Salty dogs

Saturday drifted by, helped by a trip to the tackle shop and a series of garden jobs; the grass received its first mow for the year and there was another skirmish in the ongoing war against the Beech hedge.  I got my tackle ready at a leisurely pace then all of a sudden it was time to go, I set off for the beach, another first for the year.  It was a slow drive east through countryside still showing winter’s scars although the fresh green is starting to show through again.  Through one of the “quaint” parts of the county, the Ukrainian flags still fly. Yeah that’s helping.  No Palestinian flags though, this is posh Suffolk after all.

The day had been bright but had clouded over late in the afternoon, the wind was from the south west and was forecast to gain strength.  I loaded up then hiked through scrub to find four anglers already pitched up and fishing, an unusual occurrence on this beach though I’m sure it has nothing to do with being featured by a three minute hero on youtube recently.  My hike continued for a little way, about as far north as I could go before the ground gets too snaggy for comfort.  The sloping beach in front of me had plenty of debris but when I’ve fished here before it hasn’t been a problem.  The sea beyond this looked okay, not too bouncy at least.  I quickly set up two rods; on the lighter rod I fished a flapper rig with two small hooks baited with strips of mackerel, with this I was just trying to get a bite though I hoped for something flat.  On the heavy rod I used the regular pulley rig with bigger baits for bigger fish, hopefully I’ll find a Thornback tonight.

By 1850 everything was sorted and I was sitting comfortably in my shelter sipping a brew and staring up at rod tips, outside there was a cool wind building strength and the roll and boom of the waves.  Today was New moon so there’d be a big tide moving a lot of water and climbing high up the beach.  If I stayed late I might need to retreat at some point.  High tide was due just before midnight and my timings had focused around this, I hadn’t considered the rapidly fading light.  This was no problem as I was expecting to fish in darkness I just didn’t realise what should have been obvious, that I’d be needing the head torch and tip lights quite so soon.  The fading light is often a trigger and when I wound in the light rod a few minutes later I found a small Whiting attached. By the time this rod was back out it seemed proper dark and everything was lit up, torches and tips.

At 1920 the heavy rod banged over and I wound in a Dogfish.  I soon got another squid back into the sea and within minutes the tip thumped again, the result another doggie.  While I was dealing with this the light rod started banging and this time I wound in another Whiting.  I hadn’t managed to recast this before the heavy rod was going again but this time I missed it.  When I managed to sit down again a mad half hour had passed, these hectic spells are fun but I was non stop; baiting up, casting, winding in, unhooking then baiting up again.  I always have duplicate hooklengths baited and ready to go to make sure I have baits in the water for the longest possible time but for a while I couldn’t keep up.

By 2005 it had probably been fully dark for a while though my world was a torch beam and I hadn’t noticed the progression, the spell of proper bites had also finished.  For the rest of the evening I had action of some kind on almost every cast but prolonged ‘strike-able’ bites were few.  Indeed as the wind strengthened through the evening the tips were in constant motion and spotting anything at all became difficult.  Around 2045 I’d seen a few rattles on the heavy rod and wound it in to find a bigger Whiting which had taken a chunk of herring.  I decided to switch the lighter rod over to a second pulley rig, fishing bigger baits which I fished it at mixed distances, dropping in close every other cast.  Despite the beach being busy I was barely aware of the other anglers as I was down wind and had my back to them all night, the fishing was relaxing and enjoyable with enough going on to make me feel I could catch at any time.

2105, a little under three hours before high tide, was that a thump on the heavy rod?  Yes it was, persistent pulls yanked the tip over and I wound into a heavy weight which throbbed and pulled as I slowly pumped it back towards the shore.  Surely this must be a Ray?  I’ve thought this before and been tricked by a Doggie with attitude but whatever this was it was pulling back and I wanted to see it.  My pressure and a convenient wave deposited a fish onto the shingle and yes it was my first Thornback of the year.  I guessed it would weigh three and a bit pounds but a quick check on the scales showed it was just over four, that’ll do nicely.

That was the highlight of the night, as time passed so the wind increased and the tips were ever more wobbly.  Inside the shelter all was calm and comfort but outside it was getting wild.  The wind was blowing across me from right to left and controlling the line on the longer casts was a problem.  I often had to wind in a lot of slack before making a decent contact with the lead.  When the tips done something a bit different I would wind in to check though I was never sure what to expect.  I managed to catch another Dogfish on the light rod and a small Pouting on the heavier set up.  By 2300 I figured my chances of another Ray were diminishing just as the wind was still building.  It was still an hour before high tide but I decided I’d had enough, tidied the kit, took down the shelter then commenced getting the rods in quickly.  First the light rod then the heavy rod last on which I found a fourth and final Dogfish.

I was getting wind blasted as I tramped across the shingle but as soon as I cleared the beach the sound of the waves vanished and I was sheltered from the wind.  Tonight it was a relief to shut the car door and block out the elements, then settle into a comfortable seat. My first saltwater trip of the year couldn’t have gone much better, nine fish of four species including a decent Ray, that’ll do me.  Next the return journey through dark country lanes with Primal Scream as company.