I have done very little fishing lately and with the year rushing to an end, collecting and returning my mother for Christmas gave me the opportunity for a couple of short sessions either side of Christmas Day.
Friday 23rd saw me opt for an easy session of pier fishing, less than ideal conditions suggested the ability to nip in and out of the car would be useful. I fished two rods, one armed with a 3 hook flapper at range on the sand and the other with a single hook in close in the rough ground. Over the four hours, not one bite came to the far rod, not a tiny dab or stray dogfish to be had. The rough ground stole two rigs for just a small pollack. Just to pass the time, I set up the lrf rod and managed to winkle out a small coalfish and 2 more pollack including a monster at 29cm, well, it fought like a demon on the lrf rod! The wind was getting up and the rain was not getting any drier so I headed off.
Wednesday 28th; once again there was a strong southerly wind with the sky promising a few downpours, another pier session required. So stepping out of the car on a north-facing pier, I was surprised to feel a stiff northerly breeze blowing straight into my face. I quickly set up the first rod and sent a mackerel-baited 3 hook flapper out. I was just about to launch the second rod when I heard the ratchet on the first rod yield a foot or so of line. Not a seagull flying into the line, a definite slackliner. I tightened into it and felt some extra weight, suspecting a dogfish, I was surprised to see a lively whiting come through the water. Onto the measure and a good 34.5cm recorded. That .5cm is important as it beat my previous best shore whiting by that amount! That 34cm whiting was one of those skinny emaciated ones so although only 5mm longer, it was probably twice the weight, a respectable p.b. First cast on the other rod also produced a whiting but a lot smaller at 22cm. Still, 2 fish in 2 casts was suggesting a busy session, which is when it all went wrong. A loop of braid caught round a ring on casting and snapped the line. Having lost the rig, leader and considerable length of mainline I considered myself lucky not to have lost a ring. The other rod was re-baited and cast out. With darkness upon me I fitted a tiplight and retreated to the shelter of the car to dodge a squally shower. Unfortunately, a gust of wind blew the rod and tripod over and I could only watch as in seemingly slow motion, the rod crashed to the concrete. The tiplight smashed (particularly annoying as I had just replaced the batteries!) and as I picked up the rod I could feel a fish on the end. I reeled in, as you do, but the line parted leaving a bunch of yellow “fluff” on one ring; the lining had cracked and cut through the mono. Like a having a bad hand in poker, it was time to fold. So 2022 finished poorly but there’s always next year…..
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