20 July - Ilfracombe, Devon. Chucking gripper leads into the surf.

I had a single morning of the second part of the family holiday visting friends in which I decided I would try and catch a bass or a thornback. The nearby beach was good for both apparently, and I had caught bass and doggies here before on the rising tide. This was a two centre holiday visiting friends and I decided to have a go at 'bay slinging' as it would probably be my one and only chance this year. Dug out the Shakespear Salt Bass rods and my multipliers and checked the two up one down, flappers and wishbones etc. I still had plenty of leads amd shock leaders so I would be OK for a morning in the surf. I'll be honest - I don't really know what I'm doing! I do this beach casting malarkey about twice a year tops. One year I went five times, that was exceptional, but it makes a change and I like standing on the beach and casting into the surf.

I went to the local shop the day previous and bought my rag and squid and arrived at the beach at 10am with the tide turning. It looked great and my spirits were high despite having a hangover from drinking too much HSD the night before. I set one rod up and was baiting when a local came along. He chatted and advised me about the surf and tides. I had it all wrong apparently, he then laughed at me trying to hook my ragworm and in the end did it for me. He then laughed at my casting and did that for me as well! At least I managed to cast without bird nesting. It was useful advice though and he was a nice guy, and he hung around giving me hints and tips which I will remember for next time. The doggies were rife apparently and he said he would be surprised if I didn't get one, though he thought a bass unlikely on this tide.

He was partly right. I blanked. I had a brief moment where the rod top bounced away - just as I went to grab the rod and strike I spotted a gull flapping on my line just above the point where it went into the waves. I thought I had a fish! I also managed to drag in a load of weed as the tide reached the top. It took ages extracting the line and leads from the bladder wrack, thomgweed and sugar kelp . When I did, I discovered that the hook had caught a very decayed rabbit. The catch of the day.

One other embarrassing moment - my rods blew down with the tripod. Attempting to push the tripod in a bit deeper, I then lost my footing, I put my full weight on the cross beam and bent it so badly, the tripod wouldn't stay up at all. Finding a rock, I managed to straighten it slightly so that it would hold one rod and fished on. I saw the funny side after a bit.