It Asda Be…04/10/2013

It Asda Be…04/10/2013 Wind’s been howling from the east all week so I’ve not fished, I’ve played with all the other local surf dudes instead. It was sick and other surfer dude terms but it’s not fishing. Some satisfaction from breaking a colleague of course and I love that more than any other paddling, not least because conditions are rarely right, but with the final leg of the species tournament upon us I needed the weather to improve so I could go and get any remaining summer species before they were gone. So enough of this. It’s been handy though, being down the end of the road, a road blocked off at the turning just past and with my car in for MOT and a retest because it seems to have got rusty in lots of places all of a sudden. Can’t imagine why. Anyway, to cut a long story short my wife was on her day off and I had promised to make lunch – a whole bass baked in a salt crust with a prawn, parsley and mace butter melted and poured on – for 1pm. In the meantime I was also expected to do the shopping and dump the glass in the recycling bin so I had to go to Asda. I also had a borrowed Yakboard to return. A plan was evolving. The Yakboard went on the roof, a rod somehow fell into the car and I took a shortcut. Now this was a devious shortcut involving a three mile drive to Harbour Road rather than the three hundred yards to the supermarket. A man shortcut. This left me the wrong side of the water for Asda of course but seeing as I was there and just happened to have some brandlings from the compost heap in a tub against the miraculously appearing dry trousers and some loose straps which caused the yakboard to fall into the water I ended up on it with a worm that had accidentally tripped and hooked itself. Might as well see if the gobies were still about then. It was blowing hard still, that was the only problem. Blowing me onto the shore in fact. I figured the pilings would be the best place to get me out of the wind so I made my way over to them. I used my light gear – a Fladen Maxximus IM10 Higher Modulus 2-16g spinning rod, a size 16 hook and a 5bb crystal waggler. It was too deep here to see the bottom but knock me sideways, I saw a large thin lipped mullet cruise right under me about three feet down! Maybe, maybe…but no. But hang on, what was this small thing taking a look at my bait? Small, shiny, a stripe along the flank…could it be something I’d only had once before quite by chance? It wasn’t a small bass or mullet, I knew that. No, I was pretty sure it was a sand smelt. There’s a target and a half, not had one this year!. I nipped the worm smaller and tried to tempt one. Every time they veered off, the little sods. They were mostly about an inch long, some a bit bigger but half an hour passed and half the time I thought I could get away with. I postponed it and moved in closer to look for a goby, holding myself in place on a chain link bit of fence. Down went the bait in 2ft of water and I kept my finger on the line to feel for bites. Nothing at first, try again a foot away…a nibble. Try again having failed to hook whatever had a go. Another nibble and a pull; I struck into the goby and brought it up. Brilliant, the target species got before they disappear, the first point for the final leg and, to cap it all, at a good two inches it was a new personal best! Haha. Right, now for those pesky smelt. I moved a bit further along but although they went close and a couple of them nibbled they were playing hard to get. I decided to move around further as I couldn’t hold myself quite where I wanted…around the corner onto the main water, holding myself in place by hand on a fender made of stacked tyres on the corner of the pilings. Doiwn went the bait and I watched the smelt coming for the bait, larger ones. Again and again they came and looked. I jinked the worm a bit and then a nibble but no taking of the hook. I nipped a bit more worm off. A better pull but a missed strike. Down again and then I watched as one approached, head on, mouth open, slow and straight and it took the bait and dived left; absolutely fascinating and, I have to say, heart stopping to watch. But it wasn’t hooked. Once more into the breech and this time two of them darted up, the first one getting the whole bait and hook into its mouth and with a quick jerk it was hooked, fought, played and landed! beautiful iridescent mauve, violet, purple on the flanks. Adipose fin giving a positive identification. I snapped off the photos and unhooked it. No time today for mullet – there’s never enough time for those damned things – two targeted points achieved, a pb and my first sand smelt for a few years (second ever). I headed in, loaded up and went to get some eggs to make the chilli chocolate muffins I’d promised for a birthday party in three hours and get that bass in the oven. I like going shopping.