Something stunning captured!
With only two weekends to go before Easter and my target of hitting the halfway mark, there was a little bit of pressure to try and secure species 26. The period we are in at the moment is a real tricky one with the departure of winter species and the arrival of summer species making it very hit and miss. This is compounded further by my over zealous species catching thus far and maybe if I had paced myself, I would at this period of transition, still have some easier fish choices. So the plan was to try for some spring / summer species, perhaps a few weeks too early, in the hope that one of them slipped up, after all they are only fish! The year before the Tench fishing at Sanctuary Lakes had started well in early April, with the fish below taken in an afternoons floatfishing.
Saturday morning was spent taking the old electric fence down from the top lake at Sanctuary Lakes, but only after a little bit of pre-bait was added to the bottom lake to stir up the Tench. My accomplice on this cold drizzly morning was none other than, constant coughing Chris and his bottomless flask of ginger tea. I have formed the opinion that the tea isn't ginger its in fact rust from the flask and over the last few months its been slowly poisoning him to the point he is coughing incessantly. Of course I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't try and ease the pain, so I sent him the opposite way around the lake from me, in the hope as he retreated so did the relentless spluttering! Despite this weeks infliction we got on well with the fence removal and upon returning to the designated storage spot I noted that Chris had neatly coiled his wire into neat spools, dam his anal tendencies. I however had dragged my huge tangled mess to the spot and now felt pressured to do it properly, I remember thinking he cant be that sick if he has time to wrap all that fencing up. Eventually everything was broken down and stacked perfectly like a Waitrose Supermarket shelf, although my side of the pile was maybe still a tad Lidl-ish.
Time for some Tench fishing, by now however the rain was heavier and the breeze several degrees colder it really couldn't be further from those perfect Tench days. We cast our floats baited with corn and proceeded to relax and enjoy the ambience of the afternoon. Well I say ambience, what I mean is listen too the honking of the Canada Geese, the chugging of the farmers tractor, the booming of shotguns in the wood and to top it all the gurgling death rattle of constant coughing Chris! A combination of good angling, and bad luck in equal measure saw a few ruddy Rudd make an appearance followed by a few Perch to brighten the day.
Chris had to head off as his lads band, the three piece known as Quorum had a gig to do at one of the most hi-tec of local venues Hatherleigh Community Centre. Unfortunately there was to be no such glamour for me as I was on a mission and with the departure of Chris I was determined to stay till I got to see a Tench. Eventually 3 hrs later after sitting stationary ,aside from an occasional throw of some corn I spotted a Tench, as a nice fish rolled 20 yards out. Despite the cold and wet I knew if I stuck it out I would get that fish, well that theory was pants and despite staying into dark not so much as a frog moved the float. So that was to be that for the early Tench effort but it was a tad cold, and I only saw one fish roll, onwards for tomorrows plan of an early Small Eyed Ray.
Sunday was a very different day with the great golden ball in the sky arriving with enough strength to allow the removal of one of the layers of clothing, this combined with the clocks going forward an hour it should make the evenings Ray fishing quite spectacular. The north Devon beaches of Saunton, Pustborough and Woolacombe are not only some of my favourite places to fish, but they provide some of the most stunning of sunsets. To secure a few brownie points, I cooked breakfast and made pasties for an early tea, in-between stirring the gravy I was nipping out to the garden to tie up sandeel squid wraps. Fortunately I didn't get the two mixed up as that would surely have led to a world of pain from Mrs D, especially if she found a sandeel head in her pasty. Coughing Chris arrived and sadly his cough hadn't become any less annoying but he did man up enough to drive the Popemobile on tonight's jaunt. The hour long journey up to the beach in the north of the county was full of the usual anticipation and stark reality that its always a gamble to target something that's barely arrived, but on such a wonderful evening would it really matter.
We approached the narrowing road to the beach and were suddenly confronted by a moped with a surfboard as a sidecar coming towards us, incredible how resourceful these Surfers can be. Chris managed to miss the surfboard sidecar dude but not the tank trap pothole and the pope-mobile shuddered under the impact, luckily the ridiculously high roof prevented us from suffering a double lobotomy. If you live in Devon you get used to pothole avoidance and maybe on another day we avoid the pothole, but destroy surf dudes surfboard sidecar!
We finally rounded the corner and the beach expanded in front of us like a huge slice of Dutch cheese but with considerably more appeal. Time to don the waders and yomp far enough along the beach to make us feel truly alone, and it also prevents quite so many people from pointing and laughing. The beach looked glorious with the still bright sun radiating onto the exposed low tide sand, it reminds me of an untouched canvas awaiting natures surf powered paint brush to finish the masterpiece.
Splat, Chris slapped his tripod onto the pristine sand sending ripples back towards the sea and yet further desecration came in the form of his size 9s stomping around like a Sasquatch summoning rain. Chris stated " this will do me right here" , strangely I set up right next to him, which considering we both only brought one rod was a bit daft, we could have used one tripod. The rods were quickly assembled and I headed out for the first wade into the sea, I love this way of fishing you truly feel part of the environment when your out in the surf casting your rod skyward. We have a rule that we take turns wading to ensure one of us is always out of the water, wading can be extremely dangerous and having been trained in water rescue I've had to experience being pulled under water into rapids, disorientation is an understatement. Both of us had soon cast our sandeel / squid wraps and it was now time to stand back and relish the pure beauty of the view with the sun slowly setting.
With every passing minute the view became ever more dramatic and the best camera in the world cannot deliver the full sensory experience bestowed upon you, with the crash of the waves, the screech of the gulls, the taste of salt on your lips and the naked guy in the distance. Wait a minute " there's a naked guy in the distance", I couldn't believe what I was saying but sure enough like Reggie Perrin a guy had rocked up, abandoned his clothing and ran seaward in an action reminiscent of the 70s comedy "The rise and fall of Reginald Perrin"!
This beach is 3 miles long why, has he got too become one with nature in front of us, incredibly this guy swam around for a bit then walked calmly back up the beach to a rucksack of a similar size to himself. We seem to attract these strange activities but maybe its us who are the strange ones and I guess if you spend a lot of your time in the dark, and sheltered from civilisation like we do, this is what you will encounter. Luckily this was the last of the evenings strangeness and we were able to once again concentrate on the motionless rods, and setting sun.
The setting sun was truly incredible and despite the lack of fish I would come back time and time again for the views that mother nature provided, you can keep your full HD 360 3D tv and give me the North Devon beach sunset every time.
We stuck it out for nearly 3 hours into the flood tide but unfortunately we didn't capture a single fish but I did capture some stunning scenic pictures that will inspire me to get back out for a Small Eyed Ray right through April. Despite the two blanks and no species 26, this weekend I did get a bit of good news in the form of a positive plug for my challenge in the excellent national magazine Saltwater Boat Angling this month, many thanks Tim Macpherson, appreciate the support.
Constant Coughing Chris and I do have a plan for this week that just might get me that species 26 before Easter, its a plan that means going back to our childhood days , watch this space it just might pay off!
