Out of the Blue
With the various trials and tribulations of the shark festival 2018 now a distant memory, it doesn't take long to forget when your over 50, I've even got on and sorted my entry and accommodation for next year, I wont be worrying about Gurnard or Garfish then just 100% shark! Four shark trips done and no sharks landed, I think I had this down as a green category for my challenge, meaning it should be one of the easier fish, that's why you should never take anything for granted. I think the biggest disappointment was not getting the Blue Shark during the festival for my challenge, it would have tied in nicely with the blog, and besides a lot better anglers than me blanked and some worse ones caught, that was a joke John Doswell!
The Tope trip I had booked up in Minehead was cancelled Sunday afternoon due to a lack of anglers, crazy when the Tope fishing on the north coast has been sublime this year, this left me with a bit of a dilemma. With a lot of fish species now in the bag there's not many that are straight forward to go out and target, they tend to need a bit of planning, baits, rigs and venues etc. I was really banking on the Tope, and that has left me with one more Tope trip outstanding, next week on Pegasus with skipper Lewis, he delivered with the Black Bream so lets see how he does with the Tope. I was in a bit of a quandary to know what to try for, the day was booked as leave and I didn't want to waste it, then out of the blue I had a message from the skipper of Force 10, Pete Davis. He had a trip sharking in the morning and a space had become available if I was interested, Mrs D took pity on me and sensing the end is nigh on the 52, gave me the royal approval. So 6.30 am the next morning I am back in Looe with shark rod in hand to try and get number 50, and one of my most favourite of fish, the Blue Shark. Pete had told me it would be a 8.20 departure but I just couldn't help but get there early and try for something that maybe I hadn't had yet. I walked down to the rocks with a shark rod in one hand and LRF rod in the other, an old chap walking his dog looked quite amused by the size of my tackle, "What you after" he enquired " Dragonets" I replied, that clearly bamboozled him and he probably had visions of some fire breathing serpent that needed dragging from a sea cave. He wished me good luck regardless of believing me, and we both went on our way.
It was a lovely hour or so spent dragging tiny lures into ever more snaggy gullies and despite having the odd snatch on the plastic worm no fish materialised. It was time to head to the harbour and board the boat as the sun started rising so would the temperature, a flat sea looked inventible and thoughts of the doldrums that plagued the festival returned. Pete was running through his boat checks and its only a foolish man that boards a boat before the skipper invites you, so I stayed harbour side until I knew the skipper was happy his safety routine was complete. The kettle was on and I had the feeling I was going to get a shark, last time I was out with Pete I caught the Devon Trophy winning shark. Force 10 and skipper Pete have always been a good omen for me and I always try and do a few trips with Pete every year, after all I caught my first ever blue shark with him, my shark club qualifier with him and we even won the festival together so as statistics go its a lucky combination. The rest of the anglers arrived, Mark, his dad John, and Gordon the kitchen fitter, crewing for us today was the hyper active Helen Small and what a great job she did.
With everyone on board we were off, back out of the mouth of the river a sight I have seen more than my own front door lately, and one I will never tire of seeing! The sea as I feared was like a mirror, the surface only disturbed by the lifting of seabirds as we cut through the glass sea, like a wood plane sliding through cedar. Why couldn't we have a bit of a breeze, this stagnant sea doesn't create enough movement, our only hope that 16 miles away things are different.
Well the sea can be a beast of many faces and by the time we arrived things had changed with a strong blow now hitting from the southwest, rain heavy in the air and the boat rocking like a weak jelly on an uneven washing machine on final spin. The green mountain dew bottle was a sharking virgin, I had lost my original in a boating accident, and the new guy was finding out what it takes to become a fully fledged shark float, as the waves crashed all around in the fast developing squall.
The slick ran out perfectly, flattening as much of the sea as it could, it really looked prime for sharks, we had caught plenty of fresh bait upon arrival so surely it was just a matter of time. This was so different from the days of the festival and even completely different from 2 hours previous, Pete and Helen worked the bags tirelessly and regularly topped up with the sweet smelling rubby dubby that only shark skippers can create. Never stand to close to a skipper while he thrashes his sacks against the side of a boat, with the wind in your face its only a matter of time before you have chum on your face, it stings your eyes worse than soap and lingers longer than the most pungent of garlic! Then something strange happened, the green horn float got promoted, as a shark pulled it below the waves, a few clicks of the reel signified there was indeed life out there, the float had now returned and was travelling along the surface to our right. I reeled the greedy little shark in which had by now got involved with Johns line, making us think we had a two sharks hooked up, we brought her in and Pete had her unhooked and washed for a photo in seconds. This was no monster, but by god I was pleased to see this lovely blue girl, she behaved perfectly for the photo and was quickly sent on her way, I didn't worry to much about catching anymore, or bigger as that was species number 50. I am pretty sure I will catch some larger sharks this year, but that fish will be the fish in the gallery regardless, thanks so much Pete for your sharking voodoo, I know you wanted me to get a bigger one but this challenge isn't about monsters, that's next year!
Its incredible when you start looking closely at these apex predators just how many senses and methods of dealing with their prey they are armed with,the pictures below show the details of the eye, teeth, nostril and the small lines of dots that make up it's electroreceptors.
With the shark done I went straight into Garfish mode, and quickly set up the LRF rod with a small hook and strip of mackerel belly I trotted this back in the chum trail. The wind had receded and the rain passed so fishing returned to a more comfortable situation, what's more I was getting plucks on the garfish rod. I struck to find myself connected to a mini tuna, although only a mackerel, on 5lb line and light tackle these 1lb fish were stripping line and after landing 20 in ever increasing sizes I passed the rod to Mark to experience the sport. No Garfish appeared but I really recommend this light tackle fishing as opposed to feathers for these great powerhouse fish. Then Mark was into a shark as the far left float was away, a good scrap ensued and Pete tagged and unhooked a nice 70lber, sadly that was the last action of the day for us and the day had flown by. The journey in was made interesting as we passed by a huge aircraft carrier sat off the Cornish coast, I thought it might have been the USS Trump with him being in the country but probably far to small for that!
Great trip aboard Force 10 with another great bunch of anglers, I am amazed how many anglers live not far from me and we have never crossed paths before, or maybe we have and I forgot them.
The final act is to raise the shark flags as we cross into the harbour and although it didn't take an awful lot of raising, it has made me a dam sight happier. Thanks Pete for your hospitality and support for the challenge its much appreciated, thanks to Helen for her hard work through the day, certainly give JD a run for his money. Now I am really scratching for species I don't know what I shall try for this coming weekend but the alternative is gardening so might have to tell Mrs D I am out after The Averagely Spotted Eight Spined Mud Gudgeon. As an update for anyone who read of my plight with the Harbour Moon hotel in looe and Expedia, I am pleased so say that Expedia refunded all of my money and are sending me a £25 voucher as compensation, well done them! the Hotel though I will avoid for the rest of my life!
