Warwickshire Avon - Kraken's and Kymatology

The chilled week in Wales seemed to go far too quickly despite not actually doing a fat lot because we had so much on our doorstep. With Halloween the weekend a chance conversation with an elderly lady who poured a rather nice pint of Sea Fury in a decorated pub. she'd pointed over to Coppet Hall beach where in 1910 the "Monster of the Deep of Saundersfoot" really scared the local population. 

You see while fishing with a wade on the beach at Saundersfoot in the early hours of Saturday morning, two men F. Beddoe and H. Thomas met with an experience which neither of them are likely to forget in a hurry.  

It seems that while drawing their net along a huge monster rose out of the water about a dozen yards in front of them and midway between the two men. 

It made a great commotion in the water, and blew and snorted like a whale. 

As far as could be seen in the darkness (it was 2 a.m.) it had the appearance of a giant octopus, with long feelers projecting from a huge black body. 

It remained for about two minutes, when it disappeared. 

The man Thomas, who was stricken speechless for about an hour, and who seemed much shaken when interviewed, said he felt so ill, and was frightened so badly, that on returning home he at once went to a mirror to see whether his hair had turned white. 

Great speculation is being indulged in in the village as to the nature of the monster,” but no satisfactory solution has been arrived at as yet. It is thought that this will put an end to this form of fishing for some time.“  Now sadly despite getting the kids involved to see if we could see the sea monster for ourselves there was nothing doing at all. 

An angler was fishing off the rocks though and seemed to be catching bass. Not huge ones admittedly  but considering all I could muster up was a dogfish it was rather nice to see. Now the sea always has offered mystery and intrigue where fish and creatures are concerned and its nice like fisherman don't exaggerate from time to time now is it. 

Like many I'm scared of the sea though, well it needs to be respected doesn't it because it can go wrong very quickly indeed. A little like the last but one day of the holiday where the heavens opened and it rained for almost the whole day.

A few quid spent in the arcade, a lovely chicken pie in one of the pubs it's surprising just how quick the day went. You don't need to dip your toes on the sea to experience it theses days though because there is vertical reality for that. Ben and Sam fully embracing it a few times, the pound coins quickly disappeared.  

Now VR is a big part of Automotive Design now and having being a sceptic it really is a useful tool and I cannot wait till the gaming world fully embraces it, because despite not being a gamer it could well offer another 'away from it all' experience that fishing offers me. 

There is a Kraken VR ride combined with a rollercoaster at Sea World Florida, I quite fancy giving that a go. Alton Towers used to have a similar ride, albeit it was a space scene if I recall. 

Anyway the first morning back on the Avon the only opportunity I'd get to fish there would be heavy rain for the whole session. but then I'm not a fair weather angler and I wanted to try my newly acquired cheap waterproof gear whilst we were away. 

Taped seams and decent feeling material what could go wrong, Well jacket and trousers for 22 quid, yeap, it could go wrong. very wrong. But then I was only planning to be out for a short while and any mishaps I could cut the session short anyway. 

Now the area I wanted to target I've caught Zander from in the past, ok nothing massive but I'm sure there are bigger ones that will slip up eventually.

The rain really was bucketing it down and the river going to rise again with the latest deluge. The river was perfectly fishable however still clear but with some depth here it still looked good for a zander bite. The waterproofs seemed to be holding up luckily and ok, not exactly pleasant but it was a short session so it didn't particularly bother me.  

What I didn't expect though was literally 2 minutes of dropping the bait in the margins I had a run, a decent run too so no messing around I tightened up to the circle hook. It felt a decent hold and after a spirited fight it was soon in the net.

5lb 8oz on the scales with a fully belly on it what a start that was. Probably the quickest bite I'd had from a Zander. That was it though, no more bites sadly with only a chublet caught on a huge lump of breadflake for the rest of the session. It's great to be back on the river, I love Autumn and the colder days and weeks to come, its more my thing. Oh and the waterproofs did their job rather well. yes I was surprised just as you.