Polperro Cornwall - Pasties and Passalorynchites

There is no denying Polperro is a Harbour village in Cornwall, pubs that peddle mediocre offerings from St Austell breweries when their catalogue has the odd gem amongst the humdrum, and every other shop is selling massed produced Cornish pasties.

The Three Pilchards food was very good indeed shame the tap offerings didn't raise the eyebrows. A stunning little village which lets me honest here has gone from a fishing village to a full on tourist trap for people like me and thee.

Many of the cottages are covered with a profusion of flowers in summer and the streets are so narrow they are banned to cars, which makes Polperro an ideal place to explore on foot. 

There are shops selling paintings, pottery, jewellery and lots more souvenirs for the visitor. There are also newsagents, bakeries and other shops selling everyday requirements. 

In addition, there are galleries and arts and crafts exhibitions. Polperro holds an Arts Festival in June each year. Other community events include the Water Carnival and the Furry Dance. You may see Morris men or Clog dancers in the village too. Polperro Fishermen’s Choir is famous throughout Cornwall. It gives open air performances on the quayside in the season. 

I'm amazed some of the business managed to stay open, many offering the same as the shop a few door away and like many costal towns very seasonal indeed. 

The village was notorious for smuggling activities during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Everyone conspired to hide the duty-free goods from the excise men.In the 19th century, pilchards were landed in large quantities in the village. The fish were processed and packed in factories near to the harbour. Many women and children were employed in cleaning and salting the fish. Pilchards were salted and cured and the oil was extracted using large screw presses. 

Afterwards they were packed in barrels ready for dispatch. Polperro is still a working fishing port and at high tide boats can be seen unloading their catch on the quays which are strewn with pots and nets. Boat building was one of the main businesses in Polperro for many years. 

After a spot of lunch a couple of pints and an explore of the model village and the various shops I had a window of opportunity to do a bit of LRF'ing. The main harbour wall was awash with crabbers however plenty of places to drop in a small lure between the boats and the wall.

Gin clear and under my polarised glasses could see the lure go right to the bottom. I tried 4 different places and even just at the harbour entrance as pictured here. I had two follows from something, one wrasse like the other Gobi I think but they disappeared as quickly as they appeared. 

The waters so clear though I'm sure that won't help. In-fact on route back to Looe walking alongside the harbour some small sea bass were milling around however cast anything new them the shot off like a rate of knots.

So there is only one thing for it and that is to give it a go around dusk in to dark with the lure. I'm sure that will be must best chance. The weather really has been kind to us like I mentioned, today as I scribble this it was meant to be peeing down and yet I'm looking out and blue sky is showing and it's clearing fast. 

There is probably a good reason my brother doesn't fish much because apart from the tide times you have to contend with, the fishing restrictions at certain times of the year, but these fish even the ones that live in the harbour are fished for a lot.

I'm sure off Looe pier with the baitcaster in to dark some fish would be willing to feed on bait even the dreaded dog fish, which incidentally there were 4 I counted head in Polperro Harbour. Bycatch for the fisherman mostly likely, but not nice to see just stationary on the bottom.