Mr Fish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2020
- Messages
- 21,373
- Reaction score
- 74,018
- Points
- 116
- Location
- North Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Saturday night was a 24 hour comp but it didn’t start until 6pm and high tide was just after 7.
I certainly had no plans for a long road trip and was really struggling to think of somewhere local that would fit the bill.
I knew where I wanted to go but I wouldn’t even have been able to attempt to get on the mark until 10.30pm and would have been out until 3am, really didn’t fancy that.
Eventually I remembered a mark my mate had suggested for a previous comp but we’d never gone because the weather was so bad.
A quick call to him to get directions and I rushed around throwing gear together while praying the two hour charge in the light would be enough for a four hour session (though of course I packed the spare).
He said I could fish three hours back after high so it would give me a bit of a crack.
It was a good half hour walk to the spot although mostly along a flat hard track, so not the end of the world.
I came down on to the beach and the huge pebble ridge of large pebbles (boulders?!) and set up about 200 yards away from where my mate had recommended, simply because I was below a cliff then and sheltered from the strong wind howling down the field behind.
It looked a good position to fish from.
Shocked myself a bit with the first cast on new (but fairly thin) 30lb line, went a bloody long way, lol.
Setting up the second rod and I had a nodding bite almost straight away. In daylight too, that’s always promising!
It was a doggie of about a pound (sorry, don’t do dogfish pictures) and I rebaited with a chunky mackerel strip and out it went again.
STILL hadn’t quite finished baiting up with squid on the other rod, when I had a second bite, this time a strap of a few pounds (don’t do strap pictures usually either!)
Finally had both rods out.
The bites continued, with more dogs, and I missed a few bites too.
Sunset.
At high tide there was the odd big swell rolling in and surging right up to the lip of the pebble ridge.
Including one big mother that ended two foot from my boot! ?
It appeared though I was just about on the right side of it, so stayed put.
Any bigger fish would have to be hauled up the pebbles though, no way way I going to try going down there!
But that was okay because there weren’t any ?
As the tide ebbed, the bites dried up and the dogfish became even smaller, if anything.
It was also becoming VERY shallow and there was a fair surf developing.
In a couple of months I’d definitely have been dropping big baits short into that for bass, but in March? Nah, unlikely, not impossible but it seemed a faff with a short time left.
Maybe in hindsight I should have tried, but another time!
What I did notice was my mates claim of ‘three hours back’ was a tad optimistic.
Two, at a real push, so it was obviously a two up, two down spot.
It’s supposed to throw up huss and hounds in season, so definitely worth another crack, when the tide times are a bit more favourable.
Always good to try a different spot and first impressions are it’s worth going back.
It’s meant to be quite snaggy but I didn’t lose any gear all night.
Oh, forced myself to do a bit of a route march back and got it down to 26 minutes ?
I certainly had no plans for a long road trip and was really struggling to think of somewhere local that would fit the bill.
I knew where I wanted to go but I wouldn’t even have been able to attempt to get on the mark until 10.30pm and would have been out until 3am, really didn’t fancy that.
Eventually I remembered a mark my mate had suggested for a previous comp but we’d never gone because the weather was so bad.
A quick call to him to get directions and I rushed around throwing gear together while praying the two hour charge in the light would be enough for a four hour session (though of course I packed the spare).
He said I could fish three hours back after high so it would give me a bit of a crack.
It was a good half hour walk to the spot although mostly along a flat hard track, so not the end of the world.
I came down on to the beach and the huge pebble ridge of large pebbles (boulders?!) and set up about 200 yards away from where my mate had recommended, simply because I was below a cliff then and sheltered from the strong wind howling down the field behind.
It looked a good position to fish from.
Shocked myself a bit with the first cast on new (but fairly thin) 30lb line, went a bloody long way, lol.
Setting up the second rod and I had a nodding bite almost straight away. In daylight too, that’s always promising!
It was a doggie of about a pound (sorry, don’t do dogfish pictures) and I rebaited with a chunky mackerel strip and out it went again.
STILL hadn’t quite finished baiting up with squid on the other rod, when I had a second bite, this time a strap of a few pounds (don’t do strap pictures usually either!)
Finally had both rods out.
The bites continued, with more dogs, and I missed a few bites too.
Sunset.
At high tide there was the odd big swell rolling in and surging right up to the lip of the pebble ridge.
Including one big mother that ended two foot from my boot! ?
It appeared though I was just about on the right side of it, so stayed put.
Any bigger fish would have to be hauled up the pebbles though, no way way I going to try going down there!
But that was okay because there weren’t any ?
As the tide ebbed, the bites dried up and the dogfish became even smaller, if anything.
It was also becoming VERY shallow and there was a fair surf developing.
In a couple of months I’d definitely have been dropping big baits short into that for bass, but in March? Nah, unlikely, not impossible but it seemed a faff with a short time left.
Maybe in hindsight I should have tried, but another time!
What I did notice was my mates claim of ‘three hours back’ was a tad optimistic.
Two, at a real push, so it was obviously a two up, two down spot.
It’s supposed to throw up huss and hounds in season, so definitely worth another crack, when the tide times are a bit more favourable.
Always good to try a different spot and first impressions are it’s worth going back.
It’s meant to be quite snaggy but I didn’t lose any gear all night.
Oh, forced myself to do a bit of a route march back and got it down to 26 minutes ?
