South Parade pier (Southsea) 17/03/2008

andy colmer · #1 03-18-2008, 05:24 PM

I think it is fair to say that the session yesterday was a bit of a grueller!! That said, I was just glad to get out after numerous cancelled trips so far this year. In our keeness to finally get a trip in, we were over eager and planned pretty poorly.....arriving early morning and at the totally wrong end of the tide.

Ivor joined us at about 8.30am and the three of us settled down to watch static rod tips for hours. We finally cracked at about midday and all started fishing the inside in the hope of wrasse or scorpion fish (just to save a blank!!), I managed 2 scorpions, 1 of decent size and 1 tiny (see piccy!), Ivor managed a scorpion and a wrasse and Henry a scorpion. Blank avoided!

For the record......I was fishing rag and squid baits on the mussel bed to the right of the boat deck, in the hope of a flattie or two, Henry was to my right, also aiming at the mussel bed and Ivor adopted the 'try every range from 20-150yards approach'.......the latter long cast eventually (briefly!!) snaring a 30 knot rib that cut him off.

To help alleviate the boredom, we had a whelk catching competition.......a contest that I got an ar*e kicking in!! Henry managed about 12, Ivor about 10 and I finished with 3, I think. Third out of 3 in a whelk comp......whatever has my angling life descended into!! lol

Steve arrived mid afternoon, to find three pretty disillusioned souls (although Henry was winning the whinging contest by a country mile!! ). On the approach of sunset, Henry finally lost the plot and decided to pack up and get some kip in his car.....revealing a flounder of 1lb 3oz as he wound in!! Steve, by this time had made me feel even worse.....by beating me into 4th place in the whelk competition! Ivor, meanwhile had packed up and departed to fulfil a family comittment......muttering 'should have gone to Browndown' under his breath!! (Wish I had a fiver for every time I heard that yesterday!!)

Fortunately some fish finally came out to play as soon as it got dark; Steve and I both started getting a bite a chuck and we were soon racking up decent tallies of pout, whiting, rockling and the odd schoolie. I finished with over 50 fish, Steve also had a decent amount (although I suspect he stopped counting after we left!) and got his lovely plaice of just over 1lb that he had worked so hard for.

By way of a bonus, my wife gets in excess of 30 whelks to eat......she loves the things .....personally I would rather eat the sole off a muck spreader's wellie! Each to their own, I suppose.

All in all, not a bad session in the end; nothing to write home about (apart from the two nice flatties of course), but we eventually got our strings pulled, didn't get soaked or wind burned, had a damn good laugh (at each others expense, mostly!) and only got visited by two or three of the local care in the community patients!! Result for this time of year, I'd say.

Cheers.

A.C.