My day began with indecision. It carried on like that most of the day in all honesty but the beginning threw everything out. I missed the first tide, the flood and the best I could manage was, as I wanted to check water clarity on the rock breakwater by the wind turbine, taking a lure outfit down for a few desultory casts off the dangerous and scary rocks at England's most easterly point.
Nah, nothing here and the water was way to dirty…a quick nip over to the point and the jetty that pokes out, see how it looks in the eddy line and sheltered spot out of the flow…more reading, should get myself some glasses as I couldn’t quite make any sense from it…
Nice action on the lure. Maybe next week.
Directionally I did really well, hunting out the capitals of Belgium, Greece and Albania, covering most of my mum's grand-parentage. I probably sent a lure over towards Paris too but I didn't check.
I milled around then failed to find fresh herring from the bloke who goes out on his boat and gets fresh herring. So I dawdled a bit more until finally I got myself in the car with bait and stuff and headed for Tramps. Or Dogger. Or Tramps. Maybe Dogger? No, Tramps. At the last minute I turned and parked up at Dogger. It’s just easier…
Unloaded and with the kayak slung over the knee-high wall onto the sand I locked up, hopped over and started to drag it along the sand for the short walk to the shoreline. The water was lapping gently onto the sand, just ripples really and the distinction between cloudy and less cloudy water was easily seen. Some beach anglers were up at the other end of this set of groynes with a few on the previous one casting from amongst the smashed up concrete sea defences and chatting in the sun. It was certainly a fine afternoon and a gentle pull into the water was sufficient to get me launched. I paddled out with a dry lap, nothing breaking over the bow for once.
It was as I got out past the groyne that I caught a glimpse of something familiar and uttered that very Norfolk saying “hang you on bor” and stopped for a look; yep, another flash as a fin broke the surface as a harbour porpoise, well, porpoised! A hundred yards from shore perhaps, moving short distances and in less hurry than when I’ve seen them before…I got out the camera and started to film. The thing is, although I’ve seen porpoises a few times I’d yet to capture one on film and here was my best chance yet – would it hang about?
It did. So did the rest of the pod. They came close, they dove and surfaced, they stayed in the area…I sat amongst them for ten minutes, marvelling at the sight, hearing the snorts as they surfaced, jerked the camera around when I caught sight of one just off screen. I guessed there must be fish here if they were hanging about though I assumed herring high up in the water so it’d mean nothing for my chances. I dropped anchor all the same, at least I could watch…
I was maybe 250 yards offshore here and the tide seemed fairly mild as I dropped down, whole squid on one rod, a strip of gar on the other. A moment of clarity ensued and I slackened my drags off, just in case; I wasn’t going to have an easy time of things if a porpoise took a shine to my bait! Highly unlikely, they’re not stupid. But all the same…The porpoises wandered off pretty soon after anyway and with no bites after half an hour I reeled in a load of weed, on both rods. The lines were loading up with this in minutes so with both considerations I decided to up-anchor and head another couple of hundred yards further out.
I dropped down again; the flow was stronger here and I had to triple the amount of warp out to steady the kayak. There was no weed here though, I expected more because of the speed but no, it was hugging the coast it seemed. Ten minutes passed before the squid bait attracted something, a big thump and I grabbed the rod, waited and…another pull and I struck…
Doggie One!
Yep, after yesterday’s fun I was out dogfishing, No need to spend lots of money on fresh lugworm, a bag of squid (leftovers no less) and a few bits of cheap fish guaranteed enough action to amuse me with the chance of something else pouncing on these cheap and simple baits – face it, Steve Cave (gratuitous name drop!) had his ex-record bass on a manky piece of squid by chance, it’s my bait of choice for smoothound and the rays like them too, cod will take them and it’s what the longliners stick on their hooks. Yep, I’m fishing, not after a particular specimen whose bait must not dare to be touched by another species! And I‘m happy, that was a good pull that doggy gave me, pulling that 12lb class rod right over in the tide and making me tighten my drag again.
I had a few more too, maybe a dozen in all; they didn’t come in like some docile little Chihuahua, nope these were Rotties, pulling and kicking and giving it their all. Then, finally a change as the first of a pair of starry smoothound pups pitch up; dogs and hounds!
I had the camera on the rod again, ahead of the reel this time to catch a bit of tip action. I switched it onto record on a bite I had while on the phone with Spark, unable to fish on Wednesday or for a month thereafter so I’m sure he appreciated the excitement and swearing that he could hear and which requires a bit of judicious editing before posting when I spotted what my next dog turned out to be!
It seems I was premature with my title the other day!!! Yep, finally I had become a Skater Boy, or ‘Sk8er Boi’ as Miss Lavigne would spell it! The first thornback of the year (a male) and only my third locally ever I was over the moon. My wife loves them, it’s an extra point for the species hunt, it’s always a treat to see them and they give a good account of themselves; what’s not to love?
Of course with the tides I get here the rays really only come on towards slack and so the catching window was short and within quarter of an hour I was pulling leads along the bottom as the wind started to overpower the water and it was time to go in after a really pleasant few hours and a fine selection of elasmobranches; not a bony fish amongst them! My indecision and time-wasting really paid off this time and all on secondhand bait.
Epilogue. I was up early to go again this morning but…
Then this afternoon’s meeting was cancelled…but the wind, onshore, had picked up as predicted and though I’d got my kit on and bait out for the second time the sea was a mess. No fishing today.
Hooks – Fladen Maxximus 2/0 Jig Hook. A chemically sharpened needle point barbed hook with a couple of barbs on the shank, this is designed for crab and soft baits. Thick gauge, it should keep its shape when unhooking which is a bit of an issue with the hard mouths found on these cartilaginous species. The wide gape is spot on for squid baits, keeping the hook point clear when pushed through the head at the bottom or the mantle at the top. I have some 4/0’s of the same pattern too and the shank barbs will help to keep worm baits in place too and the same rigs are being tied with these but that’s not for this time of year.
Swivels – Fladen Rolling Swivels, size 4. Tough swivels, stronger than the line I’m using, these don’t have spirals to trap line and a rounded eye at each end to not compress the knot either. Small enough to minimise the amount of weed they catch there’s more than enough space for them to rotate smoothly. A second version with a snap link attached is used for attaching leads on the bottom of my livebait trace or allowing a quick change of lures on an anti-tangle leader.
Beads – Fladen Luminous Beads, 6x10mm. Nice and wide, oval and with a large hole through the centre these run easily up and down the line, their main task being as knot protectors to avoid the swivels catching on them but also in use as spreaders on the wishbone. Being luminous there is also some attraction possibilities with them though this is of more use in areas that aren’t filled with suspended sand and mud such as we have here on the Suffolk coastline.
Sliding weight clip – Fladen Zip Slider. Red plastic with a large diameter hole through the centre to allow smooth running and a large wire clip to hold the sinker these form the basis of my main two rigs. Locked off at either end by a bead and swivel they form a stop against which a fish picking up the bait and moving downtide with it will often hook itself; it also allows a lead to be kept lower to the business end on casting while retaining a long trace.
Crimps – Fladen 1.2mm Single Sleeves. Designed for 20-30lb line diameters these close down on the line and lock off the luminous beads to stop them from moving on the wishbone. Crimped centrally with the ends left untouched they shouldn’t damage the line.
Sleeving – Fladen 1.5mm Silicone Rig Tube. Sold in one metre lengths, this is easily cut to size and slid over the shank of the upper hook on a pennel rig keeping it straight and allowing limited movement when wanted while holding position normally.
Line – Fladen Maxximus 21.3lb 0.38mm Fluorocarbon. Though the water clarity makes this pointless in terms of its invisibility, fluorocarbon has less stretch than standard monofilament line and thus gives a straighter, semi-rigid trace when stretched after uncoiling from the packet.
So, with the components covered it’s onto the traces. These have been tied shorter than normal and with black line to make them easier to photograph and subsequently use for copying.
Running Leger Link.
This is the basis of both the pennel and wishbone rigs. A swivel is tied to either end of 12 inches of line with a bead placed either side of a zip slider to stop the slider jamming on the knots which are covered with a piece of silicon tubing.
Flowing Pennel.
The standard trace when requiring a single bait to be held hard on the bottom. 36 inches of line tied to the running leger link at one end it terminates in a single hook. Further up the trace another hook is placed with the line running freely through it. A length of silicon tubing is then pulled down over both knots as well as the shank to keep it inline with the line wound a few times around the shank before exiting the eye; this allows the hooks to be moved to the correct position to hold a bait effectively, dependent on its size and the hook at either end allows a fish to be targeted no matter which end of the bait it grabs hold of first.
Spreader Wishbone.
For fishing two baits hard on the bottom. Again utilising the running leger link a further 12 inch length of line is tied to the swivel with another swivel at the end of it, all connections but the two central swivels having silicon over them. Through this, 24 inches of line is placed with a hook at either end. These are held in position at the same length from the swivel in the centre. Five beads are then placed either side of the swivel and held in place with a crimp with the line stretched tight; this produces a semi-rigid spreader bar that keeps two baits apart on the bottom next to each other, increasing the scent while giving a smaller mouthful, easier to swallow in one go with the added possibility of a double shot.
Livebait Rig.
While a running leger pennel rig is effective for bottom feeders it is sometimes worth lifting the bait fish off the bottom where it becomes more visible and is less likely to damage the line through abrasion. The bottom of the trace is a swivel with snap link to hold the sinker. 12 inches of line runs up to another swivel. 36 inches of line is tied to this with another swivel at the top. On the longer length, a bead is placed either side of a swivel that can run freely along its length. To this 24 inches of line is tied, terminating in a single 4/0 hook, all connections covered in silicon tubing. A baitfish, hooked through the lip, can be fished straight down and can swim around in a 4ft circle without tangling the mainline.
That's the rigs; I can tie many different ones which all have their specific uses but I never use them, even the bog standard 2 or 3 hook flapper rig (I'd rather use baited feathers or hokkais). As to knots I only use one, shown to me over twenty years ago and I’ve never found any better. Known as the Centauri Knot, when done correctly this retains line strength (when lubricated with spit during the tightening proves of course) and provides a compact knot that doesn’t give. Begin by threading the line through the hook/swivel then return parallel to the mainline. Pinch the line over the eye then form three loops with the tag end around the mainline before going through the back of the three loops and pulling taut away from the eye.
Wire Pike Traces.
There are two traces to consider here, one for baits, live or dead, and one for lures. Both utilise 12 inches of wire, in this instance Fladen 26lb nylon coated trace wire (the nylon reduces kinks) with Size 4 rolling swivels, the same swivels with snap links, 1.5mm Silicone Tubing and 1.6mm Single Sleeve crimps. Hooks on the bait trace are Fladen Trebles, Size 2. The idea is that these large hooks catch hold before they travel too far down the throat thus making removal easier.
Bait Trace
Cut 12 inches of wire and loop the end around a swivel, feeding the tag end back towards the main trace and into a crimp, ensuring that the end does not protrude as this can catch line and fingers and then cover with a short piece of silicon. Then, feed a length of tubing up from the other end followed by the first treble and another length of tubing. At the free end form a loop around the eye of your bottom treble hook and close with a crimp as before. Cover the shank of the bottom treble with tube then pull the floating treble into place and cover that shank with tube as well to hold it in place, movable when necessary be it to suit the bait or to ease removal from a captured pike.
Lure Trace.
A simple wire trace for lure fishing that allows a quick change. Loop either end of 12 inches of trace wire into a crimp with one end around a swivel, the other around a swivel with snap link. Cover the crimps with silicon tubing and ensure no tag ends are protruding to catch weed or unwary fingers.
Any trace that becomes kinked in use needs to be replaced as it will be dramatically weakened and can snap under the slightest tension. With ten metres of wire on a spool it shouldn’t be a problem.
