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Fort D'Auvergne 11th Aug 2006
Map Ref: 656,477
Tide: HW 8.45am (11.3m)
Weather Forecast: Overcast. Wind W to WNW wind 12mph Gusts to 23mph
Picked Chris up around 5.15am and drove down to Green Street to try our luck at some Golden Greys with the chance of the odd thick-lip thrown in….
Once we'd parked the car, walked down to the rock, it was close to 6am… and the tide was still out some way although already on the turn….
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Took the time to tackle up and get ready … decided to use a 3 swan waggler with an 18” 6lb fluro hook trace tied to a size 10 hook …
Still waiting for the tide, I had a cup of coffee, whilst Chris took time to explore the shore below us….
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By 6.30am or so the reef in front was covered and the waves were hitting the backwall behind us…. Time to start fishing….
Chris was on point and thus bucket man…. His gippering technique for getting the ground bait out was a little rusty but he soon got back into the swing of it…. Although there was some complaint about me leaving the spoon in the bucket so that it was all yucky before he started…. LOL
Although we may have started at 6.30am, the crosswind, choppiness of the water and the large amount of floating weed in the front of the tide as it rose all combined to made our lives very difficult..
Around 7am we were joined by an elderly gent, with a light spinning rod, an orange bubble-float, and a combination of bread and prawns (if I understood him correctly) for bait… I got the impression he was planning to go for bass, but I'm really not sure.. he soon moved over on to the lower rocks to our left…. Not long after the top eye ring of his rod flew off …. He said it was a bargain at five quid from Portugal!!!!
9.35am… Chris gave a shout, and as his rod tip was bent it was fairly obvious that he was in…. said it was small, but still a mullet…. I got my float in and put my rod down out of the way, and then grabbed the landing net, and waited on the left hand side of Chris, ready to net the fish when he was ready…. Took a little persuasion with a number of darting runs, but soon Chris had the upper hand and guided the mullet to the net… lifted it up, and passed it over to him…. A short scramble over the back, and Chris unhooked and measured it… 15” from nose to fork….
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He was very pleased, and I was very relieved he'd been able to break his duck… took a couple of pix, and then Chris walked to the back steps and returned the fish, whilst a number of guests in the Hotel behind watched in fascination..
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Soon after this the Chap with the broken rod departed for his breakfast, whist we just sipped our cups of coffee….
8.10am… my float shoot under the water, and I soon had a battle on my hands… this was a small fish but a real goer, diving this way and that, and proving to be very stubborn especially when it came to being drawn towards the net…. Both Chris and I felt it was a Golden Grey - they seem to battle much harder on occasions than an equivalent thick-lip does - and indeed this proved to be the case…. When at last I did bring it in and Chris netted it for me, I took it over the top… measured 15” and weighed 1lb-04oz… took a couple of pix…
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then I walked to the steps, and noticed a large number of people hanging out of balconies, many wanting to know what it was we were catching….
Putting the fish back proved a little difficult, and I got caught by the splash of the swell, and got a rather wet lower half, but I wasn't too bothered as the fish quickly recovered and swam off…..
8.55am … things were getting more difficult as the crosswind increased….. I got a little lazy, and decided to fish close in… well very close in ….. right under the front edge of the rock ledge that Chris was sitting on…. Whoosh under went my float, to be honest I thought as I stuck it was the result of the back wash coming from the waves breaking on the rocks… but no it was another mullet…. Another small mullet, but one that was none too pleased about being hooked… it raced towards the surface, and leapt clear of the water and half rolled / somersaulted as it did so…. It was behaving more like a garfish than a mullet and took both Chris and myself somewhat by surprise…. Again a feisty little chap, who took a little while to bag….
Turned out to be another 15” golden grey but somewhat fatter than the previous fish, so I guess some where between 1-06 to 1-08 in weight… took a picture and soon had him back in the water…
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9.55am … I missed a good bite….
10.00am … then Chris missed one…
10.05am…. my turn again to miss a bite… this one being a lovely sliding action… but the result was the same… no fish!!!
10.25am… Chris managed to drop the long handled plastic spoon we use for getting the ground bait out… it bounced onto the platform, and then off down into the rocks and sea on our left hand side…. Every so often the backwash would dislodge it and move it just slightly further away…. So that sort of put pay to the ground baiting…
The water got shallower, more and more choppy with the increasing wind, and by 10.50am, we'd had enough…
After packing up, Chris went off with the landing net to try and retrieve the spoon… told him to use the steps rather than climbing down the rocks… but wouldn't you know it, the steps were even more slippy and he fell down them and landed on his bum ….
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However after some time he did manage to return with a triumphant smile, and clutching the plastic spoon……
By 1.40pm there was little water left, and I wanted to nip into JFS.Sport