The one that got away.

Hi all.
It has no been easy getting out over the last short while, between wind and swell.
One day its like Spain and the next winter. Some days you get the whole lot, winter, summer etc.
But sure we will get out when the chance comes along.
Thankfully the wind had come around a little bit and the swell meant to be settling.

Looks nice,
I landed at my launch site and it looked quiet nice on out in the shelter of the bay but not much further out you could see the big swell on the horizon. I wasn't going out there so I was happy enough.
There was a good run of swell on the slip as the small swell that was running into the bay and straight up the slip. Not what you want to see as it can be a nightmare coming back in.

On out regardless.
It was not to bad really more bothered about scratching the nice shiny kayak.
So out I went and the further I got away from the shelter of the pier the breezier I got. But fishable none the less.

Anchors away.
With the wind being quiet strong and this flat fish mark being very small drifting was out of the question.
So I lined up and dropped my anchor. But again the anchor settled and straightened in the wind I was on the outer edge of my mark. On a normal day this wouldn't be a problem. So I stayed where I was.
Of course I had the camera down with a home made jig head spreader rig and a boom up the line about 10 inches for doggies, whiting, gurnard etc.
I can't find a pic of the spreader rig but its in the video below.
On the light rod I had a small hi-vis orange lead and short snood with a strip of mackerel so I could cast away and search for small turbot and flounder.

Maybe the wrong spot.
I was fishing a short while and hadn't had a touch on the baits. Which is unusual here as they normally batter the baits as soon as they touch down in the flooding tide.
I checked my baits and what do you know a star fish. A bad sign I thought as I have never caught a starfish on the sand before, which was convincing me I had over shot my mark with the wind.

 



I was thinking about moving when my light rod showed some interest so I reeled down and there was a decent bit of life on the end of it. Now this was a mackerel strip so I was thinking small turbot or flounder.
But no, to my surprise it was a plaice. My first ever plaice on mackerel strip. I was really surprised as I had plaice on video last year watching a rag bait tipped with mackerel and for half an hout they watched with out touching it and when I put down just rag they nailed it straight away.
By now the wind was bitter and dam cold on the back of the head, thankfully the new suit Typhoon PS220 extreme has a nice hood on it, With that hood up it soon killed and cold.

 

 

I was delighted with my first plaice of the year and decided to give it a little longer there after that fish.
Fishing away and it was still quiet one rod searching and one on camera. So a bait check again revealed a mass of bloody star fish. Loads of the buggers, they where even mad about the yellow lumi tube. Not sure why must be some sort of scent in the tubing.

That convinced me to move. As I thought I couldn't be on the sand.

Time to move.
So back over the mark about 300 yards and set up again.
Again it was desperate quiet and the wind was really starting to batter me. I fished for 3 hours in total and I didn't notice any bites.
So I was keen to check out the camera when I got home.
Firstly to see was I actually catching starfish on the bare sand and was there any fish about other than the one I caught.
Well this post is called the one that got away so watch the video and you'll know why lol.

A small swell with the wind.
With the breeze getting up so did the swell, even though the wind was against the swell. Which is not good as it would be getting rougher on the slip.
So with that in I went and there was quiet a bit of swell on the slip.
Not good at all, any of you that have done this know its a nightmare at times. But thankfully this slip you can paddle along side the slip so I did. I went above where the swell pours over the edge.
So I unclipped my rods and put them on the slip, next  I stood up on the kayak and hopped onto the slip and with my anchor trolley unclipped I pushed the kayak out and as the swell run up the slip I pulled the kayak up and as the water receded I held the cord and the kayak just sat there,
A quick grab of the kayak and I carried it up the rest of the way.

 



You can see in the pic how far up the swell was running. But I was in unscathed and the profisha 525 in 1 piece thank fully.

Until next time tight lines and be safe when your near the water, it can be a very unpredictable time of year on the water.