16/07/2023 - A swift change of tactics

It was the daughter's graduation down at Falmouth Univeristy at the start of this week - her second in fact, as she started an on-line masters in Illustration during COVID to complement her degree in Graphic Art & Design. Anyway, we decided to make a few days of it and found a campsite within walking distance of the town. 

My lad already had spent four years down there doing his own Masters in Zoology and we'd been frequent visitors, so I was pretty familiar with the area. With space limited in the van I therefore opted just to take the wrasse gear as I knew there were plenty of nice, deep rock gullies along the headlands. Got delayed on the M5 as usual around Bridgewater, but otherwise had a leisurely journey down and got settled in on Saturday evening. The next morning we had a quick breakfast, got packed up and walked down to Swanpool. 

Left the others on the beach - laddo snorkelling and the girls with their books - and made my way further along the coastpath towards Maenporth. A quick look on Google Maps had shown that there were some promising, big gullies on the Swanpool side of the headland, so that was where I headed. Got down onto the rocks and had a quick forage around for some bait. Was about an hour before high tide, but managed to get a dozen limpets within a few minutes before setting up the gear. Had got my 15 - 60 g lure rod, paired up with a 3000 size spinning reel loaded with 10 lb Big Game. My wrasse rigs are made up from shop-bought size 6 or 8 Sabikis - the string of 8 feathers cut up to give 4 two-hook flappers, with a swivel tied on one end and weak link for the lead tied on the other. Nice and cheap and simple.

 

This would prove significant a bit later, but for the moment the hooks were baited up with bits of limpet and the rig lowered down the side of the gully. Was getting a few knocks and pulls and was waiting for the tip to pull round properly when the surface of the water erupted in front of me! Was so surprised that it took me a few seconds to work out what was happening. Basically the mackerel had herded a huge shoal of whitebait into the gully where I was fishing and was now smashing into them in a feeding frenzy. 

I could clearly see the larger, darker shapes of the mackerel underneath the fry, so quickly wound in, took the bait off the hooks and waited for the next eruption, dropping my feathers right into the middle of it. The rod tip thumped round after only a couple of turns of the reel handle and I thought I'd actually got a bass on as it fought like stink, but it turned out to be a sizeable mackerel instead. Had nine in quick succession, each time dropping the rig into the middle of the maelstrom. Kept two for the pot before my fun was curtailed - not by the fish leaving, but by a group of local kids turning up and thinking it would be great fun to start tomb-stoning straight into the shoals - but for a mad fifteen minutes it had definitely been a case of right time, right place! 

Therefore found another gully and went back to the wrasse fishing, but was just getting little rattles, so cleaned the two fish I'd kept and made my way back to the others. Back from his snorkel my lad reported also seeing loads of whitebait close into shore being harried by shoals of foot-long launce, but his highlight was a ballan wrasse as long as one of his flippers! 

Seems I should have stayed on the beach. However, back at the campsite the mackerel - filleted, seasoned, pan-fried and eaten with some bread and butter - was amazing! 

P.S. if you like your sea fishing and are looking for a diamond in the usual mountain of dross on YouTube then check out Wayne Hand aka The Shore Hunter here - he's very knowledgable, very funny and above  all honest!