I pitched up once more, three hours before high tide on a grey breezy morning that threatened rain. Not a nice summer day but conditions I welcomed as I hoped it would keep the beach quiet. Despite the weather there were already four anglers fishing before me but all were spread out and I managed to set up pretty much where I’d intended, with space enough to be the anti social git that I am. I was fishing by 1020, exactly three hours before high tide was due, starting off with two rods both fishing pulley rigs, baited with crab or squid. The sea in front of me was grey and lumpy with noisy waves rolling in, not too rough for Rays or so I hoped but far different to my last visit. For once I’d brought a third rod with me on which I intended to leger the leftover ragworm from my previous go for Bass. I’d bodged an attachment onto the tripod on which I could prop the rod but realised I could clip on a bell and lean it on the shelter which would space the lines out more. I delayed casting this rod as the flood tide was carrying a lot of weed which threatened to be a problem on the two rods I was already using. As it turned out the weed wasn’t as troublesome as it looked and disappeared completely after a couple of hours.
I wasn’t expecting to catch much early on as most action had
been coming on the ebb at this location.
I’d got here early so I’d have choice of where to set up and I used the
time to get a load of rigs baited up and bound with elastic, some of these were
put in a tub and back in the cool bag in case things got hectic later. I wondered if doing this might jinx
things. I gave the first few casts a
long soak and the baits came back nibbled/crabbed but with enough meat left to
tempt a fish. There was movement on the rod tips but nothing overtly fishy and
I put it mostly down to tide and wind. A
few minutes before midday I looked south and could see dark clouds
approaching. I watched a band of rain
flattened water getting ever closer and had time to layer up and get organised
before the first of a few short sharp showers arrived.
My first bite came on squid at 1235, forty five minutes before high tide. I wound into something solid that took a bit of hauling to get it to come towards the shore. Whatever was on the end felt heavy and I hoped for a Hound but this fish wasn’t running and sure enough a Ray of a couple of pounds slid up the slope. I like catching Rays but when I’m hoping for a Hound they come as a bit of an anti climax, which is bloody daft really. This fish had behaved as a lot of Rays do, it hung in the water with its nose pointing upwards so it would resemble a kite on a string. They feel twice the weight when you have to drag them in like that but when in close often pop up on the surface so you’re quick they can be winched in quickly. This fish amazed a couple that were hiking along the beach but was soon back beneath the waves wondering what the hell had just happened.
High tide came and went but ten minutes after, another bite
on squid produced a good sized Dogfish and shortly afterwards a bite on Ragworm
had me winding in a small Bass. The rods
baited with squid were rattling every now and then but the next bite I was able
to strike came on ragworm. I thought I’d
missed it but there was a tiny Eel on the end, thankfully lip hooked it was
soon back in the sea. Four fish, four
different species. Ten minutes later I
had another good bite on squid and pulled into a familiar heavy
resistance. Pumping these fish back to
the beach is all the workout I need ta very much, it was no surprise to see
another similar sized Ray revealed by a retreating wave. I’d barely got this rod back out when the
other ‘big rod’ was bending and I was in another, similar scrap. This fish definitely didn’t want to come in
and I began to think I was attached to a big Ray. When it eventually appeared it was bigger
than the first two but not by a lot!
That was my last action of note and I sat on the beach for a
couple more hours. After the first blank
hour had passed I figured it unlikely I’d catch much else but I stayed put to
let the traffic die down a bit. When I
looked inland there were filthy grey storm clouds travelling south to north,
somebody was obviously getting a soaking.
Time to pack up but once the shelter was down I realised the wind was
now coming from a more westerly direction and those ominous clouds might come
too close for comfort. Everything else
got packed away and humped across the beach in record time and I was safely on
the road before any substantial rain fell.
On the drive home it became apparent just how much rain had been
dropped, just a few miles inland I was driving through big puddles and later
had to crawl through flooded rods but when I reached home it looked like they’d
barely seen a raindrop.
After a restless, agitated morning I loaded the car and head east then endured a slow, frustrating drive but once on the last leg and deep into green country I was able to relax. I was settled in the beach shelter behind the tripod by 1525, three hours before high tide. At the moment my fishing is repetitive in a way, I arrive early to give myself a good choice of where to set up and time to get organised before things hopefully get hectic. My methods remain the same too, pulley rigs baited with squid or crab thrown varying distances from the beach. The day had been a mixture of sunshine and sharp showers and this continued into the evening. There was a fresh westerly wind but pitched up below the last ridge I was sheltered and the sea looked surprisingly flat, the waves breaking weren’t too big. It actually looked like better conditions for a Ray than last week when I’d managed to catch three but just like last week what I really wanted was to catch a Smoothound.
The afternoon passed with weather more spectacular than the fishing, a couple of storms saw me sitting deep in the shelter, these cleared away to bright sunshine and kaleidoscope skies. As high tide neared I started to see short pulls and rattles on the rod tips but nothing I could strike. At 1830, just after hightide I had a banging bite on squid and pulled into something with a bit of weight and a lot of spirit. The closer it got the more I began to think it might be… and when it ran parallel to the shore line I was pretty sure. Sure enough I pulled a Hound up the beach and it was my biggest of the year so far! Like the others this thing didn’t stop wriggling making it difficult to snap a decent photo but I got one in the end. I was well happy with that and didn’t care if I caught another fish all evening but as the minutes passed I dared to wish for another.
An hour passed then the same rod, this time baited with crab, was banging again, a proper bite which you can’t mis and this time I didn’t. The fish felt similar to the first and I had to follow this one along the surf, yes another Smoothound, slightly bigger than the first. Most of the Hounds I’ve caught have stars along their backs but this was one of the few that don’t. Apparently these are different species but the grow to roughly the same size and look identical, apart from the stars. I tried a self take for a change which didn’t come out bad but they’re still hard to hang on to.
Dare I hope for a hat trick? Of course I did but it didn’t come off. I fished on until dusk watching colourful clouds above off shore storms travelling roughly north. I had a few more bites and caught three Dogfish which on the one hand are very similar to Smoothounds but on the other, nothing like. Well I know what I mean. The tips were still showing the occasional rattle but by 2200 I was knackered and decided to get myself home at an almost reasonable time for a change. All was going to plan but I’ve had a few annoying return journeys lately and they don’t come much more infuriating than a fucking flat tyre. Didn’t spoil my day though.
