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785 Posts
had the good fortune to fish the north norfolk coast a couple of weeks back. the spot I chose was cley-next-the sea, the other end of blakeney point, with it's fine shingle bank. I headed there at around 1pm on an incoming tide armed with some lovely, but expensive rag (at 5 quid for 25, more expensive than what I'm used to paying anyway!). the conditions looked perfect, nice rolling surf & cloudy skies threatening rain. I set up rods, one working behind the breakers & another about 25 yards from the shore.
there were three other guys fishing & one of them came over for a chat. he told me that it was the wrong time of the year, but I could pick some small bass if lucky. well, one hour passed without the rod registering any bites, then another, then another & then, just as I was about to fall asleep, lying back, gazing at the sky, the behind the breaker rod began to give a few tentative knocks, I waited for the next one, struck firmly & started to reel in. hardly any resistance at all, tiddlers, I thought. my suspicions were confirmed, a small cod-like creaure & a tiny flat fish, no longer than 6", either of them. they'd gorged the hook well & truly, so it was either throw them to the gulls or take them home for a meagre fry up. in the end I gave them to the car park attendant, who grinned from ear to ear.
later conversations in the lovely port of wells revealed that times were really bad fishing wise, that crab/lobster vessels were returning with seriously depleted catches, month after month...
I noticed that the pallets in the port bore dutch names though. what does this actually mean? british/dutch enterprises, mixed capital, shared quotas? mystified.
the two miniscule 'little fishies' I hauled out of the north sea were unlike anything I'm used to catching out here in NW spain, which if they're flat, they tend to be plaice or sole, turbot if you're very lucky... the cod-like thing I was told could have been a 'pouting'. who knows? when you guys moan about catching very little, I thought you were jesting, but if this case scenario is typical, then it's mighty depressing...
cheers
mac
there were three other guys fishing & one of them came over for a chat. he told me that it was the wrong time of the year, but I could pick some small bass if lucky. well, one hour passed without the rod registering any bites, then another, then another & then, just as I was about to fall asleep, lying back, gazing at the sky, the behind the breaker rod began to give a few tentative knocks, I waited for the next one, struck firmly & started to reel in. hardly any resistance at all, tiddlers, I thought. my suspicions were confirmed, a small cod-like creaure & a tiny flat fish, no longer than 6", either of them. they'd gorged the hook well & truly, so it was either throw them to the gulls or take them home for a meagre fry up. in the end I gave them to the car park attendant, who grinned from ear to ear.
later conversations in the lovely port of wells revealed that times were really bad fishing wise, that crab/lobster vessels were returning with seriously depleted catches, month after month...
I noticed that the pallets in the port bore dutch names though. what does this actually mean? british/dutch enterprises, mixed capital, shared quotas? mystified.
the two miniscule 'little fishies' I hauled out of the north sea were unlike anything I'm used to catching out here in NW spain, which if they're flat, they tend to be plaice or sole, turbot if you're very lucky... the cod-like thing I was told could have been a 'pouting'. who knows? when you guys moan about catching very little, I thought you were jesting, but if this case scenario is typical, then it's mighty depressing...
cheers
mac
