Friday 3 June 2011

Blankety Blank...

Wearily, I managed to drag my carcase out of bed at 4 a.m. and squeeze into the jeep which was jam-packed with fishing gear and camping equipment..

Ahhhhh! sunny Wales...
...the destination was Barmouth in West Wales. I head out here every year to try and catch one of the large Bass that are (if the bait and tackle shop owners in the town are to be believed) caught 'regularly' around the Mawddach estuary. I'd also gone to meet a mate of mine whom I hadn't seen in 15 years plus. I'd been regaling him with fisherman's stories about how we were going to fill our freezers with shoals of fresh Mackerel and record breaking Bass, so he'd decided to take his younger daughter with him to see if she'd get the fishing bug.


Actually, when I arrived in the early morning, the sun was starting to come out, so while my buddy went sight-seeing with the sprog, I crossed the estuary to Fairbourne for some beach-casting action in the rolling surf.


In laymans terms, this involves basically banging a peeler crab or sandeel baited rig out into the surf in the hope that a patrolling Bass, cruising the beach, will impale itself on the hook. Sometimes the rod tip bends sharply as the fish takes the bait and runs or the line goes slack as the Bass runs into shore - another indicator of a bite.

Fairbourne beach was beautiful, long, sunny and very windy. Five hours I was there, staring longingly up at the white tip of the rod. Despite some tentative bites (probably crabs) - no fish.

The next day was spent at the shore of the estuary spinning lures, again hoping for a Bass, Mackerel, or at this point, anything. A beautiful sunny day again but no fish. Caught a wind tan though.

The 'old man of the sea' - Put them gnashers away!
The kid seemed to like the 'idea' of fishing though, even if we couldn't furnish her with an actual fish. On the way home I resisted the temptation to avoid humiliation by my other half and buy the biggest fish I could from Sainsbury's fish counter, claiming it as my 'catch of the day'.
Next time I'll choose a better venue...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

ah..don't listen to him folkes..the trip was fab. The sun shone, the Guiness flowed, the waitress looked on with pity and my 6 year old NATO trained negotiator was on top form....but hey - buggar it, we were on holiday!
She's got the fishing bug and is looking forward to Chris coming to stay in Welsh land, so she can have another ride in the Jeep.
To a man, who even after all these years remains one of my best influences - cheers!

Chris said...

A bad influence no doubt - but kind words indeed. Still tying to remove the pint of Guinness stains from my denims as the waitress refused to do it.

Looking forward to another, fishin' trip with you and your sword wielding srpog.

John Going Gently said...

chris
I deleted your post comments on defra
there is one guy in the village that I know reads this blog and who will report me for anything!
jx

Chris said...

Sorry John, I thought I might have accidentally worried you a bit but thought you should know rather than get a shock visit like my neighbour recently had.

I don't think it's a big deal to sort though if you wanted to - just a form to fill in which you can get online.

Know what you mean though John - lots of people about like that and you never know who's reading this stuff.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Well, it looks like you had fun at any rate! Hopefully better luck next time :-)