Popped down for a few days over Easter with the in-laws in Pembrokeshire so took enough tackle to cover a range of eventualities, but with the main target being my first bass of the year.
However, whilst I knew that the tides were going to be less than ideal, I hadn't reckoned upon the added influence of Storm Dave. Saturday was grim as a result, but by Sunday morning the worst of the weather had blown through and I was down on the estuary at dawn, albeit still with a stiff breeze at my back. Only had about an hour and a half before high tide so planned to fish creature baits as the water came flooding across the mud, hoping to intercept a feeding bass. Worked a Megabass sleeper craw around the clumps of bladderwrack whilst keeping an eye out for any fish movement. However, by the time I'd been pushed back against the sea wall I'd not had a sniff.
The water had become progressively murkier as the tide came in and a trip to Lawrenny Quay for lunch later in the day confirmed my worst fears. There were white horses being driven by the wind up the main estuary and the water was now the colour of mud due to the wave action on the shore. That knocked any further ideas of lure fishing on the head, so the following day I scratched around in the father-in-law's garden for some worms instead, having brought the ultra-lite gear as back up. Tuesday I was up early again and headed over towards Haverfordwest to my little, urban trout stream. Parked up in the layby on the bypass, got quickly togged up in the waders and then sneaked down the bank into the water when there was a suitable gap in the morning traffic - more to avoid bringing unwanted attention to "my spot".
Flicked a worm on a 0.5 gram jig-head up to the head of the first run and let it drift back towards me. Was immediately met by un-hittable jabs and rattles on the rod tip, the worm coming back mangled by tiny teeth. Eventually hooked one of the critters responsible, but it turned out to be a perfect little silver tourist rather than the expected brownie. Later confirmed as a salmon rather than a sea trout smolt by a friend who works for the Wild Trout Trust, I carefully popped him/her back to continue their perilous journey downstream and out into the Atlantic. Salmon stocks have declined in the catchment to the extent that National Resources Wales have categorised them as "depleted and at risk".
When I had two more in the next few casts I was therefore seriously contemplating cutting the session short to avoid unduly disturbing them. However, the next spot yielded my first wild brownie of the morning so I carried on upstream after that, picking the odd one off here and there from amongst the assorted urban debris. Had another surprise when I spotted some movement in the outflow from a sluice around an old dam. Upon closer investigation it turned out to be a small cluster of spawning brook lamprey. Several males mate with a single female, whose eggs are then deposited in a "nest" in the gravel. Job done the adults then die, leaving the eggs to hatch into larvae which stay buried in the substrate for several years before transforming into adult themselves and starting the cycle again.
Managed to get a reasonable photo just to get expert confirmation of the ID and then watched them fascinated for a good five minutes before carrying on. In the light of my morning's observations I was pleased to see that the pollution I'd reported last time had apparently been resolved, althought the occasional whiff from the nearby sewage treatment works served as an unwellcome reminder! By the time I reached the road bridge about 200 metres upstream I was down to my last worm. Used it to trick one final brownie and making it a "baker's dozen" before packing up. I often feel quite privileged that, as an angler, I get to see and experience nature much closer than most and this morning was no exception.
As I walked back to the car I wondered how many of the people speeding past were even aware of this little gem of a stream so close to a busy road, but I suppose that's what makes it special.
