Hey diddle diddle, Lympstone 07/11/06

BaggieRich · #1 11-08-2006, 01:44 PM

“I’ve retired to the Cat & Fiddle, ‘cause BaggieRich is simply over the moon.”

To say last night was a milestone in my fishing career would be an understatement.

It would be like saying Claudia Schiffer is “quite pretty”, that Ferrari make “averagely quick cars”, or Saddam was “a slightly naughty boy”. As far as fishing achievements go, this was my D-Day, my own personal watershed moment.

And it feels good.

It’s like the feeling you get once you’ve struggled long and hard up a particularly large hill, only to reach the crest and be greeted by a truly stunning view of the valley below. Suddenly, anything is possible and the next hill doesn’t seem quite so large.

So what could possibly have happened to have solicited this kind of response from a normally level headed bloke??? (Well, when footballs not involved anyway)

I’ll give you a clue. They’re streamlined and silver, they fight like stink and last night one decided to have a go at my bait.

7:40pm. Pingu was waiting outside my house to take me to a little spot he fished the night before in Lympstone. By 7:55pm we had parked up and had three rag worm baited rods in the Exe estuary waiting for any unsuspecting fish to happen by. 10 minutes to drive to the mark and 5 minutes to tackle up and cast out. Not bad going and it made me wonder why I hadn’t tried the spot before.

It was a really beautiful night. An almost full moon cast a glow across the estuary as the odd fire work popped away to itself towards the river mouth. A few lights shone across the river from Starcross, but the thing that struck me most was the stillness of it all. With hardly a breath of wind, you felt that if you strained hard enough you could almost HEAR the fish patrolling the shore looking for a tasty treat on which to feed.

I messed about for 15 minutes with my spinning rod and a surface popper, but to be honest it was fairly hard going in the dark and I didn’t have that much water to play with anyway, so a bit disappointed, I gave it up as a bad idea.

I wasn’t to be disappointed for long. Having put the spinning rod away, I was standing by the ledger rods when one had a little knock. Then again, before the rod bent over and a fish was on. I grabbed the rod and struck perhaps a little too hard, but the fish was still on and not at all happy judging by the way it fought.

A monumental fight ensued, me gaining a little line, before it stripped it back. At one stage I wondered if it might even spool me, but to my immense relief and with sweat dripping from my brow, I finally managed to subdue the mighty beast. It was then that I started to peer into the murk of the shallows, eager to spot my quarry. And there it was. A gleaming bar of silver. A BASS!

Okay, so maybe the bit about it fighting like stink and stripping line was all in my mind, but hey, I’ve hunted a Bass for over a year now without any joy, so I’m sure you’ll forgive me a little artistic license now I’ve had my first. Not a massive fish and if I’m honest it didn’t really fight at all, but that’s it now, I’ve crested the hill of my first fish and it can only be easier going from here.

Not long after that Ping had a slightly better one, still not a keeper, but another Bass all the same. We waited for a further hour without any joy (I’m not going to class the Eel as joyful mate) before deciding to retire to the pub for a well earned pint.

So that’s it. Mission accomplished. The absolute thrill of knowing that I’ve had my first Bass leaves me with sense of curiosity as to what a decent one feels like. All of a sudden I’m at the bottom of another hill, but this time I think I’ll enjoy the climb all the more.

Lessons learnt.

1. It’s good to set yourself goals. It’s what pushes you on and boy does it feel good when you achieve them.
2. Beer tastes much better when you’ve caught the fish you were after.
3. If you see a spot that looks fishy, try it. You never know until you’ve given it a go.
4. There's nothing like a Bass to produce a BaggieRich (tm) smile.

Twiddler · #2 11-08-2006, 01:56 PM

Cracking report/pic...Well done on the Bass mate....I don't think anyone could top THAT 'BaggieRich' smile, if they'd tried...A well and truely 'I'm on top of the world' one