The 'wind' had died down during the night-or at least it had died down in Stevens bedroom! We woke early on the Friday morning and it was time to refuel our bodies with a good old fry up. Bacon, sausage & eggs were hastily rustled up & served along with some fresh cups of coffee. Outside, the weather had turned summery-cobalt blue skies, a few drifty little clouds & a very flat calm looking sea. We had a picture perfect setting in our little caravan & once we'd got breakfast out of the way, we assembled the gear for a full days hard fishing and loaded the car up ready to set off for our next chosen mark. We couldn't set off before taking a few choice photos of the harbour we were situated in, so we could remember it in all it's glory.
An hour later, we were pulling up at a very remote spot. It looked simply gorgeous. A yacht was slowly making it's way round the headland & it was just begging to be photographed. We were being given the full treatment today from the area we were going to fish. If nothing else, it was going to be a nice day to fish. But before that, we had the small matter of a few steep hills to negotiate. Normally I wouldn't mind, but when you have a days worth of tackle with you at an area notorious for it's snaggs, plus spare rods, food & drink, those hills become mountains. Half an hour later, we were setting up our gear again, ready to do battle with pollack again on day 2 of our 4 day expedition. Steven & Kevin had opted to start off with frozen sandeel-a wise choice at this location given it's reputation & the devistating effectiveness of frozen sandeels on pollack. As with the previous night, I had opted for rubber (lure that is, not attire). I'd selected a shimmer eel which given the extreme depth we'd be fishing, I figured I'd be at an advantage with the strong sunlight & reflectiveness of the latex lure. A quick dip in 'pollack crack' - aka sandeel oil, and I was ready to cast.
As with the previous day, we all cast out together & I must say we were all tense winding in that first cast. But we had nothing on the first cast, or second. In fact, despite the perfect weather, the pollack were not playing. Then after an hour, something grabbed my frozen sandeel (yes, I'd changed to the real deal and also boosted it's appeal by giving it an oil bath). The line went tight & then sizzled off the reel. The rod kicked & buckled under the strain & I knew this was either another seal attack, or I was connected to something substantial. Several agonising minutes passed & I had to work hard to bully this fish out & stop it from getting it's head into the kelp & rocks. I was still suffering from a serious shoulder injury & my arm was aching & I had to adapt how I played the fish as I just couldn't give the rod as much clout as I normally would. Then, out of the crystal blue depths I got my first glimpse of what I was connected to and I knew it was big. I shouted for the drop net & Steven duly came to my assistance. As the fish wallowed on the surface, I could see this was my best pollack by a long way. I was nervous as Steven skillfully guided the net towards the monster and I slid the fish over the lip. Stevens timing was perfect & he hauled the fish up the side of the rocks and we then got our first look at the prize. It was obvious that this was indeed a very nice fish & we weighed the fish in the net. We had a small audience-a dutch couple had stopped to watch us & they were clicking away on there cameras. The scales went on & the fish & net were weighed. Taking into account the weight of the net, we put the pollack at 7.5lbs. Cameras were at the ready & a few trophy shots were taken
. Bragging rights were mine now. My priority now was to get the fish back into the water quickly & we put the great fish in the drop net & lowered it back into the sea. It took a few anxious seconds but the fish slipped away out of the net & bolted straight down into the clear blue water. So, that was the target we had to beat. But for some reason, the fishing was agonisingly slow. Kevin picked up a few nice fish-all between 2 & 4lb. We worked through the lures-redgills, shimmer eels, frozen sandeels, shads. They all got an outing. But despite all our efforts, we just couldn't get any action. We decided to pass an hour by fishing for wrasse. Kevin was the first to lure these beautiful fish out of the kelp with float fished ragworm. Steven then got into the action and these were the first fish he had caught this day.I managed to winkle out a small wrasse but went back to trying to tempt pollack. The sea state changed slightly as we moved into the afternoon but it was still a very pleasant day to fish. But still the pollack were elusive. By 4pm, we were more than frustrated & Steven suggested giving it one more hour before calling it a day. This was unheard of. Steven is a formidable pollack angler. He never blanks. But here he was looking at a blank session at a mark that had been so productive for us in the last 2 visits to it. But, as with all the best trips and with time running out, Steven had his day saved by a passing pollack that probably nudged 3lb but as far as Steven was concerned, it had saved his blank and all credit to him, he fished hard & persevered & this is the ultimate lesson to all of us. We fished on with slightly renewed enthusiasm, but we still were unable to catch any more pollack. By 5pm we all agreed it was time to say goodbye to what was usually our most productive mark. Whilst it didn't produce numbers of pollack, it did produce my best pollack to date & that was worth it's weight in gold. I was assured that it took an hour to drive back to the caravan, but I thought it only took 20 minutes. Someone reckoned I was alseep. We all tucked into a good hot curry-another home made effort by me and the lads agreed that it was a fitting end to the day. The lads ended the night in a local drinking establishment whilst I sorted out my gear ready for the next day. The forecast was not as good and it was not looking good for a couple of days ahead. But we'd have to see what the next day would bring.....
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