Bristol Channel Revisited..

Well now that the work load has eased somewhat I’ve been able to dust off the kayak. The weather this week has been stunning for the time of year, though it was only today that I managed to get out onto the water.

I fished the Bristol Channel a couple of times last year, plenty of conger eel plus my yakfishing buddy caught himself a cod of nearly 16lb!. I’ve relocated during the week due to work commitments which puts me under an hour from the mark.

I took a steady drive up, passing by a local tackle shop only to find he’s closed on a Wednesday, typical!. Still, I tracked down some mackerel and squid and was soon rigging up ready for the off.

The water here is brown with sediment, visibility is probably only 3-4”. The reef here has a couple of channels running through it, and with the aid of the fishfinder I was soon anchored up in what I was hoping would prove to be a plum location.

I commenced fishing on the last couple of hours of the flood tide, though bar a couple of whiting it was all rather quiet. However, once the tide switched to the ebb the fish came onto the feed. The first bite was a stonker, almost pulling the rod tip into the water, sadly, I missed it. I didn’t have to wait long before the first conger started coming to the yak. The first one was a tiddler of 2-3lb, though each one seemed to be progressively bigger.

I dropped a couple of good fish within the first few seconds of hooking up, this may have been down to using barbless hooks, or perhaps the fish were just mouthing the bait. I ended up loosing four fish in total.

Whilst retrieving one decent eel it decided to take a sharp left turn half way in, taking my other line with it. If that wasn’t bad enough five seconds later the other rod hooked up with another conger. It came off after a minute though the damage was done, the resulting monster tangle was cut off and I ended up having to re-rig both rods.

The eels were small, a few around double figures, the biggest maybe 13lb?. Though that wasn’t the point, I was fishing with 6lb rods and these fish were giving a cracking account of themselves, providing some thoroughly enjoyable sport.

I ended up running out of bait which ultimately put and end to the fishing. My last bait was the head and backbone of a mackerel, the backbone folded over on itself to get a bit more bulk, before whipping it onto the hook. It might have been rather desperate, but it resulted in a hook up with a couple of minutes!

So with the sun going down and the bait supply exhausted, I raised anchor and paddled back in. What little breeze had been present earlier in the afternoon was now down to a whisper, a perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable session. Hopefully, to be repeated tomorrow.

I’d also managed to forget my camera, so the photos in this blog entry are from my new Nokia 5800, not brilliant by any means, but respectable and better than nothing at all.

Getting back into it - Fishing the Solent

It seems like forever since I’ve been out fishing on the yak. In fact due to work commitments I’ve not wet a line since returning from Scotland. Two months of not being afloat, it’s unheard of!

The pressure was finally off early this week and a short notice trip was put together to fish a locally in the estuary in the hope of some autumn bass. This time last year the estuary was producing some good, if not sporadic, fishing. The mark is a short paddle which allows for some close in fishing to heavy structure. There are several marks in the local estuary that scream bass, though anchoring is tricky to say the least. Fishing in between large structures with tide flowing in and around, tends to produce large eddy areas. The current rotates causing the yak to swing slowly in the tide like a pendulum. Get it wrong and you’ll swing into the main tidal stream breaking anchor.

The session lead into dusk where the ‘witching’ hour failed to materialise. Quite often, once the sun drops down there’s a manic hour when the bass come onto the feed, sadly it didn’t happen, though it was a stunning evening all the same. There are definitely worse way to spend your evenings...

As darkness came we called an end to the session, bar one small pout it was a fishless evening, no real complaints though.

The following day the decision was made to paddle out in the hope of catching the last few mackerel of the season. I didn’t believe that they’d still be about, though my yakking mate had been told different so we headed out, hopes high. Amazingly there were indeed some mackerel about, we managed a bag full between us which will see us good for a few sessions during the winter months.

Another yak fishing buddy told me he’d been catching thornback locally, so after a short break for dinner we headed off to Hillhead for a spot of night fishing.

Hillhead

The weatherman lied once more, the forecast was for a very light NW wind, though it sat as a light SW blow all evening and into the night. No great shakes, though it meant a light chop instead of glassy calm.

My targets were bass and thornback ray, hence I was rigged with a large mackerel strip rigged on a pennel rig. The other rod was rigged with sandeel on a single hook running ledger. I didn’t have to wait too long for the first bite of the night, good firm pull.. a thornack?

Nothing huge, perhaps 5-6lb, though against the current it gave a decent account of itself of light gear. Close up, they’re quite a pretty fish don't you think?

Sadly that was the last of the action for me, Andy picked up a small thornback, his first off the yak though so it’s still all good stuff. We fished on for a couple more hours though the action was painfully slow.

Though again, it was a cracking evening, another stunning sunset, geese circling over the adjacent nature reserve.. life was good.

I’m back to regular fishing, though I’m working further afield for the foreseeable future. I foresee my fishing trips being concentrated in and around the Bristol Channel, perhaps on the southern coastal beach of Chesil and its surrounding area.

It’ll be good to fish some new areas.