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Albert Pier 29th July 2003
Map Ref: 647,477
Tide: HW 7.am (??m)
Weather Forecast: Dull with showers. Wind SW F4-5
Having arrived on the Island the night before, the joy of getting up at 3am was somewhat lost on me….. but I really wanted to get started, and I had told Carl Edwards (who was Holidaying on the Island) that I’d be down on the end steps, of the Albert Pier that morning….
Had a cup of coffee, made a flask, and collected my gear, which I’d very sensibly sorted out the night before, and set off for St Helier …… this was when I made my first mistake of the day (apart from getting up that is) ….. I’d forgotten to post a letter before catching the ferry, and as I drove out of my In-Laws road … there was a nice red post box ….. so I jumped out of the car, and posted the letter to Mr Barclaycard …… just as I did so however, the notice on the side plate of the letter box came into focus (this was 3.45am) …. Jersey Stamps ONLY may be used…… oooooops!!!!!!!!
Arrived at the Piers End around 4am, a bit early I know, but it but would give me time to sort out, and tackle-up with plenty of time to spare before the dawn…… worryingly however I’d been clocking the flags on the drive across the Island….. all had been fully set with the strong wind, but when I started down the pier, the flags where all standing proud parallel to the pier itself, which meant there would be very little shelter, even on the steps!!!!…… when I got to the end, there was a chap sitting in his car fishing from the top of the steps …… the wind was blowing very strongly, and even the water at the steps was choppy ….. I sighed with disappointment, and got back into the car …. Just as I did so, the rain came down .. just to complete the happy picture….!!!!!!!
So I sat in the car, and dozed, trying to think of where else to go, that could afford some sort of shelter from the wind, but still offer some fishing….. I thought about the North Coast venues …. Which were possibilities, but having told both Carl and Chris where I’d planned to be, and both having expressed an interest in joining me, I decided to see if either the wind speed would drop, or more importantly the direction changed slightly back to a more westerly direction …… just as I was thinking this over, the local Police came by in their transit van …. Gave me a good look over, and then went off ….. as they did so, I realised I could see the pier flags in my rear view mirror ….. they were still parallel to the pier :-(
4.40am… the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started, and the chap fishing from his car, got out and stretched his legs….. I decided to do likewise, but not before I noticed that the pier flags had moved around slightly ….. possibilities were now presenting themselves…
The chap had been fishing all night, and had only a couple of pout for his troubles.. although he had managed to hook up with and land, a very nice lobster… so maybe it had been a good night for him after all!!!! I told him I’d been hoping to fish for mullet…. He said he’d seen numerous mullet the previous day swimming past…. Turned my attention back to the water conditions by the steps …. With the wind backing slightly to the west, the leeward waters in front of the steps, were noticeably calmer, and improving all the while ….. I asked the chap if he minded me fishing below him from the steps, to which he simply smiled and encouraged me to do so …..
Moved the car closer to the steps, unpacked, and started to set-up, having first thrown down some groundbait in the general area…… tackled up with the side-caster and a Capalan rod …. Decided with the chop and poor light conditions to use a 2.5 swann white waggler with a float adapter, so I could change over to a lighter float, should the conditions improve further… and set the float depth with a powergum stop knot at about 10 to 11 ft in depth….
I was fishing by 5am …… very shortly after I saw a grey ghost about 6ft down and about 20ft out, very rapidly joined by another … at that depth and in those light conditions the nick-name for mullet seemed very apt ….. I threw a little groundbait out to try and entice them to stay … but they seemed more interested in themselves, and moved slowly off…..
5.05am ….. just after the two fish had gone, my float went shooting under …. But I missed the chance, despite striking as quickly as I was physically capable of….. a pattern of frustration that was to unfold for the rest of the morning……
I missed a couple more bites over the next hour, although I couldn’t be sure of their origins… ie mullet or not… with the conditions getting ever better, I swapped the 2.5 swann for a lighter 5 No4 shot waggler, and continued to fish on … and noticed straight away and improvement in bite detection…
Around 6am I was joined by Carl, who'd contacted me via Anglers Net ….. we chatted as I continued to fish, told Carl what I’d seen, and almost on cue, as if they’d heard what I’d been saying, a couple of mullet surfaced by the metal pilings, and turned and slipped away …. One of which had almost an almost golden aura around it in the dawn light….. I commented to Carl about our chances of catching Golden Greys here…….
Even though we’d seen fish Carl seemed a little reluctant to tackle-up, put off slightly by the somewhat inclement conditions…. I joked with him, that he should have been here at 4, to which he shot me one of those looks that says “MAD MAN”!!!!!!! Anyway, Carl did tackle-up, and I told him how I was fishing …. He had a bit of difficulty to start with, not really having a suitable float .. I dug around in my float-box, and handed him the same insert waggler that I was using…….. and soon he was fishing just above me….
7.20am … we both had bites, but missed them …. Until Carl struck home, and his rod bent ….. only a small fish, but a fish none the less … and more than I had to show for my efforts …… not much of a fight, and Carl beached the fish on the lower step, and grabbed it and lifted in clear of the water ….. it became obvious that the fish had been hooked under the lower jaw, and then hooked in the top of the mouth …. Carl grabbed his forceps and quickly unhooked the fish ….
I snapped a picture or two, and then Carl gave me his digital camera … took a picture for him …. Well no actually …. I depressed the trigger but I wasn’t sure if I’d taken the photo … Carl thought the shutter had gone, and wanted to get the fish back into the water….. but it turned out I’d only depressed for the auto focus …. So I’ll have to pass the pix I took onto him…. The fish was 15” long and was 1.04lb, and Carls first Goldie, and his second ever mullet ……
7.45am …. Lot more chat, more missed bites, but a general feeling of optimism… I was getting a lot of stabbing little bites, that I was putting down to smelt / white bait, of which there were an awful lot in the water……
Suddenly I caught Carl striking from the corner of my eye…. I turned to see his rod arching over, and line coming off his reel …… this was a different class of fish ….. unfortunately, Carl was forced to try and turn the beast, as it was heading straight for the end of the pier, which would have spelt instant doom, by cutting the line on the less than forgiving granite walls….. Carl realised this and started to move up the steps towards the pier head, but just as he did so his line went slack …. I though at fist the fish had brushed the wall and broken the line …. But in fact it had simply been able to pop the hook ….. Carl was obviously disappointed, but at the same time exhilarated from the tantalisingly short fight that this larger fish had to offer…… Carl had been dipping his bread in sardine oil, and he wondered if that was making a difference between his fortunes and mine …. All I could say was maybe …..
7.55am … my float shot under, and I struck into nothing .. yet once again ….. but no sooner was I crying about my misfortune, than Carl was into another fish ….. and it was apparent to both of us that it was nothing like the previous one ….. and very shortly, up popped a small thick-lipped mullet of about 15 to 16” or so … Turned out Carl had some small stabby bites, and then the float had gone under, and that’s when he’d struck, half expecting to see a smelt….. After Carl landed it, I took a picture using his camera to make up for the failure with the Golden Grey….. I will have to ask Carl for a copy and post it up then….. Carl then slipped the fish back, and we got back to the task of trying to catch its bigger brothers and sisters…..
8.45am ….. more missed bites, and more frustration, but the morning was getting on, and Carl had to give his leave, and go and do his family duties….. and so I continued to fish, with the prospect of Chris joining me later, if he managed to get away…..
9.30am ….. the float shot under for the umpteenth time… but this time I connected …… a small mullet of 12” or so ….. due to its size, landed very quickly but still had loads of fight left in it … took a picture with a little difficulty, and popped it back …. Pheew, thought I was going to blank…
The tide continued to drop, and I was able to set-up and fish from the landing above the second flight of steps…… more missed bites, but at least there were bites…..
11.05am … my float bobbed, and shot under… hit home, and into something that was none too pleased with the idea….. and off it went, taking line as it did so …. I started to move slightly up the steps to have a greater play area, should this fish (which was in the pounds not ounces league) decide to move into the pilings area….. however, no sooner did its diving run stop, and the fish turn in towards me than it managed to pop the hook ….. very reminiscent of what had happened to Carl earlier in the day … I don’t know if moving slightly higher and thus increasing the angle had anything to do with it, or perhaps the fact that we were fishing at depth and the hook had not properly set, or something similar, but what ever, it was another statistic for the “one that got away”!!!! I must find out more about the technique of double striking ….. I thought about it, but was too worried about pulling the hook or snapping the line if it wasn’t timed correctly…….
11.40am…. things were going very slow, and I was starting to wonder if that was it ….. difficult to tell, as the mark only allows you to really intercept the fish as they swim by, rather than a holding area….. very soon however I had a number of bites, the last of which I connected with …… again a small fish of less than a pound….. very short fight and up popped a 13” thick-lip ….. took a picture, and returned it……
Things went fairly dead after that, I managed to get the line all tangled around the reel, but sorted it out after a few frustrating minutes…. I continued to fish, but started to feel tired, so I gave Chris a buzz who was at home, and had been unable to get away … he made the offer of coffee and a chat at his place, and so by 1pm, with my parking ticket running out, I decided to call it a day, packed up……