Guinea Bissau (part five)

[SIMPLE MAN]

Well you heard it here first folks after a few days of the amber nectar and as i am writing this and still find it hard to believe i was last night the first one to leave the bar and go to bed around midnight,yes i had a Victor Meldrew moment (I DONT BELIEVE IT) and i cannot even blame Phils jokes my eyelids could take no more i was bloody knackered
So up at 07.00 next morning for breakfast and even Marie asking if i was all right,A couple of coffees and some marmite on toast and again i am chomping on the bit and today is going to be my second beach day and probably my last chance of this holiday to try and bag my guitar fish,although today should have been me Phil and Ricky Dave was still not 100% so he swapped with Ricky for a days R&R,Marie says she has got to go and organise more beer as stocks again are running alarmingly low and who are we to argue so today its just us three plus our two Guinea guides heading over to the neighbouring island and our first objective is to try and grab a barra for lunch as on the last two days the beach guys had caught small barras in the 6-10lb range and the guides had made a fire and cooked the fish to perfection so today we move 25-30 yards further to the right than last time as we had lost 5 gripper leads last time and stocks were getting low and when the tide starts to go out the water just rips from left to right and without the grippers fishing would just be a pointless exercise.My beach casting was also improving by the cast and now i was cracking my bait out approx 120-150yards which much to my satisfaction was even further than what the guides could achieve (bloody bighead)Here is a photo of us hard at it on the beach and probably not another tourist for at least 60 miles

And even if i have to say so myself it don't get much better than that,but it seems that how ever far you cast out all you get are the Guinea gudgeon (ramoras) we probably had 8-9 in the first couple of hours and it is starting to look like cold fish and pasta for lunch
I don't know whether those ramoras are poisonous or just bad eating but i have never seen one taken for the pot in fact i not even seen one being cut up for bait where ever you go the locals just don't like them
About 11.00 Dave has gone 10 yards around the corner to try his luck and not long after we hear a shout and fish on and as it comes into the surf Dave has a nice barra of 7lbish on and the guide now has it safely on the beach so well done Dave for saving the day on the lunch because me and Phil thought we might waste away without any lunch so now the pressures of and apart from wonderful company if i could just hook into one of those elusive guitar fish even a tiddler it would make my day but still the Guinea gudgeon keep on coming and apart from Daves barra the highlight of the day so far is to keep moving the deckchairs with the tide and watching our guide gather the fire wood for our lunchtime banquet
About 1.00 now and i have just gone to get a bottle of water from the cool box and sat back down when my rod tip starts bouncing and this seems to be far to good a bite fore those pesky ramoras so i jump up and strike oh b ****** i have hit a snag zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz wtf yes this ain't the bottom and ##+*^$£"! hell this things pulling me in the sea and for the next couple of minutes i am grinning like a Cheshire cat but as the time ticks by my grins very quickly become grimaces and Phil pipes up what do you think it is mate? and i tell him its got to be a ray of some kind aahh looks like you are going to be playing this for some time mate Dave lets have a can of pop and a fag while simple f**** about and to be honest on the 15-20 minute mark i was wishing i hadn't cast my bloody bait out so far as if anything its even further out now than when i started and to be fair the guys have now almost stopped taking the p*** and were giving me some water and a great deal of encouragement (thanks guys) it must of been about 1.30 now and it was bloody hot and my arms an shoulders were just a tad sore and aching a touch (understatement of the week)so i tried to take a couple of steps back up the beach thinking maybe i would be able to walk this thing through the surf but not a cat in hells chance in fact i think i managed a quarter step back and then ended up taking four forward this really is a inch by inch battle and i now find myself thinking that if i am this bloody tired surely the fish must be the same and to be brutally honest i am beginning to wonder if i will manage to get this thing in as my body is now hurting in places that i never knew existed and i haven't a clue how long i have been fighting this thing but now about 40yards out we can see something wallowing in the sea and now i know i am winning and get a second wind as they say but still its inch by inch and now its 20 yards and then 10 and just as i think its over the bloody thing turns and runs 15 yards back out to see with me now saying no no no please no no no so again i start pulling and this time i manage a step back and then another and another and i feel as though i am sprinting forward taking in the line as quickly as i can and now at 5 yards and although not happy and splashing like mad in the surf trying for one last home run i manage to stop it and at long bloody last i have my prize and a new pb as well a cracking stingray that tips the scales at 105lb and courtesy of Phil this is what i looked like after the fight

just a tad sweaty and if i am totally honest b****** in all my years fishing although i may of had harder and longer battles i have always lost without seeing said fish without a shadow of doubt this thing beat me to near exhaustion and although you guys might find it strange i never drink beer in the daytime only water and pop but today i made a exception and for the next 30min or so just sat under the brolly with Phil and Dave enjoying a nice cold beer and freshly caught barra for dinner,now that's what i call fishing


To be honest apart from a bloody long time i have no idea how long the battle lasted and as i write this i think to my self i am not sure how much longer i could of gone its not just the fight but the heat and trying to keep a firm footing in the sand as well and of course the effects of the odd beer or two as well didn't make things any easier and looking at my notes i don't think any of us had anything else but a few more Guinea gudgeon today so as the sun started to set we set of back to Acunda to do what only we Brits can do best and hit the bar with the welcome news that Marie had managed to obtain some more amber nectar and she confidently predicted that we would not be running low anymore hhhhhhmmmmm
The other boats returned with some nice jacks,snappers and barras up to the 50lb mark but now it was the simpleman who headed the sweep and although the guys had all had a good day there was one bit of rather disturbing news in that Matta the novice skipper had gone across to the other boat sometime today and literally t-boned the other boat hitting it so hard that his boat rose up and smashed one of the guys rods in the holder i think this guy is on trial and if he keeps up like this he wont be around too long
Ad i am glad to say that tonight the beer is well and truelly flowing again
Well i am afraid that's it for today people i am of to work in a couple of hours so part 6 to follow
tight lines John

[fishypaul]

love the sting ray john

[bassmanrob]

That is some ray mate! Great stuff, look forward to the next installment.

[jasonh]

Good work John, no wonder that ray got you sweating, it looks about 2 foot thick !!! Keep up the good work, only another 5 days worth of reports to go !!!

[lazy hooker]

only just found these reports...brilliant had to read them one after another.

i may have to pm you about costs etc as that looks like a brilliant week.

john