Tow-rag
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2020
- Messages
- 234
- Reaction score
- 1,174
- Points
- 95
- Location
- Cornwall
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
Hi folks,
Flipping hot last weekend...
So why oh why was I wallpapering the spare room, laying slabs in the garden, and hacking back and burning ivy In this blistering heat? Guess it's true what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen. Put a big smile on Wifey's face though, as she's wanted these tasks done for weeks. She even put a smile on my face as a special reward!!!
Then our drummer texts me to say that our band has been invited to play at a festivals at two venues... so all's well in the Tow-rag camp.
Only one thing missing... Yup,
time to check weather and tides.
Weather scorching, wind's easterly, tide's on low this evening, factors to guarantee catching nothing but tiddlers and weed. Traffic will be mental, and the car park and my local mark will be heaving.
Hang on a mo, I could still just chill at home and bask in Wifey's new-found adoration.
Then again my scooter will solve traffic and parking, and if I got there for around seven, dispite being bang on low tide, most holiday fishers will have buggered off for their tea, plus by eight, the sun should have dipped behind the cliff offering respite from the sun. Mackerel stragglers may still be around if I can distance cast against an easterly wind, which will have dropped by that time.
Let's pop the question eh?
" Um, sweetheart..."
"Wassup stud?"
"Mind if I pop out for a few casts about six-seven-ish for a small window?"
" You're tempting sunstroke".
I explain about the cliff shadow etc.
"Plus I really need to bolster the fish freezer."
" Is Barry going?"
" No, he says it's too hot".
"So why...."
"Relax, I'll be as cool as a cucumber on the scooter, plus dodging all the traffic. I've just got a feeling in my bones that there's a small window for fish if I get it right, plus I won't be late home".
" Take it easy on the bike, this time last year the old bill were chasing you the length and breadth of the south west".
"It's only because they had nothing else to do. Would have lost them the second time too if it hadn't been for the pesky traffic light.
" Well just be careful, you turn into the crazy frog once you're behind the handlebars'.
" No I don't... gribbet gribbet".
" Col, remind me why I married such a nut case?"
" Because I'm strong, virile, and a nut case."
Check gear, pack lightly, and I'm off. Not too much traffic, a few slow-coaches in front, but I pick them off one by one. Grid-locked at St. Awful, but pavements came in handy - remembering this time to dismount first. ( That's another story, but I was too blurred that occasion on the CCT coverage for a positive ID).
Locking up at the harbour and people are leaving the beach, including some seriously nice totty.
By the time the hike and descent are behind me, I'm boiling hot and stripping off my top and wetting my hat and Tshirt in the water. I've not been here at such low tide before, tons of new ground exposed for some freebie lost tackle hunting, but the presence of so many bait fish below jog me back to the task in hand.
A few minutes to set up my spin rod with a lighter lure to suit low tide sinkage, and I'm off. Casting shorter distance than usual owing to the easterly wind and the light silver minnow. Doesn't matter, first cast and I'm in...way to go!
Fish was right down on the bottom, lure must have practically landed right on his nose. It felt like a dead weight hauling up. Cfish told me to cast this area for Bass on my way here, so maybe...
Surprise surprise, it's a plump Mackerel - my target, he just had no fight in him and I land him easily. Trouble was that I didn't have my tea towel and bludger on hand. Well I didn't expect a fish on my first cast did I??? This was when my prey woke up, and boy was he a thrasher, making up for his earlier passiveness. No way could I keep hold of this beast without my cloth so I lowered my line down into a small warm rockpool just behind me and moved over to my bag for the necessaries.
That was when Macky punched in the afterburner... stinking lukewarm water showered over me as I'd turned back around as if beneath a garden sprinkler yuerrrck!
He splattered the gacky water everywhere. I quickly lift him back up and smother with my tea towel. He is still going like the clappers, had to dispatch before even attempting to unhook. I felt a little sad, because whenever fish give me a real good fight, I always release them back sportingly as a mark of respect... but this boy had left it too late, so he's dinner.
I sponged myself down with my wet T shirt to clean off the stinking rockpool gack, and feeling a bit fresher resumed casting. I pulled in a tiny Pollack no bigger than my lure, greedy fecker.
Sun by now had dropped behind the cliff, so feeling a bit cooler I started whacking out some good casts, resulting in three more plump Macks. By 8pm the bites had dried up, so at 9pm I packed up. Cracking sesh, peacefull warm and sunny. Had a little breather back at the harbour, then back on the scooter and blast home.
Happy days.
Cheers.
TR.
First cast...
Then some more.
Flipping hot last weekend...
So why oh why was I wallpapering the spare room, laying slabs in the garden, and hacking back and burning ivy In this blistering heat? Guess it's true what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen. Put a big smile on Wifey's face though, as she's wanted these tasks done for weeks. She even put a smile on my face as a special reward!!!
Then our drummer texts me to say that our band has been invited to play at a festivals at two venues... so all's well in the Tow-rag camp.
Only one thing missing... Yup,
time to check weather and tides.
Weather scorching, wind's easterly, tide's on low this evening, factors to guarantee catching nothing but tiddlers and weed. Traffic will be mental, and the car park and my local mark will be heaving.
Hang on a mo, I could still just chill at home and bask in Wifey's new-found adoration.
Then again my scooter will solve traffic and parking, and if I got there for around seven, dispite being bang on low tide, most holiday fishers will have buggered off for their tea, plus by eight, the sun should have dipped behind the cliff offering respite from the sun. Mackerel stragglers may still be around if I can distance cast against an easterly wind, which will have dropped by that time.
Let's pop the question eh?
" Um, sweetheart..."
"Wassup stud?"
"Mind if I pop out for a few casts about six-seven-ish for a small window?"
" You're tempting sunstroke".
I explain about the cliff shadow etc.
"Plus I really need to bolster the fish freezer."
" Is Barry going?"
" No, he says it's too hot".
"So why...."
"Relax, I'll be as cool as a cucumber on the scooter, plus dodging all the traffic. I've just got a feeling in my bones that there's a small window for fish if I get it right, plus I won't be late home".
" Take it easy on the bike, this time last year the old bill were chasing you the length and breadth of the south west".
"It's only because they had nothing else to do. Would have lost them the second time too if it hadn't been for the pesky traffic light.
" Well just be careful, you turn into the crazy frog once you're behind the handlebars'.
" No I don't... gribbet gribbet".
" Col, remind me why I married such a nut case?"
" Because I'm strong, virile, and a nut case."
Check gear, pack lightly, and I'm off. Not too much traffic, a few slow-coaches in front, but I pick them off one by one. Grid-locked at St. Awful, but pavements came in handy - remembering this time to dismount first. ( That's another story, but I was too blurred that occasion on the CCT coverage for a positive ID).
Locking up at the harbour and people are leaving the beach, including some seriously nice totty.
By the time the hike and descent are behind me, I'm boiling hot and stripping off my top and wetting my hat and Tshirt in the water. I've not been here at such low tide before, tons of new ground exposed for some freebie lost tackle hunting, but the presence of so many bait fish below jog me back to the task in hand.
A few minutes to set up my spin rod with a lighter lure to suit low tide sinkage, and I'm off. Casting shorter distance than usual owing to the easterly wind and the light silver minnow. Doesn't matter, first cast and I'm in...way to go!
Fish was right down on the bottom, lure must have practically landed right on his nose. It felt like a dead weight hauling up. Cfish told me to cast this area for Bass on my way here, so maybe...
Surprise surprise, it's a plump Mackerel - my target, he just had no fight in him and I land him easily. Trouble was that I didn't have my tea towel and bludger on hand. Well I didn't expect a fish on my first cast did I??? This was when my prey woke up, and boy was he a thrasher, making up for his earlier passiveness. No way could I keep hold of this beast without my cloth so I lowered my line down into a small warm rockpool just behind me and moved over to my bag for the necessaries.
That was when Macky punched in the afterburner... stinking lukewarm water showered over me as I'd turned back around as if beneath a garden sprinkler yuerrrck!
He splattered the gacky water everywhere. I quickly lift him back up and smother with my tea towel. He is still going like the clappers, had to dispatch before even attempting to unhook. I felt a little sad, because whenever fish give me a real good fight, I always release them back sportingly as a mark of respect... but this boy had left it too late, so he's dinner.
I sponged myself down with my wet T shirt to clean off the stinking rockpool gack, and feeling a bit fresher resumed casting. I pulled in a tiny Pollack no bigger than my lure, greedy fecker.
Sun by now had dropped behind the cliff, so feeling a bit cooler I started whacking out some good casts, resulting in three more plump Macks. By 8pm the bites had dried up, so at 9pm I packed up. Cracking sesh, peacefull warm and sunny. Had a little breather back at the harbour, then back on the scooter and blast home.
Happy days.
Cheers.
TR.
First cast...
Then some more.
Last edited:
