Fishing through the winter

Bar my first attempted fishing launch where I didn't actually get to wet a line, I'd yet to blank. The fish weren't large but they were plentiful. A multitude of whiting, pouting and dogfish where the mainstay of the catch with the odd scorpion fish and rockling thrown in for good measure.

After a good few trips I decided it was time for a evening trip. I was confident with the yak and my abilities, I had the required stern light and a quick phone call to the coastguard saw me launching into the evening... what a fabulous experience!!

The weather was perfect, a chilly winters evening... I couldn't wait to get out there!

Fishing at night was something truly special, a very light onshore breeze created an eerie silence, the stern lamp a comforting glow around the yak.. this was living!!

Clocking up the trips

After a few trips I was starting to find my yak legs. I was confident with the capabilities and limitations of the yak, and even more importantly I was catching fish!

 
It takes a few trips to get into a workable routine, I found that a simple checklist was a necessity as it's potentially all to easy to leave a piece of kit at home that'd scupper my day out. Anchoring was now considered fairly well mastered and my paddle fitness was starting to improve in leaps and bounds.

 
The fishfinder was working as advertised, using it to locate wreck sites, etc aided with a handheld GPS was proving fairly easy to achieve. Being able to see what you're paddling over is great, though what I really wanted to know was what was around me, a map of the ocean floor was required. Though this would have to wait, partly due to cost, plus I didn't have the foggiest idea as to what would fit the bill.

The sensation of fishing out there alone, away from the shore, the peace and quiet was simply awesome. I didn't really know what to expect, but I certainly wasn't disappointed... what a brilliant experience!. I was launching as often as possible without tempting the arrival of divorce papers!!