Fishing

I just discovered I've got really good access to the upper Severn estuary - got hypothermia many a time as a teenager fishing for flatfish in similar marks - looks good for ragworm too ( and birds ).
I sense a new dawn.

Two words - Dover Sole.

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/community/other-stuff/6536_beach-fishing-flatfish-sole-rigs-tips-tactics

I've eaten a lot of locally caught dover sole. It's insanely good.

Worth a punt here...

Any sea angling shops in London ?

Been around the local shops and 5th one actually carries Penn rods & reels but not the one i am looking for. The Penn website is shite and the store locator doesn't work.

Having a rethink and spring clean and want a more compact rod than 6.5' sections but finding a shop that advertises and carrys Penn gear is proving awkward.

Farlows in Pall mall don't carry them but will proberly vist anyway for the vast array of game gear.

Glasgow Angling Centre stocks all things Penn and does excellent mail order. However, best to too see the product in the flesh first. Boat trip to mid-Channel next week for a bit of wrecking.....

watched Jaws last night, and monsters of the deep with 6 gill sharks, happy to stay onland :)

one of the shops had several smaller Penn Senators second hand today. (closed for lunch though)

Shopping is the issue. Several large mail order companies is not helping when you want to see before you buy.
Bonus buy was a Sand spike today. Saw a few in use down at Dungeness, way less faffing than a tripod and i only want to run with a single rod and be lightweight, never seen them before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCm4iVtBs7k

No sharks today.

Shoal of Porpises around Dungeness today and the odd seal so fish about but not being caught.

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Very hazy low down but clear blue skys

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Ramming Speed !

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Hit the beach

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Drag it up on top of the shingle ridge

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When the going gets tough, the tough go codding......!

Turns out the beach i have looked at on google earth as a future mark..... somewhere we got close too.... via another venue is a naturist beach (maybe unofficial)
Might have a trek in next weekend.

Maybe try a cloudier morning too? Fish will be likely to come further in and be less easily spooked

Ok, so the cod picture didn't load, might have another attempt later.

Tomorrow is the first day of the trout season on my bit of river. This year I am going full retro; I have got hold of a Hardy cane rod which is as old as I am, but immaculate (which I am not), also a Hardy Marquis reel and a wicker creel. All things being equal I shall post a picture, complete with trout, tomorrow.

Cane rods take a bit of getting used to as they are really whippy/slow, but should be perfect for river stuff, particularly if you’re using tiny flies/light tippet. Fucking useless for lake stuff as I found out when I was learning though

Not a Hardy wicker creel...... even used they are eye wateringly spendy.

Not so much the rods, but the reels hold values well, been looking at a Hardy Sunbeam with agate guide and spare spool for a while, liked the Marquis, saw the new ones at the London Fly show and thought out loud how it looked like chromed plastic because it was too light. Nice though.

Redone my old landing net as knotted mesh is "unsporting" so ended up in Farlows on Regent street for a replacement net. Worth going in just to get their catalogue, way better than the ones from fishtec and mega fishing that come in the magazines. Got everything but a fish for tea now :)
Got a pair of Gearflys with spare spools and lines on way instead :)

Nope, not a Hardy creel, there is a limit to purism! Hardy 9' #4 Perfection from 1961 and Marquis 3/4 disc from 1996 brand spanking with a spare spool for £165. I have several other cane rods which I still use, including a 1957 RW MKIV Avon, which I had a 15lb carp on last summer. A long cast on the river is 10 yards, I found I could (sometimes) hit a dandelion at that range with the Hardy. I will probably catch a lot of.... nettles and overhanging willows.

Should be lovely then, I just found the action very different to carbon rods. Admittedly I was using a 6’6” 5#, but still felt really heavy and slow.

It is heavy and sloooow, particularly compared to the 7' #3 carbon I normally use, it is probably as heavy as the 9' #11 I use for tarpon. But, for my bit of chalkstream it feels right. After all, nobody sane would use a steel framed fixed.....

Guess who's coming to dinner....

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Very Tweedy :) nice size fish :)

My bulk buy arrived this morning....

2 Interpid Gearflys and extra spools all loaded with #8 lines.

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Photos from Thomas Turners.

Old used unloved.
Cleaned up the not so dirty one and running nicely now. Still wants a full strip down and polish some parts, but very useable.
Stripped and rewound and cleaned 2 spools. Line needs pulling but seemed better after rewinding.

Started on 3rd spool, stripped line, but I think a repair at some point in it's life as spool as a fine lock wire in recess to catch the handle and that's too tight, looks like too thick a wire. Should be fixable.....
1 spool to do in morning.

The second reel is working but very gummed up and the reel foot is loose which looks like some peening over of the rivet will cure, one to play with and maybe become a spares donor.

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