|
Albert Pier 20th Aug 2002
Map Ref: 647,477
Tide: HW LW: 12.10pm (3.0m)
Weather Forecast: Fine with sunny intervals. Wind NW F2/3
Collected Chris around 5am….. drove down to the pier head, and started to set-up and sort the gear out .. as we were doing so, a police patrol car pulled up and took an interest in our activities, but once they realised we really were just mad fishermen on a mission for mullet, they lost interest and moved off…..
Took up station on the upper half of the steps, with Chris at the top, and myself at the waters edge…… and both fishing to a depth of between 6 to 13ft down…..
5.50am ….. Chris was momentarily distracted by some frantic splashing created by some fish hitting the surface, a little way out in front of us .. when he turned to look… his float was just starting to return back to the surface … struck, but the moment was lost, and the frustration showed on Chris’s face……
6.00am ….. again Chris has a great opportunity, when his float suddenly shot under …… but again the strike yielded no reward……
Around 6.20am, I started to get a little restless, and wanted to try from the overhanging car parking platform, and drift along the line of the steps using the centre-pin reel …… being so high up, and at a different angle, gave me a much clearer view into the water… suddenly around 6.30am, a large shoal of mullet cruised around the pier head, and headed straight past the outermost pillars of the parking stage … nice looking fish, estimating around 15 to 20 in number, and all around the same class of 3lb or so ….. unfortunately they were at the wrong depth for my floated offering, and by the time I’d adjusted to 3 to 4ft depth that they were swimming at, they had swum on, further into the harbour…… :-)
By 7.15am I’d decided to return to the steps, and fished deep once more … I have a theory (and backed up by previous catches, plus this mornings observation) that the mullet seem to swim at a deeper depth, when they get closer to the pier wall….. when we first fished here last year, we were casting out, and fishing shallow and caught fish …… but fishing close and deep also produces fish ….. I still don’t believe this is a major holding area, more a case of intercepting shoals as they pass by……..
7.15am ….. Thinking this over, and talking to Chris about it, when my float suddenly shot under the surface .. struck home, and a fish kicked back ….. after a few short runs, and really before the fish could get over the initial shock, I had Chris net the thick-lipped mullet … not a big fish at only 15.1/2”, took a couple of pictures, and placed it back into the water….
7.50am … decide I need a coffee, put the rod down to pick-up the flask, and almost immediately the float shot under… grabbed the rod… and pulled up a tompot blenny!!!!
8.25am ….. decided to have another cup of coffee… put the rod down, so it was hanging over the steps, and at virtually the same time, a beautiful green kingfisher landed, and perched on my rod tip …. Chris and I just stared in stunned silence, I tried to reach for my camera, but the movement triggered the bird into flight …… one of those magical moments that fishing unexpectedly throws up, from time to time……
8.30am …. Saw first one mullet, and not long after another, not big fish, more in the 1 to 2lb class, drift over the second landing, noising around the wall, but not stopping, before, dropping off the edge of the submerged steps and into the gloom below….. although there was no chance to have a go specifically at these fish, it was nice to know they were about….
8.40am ….. my turn to miss a great bite :-(
9.20am …. Chris very kindly bought us breakfast …… hot beef sandwiches from the Café half way down the pier….. very heartily excepted ……
9.50am …… my float suddenly shot under, seemed to take an age for me to react, but I struck home, and felt a fish on the other end ……. This one was mean spirited, and dived deep from the off, and stayed down … from the way that it fought, it seemed that it was bigger than the first, but when eventually I did bring it up, it proved to be the same or smaller, rather disappointing, but still a fish …. Still got Chris to net it ….. and it was smaller at 15” .. took the picture and popped it back…..
10.05am….. no sooner was I fishing again, than the float went under…. Another hard fighting fish, but with little weight behind it…… soon had the fish up on the surface ….. small mullet …. Netted and measured … all of 14” …… looked like the fish were getting smaller, but harder fighting…..!!!!!!
Things then went quiet for the next two hours, with a few possible bites and nibbles, but nothing to shout about…..
12.00 noon ….. had a number of anglers turn up, and started fishing over our heads, and 4oz weights making some lovely splashes all around us, and not that far from where we were fishing!!!!! Then a chap came down the steps with his daughter to drop a large landing net, loaded with mackerel heads and squid to try and catch shrimps/prawns ….. right where we were fishing…… decided it wasn’t worth saying anything, and indeed the concoction may just add to the groundbait……
12.10pm… Chris gives out a groan as he misses yet another very positive bite that took his float right under…… almost as the sound of his groan faded away, my float shot under ….. thwack…. Strike and I’m into a fish ….. not a very big fish …. In fact turns out to be all of 12” .. but still turbo-charged for that ……. Took the picture and slipped it back….
12.25pm…. Chris missed another bite … lifting bite this time so his float was on it’s side….. all very frustrating :-(
1.15pm ….. Both Chris and myself almost simultaneously missed good strong bites, with both our floats going straight down under, into the murky depths……. :-(
1.45pm…… Both Chris and myself started to experience a series of half bites, twitches, and lightning bobs, none of which we could connect to, despite our best efforts ….. started to think we were being plagued by smelt or similar….
1.55pm… soon had the answer to the conundrum…… float half bobbed, struck, and this time I managed to hit home …. Fish dived, and pulled away, and then after a series of head shakes and short runs, a small mullet came up, that Chris netted … only 13” but a good little fighter, returned to fight another day…..
2.10pm….. started fishing again …… and met with more of the infuriating half bites that we’d had before ….. suddenly my float shot under… struck home, and hit home ….. triggered an explosive run from the fish, which instantly registered in a different class to all the previous fish of the morning….. run, after deep diving run resulted, and after 10minutes, we’d still not seen the fish ….. eventually it changed tactics, and came right into the steps, and managed to get it to a depth that we could see the fish with the aid of our Polaroid’s ….. the yellow tinged head and gill flash, gave it away as a golden mullet, and a nice one at that…… after a number of runs, and surface splashes and dives, the fish came to Chris and the waiting net…….. some 15 minutes or more after having first hooking into it……. Measured 18.5” and came in at 2lb on the scales ..
I was well pleased… took the pictures, and Chris took one of me, and then I helped it back into the water, and watched it swim off……
3.20am ….. Lobster boat comes in, and docks right were we are fishing to unload its catch …. Can’t complain as they are the commercial landing steps after all … got out of the way, so they could get on with their job… asked how many more boats were coming in, and were told only a couple ….
After the forth or fifth to dock, Chris and I decided to call it a day, and packed up about half an hour earlier than we’d intended….