Not a bad Good Friday

If you can find them you have a chance of catching them. Yesterday was a case of drive, walk, cast, watch, rinse and repeat.

When I did eventually connect with a Sea Trout it coughed up a few ragworm. I didn’t see any obvious markers as I walked the beaches but at this time of year the fish can be locked on to their breeding cycle.  The tell tail sign is normally groups of gulls continuously dipping down and picking the ragworm off as they go about their business.

 

 

 

Another little piece of knowledge gained with four fish from a new spot and somewhere else to revisit in the future.

 

 

 

DIY GoPro kayak camera boom

It’s been busy weekend on the domestic front, bought a car, built garden furniture and caught up on some choirs around the home.

I also had an idea to build a camera boom for my kayak last week. So a trip to the in-laws for lunch today provided an opportunity to access some tools I don’t possess, namely a dremel and a vice. Game on and another job to be done when I was in the mood.

Buying a boom seemed pricey and I reckoned l could make one using some of the bits and bobs I had in my garage.

Components


Scotty 280 mount,M6 fine thread bolt, wingnuts/bolts, GoPro mount,

1 metre of 15mm aluminium square bar and shrink tube.

I took the dremel to the Scotty mount and took off the part that holds the rod leaving a flush surface. I drilled three holes and fitted bolts and wingnuts to hold the bar in place. The bar was shrink tubed before I started. The rod holder slots into the Scotty 438 gear head track adaptor on the GT175 rails on the yak. I’ll fit end caps when I source them to provide a tidy finish. I'm not 100% sure about the wingnuts as I can see loose braid catching on them. I will probably change them out for nuts.

This set up will provide some good angles and a great range of movement based on the flexibility of the Scotty mount/gear head adaptor.

I also wasn't completely  happy with the bite on a coarse thread M6 bolt to the GP mount so I sourced a fine thread in Phil’s garage.I cut this to the correct length and fitted this through the bar to hold the GoPro mount in place. I now just need to source the end caps and put my hand in my pocket for a remote.

 

 

In terms of shit ideas

 

This is another peach

China needs more cheap coal apparently.The pickings must be easy and cost of extraction per tonne must be cheap, but what's the price?
Chuitna - More Than Salmon On The Line from Trip Jennings on Vimeo.

A couple on a clouser

Myself and Jim gave the coast a thousand lashes today. We met a few other anglers, chewed the fat with them and swapped a few fish stories, theories and ideas. Simple as that really, and I’m grateful for it. Sometimes it’s all I need in a complex world.

Pink to make the Trout wink

It was a two spoons of coffee in my travel mug kind of morning. My intention had been to put the kayak in the water for the first time this year and I spent a lot of last night getting the gear ready. I checked the forecast again at 5am after looking out of my bedroom window. Decision made. I’m on the beach today, it was just an easier option.

A fairly difficult day lay ahead and the fish were hard to find. I fished for seven hours , covered a lot of ground moving numerous times making the changes as I went. Some worked, some didn’t, the usual I suppose. Pink made the trout wink though , my wife’s nail varnish did a great job on two of my lures which scored for me.

 

When I made the switch to my fly gear I stuck with this theme and picked up a nice little fat fish on a pink Pettersen. I made a short cast to my left to the spot I was wading to and the fish hammered it on the third or fourth pull. My double haul is also getting slightly better, it’s just a better class of poor now! It felt like a long day, guess I’m just getting match fit after a lazy winter.