Fathers day but the Tope don't play.
This weeks blog was to be largely about the mighty Tope one of our most powerful of sea fish and a voracious member of the shark family that inhabits the inshore marks of our coast. As can be typical with fishing and my challenge nothing really goes to plan and you just cant get fish to follow a script. The trip was booked sometime ago with the Happy Danglers and the boat was skipper Steve Webber's Osprey based in Minehead, so, quality boat, skipper and venue. Due to a cancelation Chris was able to join me on his first trip with the Danglers which would make the long journey to Minehead slightly more interesting. The Saturday we were out working at the lakes during the morning adding a strand of barb wire to the fence.You really have to know what your doing with this stuff, and as we didn't, we managed to cut each other up worse than an a couple of drunk musketeers. Once patched up and completed we headed off to the beach to gather hardback crabs for the following days trip, if the Tope didn't show it would be Smoothhounds as a backup. Hardback crabs are a far cheaper alternative to buying peeler crabs but if you factor in the fuel and time not sure how much we really saved, especially as they were so elusive. We spent quite a while foraging under rocks and weed before we found a single crab, the really annoying thing was that every pool was full of my nemesis the lesser caught Blenny!
Chris looked at one stage to be praying to the gods of the Crab to bestow a couple of crustacean's upon us and it seemed to do the trick as soon we were both wrangling with the aggressive little crabs. This was just in the nick of time as both Chris and I were getting to the point of robbing some kids of their prized buckets of crabs, which probably wouldn't have ended well. With the crabs safely caught it was time to get home and sort the tackle, it wasn't an early start in the morning as we weren't heading out to sea until 10am. Chris picked me up and despite a brisk south westerly breeze it looked a great day for a spot of Tope fishing. Our leisurely trip up to Minehead had cost us one of the free parking spaces and that always leaves a bad taste in the mouth, now £6 out of pocket. We walked over to the harbour where everyone else was busy catching crabs from the harbour wall like excited children, we had actually thought of that and brought our crab nets but as there were now plenty of crab we didn't bother.
The boats of the Minehead fleet were all getting readied by their respective skippers and its a sign of the times that there are so many Cats within the charter industry now.
Steve picked us up at the steps and we were soon loaded up and heading south in the less than clear water of the Bristol Channel, the white spires of Butlins standing out like a plastic Sydney Opera House slowly grew smaller as we steamed along the coast. The coastline along the Somerset / Devon borders is quite stunning with huge cliffs clad in dense trees resembling Jurassic Parks Isla Nublea island, and the murky brown waters certainly do hold monsters. I do love the journey to the first mark of the day, the sea air acts like an atomiser of good things in life and I will never tire of this feeling of admiration for the world in which we live. I watched the gulls soaring effortlessly and with such grace, it was hard to imagine that these are the same creatures that steals chips and bomb you with their super accurate doo doos!
The image on this morning was of a bird of great aerial skills and it reminded of one of the few books I read through choice, Johnathan Livingstone Seagull a wonderful book giving a different perspective on Gulls.
Before we knew it the engines of Osprey fell silent and the large chunk of iron plummeted to the seabed, our umbilical to tether us in the rapid channel tide flow. The boat settled into her position and it was lines down time, incredibly it was only 6oz of lead that was needed to pin the rig to the bottom a rarity in this neck of the woods. The mark we were on was an area frequented by Smoothounds and it was straight on with the hardback crabs in the hope that a pack would soon arrive. Pete Gregory was soon into the first hound of the day and he proved to be the most consistent Hound catcher on the day despite reluctantly using his supply of peeler crab to achieve it. I was then into a hound that had snaffled one of our hard earned beach crabs, as per usual the scrap was excellent and eventually a nice hound broke surface, skipper Steve quickly unhooking it at the side of the boat. No photo opportunity that time, I must remember to let the skipper know id like a quick picture, a couple more hounds were landed before the tide picked up. With the increasing tide the wind also picked up and before we knew it we were surrounded by white horses and a misty drizzle arrived to dampen spirits. Skipper Steve decided to move to another mark tight to the protection of the cliffs which would offer a variation of species. With the move made the difference was staggering and even the sun decided to come out, the surface of the water was flat calm and it was hard to imagine that 20 minutes previously we had been so uncomfortable. With the chance of a Bullhuss now on the cards I decided to try a Mackerel Head on a more substantial trace that was fished on the uptide setup, I have been after a double figure Bullhuss for several years so always have a go for them when I can. I cast this towards the shore allowing the grip lead to lodge properly in the soft seabed before tightening the line. Instantly the rod sprang back as a fish took the bait, this turned out to be a strap Conger, followed by another one and I then changed to half a Mackerel bait. The rod once again sprung back and this time upon striking it was very different with line peeling off the fixed spool reel steadily, indicating a better fish. The skipper arrived with the net knowing it could be a better fish and a short distance behind the boat the broad snout of a Bullhuss appeared from the gloom, I knew it was a personal best and just hoped it wasn't just holding the bait a trait this species is notorious for. I have lost a few good Bullhuss in the past out with Andy Howell on Anglo Dawn, due to them letting go at the surface after gripping the bait during the whole fight. With the fish safely netted I was keen to see if it would be the double I was after and at 11lb 8oz it certainly was so that was trip made for me. I have had a Bullhuss on this challenge but as it was smaller than the Lesser Spotted Dogfish in the gallery it was somewhat demeaning to the superior species, at least I can now put this wrong right and update the gallery.
Chris was also desperately seeking a Huss having not caught one this year despite trying on a number of occasions and now I hoped it would come together for him, he stuck to the plan, big baits and surely it would only be a matter of time. There were several Huss coming aboard and it was all getting a bit strange with trip organiser and backbone of the danglers Nick Smith hooking a Bullhuss and Lesser Spotted Dogfish on the same hook.
Chris then thinking Neptune had finally heeded his prayers battled a Bullhuss to the surface only to find out that incredibly it was hooked in the tail, super lucky or highly unlucky either way it was like strange forces were at work!
Pete then made his day catching a stunningly marked 3 Bearded Rockling which after the mammoth photo session was returned lovingly to the sea, the rockling hadn't been returned long before Pete managed a nice Bullhuss. Chris was no doubt wondering what he could do to finally get one as several had been landed from all around the boat. We decided to try out a bit further for the Tope in a mark with a bit deeper water, unfortunately this meant stronger tide and It was on with the 1lb 8oz leads, wire trace and big baits. Several dogfish crashed the party and pulling in a big lead in a strong tide with one of these spotted spinners can be somewhat tiresome. As evident by the title the Tope never showed and Pete told me from his experience they don't really like the rough sea and overcast days, this sort of rings true with the successful Tope days I've had in the past. As the slack water arrived so did a scattering of Conger and Chris managed one of the better ones a scraper double, which pleased him no end although it was released prior to a photograph. The tide soon began to run again and Nick Smith was soon battling a fish that although initially appeared decent turned into an average Huss, not that he was milking it whatsoever.
I have neglected to mention the excellent hosting skills of skipper Steve and first mate Will, nothing was too much trouble and I had brought bacon and rolls which were cooked up for a hot breakfast. Also on the trip another Chris, this one a master sausage maker, supplied the afternoons hot snacks with his superior spicy sausages. I hope skipper Andy Howell reads this and adds this to Anglo's facilities for our August sorte, I can imagine the answer will include the words, stuffed, you, get and can! With the Huss back on the feed there was still time for Chris to get one and as both our rods began bouncing we feared that deep below the waves a dogfish may be undertaking a knit one pearl one job on our lines. Chris seized the moment and struck defiantly hoping to either knock off the dogfish or hook the Huss fortunately it was the latter and sure enough finally he got what he had hoped for.
Seeing we weren't connected to the same fish I thought I should check my bait and this also had a Bullhuss attached although my one was only dogfish sized.
We opted to finish off the day with another go at the Smoothhounds on a mark closer to home and up anchored for the 40 minute steam back. I have fished this mark before and its a great spot for rays, so I was in two minds what to target, as I hadn't got a Smoothound picture, and if I caught a Starry Smoothound it would be species 44 that was the initial target. As per the rest of the day Pete was soon in to a decent hound which looked every bit a double figure fish, strangely the fish had taken he's Bluey bait intended for Rays. Tom fishing to my left had simultaneous bites on his two rods landing both fish, a Smoothound and Thornback Ray, good bit of angling that Tom. Nick also landed a nice Hound on the new mark but I think sleepy Cider Sam who had slept through at least one mark was having some serious sausage reaction, no doubt curtailing his fishing abilities. I had missed a few bites on the crab and I think they must have been pup hounds as they seemed to drop the bait fairly quickly after the initial rattle. Finally a proper take on a spider peeler and I was hooked into a hound and my last fish of the day, the skipper kindly netted it so I could grab a photograph. The fish was indeed a Starry Smoothound and therefore species 44, purists will say that recent genealogy testing points to Common and Starry being the same species, I have always considered them separate and after much discussion that's what I'm going with. The Starry Smoothound is so called due to the bright white clusters of spots that cover their backs, the Common has no or very fine spots that are hardly visible.
With the day at an end and everyone feeling exhausted, happy and content, and they weren't 3 of snow whites dwarfs, it was time to head for home. Thanks to skipper Steve, first mate Will and big thanks to Nick Smith for all the organising he does for the Danglers. Cheers as usual to Chris for driving, photography and helping gather bait, and to my wife and kids for letting me disappear on Fathers day. Next weekend its the 2 day Conger festival down in Plymouth and although ive had a Conger for the species hunt I could add a bigger one and I aim to try for that pesky blenny on Saturday evening. Our team name is Longer, Stronger Conger and after coming runners up two years in a row we are hoping this is our year, if not its still a great weekend.
