That was a long ol' day

When I checked the tide times for my next days off I couldn’t make up my mind between fishing the morning or evening tides.  Having caught Smoothounds on consecutive trips making it a hat trick seemed ridiculous but I should at least have a damn good try.  So with this in mind I thought I might as well make a bit of an effort and try to fish a long session and a good chunk of both tides.  After a good think I realised I’d have to load up a bit more kit, notably a stove, kettle and toaster so I could get fuel on board and keep the energy levels up.  I’d need more bait too and if ever there was a time to use the frozen crabs it was now.  International cricket on normal TV is a rare treat and while I watched, I sharpened hooks and tied up a few more traces then after England had completed an impressive win, I went outside and tweaked the lighter rod so I could switch between rigs quickly and easily.  Over the last two trips most of the bites had come to baits given a good chuck but one of the hounds had taken a small squid fished on a long hooklength, a rig that I can’t cast particularly far.  However in the spells when bites came quickly it was on the baits fished at range exclusively so it would make sense to clip a pulley rig on.  I know experienced sea anglers would have better ways of doing this but I like the simplicity of the methods I’m comfortable with.

But after all that I was lazy and got up later than planned, when I arrived at the beach I found the car park was busy, that’ll teach me.  After a scout around I loaded my gear and walked to the north of the beach, even further than last time but in a similar area.  Looking to the south of me I could see at least sixteen other anglers stretching right around the half mile of the bay.  I was at the end of this erratic line of anglers, I never like fishing in the middle but I doubt it makes much difference on most beaches. The morning was cloudy and there had been a bit of drizzle on my drive over, the wind was moderate and from the west so with the shelter up I was nice and comfortable.

I made my first casts around 1040, an hour before high tide and within minutes the tips were banging.  I missed two bites on the light rod fishing squid on a long trace but connected with the third, my first fish of the day was a Dogfish.  Around 1115 the heavy rod was wobbling and I was into a bit of resistance which turned out to be a Ray of a couple of pounds or so, always a pleasure to see.  Ten minutes later the light rod folded over and I was attached to something with a bit of spirit that was pulling back.  I was fairly certain what I was attached to before I saw it and yes I was right, another Smoothound!  This was a smaller one, a couple of feet in length but they like a scrap and I love catching them!  A few minutes later I missed a bite on the heavy rod, that brought me up to high tide and the bites abruptly stopped. 

After that the tide slid back down the slope, the grey clouds blew away leaving a mostly sunny day and I had sporadic bites through the rest of the afternoon.  Most were rattles that didn’t develop, I think the small dogfish struggled with the large baits I was using so took a bite and swum off without hooking themselves.  I did manage to catch a small Ray and a couple of dogfish though.  While all that was going on two policemen were walking up and down the beach, they didn’t visit me and I couldn’t see if the normal hasty stubbing out of cigarettes went on.  My stove had been in use throughout the day, boiling the kettle and cooking bacon so I stayed full of fuel.  By 1600 I emerged from my shelter and looking south was surprised to see I had the beach to myself, everyone else had buggered off, did they know something?  Maybe they did, around 1630 the wind dropped and I was in the process of shedding a layer when it sprang up again from the east, the total opposite of before.  This meant quickly repositioning the shelter before it moved of its own accord.  I switched the light rod over to a pulley rig which I could cast further into the headwind.

Around 1705 I was sitting in the shelter whipping up another bait when I heard a strange whining sound, the noise mono line makes when under tension in a breeze.  The tip of the heavy rod was being yanked down and I was soon attached to a fish giving me a bit of resistance.  I slowly pumped it in hoping for another Hound but it turned out to be a Ray between three and four pounds, which was a bit of an anti climax if I’m honest but I know this is ridiculous!  This was half an hour before low tide and a couple of quiet hours followed.  The tips were quite steady so I was able to give baits a long soak, up to an hour at times yet they came back looking untouched.  By this point I figure most of the scent would have washed out so I change them anyway.

In the evening the sky cleared but the wind didn’t let up and it grew cool.  Things started to happen a couple of hours into the flood, I missed a decent bite on the heavy rod at 1920 and as the sun sank lower and darkness approached I started to get the annoying taps and rattles. This continued into darkness which meant I was busy baiting up and recasting without any reward, then at 2155 I had a proper bite and another Dogfish.  For the next half hour the action was non stop, I missed a few bites and wondered how but landed two more Dogs, then the bites stopped again.  By 2245 I was virtually out of squid so had a last cast on each rod while I tidied up and with nothing moving it was no wrench to drag myself away.  I’d spent over twelve hours on the beach and this had taken its toll but I hadn’t been bored for a second.