July proved to be a very quiet month for actual fishing, instead it was dominated by preparation, but more on that later. I did have a fishing lesson at the start of the month. There were familiar faces and a couple of new recruits. It was a gorgeous warm evening which was perfect for relaxed, easy fishing. The fish however weren’t quite so keen and even though we caught plenty, it was a great demonstration of fishing often being better when the weather is a little inclement. Wind is one of the hardest things to teach fishing in, so for lessons I’d always favour calm conditions. But, once you’re a little more confident with your casting and line management, fishing into the wind can be really productive. If there is a breeze blowing when I arrive at a lake, I’ll generally head for the end of the lake where the wind is blowing, especially if it’s a warm wind.
Anyway, on this evening I opted for warm, comfortable and out of the wind. With it being a well stocked lake, we were sure of a few bites. Our new anglers quickly settled into things and once the nerves were overcome, they soon started to catch a few fish between them. Loads of photos were taken and smiles were shared between them. One of the regular faces made the move from a whip to a running rod and line. Within minutes he was making his first independent casts very comfortably. It’s often interesting at this point because I think the assumption from those who progress to a rod and reel is because they can cast further, they will catch more. There is always a bit of disappointment in new anglers when I explain that I would still fish the same area we do with a four meter whip as I would with a running line. It’s just with the running line, we have much more control over any fish we hook and we do of course have the option of fishing further out if we want to. A four meter whip with elastic really is an incredible fish catcher on well stocked fisheries.
At the end of the month we went to Dawlish in Devon to visit Mum and mark another birthday for me. We always take the rods with us to Dawlish for a few casts off the sea wall. I cut my teeth on the break walls and have loads of great memories. During summer when the mackerel were in, the wall would be packed on an evening high tide. There’d barely be room to cast. The hierarchy on the wall existed and the best and biggest anglers fished at the farthest end, closest to the sea. All newcomers started closest to the beach and had to earn their way towards the end of the wall. There are three breakaways in Dawlish and of course the sea wall itself where the train runs. Main Wall and Coastguards are the two walls that point straight out to sea. These are fished from water level and so are great for lure fishing. Pout Wall offers protection to Boat Cove and being a really high wall, it doesn’t get smaller as the tide comes in. However being so high, lure fishing is much less effective as the retrieve brings the lure up very high in the water. So this is the wall everyone used to float fish from. In today’s lure dominated fishing, it’s so rare to sea anyone float fishing for mackerel. In Dawlish we were pretty good at it. We used to make custom floats that offered sensitive bite detection. They were basically giant waggler floats that you would normally see on a lake rather than the sea. It used to be great fun and as a young kid, I learnt a lot fishing alongside some good anglers, and some enthusiastic anglers. Learning to cast straight with people packed along the wall was essential!
Despite numerous attempts to catch a mackerel from the walls in Dawlish with my kids, we’d never succeed, until this time. We wondered along the wall, joined by my cousin who Pete who played a major role in my fishing as a kid, and in particular learning how to use a boat safely. We ficked lures around but couldn’t find any life. We then, as we used to do, walked the walls looking for fish. We eventually found the small sandeels or “Brit“, as we call them in Dawlish and as the light faded the mackerel came out to play. Instantly we were taken back 30 years. We were running up and down the wall excitedly spotting the shoals and casting our lures. The shoals were dominated by very small mackerel so our modern, soft plastic lures with hooks mounted on the back weren’t so good for the job. What we needed was good old toby lures with a hook mounted a the back. We carried on, missed a millions bites but eventually caught some. Whatever the form of fishing, I just love fishing when the fish are striking at the surface and a bait ball, no matter how small the fish are, will always get my nerves jangling. The kids absolutely loved it, so much so that we were back on the back less than 12-hours later for the morning high tide. Amazing fun and more memories made.
And that was all the actual fishing I did in July which personally resulted in one small mackerel. All my free time was being taken up with preparation for the new season of Blue Fin Tuna. This year I’ve been one of the lucky few to secure a license for the catch and release fishery. I am beyond excited! I’ve been fortunate to have fished for these incredible fish for the last few years thanks to my good mate Mike. Mike has been involved with the tuna since they arrived. He has been crew on boats since the CHART programme started and holds his own personal license for his own boat. Mike has taught me a lot about fishing for tuna. And most of that is about being prepared. It might sound arrogant when I say they aren’t hard to catch but it’s pretty true. They are a ravenous predator that eats and eats and eats. A fish that eats is an easy fish to catch, or should that more accurately be, they’re easy to hook. Getting them safely to the side of the boat is where they differ to most other fish that swim in UK waters. They are big fish, some of them are really big, like mind-bogglingly big. And they are strong, back breakingly strong! To successfully hook, land, and release one of these fish so it goes back fighting fit and with every chance of carrying on it’s life, needs the right kit. There are lots of fish where you could take say a spinning rod and go and catch a Carp, or take a Carp rod and go and catch a Ray in the surf, or use a pole to land a Trout. It wouldn’t be the best but it would land those fish. But tuna kit needs to be be made for the job. If there are any weak links in your kit, it will be found. The rod, the reel, line, hooks, swivels, leader, harness, fighting belt, every knot and crimp, everything, it all needs to be up to the job. And then there’s how to use it. Like anything in life, if you have the money (and tuna kit ain’t cheap!) it’s possible to have all the gear but not a flippin’ clue. With my budget I’m definitely at the cheaper end of what’s possible to buy but it is all still built for the job and used wisely, does the job very well, or at least I hope it will.
The season officially started on July 18th, my wife’s birthday… I did offer to take Louise but funnily enough she didn’t fancy a day of sea sickness for her birthday, I can’t think why not. In fairness, while there were fish starting to show, the numbers weren’t massive, not like we’ve seen in recent years anyway, but it was still early. The rest of the month was then spent tying rigs, checking knots, checking the boat and watching the weather. The weather apps on my phone are definitely the most frequently opened. The weather hasn’t played ball in July and so I haven’t had a chance to have a go yet. The numbers of fish have grown significantly towards the end of the month as we hoped they would so, fingers crossed for August and a chance to be a Bluefin Tuna angler on my own boat.
I’m not going to get much sleep!