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The Kayak Trip


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So the weekend was finally here, after the Dymented auction where Clive (Jonah) plus his brother Dave and Rob had bid £400.00 to come down for a weekend of sea kayak fishing and a nights wild camp..
To be honest Geth (white van man) and myself had been worried that we wouldnt have the weather, the fish, the tides would be wrong, and loads of other concerns that are natural I suppose when putting something like this on. After meeting Clive and Rob at the fishing comp I knew wed get on no worries so that was one bonus and I was right not only that but Dave was a top lad too.
So the plan was Saturday wed get an early start from Exmouth, get the live eels and use the ebbing tide out of the estuary along the coast around 3miles to a reef, then come back on the incoming tide around 3pm but Clive and the lads are easily tempted and after meeting them across town in Geths local pub, I tempted them back to my neck of the woods where we turned a couple of pints into a couple too many.. by the time my missus had come and met us, then Geth and his missus, it had turned into a top night well we had all met properly now I suppose.
The next morning alarm was a killer, and we were a touch later away, still on the road for 7am so not bad considering!!..
The sea was flat calm, and as we were preparing on the slip a huge shoal of bait fish erupted chased by mackerel only 10 yards or so off the slip, my fear of a blank was easing. As we were putting the kayaks in Geth said watch the weed its really slippery.. as he finished the sentence Dave went up in the air and down with a bang then a slow but un avoidable slip ensued down into the sea, a wet start for Dave, and a shed load of piss taking for the rest of the day lol
To be honest the day couldnt of gone better, we paddled on a mirror flat sea, with fish moving around constantly we fished a few times on the way to the mark, using live sand eels on real simple set ups, the lads caught a couple of dog fish, Geth had a Garfish and few mackerel were caught.. I was feeling a bit better. Once we got to the mark we drifted for a bit but when the tide slackened we tied up and fished the bottom. I thought wed pick up doggies, wrasse, gurnard etc and once the tide started running again we could drift for the bass. but no Dave had other ideas, as his rod is arched over into something a bit better a nice bass around 3 ½ lb He was delighted it was his best fish, and definitely his tastiest as wed find out later. It was to be the only bass of the day but we caught a good few fish, and the species count was good, dogfish, wrasse, pout,mackerel, garfish, and the bass.
We got in loaded the van and headed to the rock mark, now this is a difficult place to get on but it doesnt stop hoards of Chinese hitting it for the mackerel. Unfortunaletly they were in and the chinks were on it. The good thing was we could get right around the corner, and set up camp a long way from them. The night was perfect, we fished a bit and caught a few pollack ( Geth was chief Pollack catcher) set up the camp, ( well sleeping bags and bivvy bags in the open) and got the barbie fired up. The bass was wrapped in tin foil and smothered in butter and salt and pepper, Geth doesnt forget anything, I honestly asked for things I havent got at home and out of his bag hed produce it, he is the top boy scout lol. Dave was knackered from falling in and catching bass, so he got his head down at 8 and slept right through. The best bit of the night for me was netting prawns, a Portuguese bloke came down to fish ( really knowledgeable and a top bloke) around 11 he ran over and said look after my rods Ive got to get my net why" I ask The prawns are in.. and off he ran.
Ive never done it before but he showed me how to spot their red eyes with your head lamp along the rocks and then with a landing net he was scooping up lovely sized prawns around 4 long. I asked him if I could have a go when hed finished and that was it I was hooked, me and Geth were clambering all around the rocks, and we quickly had 50 or so prawns in the bucket ( plus a spider crab), these were our live bait for the next day.
Sunday morning was a bit overcast I woke up around 6ish and Clive was already up and spinning off the headland, hed had 5 pollack already I wandered down for a look, nicking Geths rod on the way, whilst he put on the kettle and pulled out tea, coffe, sugar, etc out of his Mary Poppin-esque bag!
I started spinning with the little jelly lure and after 5 mins had a good take, it took line and I knew it wasnt a Pollack after a decent scrap I landed a nice little bass, around 18 long, then another a bit smaller Geth came down with the coffe and wrestled his rod back, a few casts later he hooked a good fish yes a bass came the cry. No a bloody great mackerel lol Clive had a go and caught a bass, Rob had a go and caught 2 bass. Only Geth didnt join the bass club lol..

We travelled down to meadfoot beach to launch and it was stunning, as we off loaded we were treated to the sight of a pod of dolphins travelling across the bay, it was unfortunate we werent in the water but still a lovely sight.
It was a tough paddle as there is a strong tide through here, but we were rewarded with some cracking wrasse on the live prawns, and the scenery on this bay is stunning. Only one more disaster for Dave, or captain calamity, as he decided he needed another swim and pulled himself off the kayak, Geth showed all his experience here and safely got him back on in no time, just wet and a bit cold.
The time for the boys to leave had come, they slowly paddled in as me and Geth had another couple of drifts, we went in and the boys had stripped the kayaks, loaded the van and hung out their wet suits, top lads who got involved in everything all weekend. They know they're welcome anytime down here and I hope they make it down next summer for another trip.
The sun was up and once the boys had left we couldnt resist another hour in, we fished tight to an island and Geth caught the biggest wrasse Ive seen for a good few years ( touching 5lb I reckon) unfortunately hes a bit butter fingered so as I went to take the pic the fish gave a big flick and was out of his hands and away, it was quite funny watching him trying to grab it out of the water gutted theres no pic though cause it was a cracking fish. The last thing I caught was a cuttle fish and that was the end of one of the best weekends Ive had in a long time.
Oh and the remaining prawns were lovely in a prawn salad later..

Saturdays Pics
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Saturday Night

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Sunday

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Great write up Kev.

 

What doesn’t come across in the write up though is the amount of hard work and planning that you and Geth put into making the weekend the success it was.

The Kit, bait, locations, knowledge and instruction that was laid on was of a standard that far out weighed our expectations.

Kev’s sea fishing experience and local knowledge coupled with Geth’s professional instruction, planning and safety awareness made for a very slick weekend.

The Craic was top notch, lots of laughs, no one getting the hump, we really couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. We were talking about next years possibilities long before the weekend had come to a close lol!

In summary, if you ever get the chance to get out with Kev or Geth, take it!. You wont regret it. :yes:

The lads really know their stuff and go the extra mile to put you at ease and on the sport.

Thanks Again. :thumbs:

Clive

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