea.
The tide was flowing a bit but nothing on last time. The flood was going to ease progressively and I dropped anchor straight out from the ramp, only sticking half my warp out. The first rod went down, a 2/0 pennel with a strip of garfish and then a whole squid, same rig, on the offshore rod. And I waited. For five minutes.
Thumping bite and a struggle all the way up saw a decent dog aboard for unhooking and returning. A few minutes later and I had a second aboard, though smaller and badly hooked.
Then nothing. I waited quite a while in fact but it was peaceful enough and a porpoise popped up not far away to say hello. Then the rod went again and the dogs appeared back on the scene with a steady influx of thumps and rattles, shakes and nods as they took a bait every ten minutes or so. The gar strip bait failed though, too big, it got bites but no solid takes so everything came on the squid. In fact it wasn't until I rebaited with a fresh strip, cut down the centreline for a slimmer offering, that this finally produced and I pulled in a nice, plump dab. Lovely.
A few more dogs and then the rod thumped harder and bucked a bit more on the retrieve...good news, great news, the first Starry Smoothound of the year! Only a pup but where there's muck there's brass and they'll be followed by the larger fish soon enough. Who am I to complain though, I love them all, big and small and it's another species hence another point...
The longliner/potter/netter that works off the beach here has launched now. Hasn't got anyone to call on the radio to insult me today though. I consider how much hassle it would be to reinflate a tractor's tyres on a beach with a foot pump and this makes me grin like some sort of psychotic amphibian but it's not my kind of thing as amusing as it would be. Anyway, I didn't have time to stay and watch the circus!!! I reeled in another dog instead.
The flow started to ease finally and as the wind overpowered it and started to send me back on my warp I decided to reel in before I started snagging rods on the bottom. It's a delight up-anchoring at slack or near to it and with all done and dusted I strolled leisurely back into the beach. I may not have had much in the way of food, just the single dab, but the brace of smuts and eight or ten spotty dogs had been good sport. I was happy with that; best I come tomorrow.
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