Nab report 19th december 2006

Lookfar · #1 12-20-2006, 10:20 AM

After my plea for crew, Andyg volunteered to come with us. As he only lives a few miles away, he was there bang on time to help drag the boat off the drive and hitch up. There was a bit of fog on the way down but mercifully it cleared by the time we reached the coast and with Andy to chat to the drive was a pleasant one. Pleasure to meet you, mate.
At Eastney, Ray was already waiting with Moray, his Warrior 165. With just one crewman for two boats, someone was going to be having a quiet day. After introductions all round, we decided that Andy would fish with Ray as I have always had a hankering to try a solo run. There was only a small amount of shingle showing on the tide line on the slip so things seemed fine and by 8.30 we were launched. I had a brief scare when my cold engine registered an oil warning and pumped out huge clouds of smoke, but I noticed that Ray's identical e-tec was smoking just as badly so a quick restart reset the computer and we were away.
Despite the fog on the way down, visibility was excellent due to a
steady northerly force 2-3 that was pushing up a small chop in
Langstone. Out at sea, the slipstream was bitterly cold and as we pushed
offshore it soon became apparent that there was still a big residual
swell. With a biggish tide running, we'd decided to stay in around Nab.
I used a mark to the NW that had given whiting in the past and with the
anchor in, it was apparent that we were in for a rough ride. The swell
was beam on and I spent an unpleasant half hour waiting for my stomach
to adjust.
The tide had just started to ebb but even at the height of the
run I was only having to use leads of 1lb or so. As usual, I got down as
many rods as I could manage. Sport was slow, the inevitable doggies at
first, a pout that got sent back down for a while as live bait and
slightly surprisingly, a very small poor cod. At least the presence of
small bait fish offered the possibility of something decent turning up
but it wasn't to be. The tide picked up, making life more comfortable,
then started to ease and my tally was just 8 dogs, 7 pout and the poor
cod and no sign of the whiting we'd hoped for. Over on Moray, they'd had
a strap conger and a pollack around 3lb

so initially when Ray's anchor
slipped they resisted my broad hints about moving on. Re-anchoring was
the kiss of death for them though, so after half an hour of motionless
rod tips they caved in and followed me down to Culver Spit.
I wanted to anchor the spit itself and since all my established
numbers were for the nearby foul ground, I went in using the
chartplotter. Didn't really need to, I could see the rip from half a
mile away and as we crossed the spit the pinnacles came up 20 feet. My
plan was to fish in the tide 'shadow' but I had a senior moment and
forgot which way the tide was running!

Down went the anchor a carefully selected distance from the rip and we settled round into the tide completely the wrong way with our backs to it. Damn! Ray had followed suit and I had get on the VHF and explain that I'd put us, errr, on the wrong side. Think I'll stick to the day job. Next attempt was a lot better, SeaMouse came up tight on the warp bang above the pinnacle at 35ft and letting out a few more yards saw the depth drop to 45ft, putting the baits right in the sheltered water. Good thing too, the tide was screaming past at twice the pace of the previous mark but I still only needed 12oz lead maximum. It was a bit un-nerving though when every now and then one of the small standing waves would fall over and break with a small roar.
Bites came at once, a relief given that I'd made everyone up
sticks and move. Ragworm started to pick up the odd pout to 1lb 4oz. I'd
got my new rig down, a cod special that uses a dropper on the main trace
to line up two 8/0 pennels one above the other. That allowed me to
present up to 4 large calamari effectively as a single bait under a
festoon of muppets, lumi beads etc. What's more, it didn't tangle and it
caught fish. The rod tip showed a slightly more positive knock than the
usual doggie mumble and as I picked it up, the fish peeled off about ten
yards in a series of long, slow pulls. Tightened in already thinking
"eel" and sure enough it was. Only a strap of 10lb+, but it highlighted
the downside of solo fishing by fouling lines on the way in. A quick
flip with the T-bar and I was back fishing.
The sea had really settled now and we had that lovely winters
evening sunset, with the rods highlighted against the sky. A VHF call to
Ray decided we were on last drop of the day and I had just retired the
uptider when a friend called in on my mobile for a progress report. As I chatted to him, I was watching a very small bite developing on the cod rig. It
was still twitching away when he rang off so I opted to get that rod in
next. Lifted in and the rod went over hard! This was a more powerful
fish, it made several hard runs in the tide and I was completely
uncertain as to what it was. At one point I thought I'd lost it when the
rod tip suddenly dropped back then tightened up again. Up came the lead
then behind it, a nice cod barrel-rolled on the surface and crash dived.
In that tide, all I could do was hang on and watch the line running off
the reel. Fumbled around behind me for the net and as the fish came back
up again I could see it was just hooked through the fin below the gill.
I suspect that the original hookhold failing was the jerk I'd felt
during the fight. Sheer luck! I was in agonies of suspense but the fish
went cleanly into the net first time, where the hook promptly fell out.
I also got the 8oz lead squarely in the temple swinging it in. That
hurt!!
After a quick gloat, it was remaining rods in and Ray set a
blistering pace home. SeaMouse still handles badly, with me having to
move a battery to get the trim right running solo, but at least the new
prop seems good. Ray got the hammer right down as we got under the lee
of the land and I topped out at 28.5 knots and 5000rpm. Perfect!
At the slip, it was dead low water and we were in trouble. The
lower slip was not clear at all, the lower 10 yards was now just part of
the beach. We picked the solidest looking section and after huge amounts
of hassle roped Moray out using Ray's Rav4 with my Subaru roped to its
front for extra traction. Tried several times to get SeaMouse out the
same way but it was clear that we were either going to bog down one of
the cars or burn out a clutch. The only option was to wait, so for the
best part of three hours we stood in the harbour in the dark holding the
boat off the gravel waiting for the tide to come back. Eventually we'd
got the trailer wheels up onto a solid enough section and after what was
probably the fifth or sixth winching-on of the day, the two cars
together got her rolling and up onto the concrete to a chorus of cheers.
I got home VERY late, so I'll find out how much of a sandpapering the
hull got over the next few days....

Still, I got my cod, and on a rig designed for the job as well.
Happy days!! :-)

Steve

gullyworm · #2 12-20-2006, 10:35 AM

Cracking read that Steve,and well done on the Cod.

If your ever short of crew theres always the Pompey lads

Lookfar · #3 12-20-2006, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gullyworm

If your ever short of crew theres always the Pompey lads

I'm ALWAYS short of crew. Problem is the weekdays and short notice.

Steve

Ben · #4 12-20-2006, 10:56 AM

good work there on the cod, how big was it?
as it stands weekdays aint bad for me

pingu · #5 12-20-2006, 11:06 AM

wow brilliant report

well done on the solo trip and the cod

dave

Lookfar · #6 12-20-2006, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben

good work there on the cod, how big was it?
as it stands weekdays aint bad for me

Oops, forgot to say, it was 9lb 4oz. Gut was packed with tiny crabs, squat lobsters, a single scallop and the remains of a small fish. Obviously been foraging along the reef. The water out there is much murkier than it would normally be at this time of year.

As far as crew goes, you are more than welcome. Next time I'm struggling I'll post another request on the forum.

Steve