Today’s objective was not to bother going for more points but to meet up with Shaun and have some more Smoothound action seeing as he’s been away and missed it all. The thing is, we’d also had a tip-off from Spark about some guy on a boat having forty or so hounds up to 16.5lb plus a 5ft starry that was lost next to the boat only a mile and a half out. With an easy forecast and plenty of time that sounded more than doable.
I should have arranged things for an hour earlier to be honest, that would have given a better day of it and made the paddle easier as we were coming up to slack when we launched. The wind, however, was not the very light forecast and nor was it from the northwest. It was at least double the forecast and gusting higher, it was from the northeast and the swell was the same (not, it wasn’t as flat as stated either). With wind over tide conditions were not at all as predicted and so a mile and a bit into the 2.5 mile paddle from the launch site (to use the tides for travelling) I decided to call a halt and drop anchor, we were missing good fishing time and we should have smuts below us anyway, being as how we were on the foul ground. A good idea or a bad one? I hate deviating from a plan. Shaun didn’t mind though.
Live hardbacks on one rod, whole squid on another and some baited feathers out for scraps. The hardbacks I had were larger than I wanted but like a fool I’d put my net out the night before but with the emptying zip undone. I suspect most of my catch had came, ate and got a cab home. Although not a real cab of course, just an illustrative, imaginary one. Anyway, Shaun was nearby and we could at least natter. A bit too close in fact.
I dunno, somehow we kept jumping on the anchors and drifting twenty, thirty yards; we swung into each other’s path, drifted alongside each other and managed to catch each other’s lines. Things weren’t quite right. Mind you, I was getting bites here and I managed my first smoothie of the day, a three pound starry that went back.
Things weren’t good like this though and ignoring my bites I moved, hauling anchor and setting it again fifty yards further inshore. Out of chatting range and off my fish but at least things would be safer for us and more relaxing. Down went the rods again and the tide started to pick up.
It started to get a bit lumpy. I kept having water hit my neck, my bait box was getting flung into my back every now and again and water was washing across from the rear; my tankwell was pretty full of water too. I was glad we hadn’t gone out further as it would possibly have been worse.
We sat like that for at least three hours, nothing happening at all, not a bite, not a twitch, nothing. Double leads on from the speed of the flow…”Another hour, then they’ll start feeding” I shouted to Shaun and he showed me what size he wanted:
Yeah okay, just wait. Nothing like that is going to happen until this stops:
Like I said, an hour. With fifteen minutes to go until then my rod started to rattle; up came a whiting. Good, it’s starting to let up and the fish are dropping. Smuts should be down next, small first, then the larger ones going from past experiences.
Quarter of an hour later and bang on the money Shaun calls over; he’s in! I look over and he’s got a well-bent rod. Takes him a couple of minutes and then there’s a nice display on the surface as his first kayak smoothound goes mental. I’ve told him that it’s most likely that it’ll come up quite placid, get to the side and go mental and run and then to bring it in a second time before bringing it onboard. Of course having gone mental already it could well have worn itself out so he pulls it into his lap.
I haven’t laughed so much in ages! There’s Shaun, in a horrible sea with a small shark using his crotch as a trampoline, bouncing up and down, thrashing and going ballistic before it jumps up and off, back into the water for round two. Absolutly brilliant! I look back towards my rod tips…
Ten minutes pass and another smoothound, similar size, about 3lb. I decide to keep this one for a curry tonight; I bought the new Indian Rick Stein book on Si’s recommendation and there’s one I figure will be perfect with this type of flesh; not to mention I’m in my wife’s bad books and a nice home-made curry, with garlic for her Frenchiness, might just appease her. With it onboard I also decide to see if bleeding and gutting it straight away makes any difference, after the ministrations of my priest of course. No sooner have I unzipped it when my rod starts to bang away and so, with it laying in the footwells I strike into another fish.
Hmm, a bit feisty for an initial run, must be angry about something or amongst a pack. Up it comes all the same, nodding and scrapping quite nicely. Then I see a flash of it downtide and up near the surface, the water being fairly clear again; black tail? That’s not a smoothound, can’t be a whiting, not that size! Whole squid, sure I had a huge whiting last week but this is way bigger…I get some more line on it, it’s taken some a few times…it comes up again and I get a BIG surprise! It’s a bass. Fat, deep, broad, looks around 8lb…having spent the last three nights watching episodes of Beavis and Butthead all I can think of is “hey baby” and “come to butthead”. Not the most suitable things to be saying aloud but I’ve not getting any video running today so it’s okay. Up to the side, onto my foot and in!
8lb is an exaggeration, quite a large exaggeration actually as it goes five and a half but they have a habit of shrinking on the way home; it’s still a belter of a fish though and another point, one I was going for tomorrow. I’ve never had one on plain squid though so that’s even more of a pleasant surprise. Very well hooked on a 2/0 pennel, the Maxximus Jig hooks going straight in and holding firmly.
Shaun was next up with another smoothound, similar size, and things were starting to look good. I was still getting hit in the back by waves though, more and more and the conditions were holding my stern down further than I liked, my baitbox floating around and banging into me every now and again. Shaun thought it was floating away and called my attention to it. I wasn’t overly concerned though, it’s a wet tankwell anyway.
I had a check on my bass a while later, not quite believing I’d caught it. That’s when I started to take note of the water inside…
I couldn’t really crane my neck enough for a good look so stuck the camera down into the hull and shot backwards…some of the green from the hull has been washed off which is quite good, pretty stubborn it is, not to mention the smell but for a constantly-used fishing boat that sees fish slung down here every time it’s to be expected…that’s the good news. The bad news? I’m sinking. “huhuhu cool huhu” as Beavis and Butthead might say.
But the fish are feeding and the waves are reducing. It’s not a major leak, most likely topside, chances are it’s the sealant around the hole for the gps antenna cable – that must have gone and the constant breaking water over the top must have slowly filled the kayak. Have I sat through all this monotony of peak flow for nothing? Well, no. I have a good bass and a smoothound curry. Haul anchor and come back another day. Fair enough; I flip myself around and start to pull. Just as the phone goes. Colin’s asking how I’m getting on, I tell him and then say I have to go as I’m sinking and need to get my anchor up and head in. He’s not sure he heard me right…
Anchor stowed I wait for Shaun. Stability is somewhat reduced and it’s quite a lively sea but I have no great trouble going in though the additional weight slows me down a fair bit. I land okay at least and start to pull my Scupper up the beach to await Shaun’s arrival. Quite heavy it is.
Here he comes…
So what’s he got?
Nice!
As for me, I have this…
…and a few gallons of sea water.
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