The Shark Club Stresstival
I cannot believe the 2018 annual Shark club festival has been and gone, it seemed so far away back in January when the challenge began, but here we are with two festivals completed. The shark festival has always been a great fun event with a few Sharks thrown in for good measure, once I even won it, proof if needed that anyone can! This year had even greater significance as the capture of a Blue Shark was high on my list of species for my challenge and to get one during the festival would be really special. The first day arrived and fishing partner Brian had text me the list of boats we had been drawn on over the 3 day festival, they were Topcat, Borlewen and Meercat two boats I've never fished from before. Brian was waiting by the quay and skipper Andre carried out he's boat checks before taking all our kit aboard the large boat Topcat. We were joined on day 1 by Peter and Shark Club chairman Bob Woodman making the 4, Brian and I always fish the festival together and I've fished with Bob on a few previous occasions. The 11 boats were soon fully loaded with their various crews of sharking enthusiast's , proudly sporting their numerous festival patches proving their love of the sport and the actual event. The weather was hot, and the wind was a no show making an effective chum trail very difficult, in these conditions the boat and chum cover little to no ground meaning sharks will struggle to find the scent. We stopped for Mackerel not far off land and soon picked up a few, I hooked a real jumbo Mackerel which actually stripped line from the light outfit.
The skipper pulled in a Red Gurnard, this seemed quite normal to me now, gurnards turning up to everyone around me, except me. We soon had plenty of fresh hook baits and the skipper started the engines and along with most of the shark fleet we headed for the shark grounds some 23 miles west in our case.
With the long steam completed the anticipation was growing, as the boat bobbed slowly in the dwindling breeze we waited patiently for the call on the radio signalling lines down. It transpired that we hadn't heard the call on the radio and were 30 minutes late in starting but the tide and wind were initially so bad we just couldn't get the floats to leave the protection of the boat anyway. Eventually the floats decided it was safe enough to move out into the slick and they were soon joined by our favourite shark alarms, the handsome Fulmar's. These sea birds love to sit in the slick created by the chopped fish and oil that makes up the chum mix, they wait for little morsels to drift towards them and quickly gobble them up before any of their brethren. They have a wonderful ability to see / sense sharks in the area and will lift from the water and circle the boat often landing away from the chum trail, sharks very often take an exploratory bite of any unwise seabirds so it pays for them to remain vigilante. The fulmar's today however remained relaxed but then carried out a strange ritual whereby they appeared to paddle vigorously on the spot, this was a technique to bring the fish morsels to the surface.
The chum trail was spread wide but not far, and we really were sat in the doldrums' if only a breeze would arrive to save the day, it took an hour before the first shark arrived and the fish powered through the middle of the floats pausing only to smack my float with its tail. Another hour passed when Bobs float was no longer there, no ratchet or any sound, it then returned like one of the barrels in the film Jaws breaching the surface. Then back down beneath the surface, only to pop up once again, a small fish no doubt mouthing the bait, 20 minutes then passed before the float was down and the ratchet purred. Bob tightened up so the barbless circle hook could do its work and it was fish on.
Bob soon had the fish to the side and it really didn't want to fight much and even remained calm for the measuring process, great start for Mr Woodman but he always does pretty well maybe something to do with his pink trousers. The day remained quiet and with time ticking away I was really doubting the appearance of another shark, even worse I had fished really hard for a Gurnard all day and in 200 feet of water every Whiting is energy sapping.Brian happened to mention it was 15.50 and with only 10 minutes till lines up it was Woodman time as Bob had a knack of a last minute fish, sure enough right on cue his float disappeared. The result was a hard fighting fish the polar opposite of his first fish and it took steady Bob a few minutes to get this one to the boat, however it was soon aboard and being measured.
That was the only excitement on day 1 for our boat, it was now the steam back to the harbour and time to check into my hotel, get showered, fed and watch the footy. Well the lack of a shark on day one was the least of my problems as the hotel, The Harbour Moon, informed me they had changed ownership since I booked and no longer dealt with Expedia the company I had booked through and whom had taken £120 in payment. The hotel stated they had no rooms available and I would need to take it up with expedia, not a lot of use 18.30 in the evening while I'm stood in the middle of Looe with my suitcase. I had no choice but to leave, I sat in a nearby carpark deciding whether to knock the festival on the head and go home, I posted my dilemma on facebook and let Brian know. The great members of the Shark Club were soon offering me somewhere to kip and Brian and Wife Libby got the short straw, as I headed over to their cottage to take refuge. They were wonderful hosts and really looked after me I cannot thank them enough, like everyone who offered to put me up, thanks so much you really are the salt of the earth. With the stress of the first 24 hrs behind me it was another day and another boat, today we were out on skipper Dan Gunnows lovely new boat Borlewen, we were joined by anglers Beau and Paul Martin. Paul I know well as he makes all my wonderful shark traces for me and I owed him a few quid for the last lot, not a lot of places to hide on a boat so I paid as soon as I saw him.
We were soon under way and were closely followed by the huge cat Swallow 2 skippered by Murray Collins another of looe's finest skippers, a quick stop for Mackerel for fresh baits and we were once again heading out into the blue.
The journey out was full of good banter and that's such an integral part of the festival, getting to fish with other anglers and skippers and making new friendships, not to mention the learning curve you go through. We pulled up into the desired area and straight away we noticed more breeze, the start time had been set for 10.00 and Dan stuck the kettle on to make use of the waiting time. The bags of chum were then placed over the side at 10.00 on the dot and the trail was started, we draw for positions with 1 being far away and 4 close to the boat, I managed to draw 4 for the second day in a row. I quite like the position by the boat, the chum scent is strongest at its source, the bags tied to the boat, you can also see your bait to check its still there. The downside is its normally the rod that needs to be removed if someone hooks a shark as its inevitably in the way. With all the baits set it was now the waiting game, for me this meant more bait fishing, better known as trying to catch a Gurnard, fortunately my persistence paid off in some respects as I managed to land a bonus species the Scad, also known as the Horse Mackerel. I hadn't really planned to catch this species at this point but I was now pretty chuffed to get species 47 on the board.
I had placed the rod I was using to target the Gurnards in one of the boat holders and heard a dink noise as the tip snapped randomly and cleanly and fell to the ground, yet another slice of bad luck in a whole cake of bad luck.
Surely things must improve, and then Brian's float done the disappearing act as a shark tried to sneak off in stealth mode, no suck luck Mr Blue as Brian was on the case, a good scrap followed and a nice Blue of 85lb was brought aboard.
I was really pleased for Brian to get off the mark and also to see a shark, it was an hour later and Brian had another shark but this one rolled up the trace and straight through the mono main line. The same thing happened to Beau near the end of the day with a very good shark rolling up past the rubbing leader and through the trace. Day 2 was over and yet again no shark runs for me, this was shaping up to be my worst festival but who knows what the final day may bring. On our way in will pulled alongside another skipper called Dan and his boat Sowenna, they had been just out past us and managed 7 sharks which included 3 in the last 10 minutes.
Hard to work out these sharks but Sowenna is an older style Looe Shark boat and has a mizzen sail on her rear, this helps make the most of a small breeze and maybe the faster drift helped. Tonight's accommodation was to be with friends John and Caroline, as john was in the festival he drove me back to his place where I was once again treated like a VIP much to Johns disgust! The final day was aboard Meercat and skipper Steve wasted no time in getting the kettle on, today Brian and I were joined by Kevin Tapper, Dave Stone and John Lock, an extra angler due to a breakdown on one of the other boats. This was a real motley crew, and Dave, John and I were all blanking in the shark stakes so we really hoped something would happen today. We got to the grounds and started the drift but despite the big tides the lack of any type of breeze once again curtailed a good chum slick. I once again resumed my daily effort for the Gurnard but the water was so thick with Mackerel I just couldn't get through them, once we had enough for bait I tried a single hook rig with a big bait this resulted in plenty of Whiting and once again it was a good old slog bringing Whiting up from such a depth, I then hooked a much better fish that battled pretty much to the surface, the result was a huge Whiting and new p.b, I even took a picture of this one to update my blog.
The tide was a bit strong for bottom fishing so I had a rest while I waited for the tide to slacken off which was around 2.30 in the afternoon. We hadn't seen any sharks around the baits and even the shark alarm birds hadn't lifted from the water, a very very quiet day. With the arrival of slack water I returned to my task and in order to beat the mackerel I used a really heavy weight, the rig was a cut down set of feathers giving just two hooks, I baited these with tiny fish section in the hope the Whiting wouldn't notice and crossed my fingers. The bait reached the bottom so it made the gauntlet of Mackerel, there was no instant savage grabs from the Whiting the plan had worked. Around ten minutes passed and the rod tip trembled gently and this was followed by a few small plucks which I decided to strike, I could feel the odd small shake as I slowly retrieved the rig to the surface, but then a bar of stunning grey broke the surface and a pair of big eyes stared up at me. There waddling on the surface sat a Grey Gurnard, I gingerly raised the precious little fish over the gunnel and let out a yell of joy, shocking the rest of the crew. I forgot all the mishaps and bad karma of the last few days as this little fish meant so much to me, a real boost that was so needed, so hear it is species number 48 the Grey Gurnard!
That would have probably been a great point to end my festival on but with 30 minutes left of the day my mind turned to the possibility of a Garfish as they had been around on the previous day. I tied a size 2 hook to 5lb fluorocarbon and cut a 2 inch slither of Mackerel belly for bait, I used a heavy swivel to act as a weight and trotted the bait back in the slick. Then about 10 minutes later I felt a couple of plucks on the braid, I had the line between my fingers feeling for bites when suddenly the braid pulled tight from my hand and line started pouring from the reel, a shark had taken the little bait. Of course it didn't stay on long and bit me off, I told the rest of the guys just as a really big shark swam right passed us, that's the culprit I exclaimed! The shark swam deep and with seconds left on the clock grabbed Johns long distance bait, the fish made several long powerful runs and I was looking forward to getting my little hook back when disaster struck the hook pulled out! I really was gutted for John as like me he had bided his time waiting for that one opportunity and when it came he played the fish like a pro, it can be such a kick in the teeth sometimes. So that was the festival, great to get a few more species off the list and especially one of the more testing ones for me the Gurnard, I just need to get the other fish that has pushed me so close to the edge, the dastardly Blenny Henry! Last festival picture is mate John getting his first and only shark of the festival on the last day, and with both John and Brian catching sharks in such tricky conditions it must surely be a result of good karma for doing a mate a favour and giving me a bed to sleep in.
Saturday morning and Chris has messaged me, "lets go get that Blenny", well its a bit cheeky really ive only just got home and I don't think its fair to even ask Mrs D so I replied with I'm not sure. When my good lady returns she tells me to get my stuff and go and get that pesky fish, so its game on and attempt 6 at that little sea devil! Chris offers to drive which is great, I have a bit of a plymouthophobia, does my head in driving around there. Chris tells me on the way down that he has been quite sick all morning, he weren't joking as through the afternoon he was so ill that I was really beginning to worry about him. We turned up at the mark that Chris had named Dawes Destiny on account of the amount of Blennies that resided there, he was quite excited to show me and as we climbed the wall his face dropped, the rock was dry. Chris was unaware that the mark ever dried out but one thing was sure there isn't none there at the moment. We tried an area a little way along the coast but despite it looking prime for some Blenny action the area was in fact controlled by a pretty ruthless gang of Prawns, I managed to take out some of the ring leaders before we headed back to the original mark.
It was around an hour before we got back to the rock and by now the water was lapping at the base of the rock, Chris however was to sick to fish and after being sick numerous times decided to go and get the car to park it closer. I set up my gear on the little rock and from the surface nothing appeared that exciting for Blennys to make their homes.
I flicked out a half ragworm and straight away a trebling bite signalled some interest, I lifted the rod to see the wriggling shape of a small blenny, yes, it then fell off, no! Chris returned a slightly better colour and I told him I had one and it fell off, he cast his rod and promptly brought in the first Blenny, at the same time my ragworm bait was taken but this time by a pesky little wrasse.
Chris had to go for another wander to sort his stomach out and while he was gone yet another blenny fell from my hook as it dangled above the water. Chris returned just as another little nibble appeared on my rod, this time however I succeeded and that pesky, frustrating little pool demon the Blenny was finally mine, species 49 what a result!
Chris who was unable to fish managed to climb down the rocks to do the pictures and was clearly pleased that his prediction of Dawes destiny came to fruition. He then insisted we travel over to west hoe to try for a Tom pot Blenny the bigger more ferocious cousin of the blenny, I was a bit worried about his condition but agreed to give it an hour. We got round to West Hoe which was packed with people enjoying the sun, I found a gap and Chris crashed out on the ground for an hour. While I was fishing a young lad came over and asked me what I was fishing for and had I caught, I spent a little while explaining everything to the keen lad and when I caught a stunning little Corkwing Wrasse he was delighted to get to hold his first fish. His dad who was eating nearby with the family asked if he was in the way, no way its great when youngsters are genuinely interested I explained. The young lads dad went on to ask me about my challenge and was keen to make a donation to the just giving page, I spent a bit longer showing the youngster the difference between the wrasses I was catching but soon he had to go off for his dinner. I hope this lad is another angler of the future and if not he at least has an appreciation of those who do.
So despite the epic fail on the shark front I have still managed to get a few more species including two of my biggest nemesis, thanks so much Chris totally down to you today and I really hope that your are getting better. Thanks to my family for all the support lately and my friends at the Shark Club for rallying around in my hour of need, only 3 more species to go and I really would like one to be a Blue Shark and another the Tope. Thanks for reading and for those that support my blogs its you guys that keep me going in the tough times.
