Swanage & Durlston Bay - 11th July 2005

[SpeciMan]

Short story: Zzippy and I caught mackeral and wrasse in Swanage and Durlston Bay.

 

Long story read on:

 

Zzippy and I planned to fish the tope grounds between St Albans and Durlston Head west of Swanage yesterday. Zzippy arrived early (7-8am) to try for mackeral in Swanage Bay and produced a few before I got down there at 10:30am. :cool:

 

The plan had been to paddle out at slack water (high tide & 12:40pm for Swanage bay) and take the ebbing tide round past Durlston Head and fish somewhere in between there and St Albans. We'd heard the tide pulls strong in this area so we would have been looking to fish close inshore between these headlands.

 

When we headed out of Swanage bay and headed west the tide was against us but not too strong at that point. There was confusion with the state of the tide, it may have still been coming in as an hour or so later it was predicted high tide for Swanage but Zzippy had seen it going out before we set off.

 

With a double high tide a characteristic of nearby Poole Harbour and Bournemouth beaches(east) and a double low tide a characteristic of Kimmeridge area(west) it made it hard to judge just what was going on!

 

When we paddled through Durlston Bay around the corner from Swanage, the tide picked up near Durlston Head and we anchored up near Tilly Whim caves as we were tiring. I guess anchoring in deep water near a headland is not advisable at the best of times & isn't there!

 

The tide was too strong, we were in deep water (more pull against the anchor cord) and we were both close to reaching for our dive knifes and cutting the cord.

 

Fortunately the plastic cable ties broke free on their own by the force of the tide and our anchors could be pulled back up with ease. We then took this fast tide back to Durlston Bay and fished this area for a good few hours.

 

When we decided to head back into Swanage Bay the tidal conditions had changed somewhat around Peveril Point (an underwater rocky outcrop just to the west of swanage which we needed to cross to get back into Swanage Bay).

 

With water rushing out of the bay over these rocks, surf and whirlpool were forming. Zzippy and I paddled straight into this not knowing how strong the currents were against us at the time.

 

We reached a point where the kayaks were static - with us paddling hard and the current trying to take us back into the surf and whirlspools we had just paddled through and avoided. We had no choice but to turn back and to go with the current and face the torrents. The kayaks handled this surprisingly well, we got through it and beached up at Durlston Bay for a 'breather'.

 

Afterwards we stayed close inshore and lifted our kayaks over some rocks to get back into the harbour. Fished Swanage bay a few more hours with little success. Zzippy had the most fish today with some good mackeral and wrasse. Myself, I caught one mackeral!

 

So no tope fishing as such although we did have a big bait rod out just in case. If I can suss those tides out I want to try for those tope grounds again. Plenty of sea kayakers pass through this area - its very scenic with good wildlife.

 

When heading over to the Purbecks we may launch from Kimmeridge Bay next time and try to find a tope mark on the western side of St Albans Head.

 

As it is, tope of small to medium size are being caught from our doorstep in Poole Bay at the moment. This area is fishing well.

 

[ 12. July 2005, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: Speciman ]

[SpeciMan]

Standing at the launch point - Swanage Pier in background:

 

Gloves on and ready to roll. Tope here we come (or so we thought!)

 

Zzippy paddling past the pier:

 

Approaching Peveril Point on the western side of Swanage Bay:

 

Once past Durlston Bay there is much 'birdlife' near the cliffs along this jurassic coastline:

 

We saw what looked like a group of puffins. Need to hold the camera steady. Bit blurred.

[SpeciMan]

We fished Durlston Bay for a while:

 

Before trying to head back into Swanage Bay over Peveril Point. After being beaten by the current we stayed close inshore near the rocks. Here, Zzippy has just spooked a large fish in the kelp:

 

There's a wall to the right of this pic and we lift the yaks over this to avoid another Peveril workout (wipeout!):

[nifty]

Hi Speciman,

Bad luck with the Tope fishing but it looks like you had a cracking day anyway.

Those tides sound a bit dodgy, a snagged anchor could lead to some excitement unless you cut it free pretty smart

I got snagged up on saturday at mid tide at our tope mark and although it was calm, a residual 2-3 ft ground swell had the kayak tipping quite alarmingly as i tried to free it. Even though i had it tripped with a small cable tie on the top shackle it refused to shift and i eventually had to cut it loose. ( Never mind, it'll be company for Starvins anchor )

 

It sounds like an area worth perservering with though and maybe asking the local potters about the tide situation and where to avoid.

 

Cracking photos by the way,

nifty.

 

PS Tell Zippy to get his legs covered up if he wants any skin left on them when that Tope comes calling

[Yaskalos]

Great report and pics guys, sounds like you had fun but a bit hairy with the tide race stuff though.

[Starvinmarvin]

Great report Simon, Zzippy, and nice pictures, lovely area down there, in the right conditions Kimmeridge should be a great launching spot, just take care when returning, read a horrible report on the main forum about a boat which nearly sunk trying to get back to the ramp.

 

Good luck with finding those tope I've got the Prowler on Standby.

 

Cheers

 

SM

[Starvinmarvin]

Nifty it was probably snared on my anchor, sorry

[Artfulfisher]

Great write up and pics there speciman!!! ...soounds like you had a real adventure.

 

Those puffin like birds are Guillemots matey. Very nice birds, we get loads of them in Pembrokeshire, along with Puffins and Razorbills. A real treat to see them and get a photo, well done!

 

Nifty...it's turning into an anchor graveyard out there...Me, Speciman and Simon better head back up there to loose our anchors too!!!

 

cheers for now, and thanks again for a great post Speciman...and Zzippy for playing a star role!, Art

[Zzippy]

The pictures came out realy well Simon

I will do the shots next week

We can try somewhere with less current.

I had to change my pants when I got home after last weeks close encounter

[Mad Yakka]

It sounds like you hit some pretty nasty currents the double high tide issue is something new to me and sounds very dodgy to say the least?

Will you be going back out there to fish the same area again or will you be warning people off it?

It's good to hear you's both have a divers knife I always take mine with me as you never know when your going to need it.

Great pics, it's always a shame when the ones you want most turn out blurred I find it best to take a couple extra of each like a landed fish as they're irreplaceable!