Trying to catch both

Late spring has been busy.  It's a good time for Bass and the Smoothounds start to show up too.  I want to catch both and with the long hours of daylight and a bit of juggling I've been able to give it a good go.  It takes a bit of effort and a bit of thought, I try to make the best of the time available and make my decisions on the tide and conditions.  I don't always get it right, maybe it would be boring if I did? 

Another daytime tide saw me arrive at my least favourite beach thinking I was likely to be surrounded by anglers and bothered by Dogfish all day.  But if I want to have a chance of catching a Hound I have to fish where I’m most likely to catch them and if the beach is busy, try to ignore everything around me and put up with the Dogfish!  Fishing is quite simple really, it’s me that often over complicates things.  With high tide due at 1448 I was fishing by 1215 with two rods fishing pulley rigs and baits from the freezer.  The day was a mixture of sunshine and cloud with the possibility of a shower, there was a fresh westerly wind but this was on my back, still I needed the shelter for comfort.    There was one angler to my left and a couple to my right and they seemed to be into fish on both sides but I had a slow start.  My first bite came around 1330 and I was briefly attached to a fish of some kind but it dropped off.

Another quiet hour passed but as high tide approached I started to get proper bites and had two Dogfish in ten minutes.  I expected this to be the start of something but the action stopped again.  At 1530 I tried something different, a butchered peeler crab wrapped in squid was attached to my pennel.  This is said to be a top bait for several species but I don’t seem to catch much at all on them, however what I have caught includes a few memorable fish.  After ten minutes the rod baited with crab literally folded over and I was attached to something of a similar weight to the Dogs but this was fighting differently.  I say fighting but with the heavy tackle in use, a fish of this size cannot really resist but it was having a go!  Maybe a Bass?  Maybe a…  Yes! A little Smoothound, my first of the year.  This was a small one but even on the beach it didn’t stop fighting, it writhed and twisted constantly like an Eel until it was slipped back into the sea.

After that I had rattles on just about every cast but few proper bites but I was content having caught what I set out for.  Even the small Hounds are cool creatures and I can’t catch enough of them!  I fished on till around 1815 and caught a couple more Dogfish and may well have caught a few more but I’d had enough.

For once I’d got my act together and organised all the gear which enabled me to be in the car and away within thirty minutes of finishing work.  Into town for ragworm and out again to pick up Rich.  We took the A roads, the long way round and a far more tedious drive but after we progressed to narrowing roads cutting through woodland the rat race was left behind.

After the long hike we were fishing two rods each around 1830, an hour into the ebb.  At home the weather had been baking hot and still but here facing the salt there was a cool northerly which had us layering up almost as soon as we got there.  Once settled and comfortable we took the tops off cold beers and sat back to chill, chat and chuckle which we did successfully for the rest of the evening.  We had three spells of bites, firstly a couple in full daylight, several more in the dusk period and a few more after dark.  We missed a few, lost a couple but managed to land nine between us although there were no decent ones tonight.  The weirdest thing of the evening was the lobster that Rich managed to catch, the first either of us had ever seen outside of a restaurant tank.

The walk back was uneventful this time but once in the car we soon saw a Badger followed by Deer and Rabbits, as usual the countryside had come alive after dark.

What should have been a relaxing day turned into a busy one which is not what you need when the temperature has gone past 30*C.  I got everything done and got on the road around 1615, a bit early really but it meant I’d miss the worst of the traffic.  With the weather as it was I knew the coast would be busy but with the evening approaching people were starting to head home and I managed to squeeze into the car park.  There were still plenty of day trippers about so I loaded up and took a long, taxing hike south, crunching across the stones.  I was surprised to find myself the only angler on the beach, do the others know something I don’t?

I was set up with two pulley rigs around 1720, the North Sea was as flat and blue as I’d ever seen in and was pretty clear too.  With high tide due at 2048 I expected a long wait before anything happened but here at the coast it was much fresher than it had been at home so it was comfortable sitting staring at the sea with the sun behind me.  There was not a breath of wind and the rod tips were still, I could expect to see a rattle if a fish so much as sniffed my bait.  The Gulls home in on anglers here, they’ve learned they can beg a feed out of people kinder than me.  I had a Herring gull comically circling me on foot, never getting too close but near enough to dart in and steal some bait if I dropped my guard.  Later this was replaced by a Black headed gull who was noisy and annoying so was chased off.

Time passed and the tips remained still.  The flat sea made me think a Ray might be on the cards but what I really want at this time of year is another Hound.  It’s always difficult to tear my eyes away from the rod tips but the flat sea gave me clues.  I saw fishy swirls on a couple of occasions and later a couple of tiny silver fish leapt.  I thought maybe Bass were active but this isn’t a beach I associate with this species, still I wasn’t getting any action and the baits were mostly coming back untouched.  As high tide approached it looked like a blank was on the cards and I decided I’d give it till 2200 then get away if nothing happened.

With high tide came a cool breeze from the east which ruffled the surface for the first time and a few minutes later the bites started and didn’t stop!  Four hours of inactivity was followed by two hours when I barely got a chance to sit down.  I had plenty of choice for bait; squid, mackerel, crab and ragworm but it didn’t matter what I chucked out, it all got eaten.  I started with a Dogfish on each rod then had a slamming bite on rag which was a small Hound which didn’t stop fighting.  After that I had a decent sized Whiting but other than that it was Dogs all the way.  During the quiet early evening I’d have been glad of a Dogfish but by 2300 my tally had reached ten, I was knackered and I’d had enough so that was my lot. 

Another early finish at work gave me time to get out to the coast for another go for the Bass.  In truth it had been a bit disappointing to this point, I’d caught a few Bass but none of any great size.  My favourite estuarine spot had been consistent for keeper size fish through the previous two springs but so far this year the bigger ones hadn’t shown up.  With high tide due just before midnight I had plenty of choice but I liked the idea of fishing the flood and dropping baits close in, near to the structure the retreating tide had exposed on my last couple of visits.  State of tide aside, another thing that this spot has in its favour is it always seems to switch on when it gets dark, whatever the tide is doing.

I was fishing by 1830 using two lighter rods, both rigged up with simple running leger rigs baited with ragworm.  The evening was mostly clear with a gentle easterly breeze blowing into my face.  Last week we’d had flurries of bites throughout the evening but that wasn’t the case tonight and nothing happened until around 2000 when the sun was hidden and the area fell into shade.  This came in the form of fast rattles which had stopped before I’d even lifted my arse from the chair and as the minutes ticked by it looked like it wasn’t going to happen tonight.  Finally at just before 2200 I had a proper bite and wound in a small Bass.  After that bites came regularly; I missed plenty but hooked a few too, the highlight being an a lovely lump of silver that wasn’t quite three pounds.  Apart from that I had a couple more smaller Bass and an Eel.

The bites seemed to stop at high tide when the water went slack but just as I was beginning to tidy up a rod slammed over and I was attached to another fish, not another big Bass but a second small Eel.  That was enough, it was gone midnight and I had a good hike back to the car ahead of me before a forty minute drive across the county.  At least it should have been but for a bloody closed road and diversion, don’t get me started…

 

Different days, different beaches

When my next time off came round I couldn’t decide what to do.  I probably should have fished an estuary for Bass as it is still a bit early for Hounds but as much as I like the tranquil estuary areas it’s usually Bass or bust.  I mostly prefer fishing the open beaches for the variety of species that can turn up, you never know what might turn up.  Also if I really want to catch Smoothounds I have to fish where I’m most likely to encounter them and be prepared to sit it out. 

I had time to kill so turned up early and got settled into the cosy shelter to watch the world float on by.  The first couple of hours were quiet and I was distracted by a cheeky Herring Gull which was far too comfortable coming right up close. Whenever I was distracted, winding in or getting ready to cast, it headed straight for the shelter and my bait bag.  I soon got the hump with this and chased it off and thereafter kept a watchful eye on anything winged and vaguely white.  My second close encounter was with a large seal that seemed to be patrolling up and down the shelf in front of me.  No wonder I wasn’t getting any bites.

Time ticked on and the sea rose up the slope, the high tide period is usually best at this location and for a couple of hours either side of high water I had constant action, bites and rattles on squid fished at any distance.  I’d chosen this dramatic shingle beach hoping for variety but as it turned out I caught more of the same, another good size Whiting and loads more Dogfish. 

This kind of fishing is no longer an interesting novelty but by putting up with it I put myself in with a chance of a Hound and if I manage to catch one or two of these this year it’ll be worth it.  That said it’s probably still a bit early for Hounds and I fancy a change, using some lighter gear for Bass in the near future appeals to me.

My next trip came a few days later, I finished a gruelling shift, got ready in a hurry, then had a frustrating trip into town which was unavoidable because I had some ragworm to collect.  After that I had an even more tedious drive out of town and eastward but eventually broke free into countryside and began to feel myself again.  Tonight I was after Bass at a lovely spot on an estuary reached by a good hike through another marsh.  As I walked, I heard a cuckoo for the first time this year and spotted three deer which obviously felt safe strutting around in broad daylight, two just tried to stare me out but the third slowly crouched into the reeds until only its ears were visible.

I was set up at 1830 using lighter gear for a change, my usual Bass rod as well as a Greys Pike rod pared with a crappy Nash baitrunner which I’d put on a rod for the kids to use years ago.  On both rods I used a running leger with a long hooklength ending in a size 1 long shank hook, bait on both was ragworm.  High tide had been and gone but I don’t much bother with the tide at this spot as in previous years the onset of darkness had been key.  The evening was mostly clear and bright to begin with but the northerly breeze was chilling and I positioned my chair so this was on my back.

I didn’t expect anything much in daylight but I moved the rods around regularly dropping baits into various spots in the slacker water on the near side.  As the tide dropped I realised I’d gone too far right and the water I’d be fishing would be dry mud flat soon, so I moved into slightly deeper water.  The birdlife was interesting, Oyster Catchers are fairly common in these locations but I saw Avocet too and I can’t remember seeing these too often here. Things started to happen around 2000 with fishy rattles on both rods but these didn’t develop.  On the next few casts I had little plucks and rattles but nothing to strike at, I wound in a crab which was a clue to the culprits.  I’d assumed I just needed to turn up here and fish into dark and I’d catch but as the light faded I began to wonder if I’d got it wrong, a blank began to seem inevitable.

Four hours into the ebb I started to see signs, fish swirling close to the bank in about eighteen inches of water.  I’ve seen Bass in close here before and caught one or two small ones so using the Greys rod I under-armed a rig about a rod length out.  A few minutes later the tip was wrenched over then straightened, how do you get a slack liner with just five or six yards of line out?  I still had to wind a couple of turns to make contact with something charging around in circles on a short line, yanking the rod over as it did so.  The fish had nowhere to go and I managed to heave it onto the shingle but it wasn’t a Bass!  Bugger me I’d caught my first ever Mullet which was long, muscular and shiny, much cooler than the one that had sat on my head in the eighties.  It weighed 2-08 and I wish I’d taken more time with the photos.

Twenty minutes later the same rod banged again but I should never take these unmissable bites for granted.  Another half an hour passed before I had another chance and this time I did connect with a Bass of about a pound but that was my lot.  The rod tip action went back to annoying plucks and tremors and I didn’t get another proper bite despite fishing till about 2330.  In hindsight I probably should have paid more attention to the tide as by the time I packed up the outward flow was as slow as I’ve seen it here.  Most trips here leads will be shifted and the rig bounced down tide but this didn’t happen at all tonight.

Walking in these quiet parts of the county is interesting after dark as the natives come out to forage.  My head torch had been picking out Bats at the shore but on the walk back they reflected the eyes of Deer in the marsh.  About half way back to the car there was a sizeable lump on the bridleway in front of me, as I got closer it became apparent the lump was alive and moving.  Then the torch beam made it clear I was looking at the rear end of a Badger.  I slowed my stride and started scraping my feet as I didn’t want to surprise the animal but it was unaware or unbothered.  I stood still and because I didn’t know what else to do I said loudly; “Badger!  Fuck off!”  I swear the creature turned its head to look over its shoulder, seemed to do a double take then trotted down the path increasing speed as it did so.  That’s probably the closest I’ve ever been to a live Badger and honestly, coming across a big mammal when you’re alone in the dark is unnerving.

Things were surreal back at the car as the key didn’t want to work to begin with but I managed to get in and enjoy the drive home, regularly slowing for Rabbits and even more Deer.  Spring in Suffolk is wonderful but the majority of people are surrounded by all this stuff and rarely notice it, if ever.  We anglers know how lucky we are.

Another day a different beach but which one?  With high tide due at 2020 and a nice off shore breeze, I fancied my chances in three different places so where should I go?  I had a bit of ragworm left which made it sensible to go somewhere these might be effective, did the tail wag the dog?  The cauldron is a tricky spot to fish, you never know what conditions will be like until you get there but I figured I had a good chance of Bass and unlike the estuaries there’s a chance of catching almost anything.  I hiked across yet another marsh with the west wind on my back, the afternoon was clear and bright but cloud was building and showers were forecast for the evening meaning I had to carry the shelter.  The countryside is bursting with life at the moment, I seem to see Deer wherever I go and another one burst through the reeds today.

I was fishing by 1610, sitting at the top of a steep slope looking down at a flat but boiling sea.  Tonight I reverted to my normal heavy rod/light rod set up.  On the former it was the usual big bait but due to the strength of the current here I wouldn’t be able to give it a big chuck until later on, when the tide went slack.  On the Bass rod I used the regular running leger rig baited with ragworm cast no further than twenty yards and often just under-armed out into the deep water close in.  I didn’t expect much to begin with but within half an hour the heavy rod wobbled and I hooked something with a bit of weight.  You never know what you’ll catch at this spot but of course it was yet another Dogfish.

I can never predict how things will go at this spot, (more than any other!) but tonight I expected to catch Bass as the tide peaked and darkness fell.  I sat in the comfort of the shelter watching the rod tips but often distracted by the birdlife; more Oyster Catchers and Avocet along with what I now know to be a Wood Sandpiper.  The highlight was a large shape that soared overhead, it dawned on me that what I was looking at was a large bird of prey.  Just how big was difficult to tell given there was nothing to give it scale.  Having compared the silhouette with a diagram in my RSPB book, it could well have been a White-tailed Eagle, I don’t know what else it could have been?  This was a welcome distraction as none was coming in the form of bites.  I was quite glad of this during the twenty minutes or so of squally rain that blew through and had me sat right at the back of the shelter.

An hour before high tide, at around 1910, I had a proper bite on the light rod and found myself attached to a spirited fish, a Bass of around a pound or so.  This came pretty much on time and I expected regular spells of action over the next couple of hours and into darkness as fish moved in and out but unfortunately this didn’t happen.  I had a few fast rattles on ragworm and when I was able to fish at range, a couple of knocks on squid, one of which resulted in yet another Dogfish.  By 2230 I was done and soon had the gear packed away and loaded on my shoulders.  I’ve fished this area enough to know my way around so have no excuse for taking the wrong path and almost losing myself in the marsh.  Thankfully I realised my mistake before going too far and managed to get back on the right track and accompanied by the calls of owls, hiked back to the car.

East winds

After my last successful visit to the beach things just wouldn’t fall into place, when I had the time off the conditions were all wrong.  Strong onshore winds do nothing for the fishing, make the chances of a Ray almost nil and make life bloody uncomfortable while you’re struggling on the beach.  All of the above is accepted fishing logic which I have reinforced through learning the hard way but this spring I didn’t bother.  I considered fishing an estuary but I’m struggling to get my hands on ragworm at the moment and it’s pointless trying for Bass without.  So for the first time this spring I did a bit of coarse fishing and visited a venue I’d not yet fished, this is because I didn’t think it was my cup of tea and I was right.  The water itself, a small pit, is actually quite nice; steep sided therefore sheltered and nicely tree lined.  The trouble is it’s located close to some industrial units and the noise was constant, I think I’d have relaxed more braving the easterly wind on the beach…  I float fished sweetcorn over a bed of hemp which is a simple and effective and had a few rapid bites that I was way to slow for, apparently there are crucians in here?  I did hit one bite and the float rod bent nicely as something with spirit pulled away on the end, I was happy to scoop a little Tench up in the net.  I can’t remember the last one I caught, it’s been at least ten years and not for want of trying!  If you’d offered me a single Tench when I set off, I’d have taken it so no complaints but I doubt I’ll be back.

Eventually things appeared to fall in my favour, after a few bright, breezy, clear days I had a mild cloudy evening with a light onshore breeze.  With high tide due around 0100 I arrived at the shallow beach around 1900 and was greeted by a mostly sandy expanse that has changed subtly since my first visits this year.  Crucially the sea was flat with small waves and I set up eagerly thinking the chances of a Ray were good.  I started off set up half way down the gentle slope but showers were forecast and I’d brought the shelter which I erected above the tideline.  The first heavy shower came earlier than expected and saw me scurrying to rehome myself in comfort.

My first bite came after an hour, a good thump on a whole squid which resulted in a slight fishy presence on the line that was actually my first Bass of the year.  After that I had a couple of hours without a decent bite for which I was almost grateful as the weather was pretty unpleasant.  The only thing of note in this period was a strange, bedraggled figure appearing through the gloom which was actually Giles having his first trip to the Beach for some time.  Three hours before high tide, an almost full moon had risen, the rain had mostly cleared away and the tips started to rattle regularly.  The action was never as hectic as on previous evenings but regular enough, however it was Whiting and Dogs all the way, the Rays didn’t show.  Apparently they move up the estuaries to spawn at this time of year and having consulted the diary I later realised I’ve never caught a Ray from this beach in May. 

We fished till after midnight by which time we’d both caught enough decent sized Whiting to make a decent feed back home.  The drive home was a pleasant one with loads of animals on the move along the lanes.  There were dozens of rabbits, a barn owl ghosted across the road, a badger gave me a glare before slipping into a hedge and I had the stop the car to allow groups of deer to cross on three occasions.

 “Through the fish’s Eye – An anglers guide to fish behaviour”  Written by Mark Sosin and John Clark.

On the face of it I thought this should be an interesting read, which it was for the most part.  I hadn’t heard of the authors but Sosin is an angling writer and tackle consultant while Clark has a degree in fishery management.  Both are American, as are most of the species discussed although in fish behaviour there are bound to be obvious parallels with European species.  The book was first published in 1973 and this version for the British market came out in 1976 and was edited by Fred J. Taylor.  Other than being a legend of British angling from times mostly before I was a regular angler I know little else about FJT.  He was amongst one of the first UK anglers to be successful with deadbaits for Pike but other than that I don’t know what he contributed to British angling nor what he caught.  There’s some future reading…

I expected FJT’s introduction to literally introduce the authors to the British angling public but he doesn’t even mention them.  Instead he is selling us the idea that what has been documented in the USA has relevance here and why.  FJT succeeds in this but the very first chapter from Sosin and Clark bothered me.  In the very first paragraph they state; “…the fish must avoid getting caught.  Nature takes care of this by genetic adaption: the smartest fish survive to spawn and thus give birth to smarter fish, the vulnerable are caught and the weak strains eliminated.”  This carries on in the second paragraph; “The overall effect is to build up a strain of fish that is resistant to capture…” I’ll accept that angling can condition fish to behave in a different. ‘unnatural’ way but as I understand it evolution works a whole lot slower than that.  I don’t believe fish feeding unnaturally is the same thing as evolution.  “New techniques must be devised to replace those used by anglers in the past…”  Ah there’s the catch.  We’ve established one of the authors was a tackle consultant, enough said, I have my guard up.

Thankfully there was no attempt to sell me anything and I enjoyed the book on the whole although I’m not sure I learnt much I didn’t already know.  This may be because what is written here has been repeated by other authors and as a long time angler, I’ve absorbed this knowledge from other sources.  I can’t recall too many exciting new discoveries regarding fish behaviour in this time.  There are theories concerning fish behaviour being linked to atmospheric pressure, Barrie Rickards being an notable exponent.  Another relatively new theory links fish behaviour to moon phases and Dr Rickards was coming round to that one too.  Other than those I can’t think of anything.  The descriptions of how fish use their primary senses to detect food or threat was interesting enough and mostly sound. 

However there were several occasions where I strongly disagreed with what I was reading.  In the section on fish’s use of smell; “Results from a series of experiments on the sense of smell show that the least hours for odour perception should go to the northern pike…”  I can’t argue with the results of this experiment but I know that Pike can detect my deadbaits, often in murky water and smell plays a big part in this.  They go on to say that because of their reliance on sight, at night a Pike is “…generally helpless and must spend the hours of darkness resting and biding its time…”  This is simply not true, I know Pike can find my baits after dark and they don’t have torches.  It doesn’t get darker than 0300 in February, just one of very many examples I can recall.  To be fair Fred J. intervenes with some thoughts of his own at the end of the chapter which diplomatically correct Sosin and Clark. He goes and spoils things later, in a discussion of various species preferred temperature ranges, FJT adds a bit stating that in the UK Pike do better at lower temperatures than in the US.  He goes on to say British anglers don’t generally fish for Pike in summer saying anglers “…leaves them strictly alone while he pursues more worthwhile species…”  Worthwhile?  Fuck off Fred!  Apart from those gripes it was a decent read overall.

 

“Rainbow’s end” by Phil Smith

Phil Smith was one of those seemingly ever present faces in the angling press when I was a youngster in the eighties.  For many years he was one of the country’s top all round “specimen hunters” who caught fish of most species to impressive sizes.  This book was published in 1987 and is very much of its time in terms of species, sizes, methods and baits but a good fishy story is timeless and there are a few of those in here.  In this book, in general the longer the chapter the better it reads, the shorter stories just read like afterthoughts put in to pad things out, with a bit more effort they could have been much improved.  There are plenty of spelling and grammatical errors along the way as is often the case when an angler writes.  On the whole it’s a decent read but could have been a lot better with a second draft.

Trying to find Ray

Another week passed by, it’s properly spring now, the first leaves on the beech hedge broke out earlier than ever before out and a few warm days followed, one of which saw me heading to the coast hoping for Rays again.  High tide was due in mid afternoon and I made my plans to fish a popular beach that can fish well at all states of the tide.  I arrived around 1400 to find a lot of people had the same idea as me, I should have known better.  My antisocial self-took over, I returned to the car and made my way to another spot I knew would be quiet but if I’d stopped and thought about it for a minute, I’d have realised the state of the tide wasn’t so good here.  Also, although I’ve done spectacularly well at this beach on a few occasions it’s always been later in the year, never this early.

None of this had entered my head as I stood looking down at a fairly flat and inviting sea, there was barely a breath of wind and it did look good for a Ray.  I fished one rod long and the other mostly close with baits out of freezer and started off fishing with confidence.  I had a couple of rattles on the tips around high tide but these didn’t develop, still I was sure something would happen eventually.  As time passed this began to feel unlikely.  I stayed on hoping that the onset of darkness would change my luck but not even that worked for me this evening and I gave it up soon after.  Having started off feeling confident of a Ray, I tramped back to the car knowing I’d got it totally wrong tonight.

A few days passed and forty eight hours before my next planned visit to the beach things had looked spot on, high tide due at about 2230 and there should be little or no wind.  A day later the forecast had been revised and I could expect a ten to fifteen mile wind blowing into my face which is never ideal.  I could go fishing or I could stay at home, no decision really but I felt just the one beach would be suitable with the time I had available.  I left home in mid afternoon knowing full well what to expect when I got to the beach but hoping for something different, they don’t always get it right do they?  When I broke through the scrub and onto the shingle I stood for a couple of minutes watching the waves roll in, knowing my chances of catching a Ray weren’t great.  I tried to be positive; the wind often drops away with at dusk, maybe things would settle down.

I set up with two pulley rigs and blasted a couple of big baits out then got the shelter up as quickly as I could.  The wind was a chiller and it’s always five degrees cooler on the beach.  One of my rods was rattling within minutes and I wound in to find a little Turbot had managed to get a whole squid in its gob.  I don’t catch many flatties of any kind so I always enjoy the novelty.  For the rest of the evening I had bites on almost every cast, it didn’t matter what I used as bait or how far I chucked it, the bite was just a matter of time.  I dragged six decent size Dogfish and two Whiting up the beach which is all good fun but these aren’t the fish that motivate me any time of year and I could have predicted this before I left home.

Everything came to an abrupt end an hour before high tide as there were loads of big lumps of weed being carried in on the flood tide.   I’m not sure what it was but after a little look on Google I think it might have been bladderwrack.  First one rod was wiped out by a drifting raft of weed which took an age to clear and before I’d even managed it the second rod was taken out too.  I didn’t bother to recast after that just packed away the rest of the gear and hiked back to the car park.

I wasn’t planning to fish again quite so soon but a few days later I had some time off again, this coincided with an even later tide and crucially there was a light off shore breeze.  In theory everything should be perfect for a Ray, I simply couldn’t resist testing this.  High tide was due around 0130 so I finished work and had a leisurely couple of hours before loading up and heading across the green heart of the county.  I parked up and when I got out of the car I felt the breeze which gave me a few seconds pause but I expected to be sheltered from this by the time I’d hiked to my destination.  When I reached the top of the beach I could see that the sea was flat and the waves were small, it looked perfect.

I was set up with two rods on the tripod by 1915, I used two identical pulley rigs baited with squid or large strips of mackerel.  One of these rods I whacked as far as I could every cast but the other was fished at all distances.  To begin with I fished both baits at long range, my thinking was any fish would be way out because I was fishing a shallow beach, just half an hour into the flood.  Even so I didn’t expect anything much to happen this early but on the first cast one of the rods started banging and I found myself trying to haul something heavy towards me.  It was a Ray of a couple of pounds or so, not a monster but the species I set out to catch which gave me a sense of satisfaction.  Every time we fish, we learn a little more; having started sea fishing with no idea at all, in time I learned which areas fished best for which species and now I’m learning when to fish and just as important, when not to bother.  This last lesson had been reinforced on my previous visit!

The hour or so of daylight passed without any more fish but constant attention to the baits, easily seen on the rod tips which were unaffected by wind or tide.  I somehow missed a decent bite at dusk but it was 2115 before I hooked another fish and this was another good ‘un hooked on a shorter cast.  This was another Ray, twice the size of the first and like the big one I caught earlier in the spring it tried to bury itself in the sand.  Unlike that fish I managed to move this one and soon had it in.  On the beach it arched it’s back and extended its tail which made it seem really angry.  I’ve seen a few Rays do this, I expect it’s some kind of defensive posture but it actually looks really aggressive, perhaps that’s the point.

For the next three hours I had constant action on both rods.  It didn’t matter how far I cast or what bait I used, a bite would come.  I caught a couple of Whiting but most of the fish were Dogfish, some of which were as small a Doggy as I’d ever seen.  I also caught two more small Rays, one of these gave me a spectacular bite, banging the tip over then slackening off.  In my mind I always think these bites will lead to a big fish but unfortunately that was not the case.  There’s a lot to be said for this kind of all action fishing but to be honest it’s all a bit much for me.  I like to just sit on my backside and do nothing for a while but there wasn’t a chance tonight.  Also when there are loads of Dogs about there’s less chance my bait will be unmolested for long enough for a Ray to find it.

I packed up just after midnight, high tide was still an hour or so away but by this time I was knackered and virtually out of bait.  I still had a little bit of mackerel left which I could have eked out but I’d had enough and my bed was still an hour away.  I had a tired drive home with the stereo turned up but i'd got it right tonight.

Reminders

When the Pike season ends my fishing becomes much more leisurely, mostly.  I rarely need an alarm clock and I’m no longer behind the wheel racing the dawn.  I look at the tide times and weather forecast then pick a beach that I think should be suitable in the conditions and off I go.  I mostly avoid the A roads too and almost enjoy the cross country drive.  At this time of year my eyes are drawn to the new yellow and white blossom and the fresh sprays of green in the hedgerows.  But on this occasion my eyes couldn’t avoid the massive houses that are sprinkled through the green parts of Suffolk and my cynical mind wants to know who owns these places?  How long have they lived there?  Is it home or just the weekend retreat?  Many people are paranoid about foreign migrants, I’m more concerned about the parasitic ones escaping the capital and they’re not from abroad.  My mood wasn’t improved by closed roads and lengthy diversions through less familiar countryside.  I suppose it’s normal for spring; after the winter wear and tear the rural roads need a patch up, in twelve months time they’ll probably be filling the same holes again.

I arrived eventually and found myself emerging into a grey blustery morning, the thick clouds were being propelled out to sea on the fresh south westerly.  I picked this beach because I knew this wind should be mostly on my back, it was strong enough that I broke normal procedure and erected the shelter before anything else.  By 1030 I had two rods nodding on the tripod, I fished the same way I always do with a whole squid punched out on the heavy rod and smaller baits on a leger rig with a long hooklength.  Now all I had to do is relax and let all that grumpy shit go.  The rod tips were wobbling a bit in the wind but high tide was still a few hours away so the waves were small and spotting a bite shouldn’t be the lottery that it can sometimes be.  Today I was hoping to catch a Ray but as it was my first go off the beach for six months I’d settle for anything.

An hour passed quickly before I had my first fishy rod wobble of the season, this didn’t develop but when I checked it a few minutes later there was something attached and I wound in a tiny Dab which had attempted to eat a whole squid.  How does such a small fish, so far off the beach, register a proper bite on a stiff, glass fibre rod tip?  It makes me think, not for the first time, about how over-engineered freshwater bite indication has become.  Yes, buzzers and bobbins do have their place but these set ups are only really necessary when the angler cannot see his rods, for whatever reason be it darkness or distraction.  The more fishing I do with tips pointed in the air, the more I think it really is the way to go for most species in most conditions.  Anglers have become conditioned to use electronic audible indicators and are now being steered towards the “precision” offered by bait boats.  There’s only one winner from these modern trends and it isn’t the angler.  Also, if you are using a baitboat to fish within comfortable casting range you are not an angler.  There I said it.

Nowadays I go beach fishing to avoid all that bullshit and back at the beach after an hour of inactivity the wind was picking up and rattling the shelter while the waves were getting bigger and louder.  I was reminded that although sea fishing is peaceful it is very rarely quiet, also the environment itself is harsh.  Even on a relatively mild day, if it wasn’t for the shelter I’d be uncomfortable and I probably wouldn’t stay too long.  Another familiar feeling returned; like most forms of fishing there are long periods where nothing at all happens and when I’m on the beach, staring out at the endless grey mass I end up getting the feeling that I’m never, ever going to get another bite.  I soon reminded myself that I almost always get this feeling but it only takes one indication on a rod tip to blow it away.

As is often the case at this location, things started to happen around ninety minutes before high tide.  The first action was a proper thump then slack line on the heavy rod, I was on my feet at geriatric speed and wound down into a solid weight that was an effort to pump back towards me.  The fish pulled back a bit too which was promising but as it neared the surf the resistance disappeared, whatever had been on the end had slipped the hooks.  As high tide got closer so the waves got bigger and louder, with the wind also picking up the rod tips were wobbling permanently.  Another reminder, when it’s like this I might not see ‘normal bites’, as much as anything I’m looking for a movement that is just different, a break in the rhythm of the rods.  I was seeing this kind of thing on just about every cast now and at 1445, bang on high tide, I hooked another fish which was my first Doggy of the year.  These are always a bit of an anti climax as they are usually bigger than the Whiting that are still around in spring and they pull back a bit, often making me wonder if I’ve hooked a small Ray.  Dogfish are cool creatures in their own right though but because they are so numerous they don’t raise the interest levels too much.

Half an hour later the lighter rod tip done something different and I winched in my first Whiting of the year which I might have used for livebait on another day.  The tide was ebbing now and although I felt there were fish about still, in truth I was knackered.  Another sea fishing reminder; there always comes a point when I’ve had enough and unlike freshwater fishing, when that moment comes I don’t hesitate I pack up.  A large Seal popped its head out and looked mournfully towards shore which seemed to endorse my decision.  By 1545 I had the rucksack mostly packed, the shelter and tripod were down and I had one rod leaning against the back of my chair.  When I came to wind it in there was a bit of weight on the end which turned out to be a bigger than average Whiting which at 36cm was actually the biggest I’ve caught.  I can’t get too excited about a PB Whiting but if I’m going to catch them then they might as well be big ones!

I was back in the car by 1600, out of the wind and away from the crash of the waves, hoping to get home before the evening wacky races started.  If my outward journey was frustrating then the drive home was just farce, two closed roads and three sets of roadworks.  The last of these involved three way traffic lights and a thirty minute queue before I came to two sheepish looking blokes in high viz cutting a fucking hedge!  Only in East Anglia.  A journey that normally takes forty minutes stretched into almost two hours, at least I’d renewed the selection of CD’s in the car but with one ironic choice.

A few days later…  An early finish at work and a quick turnaround gave me plenty of time to get to the beach before darkness.  With high tide due just before 2000 I would be able to fish a couple of hours either side.  There was no travel frustration today and I made it to the coast without a hitch.  I fished the same area as last time and crunched across shingle to find a row of anglers spread along the bay and remembered why I rarely fish here on a Saturday.  Still there was plenty of space and I was set up by about 1720, this time fishing two heavy rods rigged up with pulleys.  I was hoping for a Ray so had decided to go big or go home; baits would be squid, large strips of Mackerel or frozen black lug wrapped in squid.  I knew these baits wouldn’t be exactly selective but may stay in place long enough for a ray to find them.

The evening was clear and dry but cool with a moderate westerly wind.  This area is sheltered so it was comfortable enough and they waves remained small all evening.  I had my first bite after half an hour, it was a Whiting but a good sized one that had managed to get a big lump of mackerel into its gob.  It seemed to get dark quickly and I realised I’d left a light at home, fishing after dark was bringing a load more reminders.  I had a quiet hour with baits coming back from a long soak looking barely touched but as high tide grew closer so things started to happen.  My baits were getting fishy attention on almost every cast but I had few proper bites.  I guessed this indicated there were plenty of Whiting about; many wouldn’t be able to get my baits in their mouths but a few were bound to hook themselves.

I’ve caught a few Rays around high tide from this beach and the relatively flat sea looked ideal but nothing flat, brown and thorny turned up tonight.  As the sea started to retreat so the Whiting activity increased, frustrating rattles that stopped before I could get to the rod.  But by the time I’d had enough, just before 2200 I’d managed to catch five Whiting, most of which would have been keepers, as well as one angry dogfish.  Two trips into the spring and I can just about remember what I’m supposed to be doing and hopefully in the weeks to come I’ll find the fish I’m after.

 

My next day off fell just right, high tide was due a few minutes after midnight following a mild day, the wind was forecast to drop away to the barest breeze.  These things combined amounted to perfect conditions for catching Rays at my favourite beach and too good an opportunity to miss.  Like all anglers I’ve failed spectacularly in “perfect conditions” many times but I left home in the late afternoon full of confidence.  The journey was surprisingly smooth, despite plunging into rush hour which barely affected the roads I travelled on, in the direction I was heading at least.  I made it to a quiet car park in good time, loaded up and went for a hike and arrived to find an empty beach. The conditions were as forecast, the sea was flat but a long way away at the bottom of the gentle sloping beach, small waves rolled over, everything looked spot on, almost too perfect? 

It had been six months since my last visit to this beach and it had changed considerably since last year.  Normally I expected to be fishing over a mix of sand and shingle but today it was pretty much all sand.  Based on previous years this will have changed again by the end of the summer.  I try to avoid setting up on sand if I can so positioned myself on a narrow, flat strip of shingle at the very top of the beach.  A big tide will reach all the way up here and with no recent memory I wasn’t sure how far tonight’s biggish tide would reach so opted for caution.  This meant a walk of about two cricket pitches to reach the water to begin with but I’d avoid getting everything full of/covered in sand.

Tonight it was all about Rays, I wasn’t interested in Whiting or Dogs although I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid them.  Even so I used two heavy set ups with pulley rigs and big baits, mostly squid but also large mackerel strips, frozen black lug and combinations of all three.  I made my first casts just after 1800 then as I always do, I sat back with a cuppa and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the wild environment.  I didn’t sit back for long, my left hand rod baited with whole squid on a pennell was banging already, taps and rattles that stopped then started then stopped until I struck out of frustration and wound in a small Whiting.  A few minutes later the other rod banged over nicely and I found myself attached to something heavy at long range.  I slowly gained line and pumped it back close to the shore before there was a thump and whatever was on the end was attached no longer.  I’ll never know what it was but it had all the characteristics of a Ray.  This didn’t disappoint me too much as I was confident there would be more as the flood gathered pace.

This was the pattern for the rest of the evening, just about every cast brought activity of some kind and with small waves and no wind the taps and quivers were easy to see.  I was on the go all the time; baiting up, casting and winding in, walking up and down the sandy slope which shrunk as the night went on.  Time passed, I barely noticed the onset of darkness, I was just aware I needed the tip lights then I was busy getting two more rigs loaded whilst glancing up at the rod tips every other second.  By 2130 I’d caught four Whiting and five Dogfish, two of which came in together, one on each hook of a pennell rig.  Despite the busy fishing I was becoming frustrated, I really expected to have caught a Ray by this stage of the tide.  It dawned on me that by fishing identical methods on both rods I was effectively fishing both baits at the same sort of distance.  I probably catch most rays at this beach by whacking a bait out as far as I can, most by not all, so my next cast on the right hand rod was dropped in quite close. 

Then the distance rod heaved over, a bite that just meant ‘Ray’ here we go… no another Whiting!  That rod was barely recast when the over rod dropped in close was banging away nicely but somehow I missed it!  Another recollection from previous seasons, I somehow miss a lot of these bites when it looks like the fish has already hooked itself.  By now it was 2200, high tide was still a couple of hours away but the prime time for a Ray was running out fast.  But it only takes a second and a few minutes later the close range rod signalled a solid thump on the tip and I wound into something substantial which thumped and throbbed but couldn’t prevent itself being hauled back up the beach.  There it was, my first Ray of the season, not a particularly big one but any Ray is a good fish and I was well chuffed, mission accomplished.

With the fish back in the drink I got a fresh bait back out after it, dropped in close again then sat back with a grin and a small sense achievement.  Then bugger me the same rod banged hard once and the line fell slack.  I scrambled to my feet and quickly wound down to find myself attached to a solid weight that didn’t want to move.  I wondered if I was snagged but no that couldn’t be.  Steady pressure got things moving very slowly, inch by inch I kept the thing moving.  Through the rod I could feel a weird throbbing sensation and the tip would thump again, then back to the tug of war.  It was obviously a good sized Ray and was close in so I expect to catch a glimpse any second, then it all went solid again and wouldn’t move.  I wound down and heaved but nothing gave, so I wound and allowed myself to be pulled towards the fish/snag.  Then with a retreating wave my head torch revealed the Ray had buried itself into the sand, high and dry until it was covered by the next wave.  I put the rod down and followed the line for a few feet, when the sea sloshed back again I picked it up, fish sand and all.  I very quickly remembered they’re called Thornbacks for a reason so this wasn’t a particularly sensible thing to do. It cost me a little blood but I wasn’t going to let that fish get away.  A bloody big Ray it was too!

Somehow I got fish and tackle all the way back up onto the shingle, the hook came out easily and the fish looked huge to me.  I bundled it into a weigh sling, the thorny back helped keep it there, this must be close to a PB?  The little digital scales were still in another bag but the emergency spring balance pulled down to just over eight pounds, my second best Thornback!  It would have been nice to get a trophy shot but in the circumstances a self take photo seemed a lot of hassle so after a couple of quick shots I bundled it back into the sling and carried it back to the water.  It flapped its wings and slid off into the dark, as did I, albeit in the other direction.

Nothing was going to better that fish but I carried on later than I’d intended, right up until high tide, I may have stayed even later but by midnight I’d actually run out of squid.  I lost a fish at range which might have been another Ray and managed to catch a couple more Dogfish plus another Whiting.  I think I landed fifteen fish in total, for once things went as I’d hoped, the fish had read the script.  Driving home my tired eyes were kept on alert, animals of all kinds were active along the country roads; several Deer, hundreds of Rabbits, a rat and others too quick to identify.  Then there were patches of fog which slowed me to a crawl at times but these grew fewer further inland.  I arrived home knackered and it was good to crawl into bed after all of that, another feeling that will become familiar over the next few weeks.

Back end

 Through the ‘back end’ most of my Pikey energy had been directed north and I managed to spend a few days on the Broads.  I mostly fished in comfortable conditions, caught a few nice fish and had a thoroughly enjoyable time but it is hard work!  

With the rivers now closed my season is all but over but as usual I had one last trip out in the Suffolk boat with Mr T.  Like the preceding days it was dry, bright and mild and if they hadn’t already spawned it had to be on the cards?  We found fish straight away but suffered a series of dropped takes and bumped fish which is not unusual at this time of year.  I managed to get one almost to the boat before it rolled and threw the herring back at me.  After that it went quiet and it threatened to be ‘one of those days’.

We kept trying and repositioned the boat regularly but this did nothing to improve our luck, I began to wonder if the Pike were sex obsessed?  Things improved later in the day with a series of more confident takes which saw Mr T manage to bring four fish to the boat, the biggest around thirteen pounds and all would have weighed a bit more this time last week.  With time running out my herring was picked up again at last and I managed to keep this one on the hooks, a nice fish of not quite twelve was my last of the season. 

And what a twelve months it has been!  Hundreds of fish of eighteen different species; Pike to 25+ and PB’s for three other species; Smoothound, Barbel and Chub, probably my favourites after Pike. I’ll do well to repeat that any time soon but I’ll certainly try and as long as I keep enjoying myself it matters not.  Now it’s time to have a little break (or will I?), reorganise the tackle shed and get geared up for a few months of saltwater fishing.