Utopia
The side door of Keith's van slid open. I tumbled out from the pitch black into the carpark and for a moment my eyes struggled to adjust to the intense blazing sunlight framed by a vivid cerulean sky.
An hour later......
My eyes closed the distance between the horizon and my resting place, feasting on the vast expanse of Prussian blue water. As my field of vision got shallower the colours in the water separated. Rich sparkling azures and cobalts interspersed with glistening jades and teals. Almost directly below me the amazing clarity of the water became apparent, the bottom clearly visible in ten feet of water. Inch thick fronds of rubbery dulse languidly appeared from my perch before sweeping back out of sight. A watery wonderland as far as you could see and beyond. It was a beautiful place to be.
A quick glance to my right revealed a t-shirt clad, sunglasses wearing Dave and an equally febrile Andy, both great friends. Behind me was another of our friends- Lee, looking perplexedly in his bag for inspiration. Beyond Lee and up on a plateau were the chaos twins, my Labradors. They have long passed the quizzical stage where they wonder what their consistently odd owner is up to and basked appeasingly in the glorious mid-morning sun.
Looking down below me the water level suddenly dropped four feet, no warning, nothing, before rising again slowly. Despite being slightly disconcerted I lowered my bait down. The weather was perfect, the scenery was out-of-this-world and I was sitting with my mates and being watched over by my beloved dogs while doing the thing I love. Mrs P was forty miles away happily travelling at sixty mph down a zipwire. Knowing she was keeping herself entertained was the icing on the cake. Life doesn't get much better than this I thought to myself.
And then it did. I had a bite.
And then it did. I had a bite.
What goes on tour.....
There were fourteen of us that made the long journey down to Cornwall. I wont spoil it for anyone that was there or is thinking of going by detailing every aspect of the trip (including trip organiser Andy getting horrifically drunk) suffice to say it was a marvellous experience. I can show you what we caught though and I do have one more story to tell a bit further down. Also I'll give you the heads up on some tactics to use if you do find yourself down there. As ever I will also tell you how you can do it on the cheap. It's well worth bearing in mind none of the people you are about to see are dedicated sea anglers. Most of us used coarse tackle. Rock fishing really is quite simple and one of the most magical forms of angling.
My best Wrasse of the trip. 3lb 10oz.....
One from a rainy first day....
Note the big fins. Wrasse frequent areas where violent wave action dislodges food hence their large fin area and powerful tails....
Martin with the biggest of the trip. He actually saw it move into the little cove he was fishing. He dropped a bait in front of it and moments later all hell broke loose. 4lb7oz....
Keith with a beautifully marked example......
A 3lber in the sunshine.....
Looking rather pleased.....
Patrick with a mean greeny.......
Carl with a shiny little fella.....
Yes alright Carl, you caught it on a lure, we know.....
He's boring us now........
Hapless Drennan Cup also-ran Mike with one of the smallest of the trip.......
Dave with a three pounder......
And another from David Wrasselhoff.......
Another one from Martin....
Lee with a fine example and on a lure too.....
Jamie highlighting that size doesn't matter.....
Nate bringing up the rear.....
Some rockpool action. Don't ask me what Jamie is doing, we disowned him shortly after seeing his antics......
Blenny Hill......
Mike with what looked suspiciously like a mini wolf fish.......
Blenny Henry....
Ewok Nate with Goby Wan Kenobi.......
Beach antics.....
One of many tiny Bass taken by myself, Dave and Keith.....
Carl with a lure caught Pollock........
And a Scorpion fish......
Myth becomes reality
On the second day I had to take care of the dogs. The rock mark we were fishing for Wrasse wasn't really suitable for them. I only had about 45 mins fishing time before they started to get restless. Luckily by the time we had all reconvened for lunch Keith was keen to try somewhere else. We'd both caught a few Wrasse so fancied a crack at something else. But what?
After a short drive we stopped off at Newtown Tackle for some advice. Various beach marks were discussed before he threw us a curveball. Apparently the local river estuary had been producing some Gilthead Bream. Neither Keith or I had ever caught one and after the tackle shop owner whetted our appetites with tales of fish to 9lb I soon emptied his fridge of Lugworms. "Set your clutches lads, they fight like hell," the owner cautioned as we left.
I can't say the estuary was particularly attractive but the lure of these strange looking fish intrigued us. Just the simple matter of catching one now I thought as I cast two rigs into some likely looking spots. Three very wet and hours later my interest was waning. Typically I then had a bite. The culprit was a tiny Wrasse. Keith then caught one. This coincided with not only the rain stopping but also the disappearance of seemingly hundreds of bait robbing crabs.
Another hour passed. The dogs had eaten three Jumbones each. I was done. I went over to Keith to tell him my desire to call it a day. We both resigned ourselves to the fact that the Giltheads would remain a myth. We agreed to give it a final ten minutes. They passed without incident. I was wet and extremely tired. I wound in one of my rods, took the lead off and split it down. As I was doing this I spotted a suspicious flat spot about halfway across the river. It was enough to see me quickly put the rod back together, bait up and cast to it. I was in the last chance saloon.
As we were still intending to leave I set about sorting all the bait out, throwing most of it in. Completely out of the blue I heard a crashing noise behind me. I looked over to my rods and they weren't where they had been all evening. The tripod had fallen over. I ambled over until I saw my recently cast rod scraping down the rocks towards the water. Something was attached! Was it one of the fabled Giltheads? You bet it was.......
Sadly that was the last fish we caught that day. Luckily for the locals though I put it back. I still cant get my head around sea anglers penchant for killing their quarry. A beautiful fish and yes, they do put up a tremendous fight.
Tackle and Tactics
It took me quite a while on the first day to get the hang of rock fishing. On one hand I'm still no expert but on the other it isn't rocket science. By far the most reliable bait for me was limpet. Simply take a small knife and prise them off the rocks. Scoop them out and fish them dropshot style. I found that bites were more frequent on a whole limpet, sac and all.
Location was a major factor too. Look for any deeper areas, undercut rocks etc. The presence of kelp seemed to be important too, something for the fish to hide in. Wave action too was a good indicator. If you found an over hanging rock with both kelp present and waves crashed on it there would be a Wrasse there, maybe more than one. I hooked four in four casts on day two all from the same spot. They do fight doggedly so make sure your clutch is set properly and try to get them away from their lairs as soon as possible, some of those rocks are sharp. A hook sharpener is useful too as they blunt easily in the harsh environment.
I used a 14-42g rod. Any medium action rod will do. Mine was a cheap DAM Yagi (around £30). It performed brilliantly. I coupled this with a 1000 size reel (Shimano Nasci), 0.10mm J Braid and a 10lb flouro leader. The hooks were size 6 or 4 Drennan Perch hooks. They are superb hooks that I use for many applications. I had been warned fishing over such rough ground might equate to a few tackle losses but I didn't lose a dropshot weight all trip. Take a range between 10 and 30g or anything will do, nuts, bolts etc. That really is about it. Nothing more complex than that. Just add a landing net and it's all you'll need......
Now I understand people's fascination with lure fishing. Indeed Carl caught two Pollock that nobody else managed on the trip. He was the exception though. The lure lads had quite a tough time of it. I take no pleasure in saying that. I've got thousands of lures, everyone caught me square in the wallet. When you're four hundred miles from home in a beautiful place for a limited time I want to realise the venues mysteries, straight away and frequently if possible. To my mind that means bait. The fact that it is completely free in the case of the humble limpet is a real bonus. I'd even go as far to say there isn't an artificial lure in the world more effective than limpets for Wrasse. It is what they eat. A no-brainer.
One last piece of advice is to find the local tackle shop. An invaluable source of information and of course, any bits and bobs you might need. You'll come away more knowledgeable and they'll benefit from your custom.
Some Photo's
Till next time...........
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