Eel meet again
Typing this latest blog while trying to stay awake following a weekend under canvas that included a 600 mile round journey. This weekend the target was the Freshwater Eel and the extra bonus would be if I could catch one during the National Anguilla Club fish-in. The National Anguilla Club are the longest running single species club in the united kingdom, having been established in 1962. I have been a member off an on over the years also serving as Records Officer and Southwest Regional Organiser, it was an honour to have represented this great club. During that time I made some lifelong friends and these hard-core Eeling enthusiasts have my utmost respect, the pursuit of specimen eels is rarely rewarded yet demands a lifetime of effort. As a stranger trying to consider what your average eel angler may actually be like, the preconceptions are no doubt along the lines of, a group of crazy haired, badly dressed, liquor loving, species obsessed, recluses. I would however like to say, nothing is further from the truth, but I cant, that description pretty much covers most of the old school eelers, but if you scratch beneath the surface these guys are some of the most talented of anglers. Eels are not popular due to their serpentine characteristics, slime and ability to cross land, so its not surprising that news of there numbers plummeting, falls largely on deaf ears. The freshwater eel like the eel angler are becoming rarer compared with previous years and the disappearance of a keystone species like the eel will have huge consequences to the greater eco-system. Please respect the Eel and return them to the water as quickly and carefully as possible, just remember a 6lb eel could be 60 years old. I do tend to get on my soap box where eels are concerned I grew up with them in every water course I visited, and I would like that to remain the case for generations to come. This weekend was based at Nicholls Quarry in Kent, a large gravel pit with a great pedigree for producing good eels, the club had booked most of the lake with 23 members attending. Below the best time to relax and enjoy the ambience of Nicholls is sunset and dawn.
I decided to leave at 2am in the morning as I have M25ophobia and didn't fancy joining the 4 lanes of crawling traffic that is a daily occurrence on this slab of tarmac. As per the plan I had loaded the car with all the kit and headed off at 2am sharp, I had decided to get there setup camp, then catch up on the missing sleep. It wasn't too long and I found myself stuck in traffic at 3.00am on the A303, do these people never sleep, where are they all going, surely there not all crazy anglers? It was a case of head down and get there without stopping and I pulled up at the gate at 6.15am, and for once getting my rods cast out was not a priority, sorting the Bivvy and bed however was. The bailiff had opened the gate and ran through the rules so it was now a case of finding a spot to set up camp, I had spotted club social officer Nick Duffy AKA the Magnet, as I had driven in. He had acquired this nickname apparently for his ability to attract fish and I'm pretty sure a magnet can work both ways, and I think he is pretty dam good at repelling fish.We exchanged pleasantries and he convinced me to jump in the swim next to him, he and several others had arrived a day earlier, and there were probably already 10 anglers fishing. Duffy had told me he had 6 eels the previous night, but knowing his reputation for wind ups I asked for proof, sure enough like a cheesy magician he produced a group of eels in a net. Wow I didn't know what was more amazing, him telling the truth or him catching eels, either way I was definitely jumping in the swim next to the magnet.
I then set about building camp, which was easier said than done having not done a night in a bivvy for a year, luckily its like riding a bike and I'm rubbish at that too. Maybe the tiredness added to the frustration but I must have set that flipping thing up 3 times before I remembered to attach the strap across the bottom, crucial to keep the thing rigid. Nick the Magnet brought me over a lovely cup of steaming tea, and I didn't have the heart to say I don't drink tea,however it was just the ticket and I was soon revitalised and ready to continue.
Finally everything was in place and I just had to go and get my bait the club vice president and great friend Nick Rose had picked up for me, 100 large worms. This little jaunt would end up taking me a couple of hours, every camp required a quick chat with the fellow club member, this is a large part of the event socialising with friends old and new. I finally made it to El Viceo Presidente's Wild west fort, and it was time for another drink, another cup of tea was lovingly prepared and I thought Nick knew I didn't drink tea. Of course I've only stayed with him on numerous occasion's and had a holiday in france with him, but he is getting on a bit! With my bait collected and socialising done I made my way back to club Tropicana, our bank was bathed in sun and sheltered from the wind, whereas the other fishable bank was exposed to the worst of the wind and it was pretty dam cold over there. It was finally time to cast my baits out and I had decided to go with two on modified Dyson rigs, one with worm and the other with deadbait, both cast into the deep gully a few rod lengths out. The third rod I went for something different, a simple running lead set up baited with a fresh Tiger prawn, Mrs D hates me using them as its not something we can normally afford to buy for tea, let alone feed to fish. I do rate them and by fishing them in the margin against a bed of rushes I could trickle a few freebies in every so often.
With the traps set it should have been sleep time, but I hadn't had any breakfast so it was firing up the stove time and get half a dozen chipolatas nicely tanned. The cookers nowadays, when combined with the new style toaster pans, make bankside cooking a pleasure and within 10 minutes I had sausage rolls and mug of coffee ready to go.
The venue has a reputation for producing fish in the day with nights not so productive and even knowing that, I had still managed to flitter away most of the day, so these next few hours were crucial. With the breakfast consumed and all the household chores now complete I could finally get my head down, leaving my fishing alarms to wake me should I get a bite. The issue with this particular water is that it is surrounded by houses and new development, and has recently had part of the lake filled in for further development. This results in the constant drone of excavators, dozers and dump trucks, added to this are the dulcet tones of a group of builders working on the new builds, result, its like sleeping in a site office. If that wasn't enough it seems like there is a military shooting range nearby or downtown Hythe has a serious gun culture, constant firing even managed to drown out Bob the builder and his buddies. That's why the nights were so blissful, just the occasional wailing of a Delkim alarm and the distant, haunting moans of a Ray Hammel staggering back from the pub.
Despite this constant racket I was so tired I knew given a comfy bed and being able to stay horizontal for a short time id be off to the land of nod. It only seemed like a few minutes when the alarm signalled a bite, as something made off with the margin fished prawn. Due to a total lack of body co-ordination I managed to fall off the bed and onto my cooking stuff, that fish had time to not only eat the Prawn but tie the rig to a sunken snag. When I finally struck everything was solid, I did manage to retrieve the gear by walking up the bank and changing the angle of the line. Another prawn was hooked up and trimmed to size, before being dropped back in the margin in the hope that the fish returned. Once again I shut my eyes just long enough to get the feeling of falling backwards, as deep sleep beckoned, De de de de de! The same rod was once again screaming for attention, this time everything went like clock work and I struck the rapidly departing fish and was met with the powerful bouncing of an angry eel, jamming its tail into the silty gravel. The Magnets radar was working perfectly, as he emerged from the back of the swim " what did you get that on"? This is what I like about Mr Duffy, no conspiracies, secret investigations, checking bait boxes or spying, just straight out what you using! I quite happily told him it took a prawn and it was the second take in a few minutes, " lets have a prawn" was the Magnets next comment. The fish was fighting above its weight but as this was species 40 I was probably playing it overly careful, Nick netted the fish perfectly earning himself a prawn in the process.
The fish was a 2lber and not huge but gratefully received nevertheless, I decided to get a few pictures as the sun was out and I needed an eel picture for the gallery. I returned the eel to the lake and re-cast the rod to the same spot before hiding the remaining prawns securely, they could become a valuable commodity. I finally managed to get a couple of hours sleep due largely to the fact I could now relax having landed the 40th species and also the silence of the alarms. It was only to be a couple of hours though, as once again the prawn rod was taken by another Eel of similar size which was unhooked and quickly returned. Well I started thinking I was onto something here, and as the evening drew in I moved a second rod onto bottom fished prawn dropped into the left hand margin, the middle rod was also placed in the margin but with a deadbait.
Before dark the right hand prawn rod was off again but I managed to miss that one and strongly suspected the fish would return. As day turned to night I enjoyed watching the awesome fishing skills of the handsome Grebes, id love them to visit our lakes and unlike the Cormorant the Grebe would be most welcome. I managed to get a few photos as the lake became calm.
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The night was cold and silent, with very few alarms sounding and I was clearly way off the mark with the margin prawns, as they never moved again. The next morning I at least felt well rested and seeing as it was The Vice Presidents birthday I decided to reel in, and go and give him a card and pressie. I decided to have a quick cuppa before heading off and scanning the lake with the camera zoom I could see groups of anglers standing contemplating a pretty disappointing start. Below club President John Davis, trying to come up with a single positive thing regarding carp anglers!
Upon walking round the lake it was soon apparent that not much had been caught, a couple of 3s, a few Pike and plenty of Bream, the eels that had been caught were all at long range and the consensus was that the pressure of nearly 80 lines in the water had pushed the eels to the far side of the lake. I reached fort Rose to find the weathered old warrior snoring his head off although he may well deny that, I woke him up with his card and pack of beers in return for a cup of coffee. Nick hadn't had an eel yet but hand managed a carp, he is a closet carper for sure, he will come out one day. We were joined by the Noel Coward of the club the charismatic and totally addictive David O Sullivan, better known as Sully. Weirdly he brought his alarm remote over to us then went back to his bivvy and fiddled with the alarms making us jump at every squark. Eventually his titillation paid off as one of his rods signalled a fast run, the rod hooped over and it looked like Sully was into a proper one.
Despite some excellent milking of the situation, the size of the Eel was not representative of Sullys initial responses and I should probably point out in the picture below, the eel is on the right and the worms on the left.
The guys were going to the pub later to celebrate the vice presidents birthday and a few hard core footy fans were staying for the FA cup. I however decided after a biteless night I wanted to make the most out of the day. Neither a fan of drinking or football the victor mildrew in me declined the offer and looking below I think I would have fared much better at the pub.
Without knowing better I decided to stick with what had worked the previous day and fished prawn in the margins, on hindsight I should have tried something different as the rods remained motionless all day. With most of the guys at the pub I found intelligent stimulation non existent which in fairness was the same when Duffy was there anyway. I found an attractive moth to photograph but even he left when I asked for some angling inspiration.
After a gruellingly hot and unproductive day even the arrival of the Magnets grinning face was pleasurable, he asked what takeaway I wanted as he was going to get it. The plan was to meet at the lakes club house and have a collective meal, drink and birthday cake presentation, after only talking with Moths, Ants and Grebes, even fellow eel anglers seemed super appealing.
We done the social meal and Nick managed to receive two cakes with the second cake being a wonderfully baked Carp cake, once again highlighting a secret interest. I decided to get back and try a different tactic for the final evening, but on the way back ran into a slightly sozzelled sully.
We spent a while discussing Sullys forthcoming holiday to Devon and planned a short beach session and fish supper, I really enjoyed the same thing the previous year. Once I got back to my swim it was all change as the rods needed to be re-rigged and my plan was to use single worm baits cut into 4 small pieces then banged out as far as I could cast them. Everything was pointing to the fish being further out ,so I put all my eggs in one basket and put all 3 on worm and at range. With the traps set and coffee made it was time to sit back and watch the unfolding of another of mother natures fantastic portraits, with a perfect sunset only punctuated by diving Grebes.
The left hand rod was suddenly sounding a fast take and as I picked up the rod the line was still flying off the reel, I struck and could feel a better fish determined to remain on the spot it was. Slowly I convinced it inwards as Duffy once again noticed the action, he shouted across " that's a better fish aint it"? I thought it was but didn't want to say and as the fish reached the deep gully in front of the margin the hook came out. So that was my better fish chance over and done, I recast and sat back on the bed to contemplate what I had done wrong, the verdict, nothing! Before I could analyse my loss further the same rod was off again but this time it was a much smaller eel and I soon had it on the bank and unhooked.
The middle rod rollover flipped upwards as another eel grabbed the worms, this one was missed in my haste to get another one landed. Now with two rods out of the water the final rod went off and I hooked up again with an eel of around 2lb 8oz, after another missed run on worms I swapped all the rods to deadbaits in the hope of picking up a better fish. That was the kiss of death and I received no further takes that night.
While packing up in the morning I heard from the magnet he had a few smaller eels but nothing decent, then angler Steve Richardson next to Duffy had a screaming run. The magnet went straight over, no doubt to see what bait he was using. As Steve played the eel he made the mistake of telling Nick that he had a 4lb 10oz in the net already, I think the photos below show the Magnets reaction.
I went over to take a few pictures of Steve's fantastic eel which turned out to be the best fish of the weekend and below are a few of the pictures.
I may have been a tad unfair on Nick the Magnet Duffy in this blog, but he has made a career out of stitching fellow members up and I myself have suffered at his hands on a number of occasions. Probably the worst being while eel fishing with mates Glen and Regan in deepest Bridgewater, we were sat listening to the fisherman's blues, radio show when the host stated he had just received a text message from Eel hunter Steve Dawe, direct from the bank. He went on to say, Steve is really excited having broke his personal best eel with a fish of 1lb 4oz, he then added " Steve attributes his recent success due to wearing his wife's lucky pink thong"! This statement was then analysed by the host and guest who came to the conclusion that the wearing of a lucky pink thong probably made no difference and maybe I should keep that info to myself in future! I was shocked beyond belief and couldn't understand who could have done such a thing. It wasn't to long before the culprit was revealed, Duffy, and I will get him back at some point! Having said that I think the world would be a considerably duller place without a Magnet causing chaos and I'm glad to have spent the weekend with him. The fishing was pretty poor considering how good this pit can be and there were some quality eel specialists working hard and a few others drinking hard but you get what you want from one of these events and as long as you go home happy its a success so welldone Nick and the club for a well organised event. I would like to add that the club have supported my charity challenge with a donation of £50, and for a small club that's a very generous and important donation, many thanks to the committee and membership for the support. Not sure what the next species will be I am still annoyed with a few that haven't materialised yet, the Smoothound, Small eyed Ray and pesky Blenny so it may be one of those next!
