I had quite a few hardback crabs left over from my last go at wrasse and I had frozen them for future use; the future had come!
Saturday, 8th Oct. There was a fair swell coming in and, as always, every now and again 1-2 swells bigger than most would crash in but with high tide some way off, it was comfortable enough for the moment. The water also looked quite murky, not good for sight-feeding fish; I assume hardback crab doesn’t give off much scent? However, the float gear was soon bobbing and bouncing in the waves in hope of a few wrasse. Sadly hope guarantees nothing and that was exactly what I got; not a single bite in 3 hours, not even a sucked crab! I had a few dried and frozen lug which I tried but this attracted nothing as well. There was a shoal of sandeel swimming around, harried by a cormorant and also occasional pollack. Sighting a big tail fin disappearing from view prompted me to try spinning a small metal lure but I only managed a small, but blank-saving, pollack. With the tide well in now, the swells were threatening to swamp me so I conceded defeat, back to the freezer for the remaining crabs which were still frozen thanks to the freezer blocks and insulated box.
Thursday, 20th October. The meteorologists were promising a one-day Indian Summer and while I didn’t resurrect the tee-shirt, I headed out for what could be my last shot at the wrasse for 2022. This time the sea was flat calm, the water was very clear and it was sunny and pleasantly warm. As I was setting up at the water’s edge, I saw a line of 7-8 mullet swim past, later on I saw another shoal of unidentified fish swim by the float, it was to be a day when I saw more fish than I caught. No bobbing and bouncing this time, the float sat motionless apart from the slight tidal flow. It was about half an hour before the first bite, a quick strike met no resistance but with the bait intact I cast out again at once to the same spot. The float dipped again, presumably the same fish, but again no contact. The crab was gone and with it, the fish. A few more bites were also missed before finally hooking the first of four ballan wrasse. At this time of the year I would be hoping for a couple of good fish but the biggest today was a mere 31cm. I did hook and lose two better fish which put a serious bend in the rod and even peeled some line off before the hookhold gave way. The bites were few and far between so I set up a beachcaster fishing a two hook flapper and cast out on to the sand. This produced a single dogfish and no other bites. For most of the afternoon there was a cormorant fishing in front of me, almost under the rod at times, I wonder are wrasse spooked by them. Or am I just scraping the bottom of the Excuses Barrel?
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