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Dover Breakwater 13th Sept.1997
Karen and myself picked Nigel up at around 5.30am to drive down from Kingston to Folkestone to collect Tony. Got to Dover around 7.45am which gave the others some time to do some shopping before the E.T.A of the crossing boat (8.30am onwards). The weather was great, just a breath of wind to half lift the flags, and not a cloud in the sky. I started to get worried however, around 8.20 or so, as there where only 3 other Chaps waiting, and no Marshal from Dover Sea Angling Association. Decided to phone the club house to make sure everything was OK..... informed that the Met. weather forecast was force 6 winds, occasionally 7, decreasing to 3 to 4 in the afternoon. Looked out the phone box..... sea is like a mill pond..... Met. get it wrong and we can't fish the Breakwater (Boats will not leave if the forecast is unfavourable, regardless of the local conditions. Guess it must have something to do with the insurance!).
Told the others, and decided to fish the Dover Admiralty Pier, having been told that sizeable codling and dogfish were coming up. So off we went.......
Admission is around 3 sobs or so, with a small food and drinks kiosk and toilets halfway along its length. All night fishing on Fridays and Saturdays.
Started fishing around 9.30 towards the far end (and within a stones throw
of the Breakwater), with 2 hook clip-up / clip-down rigs, size 2/0 hooks
or there abouts with a variety of baits: black and blow lug, clam, crab,
rag, mackerel, and squid. Lug / squid combo's tending to
dominate.
Around 10am my rod went flying down (forgot to clip it up with a bungi strap)..... not sure if it was a fish or something else rolling on the bottom, tried to hold it but had to give it line, and then retrieve walking along the pier, got towards the end of the pier... started to retrieve more line than I'd lost... PING.....looked like the leader knot gave.... guess we'll never know.......
Karen took the first fish around 11am, with what would turn out to be the best fish as well; a 1lb codling on lug/squid.
Decided to fish down the wall for small pouting for live bait.... took the first around 11.30, put it on a free lined 4/0 pennell down the wall, for Bass (all ways the chance of a codling taking it as well).
Nigel took his first fish (11.45), a sizeable pouting. I took more small pout down the wall, and then at about 12 noon a small wrasse.
A party of children just up from us, were doing at lot better..... 3 or more codling, dogfish and pout...... I know that youth shall have it's day, but I'd rather it didn't occur when I'm fishing to show us up (No really good luck to them, they were obviously doing something we couldn't, even though we tried to match their tactics!!!!!).
Tony took his first fish around 2pm, and was not very happy to find it was a pouting, rather than the codling that we all were seeking..... I caught another wrasse, and then a fish I'd never had before.. A female Dragonet (the males are very spectacular I'm told). Pouting was the only dish on the menu for the rest of the day until 4pm. Left to drive back up to Kingston wishing we'd been able to fish the Breakwater.......
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