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Bonne Nuit 14th Aug 2000
GR: 641,561
Decided to go to the north coast as the forecast was for a SW wind force 3/4 with showers. High water was due around 7pm (9.9m) which would allow us to fish from one of the small piers... Decided upon Bonne Nuit, really on the basis of potential access and the fact that it was another place to fish....
Drove into town to collect Chris and stopped off at J.F.S. Sport, on the way to buy some frozen squid and sandeels.... had a quick chat with Eddie, who felt that it was too early in the season for small-eyed rays at Bonne Nuit and that Plemont round to perhaps Greve de Lecq would be a better option. On the otherhand if we wanted to fish Bonne Nuit there was always the chance of bass after dark, and that maybe free-lined bait would do the trick.. but no guarantees.....
Thanked Eddie and grabbed the bait, collected Chris and drove over to Gouray, to dig some lugworm for the evening ahead... arrived a little later than we'd planned around 4.30pm, and were lucky, in that we could just about do 20 minutes of digging before the beds were covered by the advancing sea......
We then set off for Bonne Nuit, and arrived just before 5.30pm ..... the Pier was deserted .... so we unloaded rapidly, and set our gear up ontop of the end turret and part of the high wall to stake our positions should others arrive subsequently.....
we set up to ledger with the larger rods, and whilst Chris and myself spun/plugged from both the pier and the northern rocks at its base, Karen fished straight down the wall to see if there was anything about.....
Well to cut a long story short....... nothing really happened .... Chris had a take early on, but lost the fish very quickly...... other people arrived and float fished and spun in the hope of mackerel and garfish... all to no avail .... and then the pier jumpers arrived just to add to the frustration!!!!
Stopped spinning just before 9pm, and used the bass rod to free-line sandeel down the wall under the pier head light ... Karen and Chris did the same, and all so set up a bag of chum to help attract any fish..... very soon afterwards we saw a large shoal of mullet cruse by... but they seemed somewhat disinterested in the floating groundbait...... other small fish also started to arrive attracted by the light and groudbait combination......
9.20pm..... Chris draws first blood with a scad, caught on free-lined sandeel.....
9.30pm..... Managed to hook a pair of scad on the same hook!!!!!! ....... took a pic, but I forgot to measure them.... I guess about 13 to 15"...
9.40pm ..... Chris lands a small pollack of around 12".....
9.43pm.... Chris lands a scad of 14".....
9.55pm ..... Chris lands another scad...... followed quickly by another small pollack......
10.05pm..... I manage to hook a small pollack of 12"....
Virtually all the fish being caught down the wall were taken on free-lined sandeel .... sometimes a strip of mackerel skin .... we tried both lug and squid, and nothing wanted to know about them......
10.15pm..... managed to hook into something ... couldn't see over the wall.... Chris said it looked like an eel .. strap conger maybe.... but I lost it just as I brought it to the surface.. :-(
Around 10.30pm ..... had a super bite on one of the beachcasters that pulled the rod over sideways..... but I'm not sure if the screaming reel was due to a fish or the rod falling, or both .. anyway what ever it was got away.......
10.40pm..... Chris hooked into what he thought was a dogfish ..... turned out to be a Starry Smoothound of 20" that was partial to his squid offering......
Chris I think had an other pollack and then a couple of scad....... although I forgot to jot down the details.. getting lazy in my old age LOL
11.44pm..... I caught yet another 12" pollack....... yup .. free-lined sandeel ...... seemed to work a treat for the pollack ... but not a bass in sight ......
12.32am .... another 12" pollack to me......
12.40am ..... caught a 13" scad .. always nice to have a bit of variety.. LOL
1.05am...... caught yet another 12" pollack......
By 1.30am we'd had enough and the water depth was fast running out, so we packed up and set off for home..... although Karen was not a happy bunny... didn't have a single fish, and she was using identical rigs, baits, etc., .... may have been the fact that she was sitting right over the harbour light, whilst Chris and myself were forced to fish almost within it's shadow and beyond....