Instant Eel

[Plaicehunter]

I thought I'd cracked it today when my first uptider started nodding before I'd even set up the second.

I left the bite, whacked out the second rod, baited with a large calamari on a pulley rig, and picked up the first rod.

Fishing 100 feet of water on the Tamar, you have to wind down till everything goes tight before striking, and when I did it felt as if I was snagged.

Heavy pressure told, and soon a conger was kicking its way to the boat. Happily it was lightly lip-hooked, so I guesstimated it at 7-8lb and T-barred it off.

After such a fast start, I thought I was in for a hectic day, but nothing happened for two more hours, despite an ideal ebb tide.

I moved a mile or so downstream, but it was no better there, and faced with the choice of getting back to the mooring before Low Water or after it, I decided to give it best.

A modest resistance turned into a half-pound whiting, which like the eel was hooked on half a mackerel and safely returned.

So a fish on the first cast, a fish on the last cast and nothing in between.

The Tamar is notoriously moody and the water in March is at its coldest for the year, so I suppose not blanking is some sort of achievement! PH

 

 

 

[Andy135]

Yep, always a win if it's not a blank. Well done 👍

It's often the way isn't it. First cast fish turns into a bit of an average session. Same happens to us in the Wight area.