Release the Kraken!
Things are getting decidedly tougher on the species hunt now and the last week has been a series of highs and lows, culminating in the Shark Club presentation evening. Our return from a great weekend in Scotland was somewhat marred by the deterioration of our beloved pet Husky, Nooshstar, and within days the tough decision was made to let him go peacefully. Pets become so engrained within the family that after 14 years it really feels like a part of you has gone with them. With morale at an all time low I struggled to think about going fishing and if it wasn't for a kind offer of skipper Andy Howell I probably wouldn't have bothered, Andy had offered a day on Anglo Dawn for Chris and I, to try and get me a Tub Gurnard. This was just the tonic I needed, especially as possibly the final Porbeagle trip of the season aboard Force 10 was to be scuppered by the weather on the Friday. The trip aboard Anglo Dawn was scheduled for the Thursday and being confined to the river Fal meant it was possible in all but the worst of conditions. We were to be joined on the trip by friend John Locker and he was bringing along the son of some friends, young Tide Mills, the entertainment was of course to be supplied by old smiler himself, Andy the Christmas Grinch. The morning arrived and the popemobile was soon outside the house engine throbbing ,at 5.30am we headed off, the journey to Falmouth was a breeze and both Chris and I were looking forward to a day on the river. We all met at the marina gate for 07.30am and with the arrival of Tide we headed off to the boat, 20 minutes later we were on our first mark and fishing for a Tub Gurnard. The sunrise was a cracker and it felt good to be on the water with the sea air once again filling my lungs, who cares how the day went it was just great to be there. Pictured below a concerned Frenchman awaits a hard Brexit.
John was in full mentor mode and was careful to explain every process to young Tide, this polite young man was a model pupil absorbing all he was told, with a keenness that is lacking in many of his age. The Gurnard failed to show and after an hour we moved off to try for Huss and Rays at a mark further down the river, with the anchor down the skipper put the kettle on and produced the chocolate chip cookies. Andy very often, kindly supplies biscuit's and it appears that the quality of the biscuit defines how fond of you he is, so if you get a Ginger Nut you know you may need to try harder. Through hard work and sucking up to him, I had managed to work my way up to double chocolate chip cookies, but I think the fact I drag Chris along has lead to me being downgraded to simple choc chip cookies. We had decided to raise the game by bringing our own offering in the form of the Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie, surely the highest of tributes.
With the baits in the water for around 15 minutes the first signs of interest started to appear in the form of a dogfish to Tide, who was delighted with the little spotty, John then opened his account with one before I added a small Huss.
The dogfish whisperer was strangely quiet and without his token dogfish I couldn't take the mickey about his doggie pheromones, normally the pied piper of the Rock Salmon world he must be losing his touch. Then, like a medieval Trebuchet Chris launched into a strike that if not for the soft rod would have flung the fish a mile inland, fortunately the blow was cushioned by the wibbly wobbly spinning rod and it was fish on.
Chris clearly feeling he was connected to something decent milked the fish for all it was worth, however the Fish Locker to his right skimmed in a Bull Huss while Chris battled on. It was only when the knotted shape of a dogfish popped up on the surface did Chris realise he had been duped by the sandpaper shark, even trying to shake it off before we noticed!
So with normal service resumed Chris could try for something other than a dogfish but with the tide slackening it wasn't to be and we tried a few more marks for Tub Gurnards, once again we were all shown how to do it by a youngster. Tide hooked a cracking Red Gurnard and on the light tackle it gave a good account of itself, the young angler dealt with it admirably and with a bit of coaching from John held the fish perfectly for some quick photos.
The final mark we were to try was quite a way up the river and I know from a previous trip the area produces, Dragonet, Couchs Bream and Bass so a productive little area. Chris had wanted his Wrasse fix but it wasn't to be and like my desire for a Tub Gurnard it would need to wait for another day. Tide was soon into another fish and this time he got the fish he had come for, a Bass, he really had done well today and hopefully he will continue to fish now he has humbled a few old timers. Chris and John both caught Bass and I was starting to think I had no bait on when my ragworm bait was finally hit by a typical bass strike, and I too had a little schoolie.
Chris was now on fire and landed a nice little Dab, but my latest tentative bite resulted in a personal best Starfish, amazing creatures if not a little lacking in the fight department.
Then the strangest thing happened and if I ever wanted to swap rods with Chris it was now, as I hooked a Ballan Wrasse and he hooked a Tub Gurnard, fishing can be so cruel sometimes! That was the end of our trip on the river courtesy of Andy but wait, it wasn't over yet, we had booked up on the evening squid trip aboard Anglo and it was just a case of changing the rigs to the squid lures. We dropped John and Tide off at the marina and welcomed the new bunch of anglers hoping to tangle with the cephalopod's. We pushed out of the river to try various squid marks, the squid had been fairly sparse off Falmouth this season but they should appear at some point, why not tonight. As we suspected, the going was tough, but Chris managed to get his wrasse fix with a nice female Cuckoo falling to a baited jig, an Octopus also made an appearance to one of the other guys, think that made his night. Andy pushed out a bit further to an anchored tanker in the bay and we drifted a reef now in darkness, the perfect time for the squid to attack. Then at last a squid was landed, from the front of the boat, this inspired us to try working the jigs harder, the ground was extremely snaggy and it was tempting to keep the jig high above the rock but that's not where the squid were. I bounced my twin jig rig right amongst the reef and the bravery was rewarded as a squid struck, the pulsing of the rod tip signalled the unique fight of a squid. carefully I drew the squid towards the boat and the waiting net. It was no Kraken but welcome nevertheless and Chris took a few pictures before hooking a squid of his own, unfortunately it escaped on the way up.
Andy took the boat round for a couple more drifts and on the last drift over the same section of reef I hooked a much better squid, this one actually took line on its initial strike. Once again all to aware of how soft the squids hold can be I retrieved the squid steadily stopping only to submit to the creatures powerful surges, the bright shape of a big squid appeared on the surface. Now another unusual event took place, Andy Howell a skipper of great experience managed to knock the squid clean off the jig with the net, he literally released the Kraken, I tried the, that was my children's meal sob story but he remained largely unemotional. It did however prove he was indeed human and also gave me ammunition for use on another day, so not all was lost. That was it for the evening squid trip and the squid just haven't arrived in numbers yet but when they do I will try for another monster.
Saturday night was the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain's annual presentation and meal, its always a great evening and one I can share with Mrs D. We had booked into the Jolly Sailor for the night and as I was also booked with them for next years festival I was keen to check the pub out. As soon as we arrived Zoe & Garry were perfect hosts and despite busy organising the evenings Halloween party they still showed us all we needed to know. I am a great lover of interesting stuff and boy this pub is interesting, firstly this is one of the country's oldest pubs opening its doors in the 1500's, I just cant imagine how many pints have been served during that time. Also the main beam above the bar was taken from a captured French ship in the battle of Trafalgar, no wonder the place is haunted!! Our room was incredible and just as you would imagine a member of the Blackadder dynasty would have, the first four poster we have ever encountered, very salubrious.
With the room checked out and in, we made our way to the Portbyan for an evening of good food and company, celebrating our fellow members great achievements. Our table consisted of great friends Pete & Helen Davis one side and Libby & Brian Copeland the other, great company as always. I did actually manage to have a quick chat with angling legend Andy Griffith, a real inspiration to so many anglers myself included, but incredibly nice with it, cant wait to see his next achievement. The meal as always was fantastic and professionally served by the staff at the Portbyan Hotel, John Mac once again organised a wonderful event. There were a few real poignant moments during the presentation, none more so than Dave Stone emotionally explaining his grand daughters remembrance award, the Iris trophy. I had to grab a shot of Billy Whistance collecting the new Carl Aldridge trophy on behalf of Martin Shipp, as I new Carl couldn't make it and it was a great thing for him to have donated.
Of course Andy Griffith couldn't have gone without recognition for his mind boggling 5 Threshers and catching the big four, Thresher, Porbeagle, Blue and Mako from the uk. He was awarded the IGFA Certificate and the Mako Tapestry by John Mac, in a word Legend!
No silverware to our table, but with an agreement to try harder next year it certainly cannot get any worse, can it? Before we knew it the evening was over and we retired to our haunted house ( pub ) still in the throws of the Halloween party, with horror classics booming out like, The monster mash and Oops up side your head! I planned to get up at 6am to have a quick fish in the harbour, maybe the 15 spined stickleback was still there. So with the early start I didn't need any spooks, gouls or even a sleep walking Mrs D haunting me through the night, happily for both of us, nothing went bump in the night. The alarm went off at 6am and I really struggled to leave the comfortable four poster bed, it was just so dam high, my little legs just didn't touch the ground. Eventually I managed a controlled fall and the cool air rushing into my face as I plummeted to the floor helped to wake me up, fortunately my airbags are permanently deployed and the landing was soft. I then set about getting dressed as noisily as possible in the hope Mrs D would wake up and feel implored to join me on this chilly morning sorte, it did indeed wake her but only in so much as she was able to say bye, have fun. That was it I was out the door and alongside the harbour wall in under a minute, the sun was rising slowly and in the famous words of Debbie Harry the Tide is high.
I decided to use a Sabiki rig baited with Thursday's ragworm which were more like a bunch of brown jelly, however they would have to suffice, especially as I was up now. The crabs were rapant this morning and were happy to climb the rig to extract the brown goo from the hook, eventually my persistence paid off and the rod tip trembled sharply as a Blenny tucked into breakfast.
Despite my best efforts I couldn't get the elusive extra species and it was pretty dam chilly stood by the river so I headed back for my full English breakfast. The breakfast was just as good as I hoped and landlords Zoe and Garry run an excellent B&B that we will be returning too next year. So that's that for this blog, sad times, fun times and inspirational times isn't that what life is made up of and as long as good times can out way the sad / bad times then we can soldier on. So I remain on 74 species and next weekend I am off chasing a couple of bucket list fish that will take me halfway round the world, but if I get them it will all be worth it, I will of course put a Blog upon my return if and when that is!
