Opening the Season…17/06/13

Opening the Season…17/06/13 With the freshwater season opening on father’s day the option of fishing it was limited to a chaotic padlding session with my and other familes so of course the fishing was reduced somewhat and the catches non-existent, having time only to troll with no bait fishing possible. It was a pleasant enough day though and not really an issue as I had the 17th off. A general invite went out and so, gathered by the slip at Beccles quay were five of us. John had travelled up from Kent to fish with us as he had a couple of times in the past on the opening day, Ian and Nick had come over from Norwich and myself and Mike from the Lowestoft area; a good mix of the Anglian region and a foreigner! Setting off around 10:30 a quick return was required as Ian had a damaged paddle and, with a spare in the car it seemed a better idea to fetch it now rather than a few miles up-river! Lucky really as I’d left my keys in the car door…Following the false start I headed to the first of my favoured swims, one which usually produces chub to a pound or so, in the bay by the iron bridge. So what would be my first fish of the season? A 5bb waggler on my new Fladen Vantage 2 piece 8 foot rod and DX2000R 5BB spinning rod loaded with 4.4lb tournament monofilament and a size 16 Vantage match hook had a single red maggot popped on the end and I cast it in the gulley between the edge and the bridge support to glide down just above the bottom…not a chub as expected but a surprise gudgeon! I love gudgeon, pretty little things that they are and this was species number one in the freshwater side of the current Anglers Afloat tournament (seven saltwater species already accounted for). I rebaited and cast again, getting harried by tiddlers for which a maggot was too big until a few casts later I pulled up a shiny little roach. In the meantime, across the river by the other supports, Ian was flicking out a small leadhead and jellyworm on a 6ft 5-25g rod which was his chosen method for the day and he’d beaten me on the off with a perch so was made up that his new tactic had paid off. I was chuffed, it looked like fun and he told me he felt every bump. Another roach followed before a dace showed up, gobbling down a red and a yellow mounted in tandem. Number 3 on the species board! So, no chub and no perch, the usual catch here but then, down went the waggler and off it shot. No monster, a tiny finger-sized chub. At last! A better fight than the others but still not much of one! Then it went quiet and I moved across to the other side of the bridge and river by a little overflow pipe that usually provides some hectic sport. Nothing here and nothing back across at the top end of the swim I’d been fishing earlier, trotting the waggler downstream. Time to troll some lures and find the others then, the two LP Magnet 6BB baitcasters and XtrafleXX 10-30g rods I’d had the bass on last week trying for a different quarry. I started with a Minnow 11 in redhead and a Minnow 14 in blue mackerel and kept my fingers crossed for a repeat of opening day a year before when I’d had a double figure pike a few hundred yards away. Alas it was not to be and I passed the pool and the jack territory by the boathouses without a twitch, the others all trying in the tree-lined bank just past here. John was enjoying himself with his centrepin having had roach, dace and a ruffe but the others had not had anything apart from Ian with a six inch pike again on the jellyworm. Seems an effective way to catch on the river! I passed them and headed upstream, chatting briefly to a guy fishing from his boat with his wife I‘d seen the day before and remembered from last year. They were passing a few pleasant days in the sun down here from Nottingham and catches had been steady if not mind-blowing on his float rod, also fitted with a centrepin. I carried on for a mile, swapping lures between minnows and jointed lures of various colours and removing weed of which there was plenty before swapping once more to an orange Minnow 11 a few hundred yards from Gillingham bend where I’d bank fished with my brother and friends as a kid thirty or so years before and where Ian had had a good pike three years back. I’d just passed it when my rod started to bang away and I turned to grab it, crashing straight into an overhanging tree! Rod camera on and recording, paddle backwards and start to fight! Nothing too large but feisty as summer pike tend to be it gave a good account of itself before I hand-landed it and whipped the trebles out, only a couple of pounds in weight but number five ticked off! Mike, following a few hundred yards behind, called out that he was also in and I went over to take his picture. A better fish in the three-four pound bracket it had taken a trout-patterned J13. It was funny how five of us trolled a mile and a half without anything and then two came so close together. Nick then passed us and we headed up towards Barsham where I planned to chuck the waggler out again by the drain, knowing it tends to hold fish and often some reasonable perch. Mike said it used to produce ruffe as well so I was hopeful of a couple of additions. Pulling in to the cutting the water clarity was far greater than the main river and there was plenty of weed growth though not the sort that would cause any problems. With the water being down I stuck my paddle between the hull and my anchor trolley and pushed it into the mud, sufficient to hold me still here. First cast produced a small chub, second a roach and then finally a better pull and proof that I’d forgotten to set my drag as a small perch made a run for it from the deeper water under the outflow. Number six! The others arrived then and called Ian over as he might get a n ice perch on his jellyworm and sure enough he did, a three-quarter pounder by the look of it. He was most pleased and to celebrate he flung the jellyworm into the railings above the pipe! Watching him clamber 4ft up the pilings and onto the nettle-strewn bank in shorts had me chuckling but he managed to avoid falling in before casting out again. I’d not had a touch for five minutes and figured that something was spooking the fish; it fell to Ian to show me what as a couple of, rather inventive, profanities crossed the water and his rod bent right over. Pike on! A nice battle with much line being taken ensued before a five pounder graced the net – the largest of the day – and once again proved his new tactic. John had turned up now and pointed out the time; the plan was to eat and drink over at the Lock Inn at Geldeston and he wanted to arrive in time this year! So, ruffe-less we set off once more with no more fish and a lot more weed before we had to clamber up the pilings and order our pints of locally-brewed Green Jack ale and a five lunches – sadly their excellent haddock could not be claimed as another species! I had to leave straight after eating as my wife’s car was playing up and I needed to give back up just-in-case. That meant a straight paddle the three miles back, against wind and flow, without time to troll though I had to have one last cast at Barsham, getting another small chub. A final twenty minute run and I was back at the slipway and off to get the car and load up. A good day out to start the season!

Father’s Day Families paddle…16/06/13

Father’s Day Families paddle…16/06/13 What to do? Father’s Day and the start of the freshwater season? Well, a nice forecast so perhaps the first family paddle of the day could combine the two. Thus we headed to Beccles, four kayaks somehow strapped on securely and the two girls and a friend’s son being provided with a rod, reel and lure. Kayaks and canoes off the roof and in the water we headed upstream, the girls resplendent in their new wetsuits. What a palaver! Trying to keep three kids lines running with a canoe and a kayak milling around amongst them, boat traffic and weed and my own lines trailing behind all came together to provide much stress and I was relieved as one by one the children decided to give up! I carried on as long as I could, moving ahead but eventually had to stop and give a tow as we were paddling upstream against wind and flow. At least it gave me a workout… Spotted Si and his dad on the way too… The kids were having a whale of a time too: Not to mention the adults… Arriving at the Lock Inn the picnic came out after I’d managed to half sink another friend’s canoe after trying to get across to the bank and sitting on the gunwhale. Much hilarity ensued from the dry people of course and then we had to empty it three feet below before I could have my ham and cheese ploughman’s baguette. We met up with a couple more sets of friends and all paddled back together, fishing again being a non-starter with purposeful capsizes and random swimming by the children, tears from splashing and various arguments and the usual family fun! Absolute chaos and great fun. Oh, and as usual my little selkies spent as much time jumping in as they did staying out… Of course nothing goes to plan on a day like this and we ended up landing an hour later than planned which put us in a rush to get home for the planned extended family meal but we made it with half an hour to spare. A pity then that we returned to a scene of devastation after the new neighbours dog had got into our garden, destroyed and damaged a large quantity of plants, knocked over the barbecue and shat on the paving to no word of apology or even acknowledgement from next door. With my wife in tears, my children in the bath and my parents at the door I was glad that we’d opted for a takeaway…roll on the next family day out!

Bracing for Bass...11/06/13

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!