Another Fish off Lowestoft...09/09/07

Does twice make it a regular thing? It’s certainly become easier with my wife to agree to, even if the poor girl is going hungry still. 9th September is my wedding anniversary, so at 6am on the dot Mike turned up ready to fish again – resplendent in his new dry trousers which regrettably I didn’t photograph. I’d got everything out of the shed and ready to go out into the alleyway to be loaded up and he took care of this while I took the bait out and divvied it up. A fillet of Mackerel and a box of baby squid from the freezer complimented some excellent ragworm and absolutely dire baby lugworm. I figured a choice of baits might see some action, especially as I had heard some reports of the codling beginning to show (and even seen one with my own eyes!).

C-Tugs on, we wandered down to the beach. Conditions were a bit more sea-like than last week and we were faced with a nice bit of surf to go through to begin with. It’s a very shallow sandy slope where I launch so the surf zone is quite drawn out with waves breaking over quite an area. Magic Seaweed had predicted a 3ft swell at 6 second spacing, a 16mph northerly wind and the current was running in the same direction as it was flooding up to high tide at 08:40. So nice and refreshing then…

Both times Mike had come out so far it had been a nice gentle launch but after getting things stowed and sorted out I decided to go first so as to be in position out of the surf to come and assist if need be. After taking pictures of him getting soaked of course. Out I went, getting plenty of water in my lap and onto the back of the fishfinder (whose batteries had died on me and hadn’t been checked). I got into position, turned and became the spectator:



Obviously watching Hawaii 5-0 in the past had left it’s mark and Mike made it with no trouble at all.



So, off we went to choose a spot. We’d planned to head for the sandbank off the Claremont Pier, about ¾ of a mile out. Quite a way past this longliner in fact:



A few hundred metres from where I reckoned it to be we stopped and anchored up, the swell being noticeably larger on the bank itself. We’d gone a few hundred metres further south than the pier as well and were in a spot that gave us a decent view of the CEFAS building (The Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science), formerly the Grand Hotel, perched high on Pakefield cliffs



I quite like stooging around here mid-week as many friends work there and I do it to piss them off.

Anchors down, we let out loads of line and both managed to catch a hold on the first go. I was on a 0.75kg disposable anchor, mindful of the sea-pikeys of last week, and Mike was using a 1.5. Tackling up with 2-hook paternosters and 8oz breakaway leads I dived into the bait tub and did some pick n’ mix. Mackerel strip and ragworm, lugworm inside a squid tube, lugworm tipped with mackerel and ragworm tipped with squid and mackerel and cast the lines either side of me about 30 yards out so as to avoid any disturbance from the boat, anchor line etc.

After about half an hour Mike was in!



That’s twice now that he’s drawn first blood, and he proudly showed off his PERSONAL BEST shore crab. Sadly he was too far and it was too overcast for a decent snap but I don’t think it was mantelpiece fodder anyway.



After ¾ of an hour I was up for moving but Mike wanted to stay. Being without a finder there wasn’t much point anyway as I would be able to spot any features so I did stay put and rebaited. Ten minute or so later and I got the classic whiting knocks, the rod tip going up and down rapidly. Hitting it ineffectively (I have decided to try a different design of rod holder) I felt it shaking down below but then nothing. It was off. At least I knew there was a fish down there. Three more bites without hook-ups followed and I figured the baits were too big so I slimmed them down a bit.

The next knock saw me get a whiting up, a little baby, and I held it up on the line and called Mike to show him but it dropped off seconds before he turned his head. Caught but shaken off, I wasn’t too bothered as it was way undersized.

As was the next one.



Although small, it was pretty and a new species for the year. About ¼ of a fish cake I’d estimate, heavy on the potato and with an equal measure of parsley!



So back it went



A couple more small bites that were left until developing – which they failed to do – and then I reeled in a shore crab, which dropped over the side while I was grabbing the camera. Almost out of bait by now and with half an hour of pass left it was time to pack up and head in. Mike had beaten his PB shore crab by now and had boated both of them, though they were returned unrecorded by camera. He’d not noticed any fish bites though so it goes to show that there is a large percentage of luck involved in fishing blind. He came alongside and we stowed rods and things in the hatches before heading off, me dropping down the anchor I’d just began to retrieve to keep us from drifting.

Paddling back was a breeze, and I decided to try out a different way of going in through surf – across the wave diagonally as opposed to straight in, which I usually opt for, or with the wave when I want to have a surf to finish a session. I figured it may help to avoid the nose swinging and tipping me up and so with Mike holding off I tried that method. It was not effective and I nearly got tipped so I finished it off going in straight, hauling the yak onto the sand and watching Mike head in for his first beaching in the surf, again hoping to catching him getting dunked!



He came in at a reasonable pace and kept an eye on what the waves were doing, timing it well



Very well in fact, only get picked up by a wave towards the end



and riding it in to the beach. No mean feat in a Prowler 15 which doesn’t like the surf very much and which was nose heavy from the C-Tug and assorted kit in the bow hatch..



Another trip complete it was time to head back for a coffee and to put stuff away. Unloading, I noticed something was missing again – BLOODY PIKEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two more converts…

Well, I just had to go out again, didn’t I.

After a good lunch and fine ale at the Geldeston Locks (a real Broadland ‘place’) I took a couple of newbies with me. Finding a likely looking spot, we settled and cast out a couple of maggots on a size 16 hook and a short trace under the float.

As the float went under, Jonas was in:

His first yak fish, a dace, his first ever fish being half an hour before – a dace from the bank. One happy five year old!

Time to find another place so off we paddled, finding a couple of trees down and overhanging the edge of the river, so we found a spot and re-cast

Down it went again and Eloise was in – and in came a dace. Now her first fish was a pike of a few pounds (300m downstream) but this was her first from the yak

Another happy five year old!

Hmm. I could just get down to Christchurch by 3am if I left now…..

Sunday Morning off Lowestoft...02/09/2007

5:30. I’d seen it before once or twice but not in recent times. But that’s when the alarm went off this morning – Mike was due in half an hour for his first session at sea with a rod. A four hour pass had been wangled by me, somehow and with arguments involved to tell the truth. You see as I was not ‘doing the conger’ and was not at Old Warden (both theoretically possible after all as her sister is over for a week and thus we have two cars available) I felt it was only right that I, as hunter-gatherer, should be allowed out to play, compromising by saying I’d be back in at ten and thus we could still go out and do family stuff etc, especially as neither of them would be ready to go out before 11 anyway (12 actually!). So we came to a compromise – I said I was going and she gave in. Good tactic that!

Besides, I’d bought the ragworm already.

Mike duly arrived while I was finishing my coffee and we loaded the yaks on the trolleys and dragged them down to the beach.

The sea was nice and smooth, the sun was out and the wind wasn’t anywhere near as bad as predicted. We launched and trolled spinners out before deciding which way to go, heading north to the buoys marking the outfall at the back of Birds Eye, directly off the most easterly point of the kingdom.

Passing the harbour the current picked up and we were soon in the vicinity of the ridge. Anchors down followed by ragworm on two hook rigs. The current was pretty quick and we were both drifting. At one point Mike suddenly shot backwards as his anchor got a firm hold for a short while – looked pretty hairy from where I was sitting!

So, time for breakfast – coffee and a hotdog followed in short order by a burger.

Fed up drifting I decided to try again for a firmer hold in a better spot and began hauling my anchor up. Bugger me if it isn’t turning out to be an expensive week – bloody pikey’s must have nicked some scuba gear – 1.5kg of scrap for them and an urgent need for a pot buoy for me!

Finding one I tied off. Plenty of returns from the area and being quite close inshore and close to rocks but with 7 metres underneath me I was pretty confident but after an hour gave up on it and began a drift, the current now slower and on the flood. Mike drifted a bit further out. I found a spot close to the rocks a bit further up and tied up again to another buoy while Mike carried on out and got his first Yak species. A starfish.

It was my turn next (at last!)…

…and I reeled in a nice sized Dover Sole – my first sole, and my first saltwater yak fish! Not sure if it took the bait before or as I reeled in as I didn’t notice a bite but nonetheless it was fairly hooked in the mouth and went into the dive bag for later consumption.

It must have been the new lucky hat. Actually, it’s my mums and I nicked it off her – she nicked it off my auntie who had them made for her boat. She’ll have to get another when she goes over again in October! Like it?

(Do I look a little bit like Bruce Willis in that hat do you think? Do you?)

Re-baited and re-cast, it was about 5 minutes before I got a cracking take. It felt good when I tightened up to it but then it snagged me up. Either my line had damaged or I scraped it over a rock but the 40lb Powerpro parted and I swore. Nothing else happened and after a while I decided to untie as the current was picking up and Mike was quite a way down from me by now. I soon caught up and showed him my catch, being quite excited by now!

Tying off to another buoy we tried for another but the current was too quick here and I decided that it was unwise to stay on it so we headed back past the harbour and into the shelter of the down-tide side. I’d heard of small codling coming from here this week but I couldn’t tempt them and phone call to my wife failed to get an extension so we headed in, the wind and swell a bit more than when we had launched but still a nice easy landing.

Packed up, sorted out and photographed we headed back to the house, depositing the yaks onto my car ready for the afternoon’s family time.

Poor old Mike – I made him wait for his coffee while I prepared ‘Our Sole’ (say it aloud) first of all – it was coming up to time for elevenses (I’m so decadent me!).

So, take one sole, wash it, wash it some more (slimy bloody things) and then wash it. Lay it flat onto a piece of foil – whole, not filleted (though you may want to gut it first although I didn’t bother)

Wanting to keep it simple I then sprinkled on some sea salt and cracked pepper and splashed some olive oil onto it, a small amount of lemon juice, folded down the foil into a parcel and stuck it under the grill (full heat) for a few minutes each side.

Taking it out it looked done:

Being distinctly odd I decided to serve us each an upper and lower half rather than a straight fillet and thus buggered up the final presentation somewhat but this didn’t affect the taste so isn’t important for elevenses.

It tasted good. Nice and firm, clean white flesh and a real fresh ‘taste’ to it. Though Rick Stein says they should be left for a couple of days to became more tender and develop their flavour I shall reserve judgement until next time – best sole I’ve tasted by far.

Wasn’t any left. I knew there was a fish off Lowestoft.....maybe another one will come by soon, same time next week then Mike?!

Mike the Salty Sea Dog...27/08/07

Mike (MB) arrived at mine a little before ten this morning so after a quick coffee we headed down to the beach for his first paddle in the sea, leaving the rods behind but taking a couple of net traps for some hopeful lobsters/crabs. The sea was pretty flat, the wind was mild and the sun was shining – all in all good conditions for a first paddle. A gentle launch and we headed towards the harbour before heading in and placing the traps down – then out again and at Mike’s suggestion out to a buoy some ways offshore (this was Stanford Buoy, which by the look of the chart is a mile and a half out from shore and the same from the harbour mouth).

 

 

Having never bothered going out more than half a mile or so it seemed like a good idea and off we went.

 

 

En-route we had a couple of gin palaces come past at a decent lick and had to ride over their wakes and after a while we came up to it.

 Now, I like taking pics but for some reason Mike was reluctant to climb onto the buoy to pose for a pic, can’t understand it myself as it was only a 4-5ft straight side and was only a little bit wet and weedy, still my artistic nature wasn’t too put out, but a pic was still called for

 I even included Gulliver in the background – as the tallest wind turbine in the UK is now called. It stands on  Ness Point, the most easterly point of mainland UK.

 Honour satisfied, we headed back in and laughed at the presumed Dutch Navy gunboat sent out to protect their fish stocks from us. Following Mike being ‘Buzzed’ by a bumble bee that mistook him for a daffodil, and the sighting of a harbour porpoise stooging about, we noticed the boat heading straight for us. Imagine our concern at seeing the words painted on its side:

 

 

With me frantically requesting Mike dump his biscuits so as not to end up in the ‘joint’ after presumably being ‘grassed’ up by that ‘dope’ Bucketboy on Mike’s thread of yesterday http://anglersafloat.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1188059436 Mike began to wonder if he was about to be questioned over his VAT return or fuel receipts…

…but they turned tail and ran for the safety of the harbour in the end, rather than tangle with the kind of madman that would paddle out to a buoy to take pictures in kayaks. Less wash than a gin palace too you know. So we chased it in to check the nets but only had a couple of shore crabs. Check again in the morning.

Well, now there was nothing else for it but to be a complete bastard and get Mike cold and wet. No point going out to sea on a warm day if you aren’t going to practice a deepwater re-entry after a capsize. Of course, this entailed me showing how it was done so the plan backfired somewhat. But he was game and in he went…

…whereupon I decided that I should perhaps not be quite so close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So much for the blue flag we are all proud of in town – apparently our water tastes horrible.

 So, back in through very mild surf and onto the beach. Popped the sail on and out we went again for a little play before heading back for a well-earned chilled beer in the garden. Next time we’ll take the rods. I checked my nets too:

that was this year's PB lobster. Also had this year's PB shrimp:

 

Surf's Up! 22/08/2007

11ft at 8 seconds, 30mph northerly and a hell of a lot of surfers out.

I loved 'The Big Wednesday' as a kid. Today is Wednesday. I'm off to get wet.....

Oh boy. OH BOY! That was something else, really. Imagine being hit in the face by 11ft of water, with the power that holds, being lifted a couple of feet up in the air and then dropping back down and carrying on. Imagine doing that a couple of times then being dumped into a washing machine with a yak bouncing off you. What adrenaline!

I scrounged a pair of Frenzy's off my brother at the weekend as a mate and I wanted to go on Sunday if it was good, but it was raining and the wind was down. In the past we have had fun in the Prowlers, but 15ft is just too long to play properly and so I took advantage of my brothers kit. Saturday was perfect but we were both at a birthday party and couldn't go. Anyway, he went off on holiday this morning and it has blown all day. Coming back this afternoon from driving about I stopped and had a look at the sea - it was really pumping and I have never seen so many surfers about on this beach; a guy told me he had counted 26.

I figured I'd get wet, and as I'm now too fat for my wetsuit I stuck on speedo's, shorts, a shirt and a PFD and carried the Frenzy down to the beach.Camera was double bagged (ie in two plastic bags as opposed to when you take an ugly girl home and put two bags on here head in case one tears open) as although waterproof I figured a dunking in the sea with heavy surf mightn't be sufficient. Sadly I didn't add a leash to it so couldn't snap in the surf zone.

Watched the surfers for a few minutes and chatted to a couple. They said it had dropped a bit and had got messy but they still stayed around until the light was going. Then I launched.

Now, I don't, as a rule, like Frenzy's. They are too narrow for my hips and so I get a backache when paddling any distance. They also turn too easily at the front for my paddling style so I lose momentum by zig-zagging all over the place - but I couldn't have done what I did tonight in my Prowler, I wouldn't have even got out past the surf. The Frenzy, on the other hand, handled things like a dream for the most part. Loads of bouyancy, easy to manouevre and not too long so it rode the waves and surf really nicely. Couldn't get through the surf quickly as it doesn't glide so well but for the most part I was okay. I got out through the breakers and bobbed around for a while trying to get decent pics to show what things were like - but sadly they don't even begin to compare. The swell was BIG.
So, time to try and ride some of these waves.

I paddled in as fast as I could which wasn't really very fast compared to what I'm used to plus the undercurrent wasn't helping. Kept missing the waves and just getting a few feet until it went under me until...I was in the right spot, the large waves were beginning to curl and I was angled slightly across them and I was away...what a buzz! trying to steer with the paddle seemed to have no effect, a dipped leg slightly better, and in short order I was 300m away from where I'd caught the wave having gone with the speed of a thousand gazelles.

Cracking stuff! Laughing my head off with pleasure I turned and tried to get back out. I got a good way and then 11ft of water curled just in front of me, smacked me in the face, lifted me up and stuck me sideways whereupon the following wave flipped me over. The leashed paddle was snatched out of my hand, the yak went over me and headed back in. I followed it at my own pace. Turned it around and tried again. Took a while but I made it back out, paddled up against the wind and went to watch the surfers again then headed back in. Same again, fast long ride all the way in. Brilliant. Turned, came out, got flipped, flipped it up and got back on and made it out again. It just seems to be that one bit where if you are unlucky a big wave curls and you're in the drink.

Time for another ride.

I got in position and started to paddle, missed out on a couple of good ones and ended up closer than I wanted to be. Waited for a good one to come and sure enough it did - and I could see it was going to curl onto my stern. I knew I'd get dumped. I always get dumped in the Prowler if I catch surf at that point. Oh well, here  goes - and sure enough a bloody great bit of churned up water landed slap bang on the rear third of the yak.

FUCK ME!!!!!! No, I didn't get dumped - I got shot out like a cork and flew across the front of the wave far quicker than the other two rides, really, really quick and stayed on it all the way into the shore - a perfect surf in! That was it, I wasn't going to top that so off I squelched with a yak that was way heavier than when I brought it down to the beach. A quick change and I took a proper camera back down and tried to get some pics of the surfers. Sadly the light was fading and a lot of the surfers had started to leave so I didn't get anything decent (either technically or aesthetically).

Didn't catch any fish by the way.