I thought Si was off and the forecast was good but alas he was working that day and was off either side so it'd be me and Paul, the jinx. Unfortunately he hadn't slept well that night and had only just got up when I arrived at 8 - looking like the last thing he needed to do was go out on the water. So it was just me then...it was clear that the winds were higher than forecast but I was going anyway though I kept wondering whether to divert somewhere else and wait for tomorrow, partly because Si would be free and partly because mark had said he thought the water would be clearer on Thursday. But plans are plans so I made the 60 mile round-trip alone with the stereo blaring.
Pulling up at Waxham I parked on the sand next to evidence of dog walkers, said evidence getting on my boots as soon as I got out of the car. Nice. I could hear the sea but didn't feel like climbing the dune more than necessary and it didn't sound overly noisy so I unloaded, assembled, positioned and got changed, sidewinder bib and brace and my thin fleece as I’d sweated the day before and had no intention doing that twice in a week at my age! So, locked up I started the long drag up and over the dune. Damn we hate that dune but it's free to park at this end and it's right by the bottom reef...
I got to the top and being ten minutes past low water I expected to have a lot more beach available. It was pretty much up to the ramp though, more what I'd have expected at high water, and was decidedly lumpy both inshore and at the reefs. The water looked coloured too and much of it had white tops. Had I been at home and checked the sea I'd not have bothered as it wasn't conducive to a good day out but it was doable if not promising. Cameras in position and switched on I launched on a smaller bunch of waves between sets but still got flooded sticking the bow through one curler - my fleece wet from the off.
I paddled out, up and down, before flinging the first rod out with a Pink and Silver Fladen Warbird Minnow 12 on the end to give me a bit of depth as the first couple of reefs were submerged and the next few were only showing the tops; a change from last year, it looks like the rocks have received a massive battering from the month of easterlies we had earlier in the year that trashed so much of our coastline.
I trolled right over the first reef with a Minnow 13 out on the other rod now, a blue mackerel pattern, and the Xtraflexx 210 10-30g rods were giving me excellent vibration at the tips to indicate free-running lures - when they go steady you know there's weed on them. They had a little bend in them but not much. I set the drags on both of the Maxximus LP Magnet baitcasters to a fairly strong pull as I didn't fancy being caught tightly to the rocks if I snagged one, not with this sea running which was still running while after the tide was supposedly ebbing. Come the second reef and I decided to try on the inside in the hope that the water may have been a bit clearer and the fish hanging there for anything washed off or through but it was just as murky and I really expected a blank. No way would my lures be seen from any more than 8 inches away (that was the vis at the surface judging by my paddle blades) so I'd have to drag them close enough to a fish for it to sense the vibrations - oh how I was trusting those ball bearings inside!
I went back on the outside for the third reef, concentrating fully as the waves were rolling in between 2 and 3ft in the main with the larger sets putting up 5-6ft faces in the troughs. If I messed up here I was toast. Now, ideally you want to be paddling within 10ft of the reef but this would have been suicide, the closest I could get at any time was 15 but I tried to stay around 20ft away, pulling out further in the roughest parts and here the newly-fitted rudder really came into its own - any closer and the waves were curling which would take control away from me and it would be highly likely I would get flipped into the reef. So, with rough brown water, strong wind and a running tide mixed with waves breaking hard on the rocks I expected nothing.
So it came as a surprise to feel the rod jerking beside me! I left it while I headed out from the reef before grabbing it from the flushmount and starting to wind. Good fish! First bass of the year and the first on my new Fladen set-ups. What a fight! The rod pulled over nicely giving plenty of flex to keep the lure from pulling (it was holding by one barb and that lightly!) while maintaining enough power to bring the fish close. I grabbed the trace as it started to tire and slowed the running and diving and pulled it aboard...my efforts had been made worthwhile, the fuel bill no longer a concern! And a lovely meal for my wife and I, the first fresh bass in eight months. 45cm and plump.
Duly deposited in the hatch after the obligatory photographs I set off again, the mackerel Minnow 13 replaced with a silver redhead Minnow 13 with a deeper-diving lip (for the outside rod). Now, I mentioned fitting the rudder earlier. It's rare that I need one on the scupper for normal paddling, it's less of a wind-hog than some of the other fishing kayaks and easier to control by leaning, edging, adjusting stroke etc but I'd decided that there was one really key advantage to fitting it. When trolling these reefs we travel in the same direction as the current much of the time. It's quite strong so paddling as well means the speed travelled at is greater than that I like for trolling (the slower the better as long as the lures work) so I figured I could put the paddle down and drift while controlling my line by the rudder instead of the blade. This worked a charm and also allowed me to easily get away from the reef when needed. So I drifted a couple of reefs and, about three quarters of the way down decided to turn and return as the bottom reefs inspire more confidence in me, having had more fish off them in the past.
Back I came, easily holding the line but the water seemed even lumpier now, the waves hitting the rocks more violently. I forget which reef I was on but it was the worst of the lot and I was getting tossed around like a cork when suddenly that rod started to buck again, the redhead doing the business this time. I couldn't even look around, just steered a course out to sea, grabbed the rod and passed it around and under the other as the wind and fish turned me and the current started to send me back the way I’d come. A better fish this, the rod hooped right over and I had a marvellous bit of sport before finally boating a beautifully conditioned 47cm bass that had clearly been feeding hard.
I continued back down the reef towards Waxham, being eyeballed by seals every now and again and on reaching the last of the visible ones decided to head in once I got to the bottom one. I'd had ninety minutes of enjoyable if hard paddling, a couple of fine fish and figured that the risks outweighed any further rewards which weren't necessary as I had one for dinner and one to freeze so the last couple of reefs passed quickly without too much regret, one snag and a take that was lost as I got to the rod and then I started to head in.
Uh-oh! Looked surfy. I closed up my lure bag with anything not needed inside, brought my rods down to the deck to allow me to brace easier (though one camera was still in the way but not on the side I'd likely need it) and got set up to get wet again. There was no way I'd keep dry, I knew that. I came in gently, letting the first that reared up behind me pass and then having little choice about the second - I'd have to have paddled hard on my RRRapido to catch it at that point but the Scupper just wanted to play! I was off, a bit of rudder control and a bit of paddle steerage, some leaning and edging and I shot forwards, turned and carved and ran along and then up off the top after bracing into the breaking foam...wet but backwards. here the rudder ran out of use, no forward momentum for it to be effective it hindered my turn and I was only halfway around by the time the second wave came through, the first being faced head-on. So another brace and she spun around and rode in straight for a nice landing.
That has to have been the most enjoyable landing of the year so far, truly memorable the video notwithstanding! The rear camera was knocked down to the water on that second wave but was easily flicked back up and all I had to do now was get back up over that damned dune (with a brief stop to wave at Don who flew over in his Jabiru), unload, strap the yak on the roof and drive home.
A bracing paddle finished with some bracing and with a brace of bass to take home. A wonderful session!
