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Dover Breakwater 10th Jan.1998
Paul arrived at my place around 6am, and I drove us the 90 odd miles down to the Kent Coast.......
Went to Hythe to pick up the bait from the tackle shop, and had a small misunderstanding about size of bait order and purchacing tackle at the same time, but that's another story.....
Drove over to Dover, and met Tony Swain (Ant), on the Quay.... caught the Boat across... the inside railings of the Wall had been bent outwards (by about 10 to 15 degrees) in places, obviously from waves breaking on the Wall, and then crashing down on the inside!!!!!!!!.. washed most of the life belts away as well.......
Walked down to the low numbers 14 to 20 (under the lighthouse), and set-up..... high tide was around 9am, wind from the SW force 3 to 4 or so, and a nice sunny morning which clouded over as the day wore on.....
Started fishing around 8.45am or so....... we all used two rods, Paul and myself electing to fish both sides, Ant mainly fishing just the outer wall....
Ant used a single clip down and long flowing traced wishbone...... and like Paul and myself, decided that 4/0 hooks were the order of the day, to try and reduce the number of small codling caught, and swallowing the hooks..... shame the fish don't read the manuals!!!!!!!!!!
9.00am: Ant draws first blood with a 14" codling from the outside...... as we've only just started, and not being that together, the squid is still frozen, so to start with, it was worm bait only...... 5 minutes later, Paul brings in an 8" pout, also from the outside......
9.10am: I lost a 15" codling as I'm lifting it out the water from the outside... :-(
9.15am: Ant lands a 15.1/2" codling, at 1.1/2lb, also from the outside....
9.17am: Paul has a codling of 14.1/2" from the outside......
9.22am: Paul smiles a lot with a rather sorry looking starfish from the inside....
9.25am: I manage to haul a large stone-up from the outside.. :-(
9.35am: at last..... I land a fish..... 15" codling from the inside..... :-)
9.43am: Paul also gets a codling from the inside... all 12" of it......
10.00am: Codling for me, from the inside again, at 14.1/2"........
10.10am: Land a 10" dab from the outside...... Things are a little slow, so set up a 3 hook flapper with 1/0 hooks baited with rag, to see if I can catch any Pollack....
10.30am land a 10.1/2" whiting on the flapper, that I've set-up 15 turns off the bottom...... five minutes later and it's an 8" pout....... looks like the fish could be feeding much higher up the water column than we thought.......
10.40am: Paul has a 10" pout
10.55am: Paul pulls up a 15" codling from the inside......
11.15am: Ant has a 24" doggie, followed by Paul with a double shot with a large pout at 16" and 1.3/4lb, and a 10.1/2" dab, all from the outside......
11.20am: the flapper rod, goes down and I pull up a 15.1/2 " codling from the inside....
11.25am: Ant takes a 15" codling from the outside......
11.30am: Paul brings in a 10" pout from the inside......
11.31am: Ant brings in the largest fish of the day..... 18" codling, at 2.1/4lb, from the outside........
11.40am: ..... I land my best fish... 18" codling, but only 2lb..... :-( from the inside......
11.56am: Paul gets a 15" codling from the inside......
12.05pm: I get a small 12" codling from the outside.....
12.10pm: Paul has a 17" codling from the inside, followed by another of the same size, from the outside, fifteen minutes later.......
12.30pm: Ant gets another dogfish of around 24", from the outside........
12.35pm: I have a 16" codling, from the outside...... at the same time that Paul lands a codling of 17" from the inside...... 5 minutes later, I manage to bring up my second rock of the day!!!!!!!!
1.00pm: one of the chaps next to us, managed to catch a seagull in his line...... a swift grab, and a towel, and the bird is free..... just as this is all happening, Paul lands another small codling of 12" from the outside.......
1.15pm: things have slackened off a little, and we land-up feeding bits of squid, and used worm to a small Cormorant swimming on the outside....... notice others doing likewise later....... someone gave it a large pout... almost as large as the bird!!!!!!
1.35pm: Landed a 9" poor cod form the inside......
1.40pm: Paul gets a 14" codling from the outside.....
1.47pm: I manage to land a 15.1/2" codling from the outside......
1.55pm: Double shot from the outside.... almost as it hit the water...... 14" codling and a 10" pout......
The tidal run now really started to get going, and at times, the 8oz fixed wire leads that we were all using, may as well have been fresh water floats, for all the good they were doing!!!!!!! :-)
2.05pm: Ant has a 16" codling from the outside....
2.15pm: 6" of poor cod for me, on the outside... wow.....
2.22pm: Ant brings in a 15" codling from the outside...... I cast, and feel a fish take the bait as it's sinking to the bottom..... reel-in a 15.1/2" codling.........
2.30pm: Paul catches his largest fish..... 18" codling from the outside.... but He's rather mifft, to find it only weighs 1.3/4lb........ many of the fish seem to be under weight... sheer numbers competing for food would be my guess, and reflected in the noticeable decline in numbers of pout and whiting both sides of Christmas..... as the "RUN" of winter Codling started, very early this year, we maybe seeing the wane, now.... (whiting , pout, and poor cod numbers starting to increase..) .. this could be accelerated by the large storms that we've had, that may break-up the sprat shoals that they have mainly been feeding upon......
2.35pm: An other Codling of 15.1/2" from the inside this time for me......
2.38:pm Ant gets another double shot from the outside.. this time it's 24" of dogfish, and 15.1/2" of codling.......
2.50pm: Tackle is pulled by the tidal run, and I get snagged up........ lost the tackle.. and it would seem so had the guys that had been fishing there........ God how I hate tackle snags.......
2.55pm: Paul has a 13.1/2" pout from the outside.... followed 2 minutes later by a 24" dogfish (his first), from the inside......
3.00pm: Ant has a 12" pout from the outside....
3.02pm: I have another 8" poor cod from the outside....
3.25pm: Ant lands a 14" codling....
3.28pm: Ant gets a bit cross, 'cos he losses a double shot of codling, just as he's bringing them up.....
3.30pm: I manage to bring in a load of lost tackle, plus an 11" pout on one of the sets..... can't really claim it as mine........
Caught the boat back, and talking to others, and looking at what they had, no one had done really any better....... Still a good days fishing, despite a rather up-setting start!!!!!!!
Dover Breakwater 11th Jan.1998
Drove down to Hythe to collect the bait, only to find that the Tackle shop was already open, and camped out with people, preparing for a competition..... my heart sank, was I going to be allowed to pick-up the bait I had ordered........
Went in, and was greeted with questions about the state of the Wall, and how the fishing had been..... had one small quip about Mr. Brown, who had also ordered 10 score of bait, and was I fishing with him......... anyway, the long and the short of it was, I picked up the Bait, with no trouble.....
Drove over to Dover and waited for Steve Burling to show..... originally I had intended to fish with Karen and Ant, but both had to drop out at short notice, and Steve said that he was interested..... the only problem, was that he had already arranged an evening fish that Saturday, but thought he'd be OK for the Sunday......
Anyway, waited and waited, no sign of Steve..... got to 8.25am, and decided to go and park the car, take my stuff to the Quay, and wait until the last boat across..... I'd forgotten to take his Tel. number with me, so I had no way of finding out if he was or was not coming....... got to the Quay to find that only one boat was doing the shuttle run, and it was only just leaving with the first group..... paid my money to the Steward and said I'd be back..... ran back to the rendezvous point.... no sign of Steve.... waited until 8.45am, and ran back.... more people had arrived, so I decided to wait for the third and final boat, just in case Steve made a show...... gave up and jumped on the last boat at 9.10am.......
Obviously the prime spots were taken by the time I got on the Wall, although I'm really not sure that the difference is that great, more to do with tactics and bait..... fish the hottest spot going , but do it wrong, and you may as well stay at home...... anyway I decided to head for the 50's / 60's pegs.... plenty of room, got the steeps to return the fish.... all fine by me.....
The wind was a little stronger than the Saturday, say around force 4 to 5........ High Tide due at 10am, with 6.3m.....
Started fishing around 9.30 or so...... Had two rods with identical set-ups, 4/0 wishbones on 6 long flowing bottom traces, each hook baited with 3 yellow tails...... one for each side of the Wall..... I set-up a third rod to fish down the inside wall for Pollack... this consisted of a Christmas Tree arrangement...... 11' main trace with 3 French booms along it's length, with 3' traces coming off with 1/0 hooks, with a bunch of wriggling small rag on each, about 12 turns off the bottom, and a 6 oz plain weight. The Multiplier was put into free spool, with the ratchet on, and the rod secured....
9.50am: Double shot, with a 16.1/2" codling, and a 10" dab, from the outside....
10.30am: The ratchet on the Christmas tree rod, screamed away...... pulled up another 16.1/2" codling...... although with a little difficulty due to the length of the trace body....
10.45am: Another double shot from the outside........ 17" codling and a 12" pout......
11.20am: The Christmas tree reel sang once more.... this time bringing a nice Coalfish of 15"..........
11.30am: Land a 13" Codling from the outside......
11.45am: Christmas tree, gives me a small Pollack of 8"........
11.55am: Catch a 15.1/2" codling from the inside...... I thought I would have had more by this time, from the way things went the day before... just goes to show how things can change from tide to tide!!!!!!!
12.05pm: Another double from the outside, although this one was rather disappointing with a 7" poor cod, and a 10" dab........
12.10pm: Another small Pollack, this time 10", from the Christmas tree.......
12.20pm: 14.1/2" codling from the inside....
12.35pm: Take a 17" codling from the outside.....
12.40pm: Christmas Tree starts bobbing again, but it's an 11" whiting this time........ :-(
12.45pm: The outside rod produces a 14" codling........
Things go a little slack, and whilst I'm munching on a sandwich, I decide to ask the Chap just up from me how it's going...... get a reply that it's crap...... I look at him rather quizzically, and ask what he's using....... Well what can I say.... his rigs were about 12" in length, 3 snoods all about 3" long, with 1/0 hooks on the outside, and size 6's on the inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Somehow I managed to keep myself under control...... so I suggest using a long flowing trace with maybe a wishbone...... whoosh, straight over his head.... back comes the reply... " I'm not using Wishbones"..... I calmly tell him that I know that he's not using wishbones, but I am, and that I'm catching the codling that he wants........ go over the rig set-up with him, get a nod of thanks, and he then continues on with the midget rigs....... can only lead a horse to water!!!!!!!!
Anyway, went and got a coffee, and looked over what others had caught.... few fish of between 2 to 2.1/2lb had been landed around the lighthouse, with one chap in the spot where Ant, Paul, and myself had fished the previous day, with a nice fish... asked what it weighed, and the guy estimated 4lb, I thought around the 3lb mark..... so we weighed it..... only 2.3/4lb..... the fish was long but thin..... but still the best fish I saw that day........
1.25pm: 15.1/2" Codling from the inside, followed 15 minutes later by one of 13", again from the inside.........
2.20pm: 16" Codling from the inside.......
2.25pm: 8" poor cod on the Christmas tree.......
2.35pm: 12" codling from the inside.....
things then went rather dead for me....... :-(
3.20pm: 10" pout from the inside......
3.30pm: Last fish of the day, as I'm packing up to catch the boat back.... 16" codling from the inside..........
Crawled back into the car, and drove back to London.......
Dover Breakwater 31st Jan.1998
Arrived in Dover around 7.30am, went to Bills Bait and Tackle to pick-up my order of 4 score of fresh Yellowtail lug, along with some French Booms and a few other items of terminal tackle. Then nipped along to Channel Angling to collect 2 score of Rag.......
Caught the second boat across, and set-up around peg 60. Decided to fish a long flowing wishbone on both the inside (2/0's) and outside (4/0's), along with a "Christmas tree" (1/0's), down the inside for Pollack...... The chat at the Quay had been encouraging, with reports from the "Wall" from Wednesday being good in terms of codling, although only a few flatties and a dogfish were taken with them.
The weather was fine, although the wind was slightly stronger than I had expected, around force 5 and from the East...... high tide was at 1pm or so, and was large 6.9m.....
Started fishing around 9am, and it was obvious from the start that the tide was going to be a problem, even with 8oz fixed wire leads...... managed to get tangled to the right, were they had cast over my line (they had a bad time of it... they had only got 170g breakaway leads.... too light for this kind of tide....), and I managed to do the same to the Spanish (or could be French) chap to my left..... after this happened a couple of times, the Spanish chap, very kindly suggested that it would be much better if I walked up and cast beside him (although he was some 25 pegs away.....) , and then allowed my tackle to drift over and away from his..... wished brought my thinking cap with me, and could have avoided the problems from the outset.........
10.05am: Landed the first fish of the day...... 18" codling, just over 1.3/4lb, from the inside.....
11.00am: Tidal run changes direction... this means it's flowing in the opposite way to the wind...... white horses start to get rather large, but we were parallel to them so no problems, however looked like all the charter boats came running back to home....... it also ment that my last cast outside, was now in the wrong position, which I don't think amused the Spanish.....
11.15am: An other codling from the inside, this time 17"........
11.45am: and another from the inside.... 15" codling........
Things were really slow, most people looked as if they had blanked, and I had nothing from the outside, and not even a hint of a bite from down the wall......
1.00pm: High tide and a few fish are being pulled in...... I also have my first fish from the outside... 16" codling.....
1.20pm: 14" codling again from the outside......
2.00pm: last codling of the day for me... 16.1/2" codling from the outside......
I saw only two good fish in the 3 to 4 lb range being landed, one by the Spanish Chap (peg 35 ish), and the other at peg 20......
3.20pm: Packing up to catch the boat back, and landed my last fish of the day.... 12.1/2" whiting from the inside.......
The Chaps fishing from Bedford (I think), gave me a couple of score of left-over yellowtail........ they'd managed a few fish between them...... infact that was the picture all the way along as far as I could tell........ looks like the codling are thinning out and fast ...... :-(
The strap on my tackle box, finally gave up the ghost... it's an old canvas job over a metal frame... Efgeeco Rover.... had it for over 20 years, still remember the day I went into Gary's Tackle shop in Folkestone, with Tony Swain to go and buy it........ anyway, nipped into Channel Angling on my way home and grabbed one of those large plastic Diawa boxes.... should have done so, a long time ago.......
Dover Breakwater 1st Feb.1998
Drove down to Dover with Paul....... collected our bait from Bills Bait and Tackle....... 4 score of prime juicy yellowtail for me (these were good worms with body lengths around 6 to 9 inches... looked like the strong winds and big tides had allowed Clive to get out to the deep yellow beds.....), and four score of common lug for Paul (which I should add, Paul was most impressed with as well...). plus a few odds and sods..... and again nipped down the road and grabbed a couple of score of rag each from Channel Angling....along with a few more bits and bobs......
When we got to the Quay, we were greeted by a large number of Anglers already waiting for passage across to the Wall..... and it wasn't even 8am!!!!!
Turned out that a large number were here for a Private Club comp., and had booked pegs 1 to 30......... This suited us fine, for although I would have personally liked to fish around peg 20, it ment that they would be self contained.... they would also have to deal with the increasing problem of tackle snags around the knuckle region.... this is probably the HOT SPOT on the Wall, and is now beginning to suffer..... what is needed, is a good storm to shift them from the outside (although hopefully not strong enough to cause any structural damage to the Wall itself)..... regrettably the tackle snags on the inside are less prone to such removal..... afterall that's why the Breakwater is there......!!!!!! As if to confirm my suspicions about the thinning numbers of Codling, and the problems of the Knuckle.. a party of anglers who had hired out the Breakwater all night returned.... and with tales of woe..... very few fish, and much lost tackle... the tide had been very strong... 7m, and their leads would not hold bottom on the outside, and they drifted into snags on the inside as well.....
Started fishing around 9am, pegs 54 to 60, with the same rig set-ups as the day before..... Paul also fished the inside and outside using 2/0 wishbones on long flowing traces... the wind was again from the East, but it was a lot less... force 3 or so for most of the day...... High Water was due at 2pm.....
9.50am: Things have been very slow...... suddenly both Paul and myself get bites.... mine from the inside which resulted in a small pout of 9", and Paul with a very respectable codling of 18" and weighing in at 2lb, from the outside......
10.10am: The rod tip on the inside dips sharply, followed by a four pull rattle..... up comes one 18" codling, again at just over 2lb.....
10.20am: Paul has a Rockling of 9.3/4" from the inside......
10.30am: Paul's in again, this time with another codling... all 18" of it.....
11.15am: I land a 17.1/2" codling from the inside...... this time on the Christmas tree, having got Paul and myself another cup of coffee from Tom the DSAA steward....... if you want to know about the Breakwater and how to fish it, this is the man to ask... a wealth of knowledge, and a very Charismatic individual to boot.....
11.25am: Paul lands a 15" codling from the outside.... this proves to be Paul's last fish of the day...... :-(
11.45am: Get a really good bite from the outside..... probably snatched at it too soon... anyway, no connection... when will I learn to sit on my hands and wait??!!!!
1.15pm: 18" Codling from the outside.......
2.15pm: 15" Codling from the inside......
2.25pm: my last fish of the day, although I had a few missed bites after this... :-( ..... 16" codling from the outside.......
Talking to others, the high pegs had fished better than the low pegs, with a few fish again in the 3 to 4 lb range being landed..... most people had 0 to 5 codling to show for their efforts..... a few flounder were landed from the inside down by the Tuck-shop, although Tom said he'd not personally had a bite all day.... few dads caught around the 180 peg mark......
Looks like February blues are here...... on the other hand it may just be the very high tides combined with the strong easterly winds..... we shall see.......
Dover Prince of Wales Pier 7th Feb.1998
Having arranged a small fish-in for people in the SE IAC area, things did not start well... looked at the Met.Office web site for the Shipping Forecast at 5.30am ....... winds E Force 5 to 6 occasionally 7 to start, then N to NE force 5 ...... the Motorboats would probably not be going out to the Breakwater......
Drove down with Paul Davies to Dover, and stopped off at Bills Bait and Tackle first to collect our orders of Lug...... I had decided to get 5 score of yellowtail for myself... the plan being that I would have a reasonable number left over, that would go a bit "stinky" for the next days Match fish, and I could use it, to tempt a Dab or two... we both made comment at the time to Bill about having good quality bait, and being denied access to the Wall to use it properly.... we also grabbed a few French booms, and one of the railing arm rod rests that allow the rod to hang over the piers side... great for Pollack (in this case), and for Bass in the Summer...... I then went to Channel Angling to grab the Maddies and large rag that I had on order, along with a number of other small items......
Went to the Dump Head and waited for people to arrive..... I was really only expecting a handful to show, if that, as the forecast though the week had been less than favourable..... the Harbour Board turned up, and confirmed that the "Wall" would be out of bounds...... shortly after, around 8.10am as arranged Paul Seccombe turned up, followed a little later by Mark Stinton .... We ummed and arred about the pro's and Con's of fishing the Admiralty or the PoW.... as Mark had already bought his ticket for the PoW, that's where we went.....
Paid our 3 UKP at the ticket dispenser near the entrance barrier, and made our way towards the end....... the end fishable section was already occupied by a few disgruntled anglers, less than happy at their abortive intentions towards the Breakwater, esp now that it was obvious to all that the front had passed on, the wind had backed to the North, and was no more than force 4 to 5...... by noon and for the rest of the afternoon more like 2 or less!!!!!!!
Set the first rod up with a size 2 wishbone on a long flowing trace, baited with combinations or individually with lug, rag or maddies.... Second rod, set up with a Christmas Tree of three French booms down the wall... size 4 hooks baited with maddies for Pollack, or laid down on the seabed for flatties... esp. flounders.....
Mark and Paul Seccombe both elected to use one rod, and vary the distance as the day progressed, with Paul Davies setting up two rods next to me........
9.00am: Start
9.20am: Paul Sec. lands the first fish of the day.....10" whiting.......
9.30am: Paul Davies get stuck into a another monster whiting..... all 8" of it!!!!!! ;-)
9.45am: Mark joins the action with an astounding 6" pout!!!!
9.52am: Paul Sec. manages to get a smaller pout.... 5" this time!!!!
10.40am: Well it's been the best part of almost 2 hours, but finally I land a fish..... 8" Pollack from down the Wall......
11.01am: Mark has the first decent fish of the day.... 29cm Flounder, interestingly enough coloured on the underside as well.......
11.18am: Mark again, this time with a small dab of 23cm..... Long Rough variety by the looks of it.... or at least by the time Mark had pointed out it's features....
11.57am: Paul Sec. brings a nice flounder home... this time 33cm.......
Things then went very, very quite..... casting at different ranges, using different baits, changing rigs...... nothing......
12.50pm: oh some action... well all 8" of Whiting to me..... :-(
1.00pm: Mark grabs a 9"whiting.......
Ten minutes of action, followed by another hour of nothing.... :-(
2.00pm..... notice, the slightest of twitches on the wishbone...... I manage to hold back...... getting tip happy, and it's hard to tell if it's the wind, my eyes playing tricks, or if it's a genuine bite...... the way the maddies have been nibbled, and the few positive, yet missed bites that we've had, all point to flounder, picking up the bait and spitting it out, whilst just nibbling the tails of the maddies off........ enoughs enough... twitch, I grab the rod, and strike, in the hope that the hook may sink home...... it's the right play.... I can feel a reasonable fish on the end....... up she comes..... a nice flounder...... about 15" and weighing in at 1.1/2lb...
2.05pm: Paul Davies lands his second fish of the day... another whiting, this time 9".....
Again all went quite for about another hour.....
On reflection we lost a number of sets of tackle.... Paul Sec. lost three
sets, due to snags, snap-offs, and having his line cut by Marks...... mind
you Mark lost two sets as well, although these seemed due to tackle snags.....
3.00pm: Land my last fish of the day... 8" dab.......
Packed up around 4pm..... waited for Mark to return from putting more money in the meter for the car... Madness had struck him down... he was going to stay!!!!!!!!..... anyway.. he returned and promptly pulled out a 7" Whiting......
Despite the poor turn-out, and the distinct lack of decent fishing, I had a good time.. and again it's always nice to be able to faces to names........
Mark as I've said fished on after us, at the far end, which was clear of other anglers by that time...... he lost one decent fish, codling by the sounds of it, and caught nothing else!!!!!
Dover Breakwater 8th Feb.1998
Picked up Maddies and some Rag with a couple of score of fresh yellowtail to complement those left from the previous days fishing on the PoW.....
Arrived at the Dumphead just before 8, entered the draw, and drew lot 25, after paying my 10UKP entrance fee.
Wind SW 3-4 occasionally 5 later in the day..... High water at 8am......
Went over in the second boat..... landed in the mid-section....... allowed to choose peg based upon chronological draw...... decided to fish in the usual area, with the Knuckle already taken...... landed up with Pegs 56 to 58, right next to Clive Solley. Also managed to meet Paul Howlett, with whom I'd had a number of short chats with on the net.... always nice to put a face to that cryptic name!!!! Really should ask Paul about his Phew01 handle.....
Decided from the outset, that the chances of me outfishing the likes of Alan Yates, Steve Almark etc where not realistic, and that my only real hope was to go for number of species, rather than total weight, although there was always the chance of an individual biggy..... although I have to confess at this juncture, that I really hadn't got a clue what the categories were that we were fishing for!!!!!! ...... had to ask Clive to enlighten me as we unpacked and prepared for the start.....
The Match was 2 rods with a total combined number of 3 hooks, with either or both sides of the Wall allowed......
I decided that my game plan would be to fish a long flowing wishbone with size 2 Kamasans on the inside, and a single long flowing 1/0 on the outside...... this I would maintain until around 12.00pm... when I would swap the wishbone over to the outside, and use a single hooked boom trace down the inside wall for an hour or more, and then switch both rods to the inside for the remaining time..... this I felt would give me the best opportunity for success...... I felt some what relived by the fact that Clive seemed to be adopting a similar strategy......
9.30am: Start.......
9.45am: Failed to make contact with a bite from the outside...... all along the Wall from the off, codling were being pulled up... with a very noticeable bias towards the Knuckle...
10.20am: Almost an hour passes by before I manage to hook into anything..... Wow... a 10" dab from the inside.... uuummmm!!!!!
10.30am: 6.1/2" pout from the outside... not really the monster winning cod that I was going to need!!!!
10.40am: Mild depression... few fish being caught around me, but it was obvious that the low numbers had the day.... went and grabbed a coffee... on the way back looked at Steve Almarks bucket, already a third full...... oh well, guess it was always going to be that way......
10.50am: Double shot on the inside....... 8.1/2"dab, and an equally big pout........
11.05am: Pouting of 6.1/2" from the outside........
11.15am: lost a small codling on the inside, just as I lifted it out the water.... it was undersize anyway, so nothing really to shout about.... :-(
11.25am: 7" Pout from the outside......
11.40am: Manage to bring up a small edible crab from the inside!!!!
11.45am: This was followed by a starfish from the outside....... Clive very generously gave me a couple of frozen peeler crabs to play with...... unfortunately, I couldn't do his generosity justice... :-(
1.30pm: decided to use a one hook rig on the inside wall for Pollack, whilst using the wishbone on the outside for codling...... really should have spent the day train-spotting, or stamp collecting!!!!!!!! ;-)
2.55pm: miracle of miracles...... 6.1/2" pout from the outside.........
3.15pm: finish.........
Went to the weigh-in ........ Steve Almark won with something in the order of 18 sizeable codling, plus pouting and dabs..... he'd been able to cast to the left of the knuckle, and found the fish........
Clive had pulled in a number of species (5 in total), including a male dragonet, and I think was in the running for the greatest number of species prize.
Paul had had a miserable days fishing as well, and I decided that I'd had enough too, and caught the first boat back, and managed to bump in to Rick Ryder on the Quay..... but by that time I was shattered, and just wanted to get home, so I had to reluctantly turn down his generous offer of tea and a chat..... we'll do it soon Rick, I promise.....
Dover Breakwater 14 March 1998
Drove down to Dover with Paul Davies, and arrived around 7.20am or so. Stopped at Bills Bait and Tackle to collect our bait...... juicy yellow tails and rag where to be the order of the day, plus we picked up a few bits and bobs of terminal tackle. Clive told us about the fishing the weekend before, which had been very good... 20 something plus codling and dogfish to the top 6 weights of the DSAA Sunday match (felt a bit sick, considering I had strongly toyed with the idea of fishing it, and then rejected the idea, as I had too much work on..... just my luck!!!!!! ). I had to nip over to Channel Angling to grab some power gum, and a score of rag that I'd ordered....... would have preferred to have maddies but as I'd ordered late on Friday, I thought that was out...... only to see maddies were free to be bought that morning..... common sense prevailed, and I decided we had enough bait.........
Went to the DumpHead and dropped Paul and the tackle off, and went and parked the Car in the Hoverport area....... they have now erected fencing around it, so one can no longer take the short cut by foot, through the Harbour personal carparks, and you must now walk around it, past the entrance to the Prince of Wales.
As we were early, it meant that we could catch the first boat across at 8.30am..... walked down to peg 60 to 68. High water was due at mid-day at 6.4m (reasonably large tide) and with the wind from the North to North West at force 3 to 4. The reality was that we were sheltered from the wind for much of the day, by the cliffs behind us, and bathed in sunshine esp. during the morning... real T-shirt weather... felt like we should be fishing for Bass rather than codling!!!!!!!
Set up 2 rods, each with long flowing wishbones... the outer with 2/0's and the inner with 2's ....... baited with yellowtail or a combination with rag. I also set up a third rod with a Christmas tree of 4's baited with rag, and down the inner wall for Pollack......
8.5Oam: Started fishing.........
9.15am: First fish of the day.... 17" Codling of 1.3/4lb from the inside, on the hook with the lug/rag combo.....
9.25am: Another codling.... 19.1/2" and weighing in at 2.3/4lb..... again from the inside, and to the lug/rag combo.....
9.28am: Paul has a pouting of 9" from the inside.....
9.45am: Manage to have a 3 way tangle with Paul, and the chap next to him, and yet still manage to pull up a 15" Codling from the outside.......
9.50am: Paul gives a rye smile when he pulls up a starfish from the outside!!!!! Unfortunately five minutes later he then lost a trace on the inside :-(
10.05am: Decided we both needed a coffee, so I went down to get them , and see how others were doing..... much the same as us or worse from what I could see.....
10.20am: I'm a great believer of leaving things alone, and pulling up fish once I've drunk my coffee........ stops me from being to tip happy I guess, and lets the bite develop.... 20" Codling at 2.1/2lb from the inside, and on the lug/rag combo....
10.50am: Pouting of 9" from the inside........ you guessed it... lug/rag did the damage......
11.05am: Codling of 16.1/2" at 1.1/2lb from the outside......
11.25am: Double shot from the outside..... well not really.... 16.1/2" Codling and a starfish!!!!!!!!!
11.35am: 8.1/2" Pouting from the inside........
11.40am Paul lands a 16" Codling from the outside.........
12.00pm: Lost a fish from the outside of around 2lb... felt it fighting... and then a twang as the hook slipped out.. ;-(
12.15pm: Paul has a 14" Codling from the outside......
12.35pm: Paul again, this time a 16" Codling from the inside...... I was beginning to feel left out.....
12.50pm: at last... another codling, this one was 17" and 1.3/4lb, from the outside....
1.05pm: no sooner had I rebaited, cast out, and the lead set, than the rod tip was banging in a bite fashion, rather than the lead rolling on the bottom..... up comes a 16" Codling......
1.35pm: Catch an 8" pout on the Christmas tree... not really the Pollack I had in mind!!!!!!
1.40pm: Paul brings in a 16" Codling from the outside.....
2.05pm: Thought I'd hooked into something big...... but it turned out to be a plastic carrier bag, much to the amusement of the others around me!!!!!! :-(
2.25pm: Paul lands a 9" Rockling from the outside...
Things went very quite......
3.15pm: Paul hooks into a lobster on the inside, that we manage to bring to the steps, and I ran down them and grabbed it........ it was small but big enough to eat.. about a 1lb to 1.1/2lb..... Paul and his wife had it for supper that night..... very tasty by all accounts.....
3.20pm: Last fish of the day..... 16" Codling from the outside........
Packed up around 3.30pm, and caught the boat back.........
A good days fishing esp. for the Middle of March.......
Dover (Langdown Bay) / Folkestone Warren 9th May 1998
4.30am: Arrived at Bills Bait and Tackle, and had only a short wait until Paul Davies turned-up ...... drove up to the Langdown Car Park, that is situated between Dover Castle and the Eastern Coastguard station. From here we walked over the tops of the Cliffs to the Langdown Steps ......
5.00am: Langdown Stairs offers a view that takes away my breath every time I see it ........ it was however rapidly apparent that the venue was probably not going to suit the type of Bass fishing that we had elected for... i.e. plugging. The base of the cliff forms a long shallow wave cut platform, covered in Fucus, and terminated by a thick belt of Kelp. I was hoping to find a few deep gullies cut into the platform, that we could cast into, and work the lures.... however none were evident from our vantage point.
5.30am: We decided, that having walked all this way, that we'd go down and give it a whorl anyway... if only to say that we had done so....... it's a long climb down, as the chalk steps are badly eroded, and care needs to be taken with ones footing ...... at the bottom, there is a 25 to 30 foot drop, with the old Gun emplacements to ones right ....... a ladder has been erected to aid in the last part of the decent. However, it has suffered from storm damage, and is twisted and buckled, and great care should be taken....... mind you, the last time I was here, some 10 years ago, the only access was through the 3rd gun port, and to climb down onto the fallen boulders ........ this is no longer an option, as the boulders are all but gone, and the Gun Port cemented over.
We elected to try in front of the second gun port, which seemed to be almost clear of Kelp.
Low tide was just past, and the wind was very light... say force 2 or less from the S or SW. The Dawn was here, along with the Sun ....... a lovely day........ Unfortunately the fish did not show, or didn't like our Rapalas (J13 Blue and J11 Black) ...... we had difficulties and many of the casts resulted in snagging the weed, or bringing weed in with the lure.
6.30am: Give-up with the advancing tide, lack of fish, continued snagging, and the fact that a small boat had just put Gill nets out about 120yds straight in front of us...... we saw the funnyside!!!!!!
This venue looks like a prime bass spot, but one for rotten bottoms, and crab baits ...... not for lure work, unless maybe at high water if access to the beach is possible.........
7.00am: We climbed back up the White Cliffs of Dover, and back at cars, and decided to see what the Warren had on offer........
7.30am: Arrived at the Warren, and started to fish the Low Apron ... first with Rapalas, and then with Toby lures ..... we saw, on a number of occasions diving sea birds straight ahead of us, but out of our casting range ..... found a few snags, but managed to pull free each time without loss....
8.30am: Paul had to leave , so I went to the Nags Head ... I lost a Blue J13, as I cast it out, I think it was due to the line being weakened from the earlier snags, but failed to notice anything at the time. No fish......
9.30am: Went to the 1st High Apron / Low Apron, on my way back, and tried a number of different lures ... no joy........
10.30am: Left for home, and bumped into a couple of Chaps, who looked as if they were about to fish (saw a telescopic rod in the back of a small rucksack), who asked me what I'd caught...... when I told them that I / we had blanked, they said with a smile; "you must have been doing it wrong"....... my thoughts entirely... ;-) .
Forecast was for a hot sunny day with NW winds of force 3 ( in fact they were more like force 4 plus on occasions), with high water around 11am.
Collected Tony from Folkestone, and drove to Bills Bait and Tackle. Spoke to Clive, who told us that Soles were coming up from the inside, towards the high numbered pegs. We purchased a couple of pollack rests, which allow the rod to be held out horizontal over the water, when fishing straight down the wall. We were not planning on fishing for pollack this day, but bass were to be our intended quarry although the main part of the day is less than ideal!!!.
Then went over to Channel Angling where I had ordered our bait. I had intended to use maddies, but Channel Angling have recently had problems keeping them in prime condition, and for the time being are not taking orders for them. As a result we had to settle for rag that I'd ordered instead, and picked-up a score of lug to tempt small pout with, that we could use as live bait....
Tony has now had a chat with Phil Tanner of Harbour Tackle in Folkestone, who will supply Maddies, but the order must be for a full tube, 20 quid, which supplies around 300 to 400 or so ...... really an option for a group of anglers rather than an individual, as the worms do not keep well.
Caught the boat across ..... there were about 20 anglers in all, with some already fishing through the night. A 6lb bass had been taken early that morning. We made our way down towards the first set of steps.... around peg140 (I think.. forgot to note it down!!!). Started fishing around 9am.
Set one rod up with a 4/0 pennel with a side of mackerel , and another baited with pout, when Tony pulled a few up, which he did within 20 mins or so.
The third rod I had out a little way on the inside, with a wishbone with size 4 hooks, baited with rag, for the sole. In hind sight I really should have cast it out, but at the time I really didn't want the hassle of getting snagged, and wanted to be able to bring it in quickly should we get a bass on the other rods..... Tony did much the same, although he also set up a bread bag, and fished for mullet.
Tony managed to pull up a small wrasse, before getting any pout down the wall.
Set up a float rig on the pike rod, baited with a strip of mackerel, for either garfish, mackerel or what ever......
People where trying to feather for mackerel, with no joy.
Pulled up a couple of small pouts via the wishbone, which was stripped within 20 minutes or so.... combination of small pout and crab, I would guess.
Around midday, the chap next to us, had to use the steps to land a nice plaice from the inside ..... estimated at around 2.1/2lb or so.
The steward had a dogfish down the far end, but otherwise very slow. Talked to two chaps, one of which had caught a single mackerel, along with a small mullet ... on a lug squid combo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just going to be one of those days.
Just after 1pm, Tony pulled up a small sand goby!!!! He saw the funny side!!! ;-)
The chap next to us, has a small sole, and managed to get Tony's gear snagged in the process of landing it again on the steps. He also had a gurnard on rag, along with a lobster, that had a liking for the weaver fish that he had managed to hook into on the outside!!! Otherwise a very poor days fishing ..... Tried feathering again for mackeral around 2.30pm or so..... a number of large garfish came after the feathers but failed to connect .... teied with toby's, redgills, float fished mackeral strips etc... all blanked!! :-(
Spoke to Rick Ryder, who said that although he'd won the open on the Breakwater that Saturday, that the fishing had also been very poor, and that he'd won it with 5 scad, and a number of pout ..... made me feel much better, although it does leave the slight problem of where next to fish!!!!
Got up around 5am, and went to the Met.Office web site for the shipping forecast .... NW force 5 to 7.. decided that in all probability we would have to fish the Ad. Pier, as the motorboats wouldn't be going across to the Breakwater ....
Drove down to Dover, and stopped off at the M25 service station for petrol and food for the day .. quite by chance Paul Davies (who I'd arranged to fish with), happened to have pulled in at the same time ... swapped tales of woe over the shipping forecast, and made our way down to Dover....
Arrived at Bills Bait and Tackle around 7.30am or so to collect our bait
... I had ordered 5 score of lug (with a neap tide, no yellow-tails) and
1 of rag, and Paul 4 score as he had a few packs of squid with him......
made a quip to Bill as he was serving us, about the futility of collecting
the lug, as we were unable to go to the 'Wall' .... then Bill spoke, what
can only be described as sweet music to our ears .."they are going out lads
.. should be a good day" ... yippie...... suddenly a cloud lifted from both
Paul and myself .. life was worth living after all !!!!!!
Just as we were leaving, and Bill was very kindly pointing to some suggested parking spaces, Clive turned up, looking somewhat tired .. been fishing a comp that night after digging, but it had not gone well for him.. he seemed to indicate that although his own performance that night had been below par, the general quality of fishing had not been that high either.... Paul and I looked at each other and hoped that it had just been one of those tides, although of course we were in a set of neaps!!!!
Parked the cars, and moved off to the DumpHead .. bumped into Tommy the Steward,
who told us that indeed the Breakwater would be open , but that he was fishing
in the Boat Comp .. arrived to find only two others waiting, one of which
was Alan Yates .. transpired that DSAA has the last of the Sunday series
Comps on, and although Pegs 1 to 80 would be barred to us as a result, I
decided not to fish the comp (lack of quality bait, prep, etc), but to use
the time to play, and get a feel for the venue again...
Very soon the Quay side was bristling with activity, as a lot of other anglers arrived .. most were in fact not fishing the comp, which worried me slightly in terms of potential overcrowding problems, with crossed lines, light weights being used etc .... sounded like many were here for a practice session before a comp spanning Monday and Tuesday took place...
Paul and myself were on the first boat across, and were dropped at the centre
of the Breakwater (for the convenience of the DSAA match people) ...
....this allowed us to stake a position close to them (around peg 90) and
furthest away from the western stairs, where I felt sure the majority would
alight. With the diffusion / car park principle at work, I felt we should
be OK in terms of space ..... and indeed this proved to be the case .. plus
we were reasonably close to the coffee and loos....... always a plus point
:-)
As a result we set-up around 8.50am, and almost at high water, with the tide
running strongly from left to right. I decided to use a long flowing wishbone
2/0 on the outside and another with 1/0's on the inside, baited either with
a double load of lug, or a lug / rag combo. Paul looked to be using wishbones
and a pennell and again fished both sides. He had also brought a third rod
and set a whole squid on a pennell down the Wall for that late illusive bass
or super Cod ...
He was also tipping a number of his worm baits with squid as well...
I had left my third rod behind, thinking we would be fishing the Ad. Pier, OTHERWISE I would have been using some of the rag on a Christmas tree with size 1 kamazans, straight down the wall, 4 or 5 turns off the bottom for pollack... oh well next time...
9.10am: Paul had a double shot of pout on the outside , but lost them when the knot on one of the hooks on his wishbone came undone!!!!!!!
9.25am: Managed to hook a small pout of 8" on the inside...
9.35am: Had a thump on the outside rod, and winched in a double shot of pouting, one of 12" the other 8.5"
9.40am: Paul landed his first fish... a 10" pout from the outside....
9.45am: Another pout to me all of 11".. also from the outside....
9.55am: Paul has a 12" pout from the outside.....
Looked like the match boys were having a good time of it, with a number of pouting and a couple of codling in the 3 to 5lb mark being landed.....
10.00am: Pulled up a small edible crab from the inside!!!!
10.15am: Dab of 9.5" from the outside .. seemed to like that rag tip!!
10.20am: Paul has another 8" pout from the outside....
10.35am: Pouting of 9" from the outside...
10.40am: Local shag was having a great time with all the undersize pouting
being thrown back!!!!
10.45am: Managed to get snagged on the inside .. my own fault, instead of staying short I cast out.... lost the trace and leader ... and had to restring as a result....
10.55am: Paul pulls in a 10" pout from the outside....
11.00am Paul has a double shot of 8" pouting from the inside this time....
11.05am I have a double shot, from the outside ... one pouting of 6.5" and
a whiting of 12.5".
11.20am: Paul has a 10" pouting from the outside....
11.30am: Land a small pout of 8.5" from the outside.... followed five minutes later by Paul ... ribbed Paul that it was the one I'd just thrown back!!!!! ;-)
11.50am: Have a 7" pout from the outside.....
12.15pm: Double shot of pout from the outside, 6.5" and 10.5".....
12.30am: Have another 6.5" pout, this time from the inside....
just as I'm landing it, a big gust of wind blows up some newspaper that I
manage to dodge as it flies past my face..... what I failed to realise at
the time, was that the newspaper concerned, was the very same that was keeping
my rag worm safe .. or was.... Paul very kindly managed to find some of the
worms that had been dropped about 30ft away ..... sort of a failed attempt
to carpet bomb the fish!!! :-)
Paul then managed to pull up a double shot from the outside.... well of starfish anyway!!!!
Things had slackened off with the loss of the tidal run, and looking around, most people had caught pouting with the odd codling here and there of between 3 to 5lb or so, with a few dab and whiting thrown in..... Some nice pollack had been taken over high water, and I regretted leaving my rod and booms behind!!
1.00pm: land a new species for the day ... well a poor cod of 7.5" to be
exact!!!
1.50pm: takes almost an hour.. but I manage another pout of 8.5".....
The tidal run starts again, and so does the fishing......
2.00pm: 11" pouting from the outside......
Paul looses what he thinks is a good fish .. again by the knots on his wishbone giving way .... someone will have to get him a book on knots :-)
2.10pm: Double shot of pouting, 8.5" and 10"....
I swap both rods to the outside......
2.20pm the long cast wishbone starts to bounce .. grab it ... reel-in .... 12" of whiting , at the same time Paul brings in an 8" pouting ......
2.25pm: just get the whiting in, and before I can unhook it, the rod with
the short cast wishbone, gives a huge thump, and bends double ... I dropped
the whiting, and grabbed the other rod ... instantly I knew that I had a
good fish and started to pull it in.... called to Paul to grab the drop net,
unfortunately, I'd tied the other end of the rope to the bucket, for water.....
so Paul comes running up with the net, only to run back again to untie the
rope from the bucket...... all very keystone cops ... anyway, managed to
bring the fish to the surface after a few desperate lunging dives .. up comes
a very nice looking cod, along with a pouting.... we manage to net both fish
at once ..... one pouting of 11", and a very nice cod of 27" ... we weighed
it on two separate balances ... both times 6.1/4lb ... YES.....
it's amazing how a single good fish can turn a poor pout bashing session
into a really great day... :-)
3.04: Pauls honour is saved when he manages a nice codling of 20" at 2.1/2lb
from the outside...
3.25pm: Paul has a 12" whiting from the outside....
3.30pm: Pull in an 8" pout from the outside, followed five minutes later by one of 11.5"..... Pack up the gear and go and catch the boat from the western stairs....
Still looks like early days to the cod session .. but my hopes are high.....
Drove down to Hythe in Kent, to pick-up our bait order from Den's Tackle,
at just after 7am ..
We had been unable to secure an order for lug at any of the tackle shops
in Dover on the Wednesday, due to the tides coinciding with the hours of
darkness, and the high demand due to 'Cod Fever'...... So we were very pleased
to get our gutted yellow tail wraps for the day ahead, along with a number
of small pieces of terminal gear that we required....
We then drove on to Dover for around 7.30am to collect the ragworm order
from Channel Angling ... they have just moved a little further up the street
into a much more spacious and open shop.. lots more room to browse, although
as Roy joked, it may take a while to find your way around all the
goodies.....
Parked the car in the Hoverspeed P&D.. £5 for the Day, but it's a lot better than skimping on the charge on the Roadside parking and getting clamped, which has happened to a number of Anglers over the past few weeks .. the £4 toll runs out for most around 3pm, and the council would seem to know this, so they clamp during the 30 to 45 minute gap in duty.... ouch....
Got to the Dumphead for 7.45am .... already 20 anglers ahead of us... most from the Duke of Wellington to fish a Match .. they took Pegs 70 to 130 I think ....
Tom told us that the largest fish that Saturday had been a cod of around 8lb, but that a couple of double figure fish had been lost, whilst being netted.....
We got on the second boat, paid our £3 each, and set-up at Peg 60 or so, right next to the steps around 8.45am..... by the time the last boat load of anglers arrived, things were quite tight, with some 50 odd anglers in all....
The forecast was for a dry day, with sunshine and cloud, a southerly wind of 4 to 5, decreasing ...... High water was at 12.26pm, and 6.4m.
I decided to set-up two rods on the outside.... both with long flowing wishbones, one with 2/0's the other with 4/0's ... on reflection, I really should have changed one to a clip-down pennell.... I set up a third rod on the inside that I played around with, and either fished as a flowing 2/0 wishbone, or with a small pouting on a Pennell down the Wall for that Bass/Cod, or with 3 booms and 1/0's mounted with ragworm for Pollack down the wall ..... Paul used much the same sort of set-up except that his 3rd rod was dedicated to pollack fishing through-out...
9.20am: Paul kicked off with a nice 13" Pollack, although he came VERY close to losing the rod over the side, as it lifted/bounced out of the arm brace ...... at the same time as he was dealing with that, the other rod he was fishing the inside started banging.. Paul rapidly dealt with the pollack by dropping it and the rod, and raced over to pull up a 12" pouting.....
9.40am: Paul has a small dab of 7" from the outside .... I get a nice bite, and meet resistance on retrieval ... but it feels like dead weight, no real kicks or dives ...... and although I called over to Paul with the drop-net, just to be on the safe side, it turned out to be nothing more exiting than a ball of old line, a fond of Laminaria, and a few old Gemini weights.....
9.50am: At last a decent bite.... only an hour of fishing, although I took some consolation in the fact that everyone seemed to find it slow going, even with the tidal run.... anyway, turns out to be a double shot with an 8.5" pout, and an 11" whiting .... Paul got snagged and lost his rig ... in fact he lost something like 5 rigs throughout the course of the day.......
10.20am: Had a series of small taps on the inside rod..... turned out to
be a 9" poor-cod.....
10.25am: Pulled in a small 6" pouting from the outside, that when straight on the pennel on the inside, in hope of that big lone bass.....
10.30am: Another pouting.... all 7" of it!!!!!, from the outside.....
Soon after this I got caught up in a tackle snag and lost a wishbone rig, which was annoying as I had a bite at the time.....
10.50am: and another pout from the outside.... this time 9".....
11.00am: The tidal run really starts to kick-in.... and I have a double shot of pouting from the outside.... one of 11", the other 8.5"....
11.14am: Paul joins in the pout bashing, this time an 8" individual from the inside... just as he's returning it, I bring one of 9" in from the inside as well ....
11.35am: Paul lands an 18" Pollack from the inside on his Christmas tree .... the tide brings more activity along the 'Wall', AND codling are being landed by some lucky individuals ..... the sea and spray are also splashing over the top....
Chap some way down to the left of us, grabbed my drop net for his mate .. but I'd forgotten to attach the additional leads to the bottom to sink it (and thus control it) ..... they lost it.... I felt really guilty, and promptly attached the weights that I'd specifically brought along for the job.....
12.15pm: My rod set-up for Pollack, starts to bounce wildly.... grab it...
and pull up a Pollack of 14"....No sooner had I landed it, than Paul gives
a shout, and pulls up a double shot with one pollack of 14" and the other
of 13" .... looks like a shoal swam past.....
12.40pm: 12" pout from the outside......
12.50pm: get a bite.. retrieve and again meet resistance.... pull up a 10" pout, but it's not on the rig I'm using .. it's on the wishbone that I lost ... plus I manage to pull-in one of Paul's lost rigs as well!!!!!!
1.00pm Lad to the right of us, needed help to land a nice codling, that he'd caught using a long flowing wishbone...... lent him my scales .. came in at 5.5lb... at least someone was happy :-)
1.10pm: Paul landed a 12" whiting from the outside.....
1.15pm: I on the other hand have yet another pouting ... 11"....
1.50pm: Paul has a 9" dab from the outside.....
2.00pm: land a nice pout of 13" from the outside.....
2.10pm: It was obviously going to be one of those spooky sorts of days ..... Paul got a series of tugs, and bangs ..... hits into a reasonable fish... chaps next to us help him land it, only to realise that a second set of tackle was involved (from persons unknown), and in the confusion it really wasn't clear who's the fish was... ie who's hook was in it's mouth before it was unhooked in the drop-net, but as nobody came forward at the time, we all felt that Paul should have it by default..... came in at 3.5lb... shame really, the uncertainty of ownership tainted the experience for Paul, or at least it seemed that way...
2.24pm: Paul has a 10" pout from the outside....
2.35pm: Paul has another Pollack, this time of 16".......
I went and got us some coffee from Tommy's Tuckshop .. looked around and the story was the same ... a few codling about in the 3 to 5lb range, with one decent Cod of 8.5lb in the knuckle .. otherwise pouting, with the odd whiting and dab, here and there...... oh and a few dogfish as well.....
3.00pm: Catch a 12" pout on the outside.. go to release it on the steps on the inside, and almost get splashed by a wave, to Paul's delight.....
3.30pm: Paul had the last fish of the day as we packed-up to go .. a nice
pouting of 1lb...... as we packed up, lots of seagulls descended .. and poor
old tommy was making his way back towards the pick-up point collecting loads
of rubbish that many had simply left ..... I do wish people would give more
consideration towards the stewards, with out whom, the venue would be out
of bounds....
Not a great day, but as Paul pointed out, at least we didn't blank.... ;-)
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