Apologies for being a little late with an update but it’s been a chaotic few months! There’s been some shore fishing, kayak fishing and a few trips out on the boat to cover. Nothing exceptional thanks to the weather (can we shut down the Chinese factories again and get back to having a summer please?) but there are a lot of fish about, if you know where to find them.
Following on from the last update I ended May with a couple more shore fishing trips and then a session in the kayak. The best of the fishing came from around Scarlett, years since I fished there and I’ll not leave it so long till I go again. Stunning place to fish, easy access and for somebody just turning up and throwing a few lures the fishing was really good. Savage Sandeels again for the easy win. Decent sized Callig and even the odd surprise. On the 27th of the month I dragged out the kayak for the first time in 2 years, took a trip down to Derbyhaven just to see what was about having never fished there before (shore or boat). Didn’t exactly fill the kayak with fish, I’ll never get over losing a monster Wrasse in the first 10 minutes, but the fishfinder more than proved it’s worth in putting me and another lad I bumped in to down there (on an inflatable no less) on to some fish. Anything along the lines of a Fiiish Black Minnow or Savage Sandeel in natural colours would catch. Was a nice couple of hours on what was a very hot day, total change to what we are seeing now out of lockdown. Took a few days to get over the burnt knees.
Having had such good weather in May and with now being allowed back on the boat I had high hopes for June. It never really turned out like that, I managed a total of 4 trips out in the boat, caught plenty but again nothing spectacular. I do have an excuse, not sure if it’s a good one? With people only allowed back to work a week before we could use boats again there was a mad rush for me to get all the winter work I wanted done before putting her back in the water. Hull was professionally cleaned and polished, anti-fouled, engine was given a full service and she went back in. I’d completely forgot about the small electrical gremlin I was having the end of last year (fishfinder was flakey as). A long story short is that there was a loose connection cable on the motor and one of the transducers was failing, no shielding and when putting her back in I discovered I’m now without a normal 2D fishfinder. I’ve bought the replacement transducer but that means coming out of the water again which I’m not keen on this time of year. More on that later. Anyway, no fishfinder makes it hard to find bait and that’s what killed the first couple of trips out deep. By the end of the month when the Mackerel were everywhere and I could use fresh bait (Squid just doesn’t work around here for anything except Doggies!) I did OK. For anybody interested on the 9th I went as far south as Niarbyl, caught Callig up to 3-4lb at various spots on the way down, fish were very localised. On the 16th I headed in the other direction and as always at this time of year the fishing was really quiet. Plenty of small Callig and Coalfish but if you were just drifting around I reckon you’d drift for hours and catch nothing. The trips on the 18th and 24th of June were spent out in the depths with baits on the bottom looking for something more interesting. This is where I really struggled without the fresh bait and where a working fishfinder would have been worth it’s weight in gold. As it was it was a case of making do with some small Spurdogs, Doggies, Whiting and Gurnard. Nothing to complain about but not really the target species. The first trip out in July was a bit more productive but that will have to wait.
What about everybody else? Probably the biggest news so far has been the amount of Bass around this year. Even on the rock marks further south, I even managed to pull up my first ever Bass from the rocks over here and if an amateur like me can catch them then anybody can! I’ve also seen some very big Callig caught from both the shore and boat down south, a near 10lb Bass from the shore at the Point and the first few Tope landed from a boat. As I type this the Mackerel are here in numbers.
Finally, the boat. I’m not enjoying it this year. I didn’t enjoy it last year without my dad either. Kirsty II was bought with very specific goals in mind and a large chunk of that was about my old man really. Having had 7 years fishing with him on it it’s just not the same for me. Don’t get me wrong I love the fishing still but I don’t get the enjoyment from being on that boat anymore, too many memories. I was doing it last year and it’s got worse this year where I’ll look for excuses not to go out (1 trip in July so far), even the little electrical niggle was enough, sorted by tightening a bolt and turning the fishfinder off! But reason enough not to go out. I’m finding myself not wanting to work on her anymore, paying people instead. A large part of the enjoyment of a boat is just playing on it for me. Boats that aren’t used become very expensive harbour ornaments very quickly and that’s the last thing I’d want for a boat that has been absolutely brilliant for me and created a lifetime of memories. So working on the rule that a change is as good as break I’ve gone and bought another boat, something to start over fresh with. Not sure when it will get its on camera debut but hopefully not too long. It does mean that I’ll be putting Kirsty II up for sale sometime this/next week, a very hard thing for me to do but the right thing. I want it to get the use it deserves, to make some memories for a new family so it’s going to go up for a price that will put it in range for most people, certainly nothing like what I paid and have spent. I always called her my Millenium Falcon, was usually in need of a good scrub, gaffer tape in places but it had all the money spent on the rights parts, the ultimate small fishing boat for a couple of people in our waters. If anybody wants to know anymore details just leave a comment.
And that’s your lot. Not sure how the July report is going to go, will largely depend on what happens over the next few weeks with the weather but if worst comes to the worst I’ll find a quiet rock to sit on for a few hours 🙂