It was holiday time in the Heathcote household and with all the scorching weather of late it couldn't come around quickly enough as far as I was concerned. South Devon was the destination and the weather was set to remain hot hot hot.
From a fishing point of view I had planned a couple of early morning trips to a couple of local rock marks I the hope of catching some wrasse, pollack and mackerel with maybe a chance of snagging a Bass or two.
Have rod will travel
Once we got settled I popped into Torquay to get some supplies and of course it would've been rude not to have a mooch around the harbour looking for signs of fish. There was Mullet and Bass in abundance everywhere I looked and I couldn't wait to get stuck in.
Mullet grazing on a pontoon (tiny phone pic)
It was 5am when myself and Charlotte found ourselves clambering down the rocks in the hope of bagging a decent spot. I was surprised to find my first choice area already packed out but people certainly seemed to be catching a few.
Busy busy busy!
We set up around the corner to the crowds and soon enough a Sandeel was bobbing about beneath a float just off the rocks. After about five minutes the float shot away and I struck fully expecting a whacker of a Bass or something but to my dismay i hit nothing but thin air. Nothing else occurred for the next hour and I began to get impatient especially when everytime I looked across to the crowds they were hauling mackerel left right and centre!
Charlotte was starting to look bored so I resolved to try for the wrasse and bass another day, I needed to get a bend in the rod So on went the feathers!
A couple of casts in and I felt a thump on the rod and a few seconds later a shiny Mackerel was being tentatively swung to hand. After showing Charlotte what to do, we took it in turns and nearly every cast was a coconut. At one point Charlotte had five at once!
Charlotte getting stuck in
After about half an hour of hauling, disaster suddenly struck! after a particularly exuberant cast with the 6oz lead i was suddenly aware that my rod seemed somewhat shorter. Closer inspection revealed that around six inches had snapped off the end and I noticed another crack had appeared around halfway down what was left of the tip section aswell, bugger!
As I reeled in I had another hit off a Mackerel and as I swung it in Charlotte went to grab it and managed to get a loose hook lodged in her hand. Much screaming ensued and there was rather a lot of blood but fortunately it wasn't in deep and I managed to get it out with no real harm done. Looks like that was the end of my holiday fishing then!
The sun sets on my holiday fishing hopes
It was roasting as we headed back up cardiac hill to the car but at least I had plenty of Mackerel for the freezer, those Bass would have to wait for another time.
The final catch, plenty of Pike bait there!
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