Folkestone

Folkestone Warren 23rd May 1999

Leon had arranged a fish-in down the Warren for anyone who wished to go .... how could I say no ... having aborted a trip the day before with Steve, I decided I'd go and take a look, even though Steve had declined on the basis that it was too iffy .... the forecast was for W to SW winds force 4, locally 5 at times decreasing 3 to 4 by late afternoon .. sounded just right as high water was at 6pm .....

Arrived at the Warren just before 3pm, but the barrier to the campsite / parking was down, and would be so until 7pm .... so I had to drive around the corner, and walk double the distance down the coastal path .. uumm fun .... things did not look good from the top of the cliff .. lots of "white horses", and splash/spray comming up over the aprons...

Anyway decided to walk to the far end of the second apron, so that my back would be to the wind, and I could cast into the advancing surf from the slipway .. well that was the plan .. first or second cast using a small J9, and I'm stuck in some chalk ... tug tug .. no joy .. so I jump down on the beach and tug in the other direction .. it comes free, only to get stuck again after two or three turns .... I manage to get it free .. only problem, is that the new braid that I'd just put on, was not yet bedded down , and all that tugging, had resulted in the braid digging in in places, and sure enough next cast, I have a tangle, and have to cut out 10m .. then attach a 2oz lead and walk the length of the second apron pay out the line, so I can then get it to lay properly under tension .. which is what I should have done in the first place!!!

Having sorted that problem out, it became apparent that fishing was going to be very difficult ... not only with the wind, but the large volumes of loose weed in the water .. obviously stripped out from Copt Point and washed into the bay .. only 1 time in 10 was my lure comming back without a coat of green or brown seaweed .... by 4.30pm and no sign of Leon, I decided enough was enough ... packed up and started walking back ....

Got to the first high apron, and decided that a) the wind and waves were comming at an angle rather than head-on, and b) there seemed to be less weed .. so I re-strung the rod, and loaded it up with one of the Dee Bee lures from Aus ... nice ballanced lure with a wobble action .. just wish the water had been clear rather than green/brown so I could see the action .. anyway after about 20 minutes Leon and Martyn arrived .. and got stuck in .... despite the fact that the wind never really dropped below force 4/5, and the weed increased as well...

but to be honest by this time my heart really wasn't in it .. I suspect that the bass would be far more interested in the peeler crabs being exposed by the force of the crashing waves, than bits of wood and plastic (or a lump of metal that Leon had .. Dexter Wedge), although as it was only 6pm, maybe a little early for the bass anyway. By 6.30pm I decided to go, and left Leon and Martain to it ... I'm sure they will let me know if anything happened after I left ......

UPDATE: Leon and Martyn fished for another hour after I left, but with little to reward them for their efforts...

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