Post by overrun on Sept 1, 2011 17:22:43 GMT
Struggling a bit with the species list lately, a trip to the west country might get things moving.
The days when Bude is a realistic kayak fishing prospect are rare, Monday appeared briefly in the plan last week and also Tuesday, fortunately having a day off coincided nicely for both. With the arrival of the weekend, Monday ruled out on grounds of wind and Tuesday firmed-up with high pressure building. I'll only attempt Bude if the wind is negligible and sea conditions <2ft swell & wave, really don't want be caught out with a big surf on the way in , or having to abort at the wrong tide state. Also, it's a big investment in both time and fuel these days!
Having said that, once away from the shore, the depth rises quite quickly and swell is no-longer a problem, the tidal drift, even on a big tide is nothing compared to the Bristol channel or East Coast.
On the water at 10:00 approx. half way down the ebb, new launch site and spoke to the Lifeguards about the beach, as wondered how much sand at LW, “at least as much again”, another 250 yards. They commented on my gear and we chatted about the fishing, they offered the assistance of a Jetski in the unlikely event anything big hooked
. I'd love calling that in on Channel 16 ;D. Waves around 1-2ft with occasional bigger sets, enough to be a problem, so tied a carrier bag over the Fishfinder to keep the worst of the sea off when punching the surf. Ploughed through a small wave and away without incident.
Mark for the day was to be the reef, approx. 2nm west, last time I'd fished slightly further north, checked my drifting speed in the tide, less than 1 knot south. Didn't want to go too far north as would have the same problem coming back against the tide. As it turned out, the tide was slackening and soon made the reef, approx. 600 yards south of my previous mark. Several pot buoys around so tied-off to the first encountered, 90ft of water below, the sea oily flat.
First drop of baited feathers and wallop, a standard Bude Pollock:
Set up the shark gear in between servicing more Pollock, including a decent one 5-6lb:
Began chumming and chunking but held back the bulk for the flood tide.
LW came and with it the Bream bites and the kennels opened, loads of small Huss vomiting lumps of Mackerel, wonder where they came from . Had a couple of Bream, pound or so, nothing big, a Gar took the baited feathers on the way down and trussed itself in the rig, what a mess.
Sorted that out and bang into what initially felt like another good Pollock, then in un-Pollockish fashion, fought hard to the surface. A nice Ling, caught one of those last time at Bude!
More small Dogs followed including a proper Bull Huss:
With flood beginning sport died away, I'd been contemplating a move up-tide, about 600 yards to the south was a single red buoy which didn't look like a pot. While gazing at this again and looking at a lone charter boat about 2 miles further south, a large fish broke the surface between me and the buoy. By the time I'd refocussed, it jumped again clean out of the water , guessing around 4-5ft, on it's side, could see the pectorals, most likely a Dolphin but I eyed the shark gear nervously for the next 10 minutes.
The flood picked-up, lobbed the rest of the chum in, no bites, very odd, no Tope, thought the Pollock would return with the current. 90 minutes without a bite, had enough of the NW breeze and the swells coming through were beginning to worry me. Try inshore and checkout how far the tide was up the beach .
Paddled back to 40ft, lobbed the feathers in and a couple of 1lb Pollock. On to the beach, tide was well in and at least 10 surfers vying for the next wave, nadgers! Double checked everything was lashed down, took the reels off and stowed in hull, strapped the rods flat under paddle keeps, bagged the FF and while doing this, became aware of a 4-5fter bearing down, having drifted into the back of the surf. It passed through without breaking, scrambled to deeper water to collect my thoughts .
A wipe-out looked certain given my lack of practice, nothing to do but go for it. Spotted a lull, it was all going so well, then the inevitable wave arrived from the rear, not a big one, 50 yards travelled at speed before sideways and out. Only the bait bucket lost, must stick some flotation on the next one .
'Landed' well-up the beach 17:00, a friendly Lifeguard helped with the kayak and the stony bank, asked if I'd seen the Pilot Whale? Thankfully not and there is at least one out there! Recounted the Dolphin story, he confirmed Dolphins were in the area. The Lifeguards had watched the paddle out, which surprised me and upon reflection would have been a good idea to let them know when planning to return, I'd said HW ish but left it open. Imagine all sorts of problems with them leaving at 18:00, wondering where the lone Kayak-er had gone.
Another delightful trip, didn't quite make all the target species and a Trigger would have been appreciated, roll on next time.
Cheers
James
The days when Bude is a realistic kayak fishing prospect are rare, Monday appeared briefly in the plan last week and also Tuesday, fortunately having a day off coincided nicely for both. With the arrival of the weekend, Monday ruled out on grounds of wind and Tuesday firmed-up with high pressure building. I'll only attempt Bude if the wind is negligible and sea conditions <2ft swell & wave, really don't want be caught out with a big surf on the way in , or having to abort at the wrong tide state. Also, it's a big investment in both time and fuel these days!
Having said that, once away from the shore, the depth rises quite quickly and swell is no-longer a problem, the tidal drift, even on a big tide is nothing compared to the Bristol channel or East Coast.
On the water at 10:00 approx. half way down the ebb, new launch site and spoke to the Lifeguards about the beach, as wondered how much sand at LW, “at least as much again”, another 250 yards. They commented on my gear and we chatted about the fishing, they offered the assistance of a Jetski in the unlikely event anything big hooked
. I'd love calling that in on Channel 16 ;D. Waves around 1-2ft with occasional bigger sets, enough to be a problem, so tied a carrier bag over the Fishfinder to keep the worst of the sea off when punching the surf. Ploughed through a small wave and away without incident. Mark for the day was to be the reef, approx. 2nm west, last time I'd fished slightly further north, checked my drifting speed in the tide, less than 1 knot south. Didn't want to go too far north as would have the same problem coming back against the tide. As it turned out, the tide was slackening and soon made the reef, approx. 600 yards south of my previous mark. Several pot buoys around so tied-off to the first encountered, 90ft of water below, the sea oily flat.
First drop of baited feathers and wallop, a standard Bude Pollock:
Set up the shark gear in between servicing more Pollock, including a decent one 5-6lb:
Began chumming and chunking but held back the bulk for the flood tide.
LW came and with it the Bream bites and the kennels opened, loads of small Huss vomiting lumps of Mackerel, wonder where they came from . Had a couple of Bream, pound or so, nothing big, a Gar took the baited feathers on the way down and trussed itself in the rig, what a mess.
Sorted that out and bang into what initially felt like another good Pollock, then in un-Pollockish fashion, fought hard to the surface. A nice Ling, caught one of those last time at Bude!
More small Dogs followed including a proper Bull Huss:
With flood beginning sport died away, I'd been contemplating a move up-tide, about 600 yards to the south was a single red buoy which didn't look like a pot. While gazing at this again and looking at a lone charter boat about 2 miles further south, a large fish broke the surface between me and the buoy. By the time I'd refocussed, it jumped again clean out of the water , guessing around 4-5ft, on it's side, could see the pectorals, most likely a Dolphin but I eyed the shark gear nervously for the next 10 minutes.
The flood picked-up, lobbed the rest of the chum in, no bites, very odd, no Tope, thought the Pollock would return with the current. 90 minutes without a bite, had enough of the NW breeze and the swells coming through were beginning to worry me. Try inshore and checkout how far the tide was up the beach .
Paddled back to 40ft, lobbed the feathers in and a couple of 1lb Pollock. On to the beach, tide was well in and at least 10 surfers vying for the next wave, nadgers! Double checked everything was lashed down, took the reels off and stowed in hull, strapped the rods flat under paddle keeps, bagged the FF and while doing this, became aware of a 4-5fter bearing down, having drifted into the back of the surf. It passed through without breaking, scrambled to deeper water to collect my thoughts .
A wipe-out looked certain given my lack of practice, nothing to do but go for it. Spotted a lull, it was all going so well, then the inevitable wave arrived from the rear, not a big one, 50 yards travelled at speed before sideways and out. Only the bait bucket lost, must stick some flotation on the next one .
'Landed' well-up the beach 17:00, a friendly Lifeguard helped with the kayak and the stony bank, asked if I'd seen the Pilot Whale? Thankfully not and there is at least one out there! Recounted the Dolphin story, he confirmed Dolphins were in the area. The Lifeguards had watched the paddle out, which surprised me and upon reflection would have been a good idea to let them know when planning to return, I'd said HW ish but left it open. Imagine all sorts of problems with them leaving at 18:00, wondering where the lone Kayak-er had gone.
Another delightful trip, didn't quite make all the target species and a Trigger would have been appreciated, roll on next time.
Cheers
James
;D
