Can it be true, I have reached 52!
With the recent capture of my first Blue of the season and species number 50, I was thinking that every trip from now on had the potential to achieve the magical 52. The first trip that could have done it was another shark trip from Looe, this time aboard the huge Cat, Swallow 2 skippered by another of Looe's greats Murray Collins. The trip had been chartered by good friend Steve McDonald and I wasn't aware it was to be just the two of us until the day before, this meant we could have literally avoided each other all day with the size of this boat. The morning arrived and yet again it was hot, flat and early, this had been my life lately, and I don't think I can remember getting out on so many trips in a row.
I met Steve M in Launceston and I drove the final 40 minutes down to Looe, I dropped Steve off in East Looe and drove the car up to Hannafore Road to park the car for the day. The great thing about these Looe Skippers is they are most obliging with picking you up from either side of the river and sure enough Murray brought Swallow 2 over to West Looe to pick me up. Now things were about to get confusing, as Murray's crewman was Steve Allen, this meant that 3 out of the 4 people on this boat were called Steve and so I became Steve 52. We stopped for bait a short way off shore and rather sneakily I kept my pink Gurnard feathers tight to the bottom in the hope that a Red Gurnard would start the day off in style. The other Steve's were catching Mackerel so I continued with my plan and sure enough I hooked something, I nervously wound in to see a red shape spinning up to the surface, could it really be the Gurnard? Unfortunately not this time as it turned out to be red coloured Ballan Wrasse, this was followed by a Cuckoo Wrasse and finally another Ballan.
With several fresh baits caught it was time to head off to try and find some Blue Sharks and fingers crossed a Garfish for my challenge. We arrived on the mark to be greeted by the same flat sea that welcomed us out of the harbour early that morning, the fulmers and gulls arrived and although not invited were most welcome. Murray and Steve A, got the multiple chum bags over the side and the slick was off and running, its always an adrenalin filled 30 minutes when the first bait is trotted down the chum trail. With the initial excitement now replaced by the creeping fear of the blank, it reminds me sharking is very often a game of two halves with the latter often consumed by that sick feeling that a journey in, minus a blue flag conveys. I was feeling positive and within an hour the feathery white audience bobbing up and down in front of us took off in unison, a sign that a Shark was in the vicinity. By now I was in full Garfish mode and despite doing so well on the Mackerel with the LRF on the Monday with Pete I struggled to get a bite. It amazes me that where fishing is concerned no two days are the same and fish are a true enigma, and like the famous code every now and then we solve a bit of the code and catch a few fish. The birds returned but wouldn't relax and over the next hour were up and down more often than my beloved Newcastle United, we knew a shark was there but for now it remained hidden within the blue shadows. I then put in a music request to the skipper, thinking maybe that some Fleetwood Mack booming from the wheelhouse may inspire a shark or two.Then one green bottle was no longer sitting on the wall as it disappeared beneath the surface, the ratchet slowly purred in a steady but satisfying way. I wound down and met the tension created by the departing shark which set the circle hook perfectly and it was game on. The fish wasn't huge but made a few short runs before skipper Murray brought her in for unhooking, the fish was between 40lb to 50lb and in stunning condition.
With a quick picture taken the fish was quickly released and swam off strongly to continue her incredible journey. So with a fish in the bag it was hopefully Steve Macs turn and I was really hoping we would see something special come our way, Steve A then shouted, "Shark at the rear of the boat"! We 3 Steve's stared intently at the large fin rapidly moving towards the slick from the east and maybe it was shark fever or too much sun but none of us realised it was a Sunfish. Murray exited the cabin and stated with some degree of authority it was a sunfish not a shark, straight away we could then see it was a sunfish but a real big one and moving with real purpose. These wonderfully strange half-fish love to eat jellyfish but also enjoy picking off parasites from the feet of seagulls, this particular sunfish had acquired a target, a fat herring gull bobbing on the edge of the chum trail. It approached like a missile and the gull clearly looking through the same spectacle's as us must have thought, Shark!! It exploded from the surface in the nick of time as the huge sunfish turned on a new target further away again, and it slowly shrank from view. Suddenly, Steve Mac's balloon was down and out as a shark popped it, ate the bait and headed off with the rig, Steve's battle was shorter than mine and a shark of around 25lb was quickly landed and released. I carried on with the hunt for a Garfish in the hope that I could add another species to the list but I just think they weren't there on that particular day, their time will come. Steve Mac had another smaller shark before it was time to head in and despite achieving no more species it was a truly great day and Murray has gone on to support my challenge which I am most grateful for. That was the first trip done and the next outing was to be aboard Pegasus from Lyme Regis, skippered by an impressive young skipper Lewis Hodder.
The target this time was to be the Tope, a fish that has been elusive only due to previous trips being cancelled, and quietly I was excited at the prospect having not caught a Tope for a few years. Chris was joining me on this trip and surprisingly he had no obvious ailments other than the usual mindless ramblings 'of a ageing air drummer! It was my time to drive and as per usual it was the standard 5am ejection from the bed to pick up Chris at 5.45am, and yes, it was once again a lovely morning, if you like it hot, dusty and no breeze!
We walked down the hill towards the harbour and I stopped to take a quick shot of the myriad of boats leashed like a pack of tiny white dogs waiting to be free, to frolic disobediently amongst the waves. With the lovely summer ramble down the hill complete, we found ourselves first at the boat, Lewis was going about his chores and told us to go on aboard. We have come to really enjoy fishing from Lyme and Lewis has got some wonderful fishing on his doorstep being less than an hour from home its our closest charter. We gravitated towards the back of the boat and set up the rods with the feathers for the first part of the mission, fresh Mackerel!
A couple more of Lewis's regulars turned up and joined us at the rear of the boat, we ended up with 8 anglers and what a great bunch they were. There were 4 chefs from Beer, two of whom had recently believed Bite Adventures skipper Chippy when he told them all new shark anglers have to eat some of the chum! Having seen the post on face book it was nice to meet the chum eaters in person, a great bunch, that it was a pleasure to fish with. We headed out on an almost tropical sea and an hour later we stopped for bait and were enveloped by a sea mist that dropped the temperature considerably, the Mackerel were scarce and the bait box consisted mainly of small scad. We headed off for the final hours steam towards Portland Bill and I sat on my baitbox actually shivering, something I didn't imagine id be doing when I left home that morning.
I put on the only other layer I had with me a neck snood and covered up and dreamt of tope, I knew this trip could see me achieve 52 species if I got a Tope and maybe the Red Gurnard. We had also brought the LRF rods along so we could end the day trying for a Scorpion Fish or Tompot Blenny, I was determined to get something on this day. We arrived at the Tope mark and the tide was pushing through to start with so it was 1lb 8oz leads to keep in touch with the seabed. I was using my new Fin Nor rod and reel and was really hoping to test them on something other than a gert big lead weight. The whole scad flappers were lowered into the clear water and the nervous wait began, it was about 30 minutes before one of the Beer boys hooked into a fish and the first small Tope made an appearance. Both Chris and I missed a few finicky bites before I had a ratchet running bite, I struck to find an angry fish attached as the Tope I needed broke the surface. The tope was no monster and skipper Lewis grabbed the trace and the fish was released and gone, Lewis turned and said "welldone on the Tope you needed ". I was temporarily stunned, I had forgot to inform the skipper that I need a photograph as proof for my species challenge, Lewis said don't worry you will get another! Then Chris had a great bite on his Mackerel head bait and he struck to find himself attached to a stubborn fish that hung in the fast tide.
The fish was clearly a ray and eventually kited to the surface, we could see straight away it was a stunning Undulate Ray also known as a painted ray. I was really chuffed for Chris as I didn't think I would ever see one of them, an incredible looking ray and a fish I was extremely envious of. The fish of 10lb 8oz was a personal best and nothing less than Chris had deserved for all his perseverance lately.
The fish were switching on now and I had another run on my double squid bait, this was clearly another small Tope and this time shortly after reaching the surface it was safely netted by the skipper.
It was great to see this second Tope and a massive relief as there were only 4 Tope landed all day, so good fortune smiled on me. With the Tope done I asked Lewis how do I go about targeting this stunning Undulate Rays, I really wanted one having seen one in the flesh. The skipper advised me to go with a whole mackerel head, the same bait Chris had landed his on but apparently they love them, so I removed the wire trace and replaced it with 150lb mono just in case and a fresh Mackerel head. It was down on the bottom for literally a few minutes when a fast run developed and upon striking I knew I was into a ray, the dogged fight was quite impressive and gave the little Primal reel a good test. The stunning Undulate appeared on the surface down tide and the markings are truly amazing just like an elaborate dot to dot, I was so excited at getting one of these rays I forgot what it actually meant.
The skipper congratulated me on hitting species 52 and then it dawned on me, I had actually done it ,I felt strangely numb for a second then Lewis informed me the ray weighed 11lb 8oz, nice personal best. There were several fish turning up as another couple of rays made an appearance to the Beer boys, Chris was back into some ray action and this turned out to be his first Thornback of the year which made his smile even bigger.
I then had a small conger and a few sandpaper sharks before my mackerel head once again attracted an Undulate Ray, I was really getting fond of this fish, being a ray fan.
A few of the guys had swapped over to Bream rigs and were wading through the onslaught of Poor Cod and Pouting, eventually getting Black Bream to 3lb. Chris sensing another personal best was on the cards added a small hook with a sprinkling of the finest green to his bottom rig, Bream love a bit of bright green it attracts them for some unknown reason. He wasn't out for long before a Bream took the little strip of squid and green wool, this was another first for Chris who was on cloud nine, along side me of course.
The fresh bait had been pretty much exhausted so the next pouting that appeared was going to be my next bait, sure enough I didn't wait to long to get the fresh pout I needed. With a fresh bait in place I hoped something different may appear, Chris was having an aggressive bite but managed to miss it and that cost him the last mackerel head. Then my pouting was grabbed by a fish that shot off and I assumed was a tope, it wasn't until the fish broke the surface that it was identified as another Undulate Ray, I couldn't stop getting them now.
With the ray in the net and the skipper dealing with another fish on the other side of the boat, I decided to remove the hook myself, I am fully aware of the rays ability to project its mouth and furthermore how powerful those crab crushing jaws are. Still I made a careless mistake and grabbed the hook at the bend inside the rays mouth, in a flash the mouth extended and the jaws came together on my finger, it was extremely painful instantly and I wrenched my finger out but the damage was done.
Chris in the meantime had baited with a large pouting and was now battling what he hoped was the tope he wanted, I on the other hand was nursing my injured finger and plunged it into a bucket of sea water, cures most ailments. The tope Chris was playing had changed into a conger eel and wanting to join the conger club Chris requested the eel join us on deck, having received a nasty leg wound from the last eel I had brought on a boat I decided to stay clear.
That was time over and Lewis had delivered yet another great trip and for me and incredible finale to the 52 species, during the journey in to the harbour I ran over in my mind all the adventures that I had gone through to get to this point. There were so many people that have helped, supported and donated to the challenge, I am eternally grateful to all my friends, family, skippers, guides and fellow anglers who have got me the 52 species. I fully intend to go on and try catching as many species as possible and hopefully keep raising awareness and money for the incredible charity and worthy cause. Chris wanted to know if we were going to try for a mini species when we got in, my answer was no we will sit on the harbour and eat fish and chips to celebrate, Neptune has been good to us lets leave it at that, for now!
I am taking a few days away from fishing now, not because I want to but because I am having a minor leg operation and I will off my feet for a bit. However I have started the next phase of trip planning and booked a few interesting ones that will make a good blog or two. The harbourside fish and chips were sublime and fitting reward for a very good day at sea.
