Last minute trip

I looked out the window as I had my coffee on Saturday morning, too good to be sitting at home I thought. An hour later I was packed and in the car. In short, lots of fish, particularly in the first three hours. The average size I would say is way down given the numbers of fish I caught, I might have expected one or two much better fish. To me, the demise of what is a small area is clear to see, changing baselines, the average size of the fish is getting smaller. This in my opinion is not down to the seals but social media driven angling pressure. Well done if you read this. I’ll try it again between now and December, but I doubt I’ll be seeing any fish knocking on for double figures again, hope I’m wrong.

A happy Monday

Opportunities to get out have been few and far between and being off work on Monday the forecast was too good to pass on, so I got my kit ready late on Sunday night. It was a pleasure to be afloat again, light winds, cloud cover and hardly a sign of anyone else afloat. It was certainly more relaxing than my last trip here. There were also plenty of fish around, Pollack, Bass, Cod and Gurnards. Being a small tide with light winds it gave me the chance to fish weightless in an area I’ve wanted to try. One of the challenges I’ve found is that on a kayak, fishing weightless, with control, on specific drifts isn’t easy. From 14 Bass the 2 best fish came via this method using a Wave Tiki Stick, food for thought. It’s much easier to fish with some precision using tide, waves or wind when your feet are planted in one area while shore fishing. I’ll probably make myself an anchor set up with no chain, on a short rope, that I can deploy quietly and quickly in shallow areas for this in the future.    

Little white Pal

I got the conditions so wrong it wasn't funny last Sunday. I expected it to be hard going in the strong offshore winds but the sea was incredibly lumpy. 2 hours was enough. My little white pal, worked slowly, induced a lot of plucks and a few Bass in three foot of visibility. I should have known better, trying to make up for lost time this year had the better of me, I expect it will again, it will be a long winter.

Kerry by Kayak

At start of my holiday I managed a couple of trips, but I felt I needed a few days away to reset the clock, so to speak. The forecast for the remainder of my time off was looking grim, there was little prospect of getting afloat anywhere that interested me. I had a look on Windguru and XC Weather and set off for Co Kerry at 24-hour notice.

It was a fair old road trip, a ferry, three countries and three tolls roads. I actually arrived in Ballinskelligs at 5pm after a few comfort breaks.

 I stayed at the Skellig Lodge, hosted by Freda. I can recommend the lodge for budget accommodation and location, as well as Freda’s hospitality. It’s a great spot to explore the area and it suited me for the coming and going at the hours an angler keeps on these kinds of trips. If you book, try and do this with her directly, the cost will be less than using a booking platform.If you are a Star Wars fan you will probably recognise the rock which sits imposingly just off shore. Another time, I would liked to have made that trip.

I had a cracking view across the bay. After a couple of glasses of wine and a social with a few of the other residents, it didn’t take long before I was ready for bed. I could hear the waves on the beach about 500 yards away and I was glad I had made the effort to get away.

I had three days fishing planned with the option of a fourth if I decided to arrive home and go straight back to work the next day. I knew next to nothing about the area, but I had fished the wider bay area for two days a few years back. To be fair, I was relaxed about the prospects. I opted for here for a chance of some Bass and Pollack, but as much as anything, just to get away from it all.

Day one was forecast to be bright and flat calm. I opted to launch at the castle beach area in Ballinskelligs, about 500 yards from my bedroom. That certainly beat my normal two- hour drive, this put a smile on face from the get-go as I got my gear ready. I was straight in to fish, albeit just small Pollack, on the weed line across towards the pier and I managed a 40cm Bass before the tide bottomed out and the sun hit the water fully. The fishing wasn’t great, but it was a good day to get around and have a look at various spots. I didn’t look at my mileage log when I was on the water but by the end of the session, I had done 12.9 miles! In hindsight, I should have spent less time trying for Bass at the head of Waterville Bay, towards the abandoned hotel. I chased Gannets and Terns, trolled and drifted in the tide and threw every lure in the box. I was also out in the centre of the bay, by mid-afternoon I was at Horse Island looking for Pollack. Even on a calm day the swell was a challenge at that spot. I spent the last few hours between Horse Island and the main harbour. There was a stack of bait and I took countless Pollack to about 40cms. The interesting thing for me was how fussy they were. 

Poor conditions for Kerry Bass. Right about here, the little Pollack were smacking the SP's in 5-10ft of water, good fun.

The FBM’s that had worked in the morning were totally redundant, in any colour. The only thing that would work were soft plastics in natural sandeel or pearl, with a thin profile and fished on the lightest jig head I had, which was about 8 grams.  Not the worst start on a new venue and an enjoyable day afloat. I was asleep by 9.30pm.

Day two saw me launching on the opposite side of the bay. I took a wrong turn while exiting Waterville, but I had fantastic view of the bay from the high road that heads south.

There was an increase in wind strength and the slip had a slight swell landing on it, but the direction was fine being from the SW. This was good news, more movement as well as some cloud cover improved my prospects for Bass. I had some fantastic drifts along the shoreline where I expected to get hit on every cast. I started to pick up the small Pollack but nothing of any note. As the tide turned, the wind increased, as did the swell, my legs were over the side constantly while on the drift. I was travelling across a rocky point in 10ft of water when my rod bent over, it was heavy with slow, solid head shakes, it felt like a Bass and a good one at that. On the previous drift I had caught a few small Pollack, pretty much what I was expecting again, but this felt odd. It was coming in like a heavy wet sack. Despite me thinking it was a Bass I still surprised when a lovely fish of 7/8 pounds appeared.The drag was clamped down tight as I was in Pollack territory, I backed this off a bit and grabbed the net, as I did this, the fish at last realised what was going on. It made it’s one and only run and kelped me. Normally backing off with slack I would be getting the fish to swim out, but the drift had taken me around it and it felt like I had put a further loop of braid around the kelp. I waited ten minutes, when I came tight, I could feel the fish occasionally lunging and the braid slipping against the kelp, a horrible feeling. The fluro eventually broke. I pedalled off swearing and cut off 20ft of braid and tied a new leader.

I started to pick up the odd Wrasse, about the only things there were interested in the FBM's. This one darted out from below my boat following the lure, which I  duly dropped down again. It then rearranged my deck space, FBM and put my reel in the water. Aggressive Irish Wrasse indeed!

About an hour, later I was drifting about 80 yards off the surf line, 12ft of water and was just thinking how good it looked, yet again…. As I tapped my lure along the bottom, I had a solid take and a nice couple of runs, thank goodness. As I was netting the fish, I backed out with the 180 drive, took a few quick snaps and set myself up for the next drift, bang! It felt like I had found them, maybe they found me? With four fish in 30 mins, it was done. I fished hard for a good while but couldn’t locate them again, tired, it was time to hit the beach.

The camera gremlins were back, this pissed me off, my fault entirely . I had the sun slightly behind me.The Revo is a long unit to manoeuvre so I paid the price and lost the quality of the images.

 My final day, the wind 15-20mph, rain, a good day for Bass in these here parts I’m told. Due to the swell, I didn’t fancy yesterday’s launch site, possibly a mistake on my part. Despite a hardcore 5 hours constant effort all I had were Mackerel. I hit the areas at the head of the bay hard where terns and gannets were at it constantly. I did some chasing, but there was one area that had almost constant activity, absolutely nada, Ready for a change I headed off to a spot I had marked on the plotter on the way out. I put away the light rod, picked up the Morethan and tightened the drag down as much as I dared, I needed to. 

This went home to Freda.

Great fun, with the reel only giving the slightest of ground in very heavy cover, the curve of the rod was alarming. Just what you need on a dour day. I was wishing I had done more of this, it was feet over the sides job in the choppy waves and swell. It looks OK in the images, but it took some attention.

The average stamp of fish was good, mid 60’s and a few that were probably over 70cm. 

The forecast was good for Monday and I could have stayed another day. Having clocked up 26 miles in 3 days I was feeling a little jaded. I did however think about it when I woke up to another Kerry sunrise. I really enjoyed this trip, I'll be back here at some point.

Who caught who?

It was calmer than we expected, maybe too calm as they say.  About half an hour from our chosen launch site Jamie checked the forecast, still looking good. There was a change in direction around mid-day with an increase in strength for an hour. It was forecast to drop off again late till afternoon, all was good. This spot is better left to the smaller tides when you’re on a kayak, even today, with next to no wind we were drifting 1.5-1.8mph and with a sketchy looking swell against the tide the big guy let me have the honour of the first drift through. I opted for an FBM with a 25g offshore head which looked and felt about right. The first fish of the day thought so as well, a solid start.

I was just dealing with unhooking the fish when I heard Jamie on the radio saying he was hooked up behind me. I had a look round and could see him playing the fish which he had hooked on the troll.  I took a pedal over for a look and to reposition myself for the next drift.

It was feeling like the choice of venue had paid off. The next couple of hours were busy, Jamie mixed it up with trolling and casting and picked up another decent fish along with some Pollack and a few Bass.

The bait at times was thick on the ground

Bass snacks

Bass at work. I picked two of these off from below the Revo

I was having a lot of success sink and draw so stuck with that, great fun mostly 45cm fish with a sprinkling of mid 50’s the radio banter was in full flow. We could see in the distance the sheets of rain heading our way, we debated how long it would take to hit us. It just happened that these black clouds were bang on que with the forecast change,you could feel the conditions changing, bigger swells, more wind and a few white caps. After about an hour I decided to check the forecast update and got Jamie on radio, we need to go, sharpish. He agreed, we both knew it would be a rough ride. XC Weather was a nice shade of yellow, in the mid-twenties, for the foreseeable. The squall we could see coming earlier and expected to pass, didn’t.

The journey back for me was a lot faster than Jamie’s. His was clearly more comfortable but harder work. The difference between the boats was noticeable. When you’ve got tide and waves building out of deeper water into 5-8ft in depth it gets nasty. I also had to take a longer route, with a view to spending less time side on when making the turn to the launch site approach. Jamie was about ½ mile behind me as I did my first surf landing on the Revo. It was edgy, that  trip back was the absolute limit for me. I wouldn’t be keen to be doing that again in a hurry. I was glad to be back on the beach, I’m not going to lie.

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What a day....

Multiple pieces of kit failing, some it my fault, some just bad luck. I wasn't really comfortable fishing here without a sounder as the area is completely unknown to me. It's also not without some risk while fishing alone, a large swell, tide and  reflected waves kept  me on my toes. It certainly isn't Skye but it has potential. I had about a dozen Pollack but cut my trip short, it felt like the right thing to do after nearly being run over by an arsehole in a RIB. Even when they did see me in the swell, while on the way to Specsavers, Mr McGoo powered on past and didn't come down an inch from the plane. A flag  on my boat certainly might help. When it whispers, listen, my two day trip became one, some repairs are required as well as a new rod .....

Never too late

Two sessions last weekend,good weather, some laughs and enough fish to make me realise what I've been missing. No record breakers,but for me,I'll take what I can get at this stage of the year with the lack of rod time. Every one was a winner for me.

My mates got a new pedalo, a 2019 Outback a stark contrast in style to the green arrow.

Jamie with his first fish on the new boat

Lively little fish on my light gear.

I had some great surface action at various points which always brings a smile to my face. Good times.

Getting back to normal

On my last blog post in May I mentioned I had fallen ill when I was afloat. This was the start of shingles/ PHN which saw me off work for two weeks. I’ve only just got back to normal over the last week or so. I had no idea on how painful this could be, my immune system clearly just decided to pack in for a bit. Frankly 2019 from a few angles has been a total shit show so far. Hopefully I can make up some time along the way for what’s left of the year.

While I wasn’t in great shape I managed out on the 22^nd of June for a few hours. I had a couple of small Bass and a few Pollack, great to be afloat again but it was a struggle. Last weekend was the Mull of Galloway kayak species hunt. Having been booked for this since November last year it was cancelled on the Thursday night due to the weekend forecast for high winds. Jamie and I headed down anyway.  We had a couple of pints with Tom on the Friday night. It was a real shame he cancelled it, but he made the decision for the right reasons. Saturday by this point looked spot on so we decided to head to Port Logan. We thought we might be able to tuck in at East Tarbert and get some Tope and Smoothies on the Sunday ducking the strong winds from the SW that were forecast.

It was predictable that we overdid it on Friday night, I was out of practice to be fair. This was the first refreshment I had since the start of May. We launched about 10.30am in calm conditions, for some reason I felt sea sick…. I had never fished here from a kayak before so it was pretty much all a school day.

Me in tight on a gully. The mirage 180 drive was really handy for backing in and out of these.

It was a very different propositions from tearing around at top speed in a boat as I have done on several occasions chasing the various species available. It was not without incident as the thunder and lightning started. This saw Jamie cut his anchor rope and me winding in over the top of a tangle in my anchor line to head for the shore at speed. We took a break for about an hour and half before heading back out. It’s not a nice feeling being as exposed as that on a piece of plastic surrounded by a few rods.

After checking my camera tonight I ended up on 12 species, I think Jamie had around the same. We didn’t go at it hard but had an enjoyable day. Before the event I reckoned you might need 20 species over the two days to be in the hunt. The boat event the week before was won with 28 species and the total number caught by all the boats was 40+, a lot to go at, but you also need some luck.

We were up bright and early on Sunday morning and drove down to East Tarbet checking the conditions on the way down from Sandhead. It was pretty grim and blowing 30mph+ We made the right call to give it a miss, it wouldn’t have been much fun and at best reckless to launch in that spot as it would be unforgiving if any mistakes were made. Never a dull moment, lets see what else the Scottish summer throws at us.

Pushing on

My wife was right, I shouldn’t have gone out today. I was absolutely rinsed at the end of this session. Thanks for your help big guy. I doubt I would have gone out solo today and I wouldn’t have had this smashing fish.

Also the first off the surface  for me this year on old faithful.

The water temperature has risen again, it was consistently over 13c over the course of this trip.More surface fun ahead.

When a mate goes fishing and you're working...

I'll  no doubt send a reply in due course. A nice way to open the account for 2019.

Training Day

A change of location today. I also left the lure gear at home and packed some crab and fish bait with the targets being  tope and smoothies. 

This was to be a proper shakedown bait session on my new rig, plenty of tide and I ended up with four moves lifting and laying the anchor. The winds were supposed to be light and they were, from 11am to 12.30pm. After that I had 3ft waves running down the length of boat till about 3.30pm. I checked the forecast on my phone at the time, 9mph..aye right.  I can’t say it was enjoyable and the fishing wasn’t great, dogs, dabs, cod and two thornbacks. Off the water it would be a nice day but while sitting with my feet over the sides to stabilise things I was cold, two pair of socks, neoprene socks over my drysuit feet, boots and a wet arse. The revo 16 is a much wetter ride than my outback but it's a water sport after all. It’s still cool out there at the minute despite the sunshine. 

The Scotty rocket launchers with slip discs worked great mounted behind the seat, my trolley works better than my old one and the boat is very seaworthy, it really eats up the miles, wind and waves. I didn’t take as much as a breather when I lifted the anchor to head in, that was with a headwind and the nose into the last of the flood. I would have been more relaxed at anchor in the outback but there are positive trade-offs. At one point today I decided to try to catch a dab for a change of bait for tope swapping a crab bait for mackerel strip on my two hook uptide rig. Ten minutes later I hooked what I believe was a tope which straightened the hook! Onwards we go, it’s early days down the SW.

Early start

I took a half day off work on Friday, I thought I might have at least a chance of a fish. After checking my blog I’ve had a few fish around the middle to end of May, nice day, worth a punt.  This fish tapped at the lure 5 times, to be fair I though it was a Pollack plucking at the FBM. I stopped the retrieve about 20ft away and let it swing towards the yak, had this work for me before and it eventually took it confidently. A nice scrap that had me smiling, happy with that I had another fish do the same thing but didn’t convert it.  It’s been a long week at work so only fished for 3 1/2 hours, can’t complain, this is the earliest I’ve caught a Bass in May. That’s the new boat christened with some silver as well…

Nice way to start a weekend.

Sea trials on the Revolution 16

OK, so it was fishing session but also the first time at sea on the Revo. Don't let the comedians tell you any different. The Clyde as we all know is not alive ,but it can be better than it was today, it's March after all. One small Pollack and a Coalie that might have scraped 1.5 pounds between them. What fish there were seemed to be tight on the bottom around four or five rocky outcrops on the shoreline. The biggest problem for me today was the reflected waves, very tricky indeed with the fish being tight to shoreline.

There were a few bigger waves rolling in during the day due to a navel exercise.

If it was as calm as it was when as I drove home I might have been able to pick up a few more with a little precision fishing. 9.5 miles today and a good few hours in the saddle of the new boat. I met a few people on the water today which was nice, lot's of yaks but no yak anglers. I had a decent chat with a guy in a boat that fishes here regularly he wasn't having much joy either. Onwards and upwards.....

It was my first soft beach retrieval today. It was so much easier than the Outback. Some of this is certainly down to not carrying two 12v SLA batteries. So far so good on the FPV battery set up , the weight saving and upgrade on power is making a difference, really pleased with this. 

Launch Day

It was about time I got back on the water , having finished rigging the Revo 16 a few weeks back I opted for Saturday to give it a shake-down. I had booked some digs for Saturday night as Lynne would join me in the afternoon and hit the road at 7am.

The first thing I noticed when I got to loading the Revo on my car was that despite the increase in length ,compared to the Outback, was how much easier it was. This was mainly down to the decrease in width but the slight drop in weight helped also. As I did the cam straps up I had a lot more spare strap to wrap, that got me thinking about stability as I drove to the loch. The first few minutes were a bit edgy, a bit like the first time I launched the Outback. Turning to get something from my crate needed a lot more thought, I could take liberties in my old boat. The turbo fins had a lot more resistance but pushed me along nicely. The Lowrance now being mounted in the centre worked just fine, it was easily reached by dropping a leg over each side, that does means I'll be making less adjustments. Not normally a bad thing but for today, not that handy at all as Perch fishing means a fair amount of sounder time. I checked inside the hull after fifteen minutes, thankfully it was dry so I was good to go.

The water level was high, the fishing was hard and the wind was gusting 15-20mph at times.I only had two small Perch by 1pm. I got a few GPS numbers from my mate Les and went for a look at them. Getting there at 5mph, was pretty cool, something that I could only do for a very short sprint in the Outback. Sadly, there wasn't anything doing. Now I'm not sure why, but when I used to fish here a lot ,the fish seem to have a 3-4pm bite. I had another couple of smallish Perch but the last fish of the day was more like it.

It's nearly that time for this fish and it's mates.

Hopping a Texas rigged Yum crayfish was the only thing I caught with on this trip. I didn't target Perch last year so it was nice to get a few at least.

Overall I was happy with the new boat. I just need to make a few minor adjustments and remember it's not an Outback...

The hound does her version of a Usain Bolt victory salute, she oddly lay like that for 5 mins.

Restored

Rod, reel and lure, replacing the steering wheel, laptop and meetings. Some balance restored, for a few hours at least.

Almost back in business!

My Revo 16 arrived about three weeks ago now, still not been wet, but it won't be long now. The only thing I'm waiting for is an FPV lithium battery to power up the electrickery. It did take a while to get here due to the damage on the hull while in storage, prior to despatch, so a new hull arrived from Holland. This happened with my Hobie Outback as well, spookily enough, the Revo arrived 4 years to the day that I received my last Hobie. This time around I bought from Cornwall Canoes, last time, the Hobie Centre. My latest purchase was price driven as they had a pretty good deal on a brand new 2018 model. The Hobie Centre could not get near the sale price so I went ahead. Not much to chose between them service wise, both retailers were helpful, get in touch if you want my views on both. I have no connection with either, something you need to be aware when it comes to sponsorship and the like.

So why the Revo? Last year I found myself looking to travel longer distances, even with a great summer, dodging the wind at times was a choir. The access to some stretches of coast is very limited, increased range would certainly be an advantage.My 2015 Outback was a great boat . I wish I could have kept it as an option, financially that could not be justified. I wanted something that would enable me to change locations quickly, deal with wind/tide and cover more ground when required. I looked for months for a used Revo with no luck. August came around and the 2019 Outback was launched. I gave it serious thought. It's fair to say it had a few niggles if you were early on the uptake, aren't there always? Cars, phones, everyone has been there when you dive in and buy new tech. I asked myself a few questions. Do I need more weight to portage around ? Do I need to carry more gear with me ? Can I see myself standing? What about the new style rudder and the load assist block ? Or a wider seat for a fat arse? Then of course the price, there won't be any discount for a Scottish bam like me with no connections! It looks great though, maybe another time. It was a no for me. I cooled off on the idea after a good look at it and took a gamble on a Revo. It's certainly is a gamble as I've no idea how I'll get on with it, very different beast to my 2015 Outback. I did however get a lot of advice from a few owners which helped me make the decision. After the sale of the old boat and a couple of eBay sales, it only left me a fishfinder as an outlay to change rigs. Just as well really, I took the first initial big hit 4 years ago starting from scratch. I would not feel as confident splashing out at the minute with the period of potential enlightenment ahead of us over the next few months or more than likely years.....

Anyway, here it is. At 16 feet, it just fits in my garage. Seagrass green, don't suppose it's for everyone,  but I like it.

It's a lot a narrower than my Outback. I'll certainly miss the storage pockets to leave bits and bobs to hand but that should mean I stay more organised, it wont be an option really...

Drilling big holes in expensive chunks of plastic is never fun. I've gone with two Yakattak GT175 I had left over(lock nuts and washers on the back) fitted my old mast mount and tore through the cockpit with a hole saw for my wiring. I'll fit a 3 way Hobie gland when my battery arrives. I went with a RAM 1.5 inch quick  release ball rather than a screwball mount this time. I think as the Lowrance will be up front from now on it should provide a more secure footprint.

There will be various mounting options for the Lowrance , camera or whatever else depending on how I want it set up for any given session. The battery will be mounted  and secured to the sail mast below the centre RAM ball.

When I'm in the boat the 7inch Ti screen will be in reach and clearly visible. I'll have a play around and see what location works best for me.I'll fit one piece of small geartrac forward of the pockets, not sure which side yet and two behind the seat for two Scotty rocket launcher rod holders when I fish with bait. I want to keep the front section  of the boat clear for a few reasons.

I went for the same unit as before, it's now discontinued so I managed  a good discount over RRP

With turbo fins of course,  the jury is out for me on the 180 drive, looks like more to break, lets hope I'm wrong.How much I will use reverse? Really handy when drifting on to a feature, trade off,? Fragility and longevity ? I've also got the Berley Pro  Totalscan transducer cover and the visor for the Ti. I had both before, I might give the visor a miss this time around.

The super comfy Vantage CT seat. I don't see too many naps for me sitting in this boat, I might get wet very quickly. I'll certainly miss sitting in the sunshine  snoring like I did a few times in the past.

Lets hope next blog post has some fish in it. Waiting for a parcel from Australia is shite by the way!

Something missing in my life

Hopefully not for too much longer. Delivery is now next week, apparently. I spent today bleeding radiators and tinkering with the boiler and on Sunday I'm lifting tiles. Living the dream....

Paul arrived last Saturday and headed back to the NE of England with my old boat. I'm sure it will get him on the fish, we might even meet up for a session. I was sad to see it go but it means I can balance things on the domestic front without any guilt. I've moved a few other bits on and the only thing the new boat will set me back is a new fishfinder and two Scotty rocket launchers. When I bought my Outback I placed an order with Yakattack in the USA, some of which was never used.I don't need much thankfully.The rest I've collected along the way so that's made the transition to a new boat much easier than starting from scratch, that was sore, especially in the Hobie world, no getting away from that. My Outback however was the best fishing tool I've bought, without question.







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