Tope- Success at last.

[nifty]

Hi All,

 

No book today Andy, I'm too tired

 

This beauty towed me uptide against for half an hour.

[Simon Everett]

He's only gone and caught a hat trick today. Some of us had to go to work!

Bloody good angler is our Nifty. Good on him I say! Roll on the next decent spell of weather ythat I can get a couple of days off.

[nifty]

This one went quite well also

 

Pictures aren't too clever i'm afraid, I couldn't get far enough away to get it all in' and having to sit on it's tail wasn't very easy.

[Simon Everett]

You should have had your private cameraman there!

Sorry.

[spanner]

Simon,

 

Tricky this, having a conversation across 2 threads

 

The more the merrier ... I'm a gang of one at the moment and I'd rather have pictures like the 1st set above

 

Cracking fish by the way nifty ... and 3 of them ... don't be greedy, leave some for the rest of us ..... and well done for getting a piccy at all

 

Jealousy, envy, coveting another man's fish ... not sure which sin but I'm feeling very sinful

[Artfulfisher]

Hiya Nifty and Simon,

 

Great write up and pics!!! SM gave me a call and told me to check out your posting as he thought I might be interested...he couldn't have been more right!!!

 

I've been entertaining the idea of tope here in West Wales (Pembrokeshire) as one of my angling pals regularly catches lovely tope off his boat...but obviously big boats with engines are for sissy types!

 

Anyway I'm checking out dates/finance/wife/kids/weather...and if all line up, I'll be with you at some point between the 23rd and 26th...

 

I will need to sort a few things:

 

Anchor system...any good links much appreciated.

A 12lb boat rod...any favourites???

Some wire trace...

And big hooks!..any recommendations?

 

Anyway, I really hope I can make it up to meet you guys...if not this time then obviously at some point in the future.

 

Thanks again for your great write up and pictures...one small step for Kayak Fisherman, One giant leap for Kayak Fishing in the UK!

 

Tight lines...in your case Very Tight lines, Art

[Starvinmarvin]

Art,

 

My good lady has given the go ahead for a Friday Night to Sunday Lunchtime as long as I wash up every night and am a good boy.

 

Thought we were going to try some of those really cheap and bendy rods you know the £15ders.

[Simon Everett]

Art,

first, anchor set up. We are only in about 7 fathoms maximum, but with a fairly strong tide run. A 3lb folder is fine - a smaller one if you can find it, but 3lb is the smallest I can find. Stuart didn't have chain, just tripped his anchor straight to the anchor warp - get yourself 100m of 6mm nylon (parachute cord from the army/navy surplus is fine). A length of chain will prevent the warp from chafing so much. Attach the chain to the BOTTOM of the anchor and then with the chain lying flat along the shank use two turns of whipping twin, or a small cable tie, to lash the chain to the top eye of the anchor. The warp is then tied off to the chain. The pull is along the shank, so the whip has no strain on it. If your anchor gets stuck a sideways strain (yu have to paddle up tide) breaks the whipping/cable tie and you can pull the anchor out of the snag backwards - the way it went in. If worried, use a milkcarton (4 litre) as a dan buoy on the running end of your anchor warp.

 

Hooks Mustad fine wire 6/0 with the barbs filed off. 12" of 50lb wire (changed my mind on the thin wire as Stuart had his shredded yesterday!) and then a swivel. 50lb - 75lb moo 6' length to the swivel as a rubbing length with another swivel on the end- it doesn't hurt the fish like thin braid or wire should a Tope roll in it. Also better for getting hold of.

A simple running leger rig with the hook trace clipped onto the running ned of the reel line. Couldn't be simpler. 3oz leads ae the heaviest you will need. Bring some 1oz, 2oz and 3oz for the different stages of the tide. At the start of the flood you can even freeline a mackerel the water is shallow enough.

12lb class rod is fine. Small multiplier - a fixed spool will probably not stand the starin. These fish will take 50 yards in a run and they have the tide too. Ambassadeur 6500 with 17lb line or a 7700 with braid is my gear. Stuart has a 6500 with 15lb main line. I prefer a little more abrasion resistance.

The most important thing is TO BE THERE! Gear is not that important so long as it is man enough.

See you 25th June.

Simon

[Artfulfisher]

That's Brilliant Simon,

 

I'm already shopping! My Wife's happy... there are a few complications, some completely out of our hands to do with a very ill relative, which may stop me making the trip. However I've made up my mind... I will be prepared and ready to drive North if all is well.

 

Thanks for the comprehensive reply and I truely hope to be there.

 

Thanks for the call Starvin and the post above...don't forget the little goldfish rod!

 

Topetastically Tight Lines All, Art

[nifty]

Hi all,

As Simon has already mentioned, I managed to get out on my own yesterday, and went straight to the area we caught in the other day.

 

This time i just took the tope gear and 5 triple packs of ammo mackerel. I got out there about 1 hour before HW and there was next to no tide pushing by then so i dropped the pick and settled down getting everthing i might need to hand and putting the rest of the gear in the stern well.

 

The kayak was swinging about all over the place, with the breeze trying to push it against the slight current. I dropped the half mackerel over the side with just half ounce of lead and it just went straight down without the tide to straighten the trace. Never mind i thought it won't be long till it starts flowing so i just sat back and waited but within a minute i had a thump and reeled in a blasted doggy.

 

A local potter came over to see what i was after and went off laughing when i told him. I wish he'd been there two minutes later when the line started trickling out and i set the hook into the first fish of the day. This fish kept deep and just kept going for over 100yds, not fast but there was nothing i could do with it but apply as much pressure as my rod would take and hope it stopped. Eventually it turned and came straight back towards me and then went undeneath me and up the other way, pulling the kayak all the way round so i was facing the opposite way.

 

Luckily it didn't snag the anchor rope and i started applying pressure. This carried on for half an hour or more going first one way then the other but eventually i seemed to be making some headway and got it close enough to get my first look at it. Just when i thought i was winning it dived under the yak heading for the anchor so i took the tip of the rod around the bow (the anchor is out the stern) and hoped it hadn't tied me up. Thankfully she came clear and i was able to pump her onto the surface and bring her alongside to see that this fish was a hell of a lot bigger than the one i'd had previously. I could see the hook in the corner of her mouth so i put my glove on and grabbed the trace and disconnected it from the mainline.

 

Now came the dodgy bit.I wanted a photo or two so i managed to keep the fish alongside with my right hand while i fumbled about in my pocket for the camera. After checking that it was working i tried to get a couple of snaps of her alongside but because i couldn't see what i was doing very well I'm afraid they're not too clever and just as i lifted her head into the yak to get a picture of her dental work she went ballistic so i put the camera away and got on with trying to get the hook out. For some reason although i'm using barbless hooks it had gone in at a funny angle and even the pliers wouldn't shift it so i cut the wire on the crimp and released her.

 

By this time the tide was pulling tight on the anchor so i put a new trace on and carried on. For two hours all i had were doggies and i was wondering whether i ought to move out a bit, but being the lazy sod i am i couldn't be bothered to start fiddling around with the anchor again. Good job really because it eventually happened an i felt a solid thump and line started running off the spool so i put it into gear, clamped my thumb on the spool and leaned into the fish which had a short run downtide before doing the same trick as the first one and went uptide but away from the kayak this time. Again the kayak started swinging side on to the tide as the fish went past me, so i gave it line without putting too much pressure on and after a 40 yd dash it came back down over the anchor rope again. It seemed to be trying to go around the rope and i was passing the rod back and forth around the bow trying to pull it out. Eventually it came clear and went on a couple of short runs but not as fast or long and within another few minutes i had it alongside.

 

Fortunately i managed to get the hook out easily and took a picture of him admiring the inside of the prowler after a bit of a struggle trying to hold him with one hand and camera with the other.

 

I posted that picture last night before i opened the beers

 

I waited another hour and a half catching just dogs before another Tope put in an appearance and gave me a nice straightforward battle all played out in front of me. This fish was a bit smaller.

 

The tide had dropped about two thirds by now and i was only in about 15ft of water and was now getting pestered with spider crabs.

 

Another hour passed and the kayak was starting to swing about again when out of the blue a huge fish hit me and tore off. I made a vain attempt to set the hook and next minute the water erupted about 30yds down from me. To start with i couldn't work out what the comotion was until the dorsal fin,tail and most of it's back came out of the water and i realised it was what i was hooked into. This fish then went screaming up past me but unfortunately it threw the hook on the way past.

 

Anyway it was an eventful day and one i am hoping to repeat soon. Any takers.

 

Stuart.