A few species on my local patch 15/07/2015

Today I had a small window in the weather and work to get out between the school runs so headed out later than my usual dawn launch the water was clearer than I was expecting so paddled out expecting the trolled lure to get hit along the way in the usual spots but sadly the lure was spared any action things weren't going to plan,I headed out deeper to do some jigging this resulted in a few small Codling with the odd better fish mixed in but all returned to fight another day




I soon lost interest in this and made my way closer to the Grey seal infested exposed rocks I have been wanting to catch a Ballan Wrasse local on a soft plastic lure for a long time but they seem to be few and far between so persisted working a Fiiish Black Minnow in very shallow kelp and boulder strewn water I soon had a few small Codling aboard one a nice golden Kelp coloured fish and one that was pushing 4lb or so but still not the intended target




I had the pleasure of a young Puffin hunting alongside the kayak for a while so had a drop down with the feathers quickly and snagged a Launce

Back onto the soft plastic lure and had a small Coalie

Then I had a few tentative plucks that I couldn't connect with or bumped off but kept at it and was delighted when a small Ballan surfaced target achieved



Happy with that I trolled back to the outer scaurs and picked up enough Mackerel on the plug to feed the family for tea so decided to head in


There was a slight Northerly swell pushing back to shore so made the most of it and managed to clock up 7.5 mph on the paddle in with very little effort a great finish to another great morning afloat
Andy

St Abbs 12/07/2015

Myself and Jack headed up to St Abbs yesterday with Mark to try and find some Pollack and clear water after an early start we were on the water for just after 5am and it didn't take long to get Jack attached to a really angry Pollack he did great controlling such a powerful fish but Dad had to drag it from the kelp once he didn't want a trophy shot of the fish as it wasn't a pb at around 3lb+ so I released it in the water and set off to find its bigger siblings

I managed one around the same size on a Fiish minnow worked hard in the kelp and also had a Mackerel but the fishing was tougher than expected with Jack only managing a few small Coalfish on the plugs


I had one drift close in to the cliff face and managed a real scrapper of a Pollack around 6-7lb really sporting on light tackle and great to see swim back to the depths to fight another day too


We decided on a paddle south crossing the harbour and getting in tight to the rocks at Coldingham bay I managed to winkle out a couple more Pollack but the swell picked up a bit on this side making getting tight tricky
The numbers of jellyfish of all shapes sizes and colours was amazing to see and fired me up to get back up with my snorkel soon



Really exciting to be in the narrow channels threading your way through the gaps in time with the swells but as Myself and Jack shot through a gap on a swell I turned around to see mMark coming through the gap just as the gulley was emptying I shouted a warning to him of the Rock directly in front of him but it was too late as he turned the swell slammed him down on to the rock and it sounded bad so we headed for the harbour to asses the damage

On inspection it had just caught the scupper cover and pulled it off and tore the bond from the scupper tube so had taken on a bit of water this prematurely ended our trip we could have temp repaired with the 2k epoxy from our kit but would have made the at home repair a lot more time consuming good thing about the Glass kayaks pretty easy to get looking like new
So myself and Jack took the opportunity to brush up on some skills in the harbour just as much fun as the fishing we really enjoyed ourselves and all preperation for him if he ever has to deal with a real situation









A really enjoyable day

Andy

YAK Hallertau PFD

Just thought I would share my views on this PFD from YAK I have been using this since the start of the year so not that long but long enough to give a short term verdict on it




I was using the Kaikoura from Palm as it had the storage I wanted for Cameras,PLB’s GoPro remote VHF etc.
But I liked the look of the Hallertau it had all the storage of the Palm Kaikoura except for the bladder pocket on the back but this was something I never used on the Kaikoura but had a much more secure fastening as it is aimed more at the White-water paddlers rather than the Kayak anglers however getting tossed about in the surf I think the more secure the fit the better.

Initially I found it quite tricky to fasten up as you have 2 buckles, Velcro a zip and then finally the quick release belt but this got a lot easier once you have done it a few times and you can get it to fit very securely.

     


The pockets have good quality zips and I can stow away my cameras PLB and compass with ease and also has great attachment points for my Knife and VHF Radio along with two small pockets that are ideal for putting a whistle and rope cutter in and has a quick release split D ring for attaching things just below where I attach my knife this is great for attaching the clip at the end of my waist mounted towline to






As the YAK Hallertau is aimed at the white-water community it is designed to allow freedom of movement and it is a joy to paddle in it doesn't feel restrictive in the least due to the design across the shoulders


The PFD is finished to a very high standard and has plenty of scope for adjustment to get it feeling just right



Ive not used it long enough to give a thorough long term review but after 6 months of use I am very pleased with it


Andy