Sunday 27 September 2009

September Fest

Photobucket
What a gloriously mild September it has been. Can still be a good time to fish too, with a bit of effort and the use of shanks pony. Today was an early start on Exeter Canal near Turf locks for pike- for the sake of avoiding human traffic as well as for fishing reasons. I opted to fly fish and wobble, whilst fellow Sunday escapees Rob and Neil went on lures. Bites were not exactly numerous, but well worth the wait. A six pounder was first up, going ballistic after snaffling a fly intended for perch sheltering under boats:
Photobucket
Catch of the day was definitely Rob's 13 pounder though (pictured at the top), the reward for getting stuck into some seriously overgrown swims. Well worth soggy trousers and nettle stings I'd say! The fish gave a spirited fight after grabbing a rubber shad. The bank was so overgrown that I literally (blush) had to get Neil to hold my ankles to reach down to the water and release the fish properly- oh well, a decent fish deserves respect, even if my dignity takes a dent.
The other highlight was Neil's discovery of a scrawled list of random mania clearly written by the sort of goggle eyed lunatic you might try to avoid at a bus stop. A little case uncovered a hotch potch of pub adresses, bizarre observations and remarks about spotting people "dogging at Lime Kilns". Nice.Photobucket

Other than these pikey goings on, Dawlish also provided some fantastic kicks for fly rod bass. On the small side generally, but over a dozen schoolies to home tied sand eel patterns can't be too bad- rod jarring takes and scrappy as heck on a trout rod:
Photobucket

No comments: