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Folkestone (1998)
Having fished at Deal the night before, I decided that as there was so little wind, that there was a good chance to fish Dover Breakwater that morning ... I'd looked in on the tackleshops in Dover on my way to Deal, and from the sign boards outside, looked like bait would not be an issue.. I slept in the car (having brought my sleeping bag for just such an eventuality)..... woke-up for the shipping forecast at 5am ..... outside there is not a breath of wind ... however the Met Office shipping forecast was talking of force 3 to 4 winds, rising to force 7 and 8 at times!!!!! .... decided there was no chance that the motorboat company would be going across with a forecast like that, despite the actual conditions locally. Pulled up outside Bills Bait and Tackle in Dover, and thought about what to do .. either get fresh bait and fish the Admiralty Pier, or go for the easy (but probably less productive) option of Folkestone Pier, using the old bait I had ....... the easy option won ......
Arrived just before 6.30am .. there were about 5 chaps already fishing the
elbow ... they'd had a number of pouting and a couple of codling, the best
of which looked around the 4lb mark. I walk on until the old crane workings,
and set-up at Peg 17 (old 22/23), with the flowing wishbone (2/0's) and pennell
(2/0,4/0) rigs that I'd been using at Deal, baited with lugworm only......
6.40am: The pennell rod starts tapping ..... reel-in a pouting of 11"
6.55am: get a series of taps on the wishbone .. try to retrieve, but it's snagged on lost tackle .. eventually work it free, and get a brand spanking new 170g Gemini as a bonus ...... no fish however :-(
7.10am: Get the pennel hooked-up in yet another tackle snag, but pull it free.....
There are a lot of small pouting taps and pulls on both rods.. most of which I ignore in the hope of better fish.....
Walk up to the end of the pier where a lone chap is fishing ... he's not
had a good night ..... only pout from what I understand..... and soon he's
packing up to leave.....
7.20am: manage an 8" pout on the pennell!!!!
7.45am: better pout of 12", again on the pennell.
8.15am: Double shot on the wishbone, with a nice 12" dab, and a small pout
of 8"...
Few new arrivals that go and set-up at the end of the pier
The chaps on the elbow pack-up and move off.....
9.15am: another 8" pout on the pennel
9.30am: Chap at the far end lands what looked like a codling of 3lbplus.. on his first cast... almost enough to make one spit......
More people arrive and set-up on the elbow.....
9.33am: 8" pout on the wishbone.....
9.55am ... get a good solid bite on the pennell, strike, start to retrieve, and hit a tackle snag... this time however, the rig and line part company, and so I decide just to fish with the wishbone with the few remaining worms that I have left..... have a few taps, but nothing solid, so by 10.35am or so, I've had enough and decide to pack-up and go...... the fishing may have picked up towards high water with the tidal run, but I was really ready for my bed and a forty winks ..........
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