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Albert Pier 23rd Aug 2002
Map Ref: 647,477
Tide: HW LW: 2.22pm (1.9m)
Weather Forecast: Wind N/E F2/3, Warm and sunny
Having dropped Chris home after our lack luster trip to Fort D'Auvergne earlier that morning, I decided to stop off at the Pier and give it a whorl if the steps were free at the end….
Arrived around 11.45am, to find the pier end being well used by people float fishing and feathering, but with the steps still vacant, so I grabbed the gear out of the car, groundbaited the area and set up so that I was fishing within about 10 minutes…..
11.55am …… allowed the float to trot along the edge of the steps with my first cast … the float got about half way, before it was suddenly sucked under …. Struck home and was rewarded by the feel of a fish on the other end of the line….. not a very big fish, but a fish none the less ……. After a brief fight of 5 minutes or so, the fish was on the surface, and I managed to land it before it gained its second wind …… measured the fish (14”) and then popped it back…..
12.30pm …. Had a small group of Kids come down the steps, who’d decided that it would be a really good idea to try and catch whitebait to float fish with …… not a bad idea in itself, except that, this involved copious amounts of shouting of contradictory instructions, followed by the throwing of both a large and small drop net into the passing shoals of fish as they swum by, with a very low strike rate, that simply caused more frantic behaviour from the children!!!!! Decided a coffee break and lunch was probably in order to allow the Kids to finish or simply give up through frustration and boredom, and for the swim to regain some composure….. After about 45 minutes or so they gave up and I could settle back down….
1.30pm …. Not long after the Kids had departed, I saw with the aid of my polarised sunglasses, a couple of mullet swimming around, and nosing into the pylons to my left… things were looking up……..
1.55pm ….. aaaaah … the kids return, this time with diving and swimming thrown in for good measure …… gritted my teeth, sat on my hands, and decided to hold back from TEACHER MODE ……. I was on holiday after all!!!!!!
2.25pm ….. Restarted fishing once more, and felt calm about it, figuring the mullet were probably more than used to such antics …….
2.35pm …… not but 20ft away from my float …. Up pops a shag !!!!!!!……. Did God really hate me so, or was this some sort of voodoo curse that Chris had uttered as he’d been unable to come along!!!!!!
3.00pm …. And the kids returned ….. this time I couldn’t hold back .. called them over, explained I was fishing for mullet and all that entailed in terms of stealth, quiet, and not spooking the fish, and that if they sat quietly and watched, I’d talk them through it, and then I would go within the hour, and they could have the steps to themselves…. Miracle of miracles, they agreed, and sat down as good as little lambs …. This of course had nothing to do with my drooling psychopathic mad axe man impression you understand…..
3.15pm …. Just settled down, everything was looking good … up pops the shag again, and then the crabbing boats arrived wanting to unload their catch … I could have screamed …. But instead I drew a sharp intake of breath, decided that I’d ignored enough signs from God for one day, packed up and left the steps free for all who wanted them ….. on my way up I noticed the crab processing outfall under the parking overhang had suddenly started discharging waste water and debris, and wondered if that was what the mullet I’d seen earlier were waiting for…..!!!