Well, this decent weather is a turn up for the books. My brothers thought the same and asked if they could pop down for the weekend. I was hoping to travel up to Bristol to fish one of the lakes up there for the day and chill out. But unfortunately it didn't quite come off, so I was stuck holding the baby. Two of them! It's always good to catch up with them from time to time. They often find an excuse to pop down when the weather is grim up North and shining down here! Usually to chill out and go fishing. I had booked the week free anyway, so we decided to head down to Looe for some sea fishing. I don't know what it is about Looe, but I love it. It reminds me of the old Jaws movies. It has that 'old salty sea-dog' atmosphere, that gets inta ya blood me arty. See what I mean. I nearly turned into a pirate just talking about it.
'Babysitting the kid brothers for the weekend' Gav & Baz.
I don't admit to been the best sea angler in the world. I spend half the day fighting sea gulls, and un doing knots. But I get a kick out of it. Baz does quite a lot of it off the coast of Anglesey (so he says), so this brought on a bit of brotherly rivalry. Gav was also up for it, so I could see there was a bit of a comp coming on. They always like to try and show me up, and try to catch more fish than me. They think it's clever. But I just wait until they mop all the small things up, and then I go in and finish it off with a brute! I wish! They are both pretty good at fishing in their own right. Baz talks about it, and Gav drinks to it. So it was going to be interesting........
We spent the first day hanging around Polpero (Nr Looe). We decided to hire a boat and do a bit of fly fishing off the rocks. There were a few bass patrolling around, but we were mainly catching small sized Pollock that were tucked away near the rocks and hiding amongst the sea weed. Baz and Gav opted to spin for them. Gav at the time was casting away his big rubber shad when he had the first hit, but pulled out. Baz have given him a rusty hook, that was blunt. 'Good lad'. I saw him smirk. I managed to pull into a nice bass on a white Clouser, and after a bit of a tussle and some surface slapping it was in. Where's the photo? They refused to take one! They were too busy seeing who could do the most skims with a stone. That's brotherly love for you. The next bass that I had hooked ripped off into the sea weed and thrashed around until it came free. Checking the hook point when I pulled the fly in, it looked like it had been dragged across a rock and chipped the point off it. Er, or had it been pinged with a pair of pliers? Where was Baz at the time! Saying that probably hooking into clumps of sea weed and making out they were fish.
Polpero rocks entertaining us with its Pollocks.
As the sun began to draw in at the end of a top day, I fancied showing them a nice piece of beach, and hopefully if we had got the tide right catch a few fish. We walked a couple of miles along the Polpero to Looe coastal path and dropped down one of the rocky crags to get us onto a stunning beach. The sun was just dropping and we could see the signs of fish moving in the distance. Always a good sign, and been the kind of guy I am, I went down to make the first few shots. As if! My brothers would of lynched me. We sent Gav down for the first attempt , and his cast was just falling shy of the commotion. So Baz stepped up to the hocky and made a few similar cast. 20 minuets later and the fish were closer in and Baz kept thrashing away until the had, had enough, (and the fish were bored). I just sat back and watched the lack of action. That'll teach them for not taking any photo's (maybe I should of given them a decent fly).
Sitting back and watching the lack of action!! Kids for you!
Stunning sun set over Looe rocks
The following morning we had booked to go out on a wreck fishing trip. We more or less had the boat to ourselves, apart from a couple on their honeymoon! Conger fishing. How romantic!! Saying that, it's probably the kind of thing that I would end up doing. So it was obvious that their day was going to be spoilt. We lifted Baz's boxes of tackle into the boat, and Gav just threw his pack of crisps onto the deck. Baz was busy talking to the skipper about the different methods and baits. Up or down tiding, rubby-dubby mixes and weather forecasts. The new couple were more interested in each other, Gav was nearly asleep, and I was more concerned about the size of the boat!
Phew! I thought it was the blue one. Like the famous saying goes"I think were going to need a bigger boat".
Baz tackling up before we'd even set off!
I think the agenda for the day was to start off by catching the bait, probably mackerel, then travel out a bit further over the reef. Mackerel always seem to want to give themselves up easily. Its unfair the justice we give them when we jig for them when bait fishing. It's a totally different fish when it's hooked onto the end of a 5 weight fly rod. But nevertheless, we wanted quite a few for the day's fishing ahead. So sport was out of the question. We just 'jigged' and winched.
Heading around the famous 'Banjo Pier'
The sea was quite gentle, thank God, Baz and Gav had queasy stomachs from the night before. I wouldn't of minded a bit of swell, just to get things going for them. We headed out for about 8 miles before we dropped anchor, and got into the first tangle of the day! Trust it to be Gav! Not a clue. But completely chilled with the event. We managed to 'wind in' a good number of mackerel. Some were a nice size too. Baz thought he was the daddy, because he had a three'er. Until Gav landed a full string of fish. I think it was about 6.
Gav and his prize catch! Poor lad.
When the heavy artillery came out. and the baits were lowered to the depths of the reef, then the comp was on. Gav had caught all the bait that we needed. So it was my turn to blow Baz out of the water and the day would be sorted. Gav took an early lead with a scrappy 'doggie'. The first rule in the book was, who ever caught the first dog fish had buy tea when we got back onto shore, or is it dry land? Anyway, the fish and chips were on him. Baz massif, hooked into a decent conger, and the strain on his face was showing it. I though his head was going to explode!Ah, it fell off. He was gutted. He must of pulled it up a good 150' before it spat the hook. There were a few nice fish landed. Gav caught a stunning Cuckoo wrasse, and Baz caught the best tan of the day. Shame there were no pics of their fish. Funny that. But at least I had the last laugh and landed the biggest conger of the trip. Not huge, but it did me.
Cheers Boys!! Better luck next time.
After a good weekend catching up with them, and taking them down to the coast for a bit of reef and
saltwater fly fishing, it's always nice to drop them back at the train station. I can get on with a bit of gentle
fly fishing again now.
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