Mission Accomplished, Target Eliminated...20/02/08

I’ve been fed up all week. It’s been ten days since I got on my yak in the water, 12 days since I fished properly. I should have been fishing Monday but was fogbound for the sea and car-less for the river. Bear with a sore head, that’s me – but sore-headed bears go fishing, especially (it would seem) when your morning lesson is cancelled…

This was the scene on Monday:



Today was the same and I had to warm the hatch on the radiator to be able to open it. My day had begun badly and I was angry whilst loading everything up before the school run. Eldest daughter deposited I headed off for my usual launch point at Beccles and tied up in my usual spot. I was fishing two match rods with swimfeeders (breadcrumb and maggot) with 2 size 16 hooks on each. I also had a third rod for piking, the wire trace fitted with only a single 2/0 hook as I wanted to try fishing for pike without having to perform surgery on the yak with the rest of the gear on there and would be livebaiting. I was also trialling my new RAM tubes – two on the waist position and two up front. I also have two more on the side of the tankwell for storing rods and actually used one as a holder today out of necessity – added bonus!

Here’s the waist one – superb for a quick strike:



The forward ones were unusable so the RAM 117’s will go back on those balls.

Now, today I was a man (or bear) on a mission. I had a target species. A hard-biting, quick and powerful fish, for its size, I was determined (hopeful) that I would get a Gudgeon. It was cold, it was a bit foggy, and it was very, very still. A few anglers were about but not many and I settled down to a bit of peace and quiet.



I’d been there about ten minutes or so I guess when the phone rang, my wife and my youngest daughter. Of course being on the phone means a bite developing but as it was my daughter and not my wife I ignored the rod tip banging away like an Iron Maiden fan on sulphate until she put the phone down like the good daddy I am. Then struck into the first fish of the day…

The slender, torpedo-like body shot through the water with the speed of a thousand gazelles. This was my fault of course as that was the speed of my reeling. And lo and behold, my first fish was my target species for the day! First of the year, first on the yak and first I’d had for years - Gudgeon! A pretty little thing this, probably weighed a good few grammes too. I think it was a delicacy in Roman times. Mind you – they used to eat a right load of rubbish back then so it’s hardly a recommendation.



Next up was a nice, solid tug and a line that went careering off to the side as I reeled it in. For a tiddler, the Dace is a superb little fighter and a pretty little fish. This one was a PB too, so that was a bonus. Two fish, two species, this was going to be a fun day! Onto the livebait rod it went.



A sharp rattle. I struck and wound down onto fish three and species three! Mr. Rutilus Rutilus, that good-old boy everyone knows so well: the Roach. A splendidly shiny little chap with red fins, silver scales and a deep blue back I made a complete hash of the pictures and got him out of focus. It’s just not good enough Crame.



Something was happening to my livebait. I wound it in and could see it had been hit by something. It was still alive though so I popped it back out and pulled in the first double shot of the day; Roach and Gudgeon:



I brought in a few fish here and there of these 3 species and then noticed that my livebait had got himself caught up in some pilings. I had to untie and go and release it, using my paddle to free it off. It then did it again before I could reel in the slack so I repeated the exercise and positioned it further away while I got sorted to return to my spot. Down went the pike float and I was into a good fish, a solid one that I didn’t get to see. It had the Dace and spat back the single hook. Not impressed with that – trebles would have seen that fish aboard. Glad I used the paddle instead of my hand to free the fish from the piling though!

I carried on taking out Roach, Dace and Gudgeon singly and in double shots for a while longer and then:



A double shot that consisted of a Gudgeon and a juvenile Common Bream! They were not in my swim today so I was lucky to get one to make species number four. I had another one later, one of which is below:



I decided to make a move. The bay by the bridge is shallow and although bites are few and far between they usually develop into a decent fish and so far I’d only had tiddlers. It took 15 minutes to get a bite, but then, dropping the tip back and then shaking it meant it was time to strike. Pulling line from the reel on its way in, via my port and starboard sides, came a beauty of a fish.



Species five and another PB! A beautiful chub larger than my first ever back on the Nene with Pete.



I was well chuffed, and five minutes later had another slightly smaller with another good account given by itself. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth I felt a bit bad moving spot but decided to carry on species hunting. The livebait rod (at this point holding a Roach) had done nothing and I went and tried it and the feeders in the dyke. Ten minutes with only a slight shake and I decided to go back to my first spot, where more of the same followed.

And a run from a decent pike. Another solid river pike that dropped the single hook. I cast out again and after a few minutes the float disappeared and I struck into it and wound fast….as it pulled back. A smaller fish this, it was scarred up and cut up from spawning bites (lovebite from a pike anyone?)



This one actually stayed on the hook. It was around a couple of pounds in weight and although light it was quick and gave a fair scrap.



I got the by now dead Roach out and proceeded to remove the hook in short order. No onboard photo though as I was getting ‘CARD ERROR’ on the camera which took a removal of battery and card to reset. I carried on fishing for the tiddlers to the right of the cruisers:



And for the pike on the left of this cruiser.



I watched my pike float go down again, struck, felt a good fish and then off. Twice more this happened; I had a total of 5 dropped runs in all. I don’t know what the answer is but the single hook is not going to be a regular feature in my piking rigs that’s for sure.

The day was coming to an end and so I decided to make one last move back to the bay by the bridge to finish hopefully on another large fish with my last casts. The pike had gone off the boil ages ago and I was getting more of the same with my tiddler bash so off I went for the short paddle.

Down went two feeder rods, a couple of feet from the pilings, and I sat and waited for ten minutes. Then, a lovely sharp knock on the righthand rod and I struck…a decent fish this….solid and weaving but not fast, maybe no the chub I thought at first and nor was the bite quite the same either as it happened..

You beauty!



A pound or so of beautiful, quality winter Roach! A nice gold sheen, deep red fins…a cracker. Back it went and while baiting up to catch my last fish (I’d decided to knock it on the head at a certain figure) the other rod went. A cracking dropback and shaking bit saw my last fish of the day come cruising around either side of me



To finish the day on a fine winter Chub after a fine winter Roach…what more can one ask?



I paddled in, passing someone hauling out one of those beautiful Broads pike. I decided to go and take a snap for him after bringing the yak onto the slipway



I wasn’t at all jealous or anything…



18.5lbs of Esox – just look at that head!



He asked me how I’d got on. I told him about the 5 dropped pike and followed with:

2 Bream, 1 Pike, 3 Chub (inc PB), 8 Gudgeon (new species) 5 Dace (inc PB) and 36 Roach. Six Species, one new, two PB’s.

That’s what it’s all about!

A Broads Paddle...11/02/08

Yesterday we went down to Nicholas Everitt Park in Olton Broad with some friends so the kids could run about. The water was flat calm, air temperature was nice and clarity was good. Liam, a long-time kayaker, had today off so we hatched a plan to get on the water today. Initially planning for an early-morning sea paddle on our own we altered this to a morning paddle with his two eldest which allowed his wife some space to get some stuff done at home and my wife some free time with my eldest to do some sewing/crafts while the youngest was at nursery. Cunning eh? We were doing the ladies a favour…..

9am and we were all set to go. What a beautiful morning:



I went down the slipway, whereas Liam chose to slip down to the pontoon. I was hoping for a nice action shot but he managed to stop in time:



We even had a couple of visitors while getting him and the children afloat;



I wandered back to my yak – I took the Prowler 15 for a spin today – and paddled out to meet them, two rods out with lures on. They sat and waited for me to join them.



The water was low, the sun was climbing and the mists were slowly burning off.



We paddled along the side of the reedbeds that border the southern side of the broad and go onto Carlton Marshes. This is a nature reserve or something and the water is quite shallow here. When it’s a bit higher the jacks hang around here but nothing was doing as we headed past the beds and down onto the Dyke.



Being a bit uneventful for children, the sarnies were depleted by 10:10am!



Then, low on the horizon, swooping down around the bend in the river came what at first appeared to be a pair of Heinkel 111’s on a low-level torpedo run on our little arctic convoy. Of course not having eaten any yak-cake I soon identified the inbound intruders as swans and they, satisfied we weren’t up to no-good, climbed and headed elsewhere.



Hmm, was I seeing double? I know it’s a double kayak but all kids are a handful without being duplicated!



We soon reached the Waveney and after investigating a hippopotamus that turned out to be a floating piece of old and decayed wood (that filled my tankwell on its way back to a new life in an aquarium) we stopped for a run about. Well, for the children to run about that is – I had a smoke. I then admired a piece of sculpture I knew about but had yet to see – wouldn’t mind catching one this size!





After making use of the facilities and taking a good look at some hire-canoes (Mad River Aventure 16's - Liam is getting an open canoe for the family this year) we headed back to the broad passing a couple of chaps first-testing the 1930’s designed sailing canoes they’d built over the winter – Liam doubtful but I thought they were quite nice looking things. Bet I’d leave them standing with my PA sail!



I helped the one chap while he adjusted his rudder and he asked if I was the guy who went off Lowestoft in a yellow yak as he’d seen me a few times.

Tracing a route down the centre and then northern side of the broad I headed down towards the lock and then swung back up and landed at the launch point again. I’d had no fish, only a couple of snags and an absolutely cracking paddle on a beautiful spring morning. From 3-10 degrees in the space of a few hours, peaceful with very few other water-users and in absolutely top conditions it wasn’t really important whether or not I’d caught – it was just enough to have been out. And the beer and grub back at Liam’s house went down a treat!

Bagging-up at Beccles...09/02/08

Sometimes fortune smiles on the unlucky. Yesterday my luck was out inasmuch as I left my breadcrumb and maggots in the conservatory and had to fish with a handful of generously donated maggots. Fortune came with a phone call last night from my mum to say they’d had some lambs born yesterday if I wanted to bring the girls over, and that the cousins were going to be there all afternoon. Hearing my tale of woe about maggots that would go unused she very kindly gave up and agreed to have the girls for the day and so following bacon and eggs I loaded the car up and headed inland, depositing the girls rather hastily.

Yep, the rollers are the business. I unloaded onto the slipway and went and parked the car. I was on the water within 15 minutes of depositing the girls and five minutes later I was back where I finished off yesterday.



I put 3 maggots on each of the two size 16’s on my trace – either side of the feeder – and filled said feeder with wet crumb and maggot mix. Out went the first rod, the second following shortly after. I basked in the sunshine in a mild 10 degrees.


For a couple of minutes…at which point the tip jerked and I brought in the first fish of the day – a common bream.



Already things were looking promising. It was around 10:30.



Not too big so I fitted him to a livebait trace and cast him upstream to trot down past me.

Next little rattle brought the first Roach of the session



Fin-perfect, these silver fish have bright red fins and a lovely metallic blue sheen on their backs at the moment in this water.



I decided to wind in and re-cast my bream and suddenly felt it go heavy…

This wasn’t a bream…

The first pike run of the day developed but alas the combination of flattened barbs and a large mouthful (the bream was larger than I normally bait with) meant that I was left with a mauled bream and no pike – not even a tantalising glimpse! The damage was not enough to kill the bream but was pretty severe:



A few puncture wounds and that gash at the bottom left was 5mm+ deep and a good inch long. I figured the fish was dead so swapped it for a (smaller roach) which conveniently came aboard and was promptly cast back out.

I then proceeded to alternate between bream



And roach



For the rest of the day!

One new species for the year also came aboard – my old favourite and perhaps the prettiest fish in UK freshwater; Perca Fluviatalis – the Perch.



The spike s on those fins hurt so it’s worth paying attention to them. It’s great watching them chasing spinners with the fins up like mini-sailfish – they really are a beautiful and exciting fish to watch in action – a great predator and common. Sadly they don’t take to fishtanks well as quite honestly in my eye they are way nicer to watch than most tropicals.

I cast the roach off at some point and noticing some movement in the semi-expired bream I popped him on again. Bugger me if he didn’t get taken again! This was an even heavier fish and was on for a good minute before once again I brought in a chomped bream – this time with gashes in the head as well as the flanks. From then on I stuck to smaller livebaits although I failed to get another run all day.

I was still getting plenty of bites and fish and then something happened that I have never had in the UK, sea or river, a double shot! Up came a roach



And I noticed another roach on the bottom hook. (Pic above is of the bottom one).



After a while the bites slackened off so I moved off elsewhere:



I had a beautiful bite here, very powerful, and was left without a hook. I snapped another hook on a snag and only had one other nibble so went back again, trying my luck first in the quay itself. Bored within five minutes there and with the sun in my eyes I went back to my usual patch.

Boing!! Said Zebedee as once again the bites were coming.



I was running out of time and had to go pick up the girls so did the last cast business and went home on another roach.



As I paddled in past the moored cruisers that run up and down all summer I had some time to bask in the pleasure of such a super day’s fishing.



Apart from possibly the summer tournament when I stopped counting this must have been my best day’s fishing – number-wise – ever in the UK. I bagged up. Final tally for the day was three species – one first for the year –a total of 13 Bream, 17 Roach and 1 Perch! Just goes to show what a difference groundbaiting makes. The two lost pike didn’t really matter although I now only have 5 weeks to get my first yak-caught 20lb’er so the pressure is on…..a la semaine prochaine, as my wife would say…

(i'm really enjoying this tiddler-bashing species-hunt I'm on!)

Very Slow But Very Good. Waveney...08/02/08

Right, I’m back in business. My new motorised kayak trolley has arrived and has been fitted with my new Thule bars/locks/roller



I had no idea they did rollers until I was looking around for the best deal. I figured it was worth getting in the hope it was useful as frankly the Trident, rigged, is quite heavy at this time of year (not paddling as often or as far) and thus more of a struggle to load up. I was surprised that they are actually lower than the bars themselves but they actually work really well – I can slide the yak right up and then lower or lift it and slide it down with no real effort, comparatively. Recommended. I also got the longer bars so I could get both yaks on side by side. This meant that I then had to swear – followed by a friend milling longer slots into the underside in order to get them attached to the feet and the feet attached to the roofrails. I then swore again and went out to buy some drawn steel bar in a square shape so I could use it as a key to tighten them. Got there in the end though.



So anyway, I got the car loaded up with almost everything I needed (see later) and the yak on the roof. One minor niggle is that it’s hard work to make a tight grip on the bars as they are now – the old ones had pipe lagging on and this created a more secure surface – it could bed down into the foam and didn’t slip. I need to get something to replace that but without looking like some gaffer-taped pipe lagging as frankly £140 of bars etc shouldn’t be scruffed up like that. In the end I got it steady and safe and took my daughter to school. I then set course for the River Waveney at Beccles, a good spot for silvers – and being encouraged by having heard of good pike coming out over the last week or two.

It was 9:30 before I was in the water. Ten minutes before a chap had helped me get the yak off the roof (not necessary with the rollers but he was a friendly chap). He gave me some local gen as he is fishing here every week and he also had been doing well on the large pike. Lovely bloke – even more so when he gave me some maggots after I discovered that my maggots along with my groundbait (I’d put them together at home) were not in the car. Thank you mate, you saved me a lot of hassle. So, armed with two set-up feeder rods (I left them like that) with 4lb line and size 16 hooks and two spinning rods with 50lb braid and small pike floats I paddled out to my first mark.

And blanked.

So I went to my regular haunt and sat there.


For a while.

An age in fact.

Then I missed a couple of bites.

But all things come to those who wait



I hauled in a Dace – first of the year and a PB of all things. It was small but usually they are smaller!



Now, I’m not a great fan of live-baiting from an ethical standpoint but needs must and it is a proven method of getting the pike on the end of the hook. A friend pointed out today – and he isn’t an angler – that if a pike is feeding it’s going to take a live fish from that bit of water anyway. Anyway, that’s by the by and Mr Dace was promptly attached to a livebait rig and swung into the river.

A knock on the match rod



In came my first Roach of the year…I was doing well on the species here even if fishing was slow.



I unhooked it, put it on the other pike rod and swung it into the water. That’s when my other float stopped floating.

I started pulling it up. She started pulling it down. We both pulled for a while. It took a while for me to pull more than her and soon she broke surface.

WOW!



She was a beauty.

My biggest Yak pike to date.

I chinned her aboard after a bit of fannying about and set about getting the trace out with my forceps. Typical river pike she had taken the Dace down in one gulp and the hooks were down deep (it wasn’t a big bait as you can see) so took a little while and I was in a hurry to get them out and return her so didn’t take a picture or weigh here at this point – that could come later if I got a move on. But I did get a move on and when all was ready to get a pic and her weight…

You guessed it. She jumped out of my lap and into the water!

She was thick, she was toned, she was plump and she was full of spawn. I was after a twenty but don’t think she was near. But she certainly wasn’t a ten. With spawn I’d estimate her as being in the region of 15lb and certainly don’t think I’m over estimating. It was a lovely mid double and one hell of a nice fish. Corker!

I’d wound the roach in during the fight and popped it back down again. I’d retrieved the dace from the throat of the pike and had that in the footwell but decided that two bait rods out for pike was tempting fate so just dropped the roach down and cast out a match rod.

Straight away my roach got gobbled up and I was into a firm fish. I had it on for a minute or so and then it let go. Up came my roach, a bit battered but still alive and went back in. I’d dropped the fish and it didn’t come back.

Nothing did for a while actually. I missed a shy bite or two, moved position and failed to connect to a beautiful bite, went back. As both my baits were now dead I wasn’t confident of another pike. A virtually dead bream around half a pound came floating by and I tried that but no joy on that either. So I just carried on with two match rods.

Finally after missing a few more bites I got:

Species 4 for the day



A beautiful river chub of a round 8 inches.

Of course the temptation was irresistible and five minutes later the little orange thing in the centre foreground went under…and stayed under.



Don’t you just love it when they do this?



That’s the first time I’ve got one in mid air and that’s actually a fluke – I was just trying to get a pic of it in the water. Like this:



Or this:



Or maybe even one like this:



Who you looking at pal?

Now, normally I don’t bring them into the yak (used to last season but got some practice) but that’s because I fish with lures and they’re usually hooked in the scissors. However, with baits they tend not to be and so I stick an unhooking mat between my legs, chin the pike and get the forceps down its throat to remove the hooks. Duly done she went back in. Another thick, heavy and solid river fish she went about 7-8lb and was half the size of the first one.



Of course as far as I was concerned that was a good note on which to depart and so I took baits off hooks, hooks out of water, hauled up my anchor and headed in. a slow day but a great success – a Yak PB and two new species for the year (one of which was a PB). The chap who’d given me some maggots I was also cheered to hear had had a decent day – 3 pike, the biggest going to a shade over 21lbs. Now, what ever shall I do about those ready-mixed groundbait and maggots in the tub – they won’t keep…..