Ok so a trip to Poole for some Black Bream fishing off the kayaks had been planned for a few weeks and the day had now arrived. An early start but the weather was already beautiful, no wind and bright sunshine.
A leisurely 2 ½ hour trundle across country to Dorset from Bristol...a bit longer than I'd anticipated, but never mind, things were looking good.
We ended up at a place called Studland Beach which was a great launch area for my Channel Kayaks BASS kayak. I must say at this point that despite being lucky enough to have a choice of the full range of Channel Kayaks, the BASS is my personal favourite; buoyant, nimble and really easy to manage.
From the beach we looked out across the bay at 'Old Harry Rock', where it was clear to see a line where the water was churning up over a reef and subsequently great Black Bream hunting territory, but it looked quite a distance away.
All loaded up and launched off the beach, I started to head towards the rock despite the distance.
About ¾ of the way towards the rock and I decided to anchor up and try for my first fish of the day. Two small strips of squid on a size 2 Aberdeen hook, 151b mono on a 4 foot trace to a swivel and then straight through, a pretty simple set up.
After about 15 to 20 minutes, there was one almighty knock, my rod bent over and I felt that I was off across the bay on the kayak and then snap!
Unfortunately I hadn't slackened off the drag at all and so whatever had fancied a bit of squid strip that morning just had a free breakfast!
A few hours later and after paddling over the reef past the rock it was time to get a little closer inshore for a bit of a rest after battling some very strong currents further out. This is a good time to remember how important an anchor is at sea on a kayak. When you are pooped and fancy a rest, instead of getting dragged backwards out to sea for a mile, anchor up, have a rest and get your breath back before heading off again.
Once closer to shore, I anchored up roughly in the same spot as I had done first thing. Exactly the same rig with another couple of small strips of squid, the sun was beaming down and life was good. Drop the line in, sit back, relax, top up the tan and forget about work...what could be better!
I had the anchor set to the rear of the kayak and was just gently bobbing around without drifting off anywhere. I lost track of time so I can't say how long I was sat there but suddenly, bang, another tremendous knock and then over the rod went. I had slackened off the drag from earlier which was most definitely a good thing as whatever was on the other end was happily stripping line from the reel. Fortunately the anchor was well seated as at that point I was like a dog out of the traps...”and we're off” I thought, as the kayak and I got towed left and right. At this point I had absolutely no idea what was now towing me around the bay, all I knew was if it was a bream I'm about to be in the record books.
Time after time I managed to win some line back only to loose most of it again as whatever it was fought on. This was probably the best fight that I had personally had
sea fishing and especially on a kayak with light gear...wow this was exhilarating! Eventually I began to win more line than I was losing and I was able to bring this now tired creature up closer to the surface to be identified.
What a beauty, a Smooth Hound, my first ever and what a catch. This explained everything. I had heard stories about how these small sharks can put up a fight and boy they are not wrong. Just as I thought it was all over and I had won the battle, the Hound had other ideas and back down it went for a final show of strength and stubbornness.
Eventually and at last, I won. I pulled the beautiful creature alongside my Channel Kayaks BASS kayak, lifting it partially out the water with a lip grip and got exactly what I wanted...some photos, before sending such a worthy contender back to where it is happiest, in the sea.
What a day, what a memory and what an amazing fish to catch and release!....
Byron Baker-Brown
Channel Kayaks | Channel kayaks home page
Channel Kayaks | And we're off! (kayak fishing)
A leisurely 2 ½ hour trundle across country to Dorset from Bristol...a bit longer than I'd anticipated, but never mind, things were looking good.
We ended up at a place called Studland Beach which was a great launch area for my Channel Kayaks BASS kayak. I must say at this point that despite being lucky enough to have a choice of the full range of Channel Kayaks, the BASS is my personal favourite; buoyant, nimble and really easy to manage.
From the beach we looked out across the bay at 'Old Harry Rock', where it was clear to see a line where the water was churning up over a reef and subsequently great Black Bream hunting territory, but it looked quite a distance away.
All loaded up and launched off the beach, I started to head towards the rock despite the distance.
About ¾ of the way towards the rock and I decided to anchor up and try for my first fish of the day. Two small strips of squid on a size 2 Aberdeen hook, 151b mono on a 4 foot trace to a swivel and then straight through, a pretty simple set up.
After about 15 to 20 minutes, there was one almighty knock, my rod bent over and I felt that I was off across the bay on the kayak and then snap!
Unfortunately I hadn't slackened off the drag at all and so whatever had fancied a bit of squid strip that morning just had a free breakfast!
A few hours later and after paddling over the reef past the rock it was time to get a little closer inshore for a bit of a rest after battling some very strong currents further out. This is a good time to remember how important an anchor is at sea on a kayak. When you are pooped and fancy a rest, instead of getting dragged backwards out to sea for a mile, anchor up, have a rest and get your breath back before heading off again.
Once closer to shore, I anchored up roughly in the same spot as I had done first thing. Exactly the same rig with another couple of small strips of squid, the sun was beaming down and life was good. Drop the line in, sit back, relax, top up the tan and forget about work...what could be better!
I had the anchor set to the rear of the kayak and was just gently bobbing around without drifting off anywhere. I lost track of time so I can't say how long I was sat there but suddenly, bang, another tremendous knock and then over the rod went. I had slackened off the drag from earlier which was most definitely a good thing as whatever was on the other end was happily stripping line from the reel. Fortunately the anchor was well seated as at that point I was like a dog out of the traps...”and we're off” I thought, as the kayak and I got towed left and right. At this point I had absolutely no idea what was now towing me around the bay, all I knew was if it was a bream I'm about to be in the record books.
Time after time I managed to win some line back only to loose most of it again as whatever it was fought on. This was probably the best fight that I had personally had
sea fishing and especially on a kayak with light gear...wow this was exhilarating! Eventually I began to win more line than I was losing and I was able to bring this now tired creature up closer to the surface to be identified.
What a beauty, a Smooth Hound, my first ever and what a catch. This explained everything. I had heard stories about how these small sharks can put up a fight and boy they are not wrong. Just as I thought it was all over and I had won the battle, the Hound had other ideas and back down it went for a final show of strength and stubbornness.
Eventually and at last, I won. I pulled the beautiful creature alongside my Channel Kayaks BASS kayak, lifting it partially out the water with a lip grip and got exactly what I wanted...some photos, before sending such a worthy contender back to where it is happiest, in the sea.
What a day, what a memory and what an amazing fish to catch and release!....
Byron Baker-Brown
Channel Kayaks | Channel kayaks home page
Channel Kayaks | And we're off! (kayak fishing)