Folkestone

Folkestone Warren 19th July 2002

Woke-up for a second morning at 2am, in order to drive down to Folkestone to catch the morning tide ….. and again I find that Karen is already up, not having been able to shake off the Jet Lag …… this time there are pancakes, maple syrup, and a mug of hot steaming coffee waiting for me ……. There is a God!!!!!!!

Drove down to Folkestone and arrived just after 4am ….. one thing I have noticed over these last two days is the increase in the volume of traffic compared to only a year ago…. Was a time I’d see only a handful of cars, even on the M25 ….. but now there seems to be a constant stream in both directions even at 3am!!!!!!

Walked down to the first Apron with the dawn already starting and then on towards the second Apron….. HW due around 7.15am (5.7m), a light NE wind, and almost clear skies …… looking good, just hope someone told the fish!!!!!

Set up and started fishing around 4.35am ….. the tide was already at the base of the apron when I arrived, so I decided to start by fishing off the two buttresses either side of the Nags Head using a J9 over the recently coved reefs and rocks …….. looking down into the water it was evident that the water clarity of the previous day was gone, and replaced by a degree of chalky murk, probably the result of the engineering work further up, this coupled by the increased presence of seaweed fragments floating everywhere, made me feel that things were going to be a bit more difficult than I’d hoped…..

5.10am …. Splash and swell on the buttresses forced me to decide to go and have a quick play off the eastern slipway ….. however as this seemed like one of the engineering areas with its greatly increased chalky white turbidity, I gave it a short while before moving back down to the Nags Head for around 5.30am….

By the time I’d reached the western end of the high second apron the tide had risen sufficiently to allow the use of a larger plug …. So I popped on a J13 and gave it a go ….

Over the next 3 hours, I swapped lures, locations, and retrieve styles along the first half of the Apron …. All to no avail, and made more frustrating by the lack of visibility which meant that if there were any chasing fish, I was completely oblivious to the fact … all very dispiriting :-(

8.10am …. Found myself in front of Water Conduit No8 for the umpteenth time … however the sun was now fully out and the wind dropped to calm the sea surface …. suddenly just within casting range a whorl of activity ….. small fish jumping out the water followed rapidly by the unmistakable snake like out line of garfish ……. Changed over rapidly to a double hooked Krillete which I’ve used before to catch Garfish … and Bass…

8.15am … cast out , just start the retrieve ….. bang …. Short but zesty fight and up pops a 16” bass ….. land it, photograph it, and return it…….

8.55am ….. bang …. Right over the reef ……. This fish doesn’t want to come up ….. thought at first it could be a Pollack, but it suddenly hits the surface ….. it’s a large mackerel ….. just about to land it, and it shakes itself off ….. the way they thrash around like that I’m surprised they don’t shake themselves apart!!!!

8.56am …. Repeat performance except I manage to land the 14” mackerel before it drops off…..

9.00am ….. thwack … into another mackerel …. 13” this time …… still Mackerel for tea .. should keep Karen happy, even if it’s not bass!!!!!

9.10am ….. things go quiet …. And I knot up on the cast with the braid …. The Krillete is a little on the light side and so the braids not bedding down properly on the retrieve … although having said that, as its new it has been causing me problems throughout the morning regardless of lures used …. Decided to stick with the silver surface lures, but went for the heavier Dexter Wedge …….. however by 9.20am and two snags in the now shallowing reef, decided to play safe and go back to a J13..

9.25am ….. cast sideways along the line of the apron…. bang ….. into a small bass almost straight away ….. land, photo, and return the 14” school bass …….

By the time I get back to plugging, the floating weed volume has increased, resulting in a very weedy lure on almost every retrieve …… by 9.40am decided to fish out the remaining half hour or so in front of the Nags Head ……

By 10.15am the water depth and floating weed are making life a little too difficult, so I decided to call it a day …. Gave Steve Burling a buzz to let him know how things had gone, as he was planning to go down in the evening with some friends …… be interesting to see how he got on…. Esp. as the weather was good all day …. Maybe the Mackerel and garfish would show, and maybe, just maybe the bass in tow … we shall see…….

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