Looe Cornwall - LRF and Lumpenintelligentsia

The Looe Duck Race is organised and run by the Lions of Looe and raises a huge amount of money for charity. It’s a great event with literally hundreds of people lining Looe Quay and watching the ducks as they race their way down river towards the sea. 

None of them escape though as they are all scooped up by a trusty bunch of volunteers who sand in the river for the whole event!

It started half an hour late because the water was too high but fear not because there were plenty of crabs to catch whilst we waited and yes some ended up in my bait box.

All being well I fancy trying to catch a wrasse from a rock mark. The rods already set-up I just need to get the urge to go fishing. The weather mostly good thankfully but this is a family holiday after all. 

The water enters the harbour at a rate of knots the fish apart from shoals of sandeels seem few and far between and those anglers I've seen chucking lures of feathers seemingly as fruitless as me.

Even the seals seemed to be chilling rather than hunting when we had a boat trip around Looe and the cormorants, yeap there are plenty of them didn't appear to be up for feeding either. 

What the boat trip did give me though apart from entertaining the family was to have a nose around by Hannafore point fishing where hopefully there are some wrasse or bass lurking.

It definitely did look like it would hold fish, but then I'm not exactly a dab hand at fishing. The boat had a glass bottom and apart from some small fish the marks were slowed down far seemed dull of plenty of thick seaweed cover but little else.

You might just about make out some seal heads in this picture, the sun eventually breaking through the clouds because it was a rather overcast day I must admit.

Still warm mind you, so still short and t-shirt weather where we have had plenty of beach time. Sarah's Pasty shop providing much needed subsistence because somehow I've managed to cover 24,000 steps the second day there. 

Pubs well, after a few ticked off with medicore ales, the Fisherman Inn is about the best I've found thus far popular with locals as well as passing trade, this reputedly haunted olde-worlde 16th century pub is claimed to be oldest pub in Looe. (Or is it the Jolly ?) 

It is essentially a drinkers' pub in the old tradition perhaps not for those of a more sensitive nature! Opposite the 'olde' museum and gaol, it has a modestly sized, square-shaped and beamed single bar-room at the front with a slate-flagged floor, all subject to a preservation order,

Anyway obviously I had to check it out myself on-route back from some LRF fishing where in an hour up a Pen Rocks I had countless hits from fish however, even after switching to one of the smallest lures I had I only managed one hook-up. There was only one big one showing and after it came out like a rocket but sadly I didn't managed to hook up. 

I love how they come out from their hidey-holes in such an aggressive nature, but then these rock pool warriors are certainly the top dogs, well apart from the crabs that frequent them. On to the next one, some bait fishing next time. 

The day ended nice and bright not ideal for fishing I suppose, but where there is water there is fish, fingers crossed for something to put a bend in the rod !! 

Looe Cornwall - Napoleons and Narratology

If I knew this summer was going to be as bad as it was maybe I'd have chosen to fly off to sunnier climes however fingers crosses it isn't toooo bad as we've a week in Cornwall and then a week in Devon. Now I'm very much a novice to this sea fishing mark but obviously I'd have a few rods with with to try and winkle out a fish or two.

A wrasse would be nice and with Looe crabbing central crabs and some cooked prawns would be used as bait as well as trying some lures.

A quick internet search Hannafore Point a short walk away from the accommodation looks good for a wrasse maybe and there are some rock pools not far away from the beach where the lrf gear may come in use.

The pier is out of bounds for fishing however I decided to leave the beachcaster as home anyway because my twin brother lives in Westward Ho !! and he has plenty of gear where hopefully I can catch a smooth-hound.  

I've not been to Looe before but it seems a lovely little town and plenty to do with lots of places to eat and drink. Maybe a fishing trip if I got bored but we will definitely do a boat trip as there is so many options.

The harbour seems devoid of mullet from a first look-see however it was teaming with sandeels so there must be some bass around.

 We have a great view over Looe harbour and especially when it's lit up it's a very pretty place indeed. There a few tackle shops here, nothing massive but enough if you need to get a few bits and pieces.

I might get some smaller sandeel looking lure to match the hatch so to speak as the ones I've got are a little on the large side. Anyway a quick trip out early morning was fruitless on the lure apart from one rise from something when I tried a surface popper around Pen rocks.

Some lrf gear in and around the harbour nought !! however I did have some follows from something but they were non committal.

There is certainly a big tide here so I'm hoping the rock pools with come up trumps with some small fish but lets see. I'm fishing blind like I always am with this sea fishing lark, so I'm sure it will be luck rather than judgment if I catch anything. 

River Wye - Juveniles and Juramentums

With rubbish sleep for some reason the early start to get to the river Wye for 6.00am to be honest wasn't as bad as expected. From my house a few miles from Stratford-Upon-Avon with no traffic to speak of it only takes an hour and fifteen minutes or so to get bankside where it's around 60 miles or so. 

My little Jimny cannot pull the skin off a rice pudding so something with a but more ummpphhhh I'm sure I could knock quite a bit off that. Now Nic was with me for this trip where recently he'd been mixing with Paul Merson and David Seaman so he had to put up with lowly me instead, but we've fished plenty of times together down the Wye now, we do our own thing mainly, it works for us !!!

The river had recently risen and throughout the day the colour seemed to change quite dramatically from some decent visibility at early doors to when when we left it was chocolate brown.

The weather was all over the shop as well, where it went from blazing sunshine to complete cloud cover and a smidgen of rain. When I'm spending a whole day out I prefer to fully cover to negate the suns rays which at times it felt like sunning it up in the Med no on the banks of a river in Hereford.

We both had a dabble at trotting in a couple of swims but not only was it fruitless but not ideal conditions and swims really. After 40 minutes or so in this one I was wasting my time so decided to get roving with the ledger gear.

19k steps covered on this session but it was clear to both of us we needed to get on out feet to catch the fish. Nic had the first barbel which was >8lb and after that message it was encouraging as I was only getting chub rattles and not that 3ft twitch. But I've always said at least you know you are fishing effectively when the foot plucks start. 

A switch to luncheon meat directly on the hook a chub was shown to be the culprit but I knew that anyway. It was a case of 30 minutes in each swim and move on and then fish those swims in rotation. At least you know there had been some bait going in and boy if there are fish in the swim, they are on to the bait straight away. 

In one of the swims I was getting pulls and rattles constantly before eventually having a proper bite to strike where after an eel type fight I was amazed to see it was a tiny barbel. So nice to see as these are next generation but not exactly the size I was after. 

I was alternating between baits in the session and nothing stood out at getting more interest. Paste wrapped boilies, single small boilie, pre-drilled gob stopping halibut pellets and meat. 

I'm sure if I changed to fishing meat directly on the hook I'd have had netted more fish, but oddly I find it quite satisfying when using a hair just how chub avoid getting hooked despite all the carnage on the rod tip.  

The first proper barbel I managed took me in to a snag within seconds so at first I thought it was a chub but after manging to tease it from its escape route and after a decent fight, it was a 6ish lb barbel.

A fish that had a brush with the otter by the looks of it but apart from that in the sun it was a lovely glowing gold colour. Got to love these Why barbel such nice looking fish. 

That fish took a gob stopping halibut pellet, I've not huge confidence in pre-drilled pellets because even when using extra large pellets stops once the chub start their antics, the breakdown of the pellet can often mean the bait breaks in to two pieces and you're then fishing without a bait.

The fish are on to the bait really quickly though so they key is when the bites stop give it another 5 minutes and then check you've still got a bait on. 

A tried and tested Dynamite Hot-Fish boilie was the downfall of another barbel of similar stamp that again gave my 1.75lb TC rod a decent work-out where one last lunge had it bent right down to the cork.

Talking of which Nic was having battles of his own with the Wye barbel where in the end we both ended up on 4 fish each. Nic having the bigger of the fish where one of them he thought was a double because of the battle it was giving him. 

Not a prolific session by any means because it was hard earned but overall a decent session. We could have stayed till dusk but with me still feeling knackered and not 100% I knocked it on the head at 6.00pm with Nic following not long after and not having any more fish.

It was the lack of chub I was surprised at. I had 3 or 4 in the end but with so much interest from them throughout the session I did think more would end up hooking themselves because boy they were active. Were they small chublets ? who knows but very odd indeed I must admit.

After saying goodbye my friends with horns I made my way up the track after another enjoyable trip to the river Wye. I do love this river and the Wye valley because it is like being in a different world.

Solitude, wildlife in abundance and it just so happens to have plenty of fish to catch as well. It makes a nice change from the Warwickshire Avon I must admit, and at least there are barbel here in numbers so getting that fix is only an hour and a bit away. I'll be back !!!