After many years of procrastination I finally got my arse in gear and hit the coast! The list of potential species to aim at was endless but I only had one target this time around, the stunning and aggressive Balon Wrasse. What was great too is that I was scrambling the cliffs with fellow madman, Nathan Edgell. For a few years now I've mentioned coming down for a blast at the Wrasse but simply didn't make the time, that was yesterday.
Fair weather, a pouch of jigs and lures, a tank full of diesel and gear packed I set off at 3am. Nearly three hours on the road and 166 miles westwards I was in Wrasse territory, by 0620 I was following Nathan' lead down 500ft of coastal cliff face in order to get to prime fishing spots. Crazy I know but essential (often nothing worth having is easy).
By 8am I had caught my target species and a fine fish indeed, complete with amazing colours and even more impressive dentures!
Then as the morning wore on I got a savage take which lunged for the rocks below and with a tight clutch my rod tip arched alarmingly quick and in a flash it was gone, I could do absolutely nothing with it and it felt big.
Not long afterwards I got a couple of half-hearted taps and nips on the sand eel replica jig which then went quiet, so a move across some rocks was made and proved to be a good shout as Nath' and myself got a few fish on the shore with this my best of the day out of five!
With time slowly drifting away we decided to finish up as I had a 3hr return drive ahead and didn't want to leave too late, however, I will certainly be back as it was a pukka trip and in great company! If you read this, cheers!
The views were fantastic and in truth, I've fished in worse places :)
A Neolithic Ammonite.
An awesome panoramic of our days playground.
Not a bad view behind my sofa!
Well done. Looks like you had a great day. My days of a six hour drive for a day's fishing are lost to the past but your effort was well rewarded.
ReplyDeleteIt's been well over 30 years since my last wrasse trip to Devon, but the memories linger. No lures, just shellfish, worm or crab baits fished paternoster with a spark plug as weight. No two are alike, wonderful fish.
They certainly are and can’t believe it took me so long to get myself in with a shouting chance of catching one. Such amazing creatures and it’s no wonder why they are so ferocious, the swells and constant battering they take over any given day surprises me that anything survives in that.
DeleteAs for the drives, I am still super keen to make efforts at long trips, but over the last 15 months I have certainly found my fishing time greatly reduced and that’s not necessarily relating to work and family, the urge to go fishing certainly isn’t as strong as it was 3-5 years ago.
Let’s hope that slowly changes as winter settles in and I can get after my favourite species.
Stunning looking fish, probably 20+ years since I last caught one - but reading this they are back on my list (along with garfish).
ReplyDeleteI know, can’t believe it took me that long to get out after them!
DeleteWe must give them a go at some point in the near future.
Welcome to the dark side!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Yes and I will be back, a fantastic experience, it’s a shame the Bass were just out of reach, two days previous they were in the swell picking off the bait fish.
DeleteA great read, I used to float fish for them as a kid, together with Pollock. Tresco on the Isles of Scilly is a great spot for both if you ever get the chance to visit (Mullet too!)
ReplyDelete