omega2
Well-Known Member
Read the this and all calm down
TROUBLESOME TOPE
At last the day had arrived, 16th May, 1999, and we were on our way, we being Mick, Steve, Mark, Pat, Don, Andrew and Richard the brothers and myself John, the daddy of the party.
This fishing trip had been on the stocks since August 1998, and had only been confirmed in the new year by our skipper Charlie Bartlett, who runs “Miss Claudia” a 34 foot Freeward, out of the picturesque port of Aberdyfi, GWYNEDD, WALES.
We had met at 11am at the South Mimms services and had an uneventful journey up the M1, M6, M54, then to the last 50 or so miles through the beautiful countryside of Shropshire and the borders into Wales we arrived at our Digs, at about 4pm, to be greeted by our landlady Cathy,who had the kettle on in no time flat, she was going to be OK as far as we were concerned. After settling into our rooms, Cathy moved her car from her space at the rear of the guest house and invited us to park there for the week, following a walk around the village a drink and a meal, I checked with Charlie on the phone to ensure we would be on for tomorrow.
Monday 17th, following an excellent breakfast, we got our gear together and made for the jetty to embark “Miss Claudia” Charlie had already brought her from her mooring, and was ready for us, the fishing tackle was stowed and Peter the Mate let go the ropes and off we went, to our first day of a most memorable fishing holiday.
None of the lads had been here before, I had fished with Charlie before and therefore knew what we would be up against in the way of fish I had told the stories of previous visits but they were taken with the proverbial pinch of salt by the lads, who I must explain do most of our fishing in the Thames Estuary, and are all familiar with uptide tackle and methods, the main difference here are the numbers of fish, and the fact that casting is not necessary. The tackle used was uniform throughout the 8 of us, a 6 to 8 oz., uptide rod, an ABU 7000, or similar reel, 18 lb line to a 50lb rubbing leader, and a 250lb nylon biting piece, with swivels between each joint, terminating in a 8/0 O’SHAUGHNESSY, bronze hook, weights varied between 2 and 6ozs depending on wind and tide and the position on the boat.
Following a run of about an hour the boat was positioned and the order given to commence fishing, 8 frozen Mackerel made their way down to the bottom. The reason they were frozen is because fresh mackerel were not there to be caught if they had been I think the catch rate would have been even higher, but the individually blast frozen ones were a very good standby bait, and within 20 minutes Steve was into a fish, two or three savage nods of the rod followed by a twenty yard run against the drag indicated that this was what we had come for, Charlie was at his shoulder giving advice and encouragement, the fish ran again Steve lifted the rod, thumbed the spool, and leant back into a very lively 25lb ish, Tope, which after about ten minutes or so was boated by Charlie and Peter, Steve posed for photos and then it was returned. Seven baits were already in the water before Steve could get his breath back, Micks went almost before it had hit the bottom, so again the lines were retrieved to allow him to play his fish, leaving lines in the water when there is a fish on is fatal. Mark had the next run, and boated fish 3,4,6. Pat had 5,8. I had 7, Richard boated number 9, with Andy at number 10., Don failed to boat any but did have runs, in fact had we boated the runs we would have had many more fish but such is the way of Toping, we were well satisfied with the day .
Day Two, Tuesday 18th, May, on board at 9am, and out again over the bar, running time about 45 minutes, an inshore mark this time, Charlie is working from his history book, “Big females show here, we will see if history repeats itself”, Don is the first to run and boats a fine male of about 30lb, it is carrying war scars “Been messing with the big females” says Charlie, Dons luck has definitely changed and during the day he boats number 1,2,8,11., all are male fish and are in fine fettle full of fight in fact No. 11, has a “go” at him and nearly had a piece of his thigh. Andy has 3,6. Steve has 4,12., Mick has 5,10., Mark 7., Rich has number 9 again, and I have number 13 not so unlucky, as Pat fails to score, all the fish were male going on average 30lb with two at about 38lb, Steve had the fish of the day a fat female with young going about 50lb, it was a comical scene as he held it for the cameras, the fish was about five foot long and he is about five foot four so all we could see was a Tope standing upright and a pair of trainers protruding at her tail fin, she broke wind and frightened the life out of him, he returned her to the water post haste. The sport is excellent and at one time we had three fish on at the same time and tempers were somewhat frayed when the fish decided they had had enough of us and dropped the bait, or chomped through it without getting hooked.
Mick must have lost about five runs due to this and was trying to develop a means of presenting the bait that would ensure hook-ups, I let him stew for a while then dipped into the communal tackle box and handed him a 16” baiting needle, this allowed the bait to be presented with the hook halfway along the flank instead of in the head as we had been presenting it, he did not lose another fish, although I think he annoyed one, whilst posing for the camera it slapped him round the face with it’s tail, broke free from his grip on it’s head and made a lunge for his wedding tackle, luckily Mick had the presence of mind to drop it, Charlie was not amused.
Wednesday 19th, May, 9am, start again, flat calm, the first two had been a little bouncy due to the wind being North East 4/5, but today the wind was having a day off, the mark we tried at first produced a fine male fish going 38lb for Mark, but was not prolific enough, and as the sea was so kind, Charlie suggested we try for the Bream, this was welcomed by all ,as it promised a respite from the hurley burley of Tope fishing, little did we know, out came the light gear, stepped up carp rods, open faced reels, 8lb line, No. 6. hooks, tiny strips of Squid and Mackerel, 30ft of water, Tap, Rattle, Tap, the fish were here in numbers but we were far to slow to hook them, Charlie took a rod from one of us and did a master class, five fish in five minutes all on the same bit of bait, we did not need showing twice, it was so hectic that I being the only one in a boiler suit was deputed to remove the fish from the hooks and selecting the ones for the table, Charlie and Peter were also kept busy at this task, the rods were getting three fish a minute, that’s 21, so you can see how busy it was, the lads were soon falling into a heap pleading to be put back on the Tope. For the first time during the holiday lunch was taken with all the rods out of the water, Megan, Charlie’s wife had come up with another excellent packed lunch too good to be rushed, and definitely too good to be mixed with smelly bait.
Thursday, another calm day, wind South West 2/3 becoming 4/5 towards evening. Charlie has saved the best till last, he explains that the forecast is not good for the rest of the week and that tomorrow is doubtful, in view of this we will visit “Tope City “ today, it requires about 90 minutes to get there. We set up two sets of feathers, and whilst the cockpit is fished by six , looking after eight rods, two of us in turn, feather off the bow for bait fish we get small whiting an excellent bait by all accounts, these are kept in a bucket until required. For the first hour or so nothing happens except for the bait fish coming in steadily we start to release these as we have enough and it is a waste to kill them by over crowding the bucket. Charlie starts to pace around you can feel the tension, “Should be fish here, can’t think what’s going on”, out comes the history book, we feel a move coming on, then as the tide dies away my rod goes into “one” and the reel screams, Charlie is now tuned in to each of our reels and shouts from the wheelhouse “John your on”, I was already on station awaiting the 2nd run, the fish is there I can feel him slowly mouthing the bait, the reel is put into free run, the rod held high with the slightest tension on, held by the reel thumb, then the fish is off and running the reel spins under the thumb then the thumb goes down hard and the angler leans back as the rod curves over and the strike is made it is now that you feel the joy of angling after these magnificent fish, after several less powerful runs the fish is brought to the side of the boat carefully lifted in, the hook removed, or trace cut if it is too deep, the angler holds the fish for photo’s, then it is carefully returned.
During the next hour or so over the slack water period it was mayhem, fish were picking up baits running around other baits dropping them picking up another and eventually getting hooked up and boated with three or more sets of tackle wrapped around it we boated nine fish, Andy had a hat trick all well over 30lb, we lost at least twelve fish, but no tackle was lost, I would hate to think of a fish swimming around with line around it, hooks that are left in the fish to avoid damaging them due to them being deep are soon disposed of by the fish and to be double sure we don’t use stainless hooks, the bronzed ones will rust away in a very short time.
“Irish Sea, South West 6/7 locally 8, Friday , becoming West 6/7 during the day” was the forecast on the radio as we made our way back to port, Charlie is sure we will not be fishing, and we get the tackle together to take off when we reach the jetty, all of us have had a great time, and thank the skipper and mate for their efforts during the week, we arrange for next year and invite Charlie and Megan to dinner on Friday evening at the “Brit.”, which has been our watering hole for the week,
The last day is spent roaming around Aberdyfi or as we spell it Aberdovey, getting a hair cut, buying presents, the usual things, but in the afternoon, Mark, Mick, Andy and Pat, get the urge to wet a line again and go off to a trout lake they have been told about, they returned in time for dinner with a sorry tale, Pat was in a boat with Andy, and at some stage was standing up, in a 12ft skiff is not a good idea, the inevitable happened and Pat had to wear a flotation suit for the rest of the afternoon, At dinner they related the tale to Charlie, who listened most carefully and then stated that from the description of the lake they had given they had been to the wrong place anyway. Oh by the way if you are ever out with Charlie and the action is a bit slow just ask Peter to put the kettle on it works a treat with the fish.
TOPE 2000
This year we will travel on the 13th May, being a Sunday again, we have arranged to meet at the South Mimms service area at 11am. Judging by last year’s journey time we should be in Aberdovey about 4pm. We will have a new host this year as Kathy has sold the business to a Mr and Mrs Johnson who sound quite nice on the phone. I have spoken with Charlie and informs me that he is already catching the Grey “Bs,”.
We arrived on time as predicted, and were met by Brian and Jenny they made us welcome and we settled into our rooms, we took the same ones as last year. When we had sorted that out we went out to get the fish bait from Andy’s motor, Brian our landlord had not appreciated how much room we would require in the freezer and we had to remove a large amount of his stock to accommodate our bait, however he did not seem to mind.
A quick recce was made and we found that Charlie was out fishing so we hung around until he returned the weather was beautiful and warm and we roamed around in shirtsleeves. The town was alive with visitors more numerous than I have ever seen there before and we were told that this weather had been like this for the last fortnight.
“Miss Claudia” hove into view at about 7pm and we went down to the jetty to meet with Charlie, to find out if we were out in the morning and more importantly to see what the crew had caught, yes we are out at 9am. And yes they had had a few fish six on the boat and lost as many runs we felt happy and confident we could do better, we had a meal at the Brit. and retired.
Breakfast at 8am, went down well, then out and down to the jetty carrying all the gear required for the week, Charlie and Peter are waiting for us. We stow the excess tackle and Charlie hits the throttle and off we go out to the Tope everyone is excited and cannot wait to get among them again. On the way out the tackle is set up,” same as last year,” some of us cannot remember so I go through it again with them, “link swivel, bead, swivel, 8/10feet 50lb mono, swivel, 2/5feet 150lb mono, to a bronze 8/0 O’Shaughnessy hook”. This end tackle is married up to 18lb main line and fished on an uptide rod with a 7000 type reel, the bait offered is a Mackerel in our case frozen, but if available a fresh one is “TOPS”.
Miss Claudia, a 34ft, Freeward, pushes out over the bar and into Cardigan Bay, this is a Tope hotspot. Well known haunt to anglers from all over the UK, and further afield, who wish to pit their wits against fresh, hard running tope, from May to September this is the Mecca for them.
Today is Monday 14th May 2000, the first day of our second visit to Aberdovey. You will have read the account of last year’s holiday and we are expecting to better it. The weather is fine and the day promises to be a hot one, Charlie tells us he has had two weeks of hot sunny weather, we pray it will remain so. After an hour or so the boat is slowed and then the anchor is let go, 8 baits descend to the bottom and 8 anglers await with great anticipation to see which one will be first to go.
Mick was the first to strike, a fish of about 28lb, then the action started and we were kept busy with fish that were very finicky, picking up baits running 30 yards or so then dropping them. The tide was nearly slack and fish had a great time running around with baits and tying our lines into undoable knots and testing the patience of everyone, fortunately we are a close knit group and apart from a bit of leg pulling nothing serious develops between us. (We always blame the biggest who happens to be Mick.)
We boated a few more fish during this time Mick was well in the lead in both fish boated and runs lost, as the morning wore on the sun came out and the temperature began to rise the fish seemed to go away, and Charlie was beginning to become restless. I have fished with him for a number of years and I can feel when a move is coming on, I told the lads to get ready to wind them in. We heard the GPS squawking and as Charlie emerged from the wheelhouse, we were already bringing our gear in. Charlie muttered something about mind readers and started the engine.
The boat was moved about 2 miles and the anchor set, the baits were offered and immediately taken by the waiting residents, two or three runs at once, some were hooked up others were dropped and quite a few were Bungled. Peter was ever so busy running around trying to encourage us but we sent him away to make the tea he is pretty good at that.
We spent the rest of the day chatting and fishing, more fishing than talking, drinking Peters tea, and eating our packed lunches, every one had fish except Don but it was not one of his days so it did not matter. Mick had a feisty one that nearly bit into his leg “Again”, and Mark had fish running off for about 10 minutes and then just when he thought it had left the bait it screamed off to the horizon causing all the rest of us to wind in so that he could play his fish. It is a rule of tope fishing that when a bait is taken the rest of the party remove their gear from the water to allow the runner to play and boat his fish. I could imagine this causing tension amongst a mixed crew but when you are out with friends it causes no problems at all, “Tell that to a sailor”.
Pat and Andy went up to the sharp end to fish with smaller baits and were quite happy hooking dogfish and small whiting. Pat had already had two tope so was content, both runs coming after Andy had been moaning about losing a run on his rod and people letting the “clicker” off and handing him his rod in silent mode. Seeing that being the recipient of “Drips” had worked for Pat, Andy asked Pat to moan at him to maybe change his luck. Meanwhile in the cockpit of the boat things were going from good to even better, I hooked up and boated two fish on the trot, both of them from under my feet,while others were running baits as far as they could in the tide and then having fun with a May Pole dance as the fish played fast and loose with their baits. Mick discovered on a visit to the cooler that we were running low on bait. Charlie told us to cut the baits in half having a head section and a tail section, this proved to be the answer to the dropping, immediately we were hooking up on every drop and the fish came thick and fast for the last hour, even Andy got one.
The time came to “wind em in” and we made our way back to Aberdovey, Mick “did” the two Bull Huss on the way in. Charlie had the radio on checking with the weatherman and gave us the glad tidings that we were iffy for tomorrow, and may be the rest of the week. Unfortunately this proved to be the case so the tope had to left for others more fortunate with the weather than we were.
The final score was Anglers15, Grey “Bs”20,
Tuesday was spent at various locals, Mick and Mark went fly fishing on Tal-y-Llyn, Don went beach fishing near the bar, Pat, Andy and Richard went digging bait at Barmouth, Steve and I went to Tonfannua to look how rough the sea really was, it was.
All in all it was a really boring day, and we were getting a little despondent we roamed about Aber like a tribe of lost Jews. The day was ended by the lads fishing on the Outward Bound jetty and having a meal in the Brit which in my mind has gone downhill since last year.
Wednesday morning Charlie came to the digs to inform us that we were not fishing again, we asked to remove the gear from the boat he agreed. The wind was from the West but was going round Northwest for Thursday. We asked Charlie if he thought we may stand a chance of a boat out of Pwllheli or Abersoch, he said we might, so after retrieving our gear we all drove out to the Lleyn peninsular to try to find a boat for the next day. We tried at Pwllheli but looking out to sea it did not look favourable so we went on to Abersoch, which was closed for the foreseeable future. Pwllheli was tried again and we found a boatman in the Marina, the boat was a 38ft Aquastar named the “Highlander”, her skipper Tony seemed to be a nice chap.
Could he be chartered for tomorrow?, ring to-night at 7-30pm to verify was the best he could do. We returned to home base via, Portmadog, Dolgellau, and stopped in Tywyn, to have fish and chips, the first decent meal since we had arrived.
That evening we rang Tony but he was unable to take us the weather would be too rough, so that did it, and we resolved to come home the following morning. Charlie was informed and he had no objection nor did he penalise us which was decent of him, the same went for Brian at the digs. Before we left we promised to return next year, although disappointed we cannot beat the weather. After breakfast we packed the cars and said our goodbyes, Don stated that he would remain until Saturday, the rest of us left beaten but not broken.
It is that time of year again and we are looking forward to revisiting our friends in Aberdovey. We pray that the weather will be kind to us this time. Andy and Rich have ordered about a hundred ragworm just in case they do not get off on the boat even if they do I can see them spending a lot of time on the jetty in the evenings. The team has been altered this year Don has been dropped mainly because he wanted to bring his dog and the digs would not accommodate him, in his place is Danny a mate of Richard’s he has been with us on previous fishing holidays. Steve is taking Rich, Andy and Danny, Mick is taking his van and Mark, and I will be taking Pat when he is clear of a family commitment he has to attend. I hope that the rest have everything sorted out by the time I arrive.
TROUBLESOME TOPE 2001
Pat and I arrived at about 10pm the journey had been awful heavy downpours had stopped the traffic on the motorways and we were forced to stay with it and the final 50 miles or so had been in the dark with Pat doing his navigator bit “right hard 40, left 5, straight on”.
We were almost too late for a pint but the lads were already on the jetty trying their luck with the ragworm they had brought and Mick told us of the disappointing meal they had had in the Brit.
Monday morning following a good nights sleep, and having had a good breakfast, we got to the jetty to meet Charlie and Peter, I had driven the car round with the tackle on board and we unloaded it as close as possible to Miss Claudia, Charlie was fuelling up so we had to wait a few minutes to get on board. The weather was fine and bright, and the day looked full of promise, even though we had fished with Charlie two years on the trot we were still excited and could not wait to get among the Tope again.
The lads were a little subdued as they had not slept too well, they had opted for a room were all three of them could share and it transpired that two of them Richard and Danny were on a bunk bed they were not too impressed but said they would ‘tough it out’ for the week. As we made our way out of the river towards the bar and the open water I noticed that the water was a definite shade of green and when I asked Charlie what was going on he stated that it was an algae bloom, and it had affected the fishing to a little extent but we should be OK. We get the same in our area but we call it baccy juice as the growth takes on the sand suspended in the water and turns brown.
We were off to Tope City and the tackle was set up accordingly, uptide rods, 20lb line, running ledger to 50lb rubbing length, and a 140lb hook length to no.8 bronze O’Shaughnessy, this would be baited with a whole frozen Mackerel, and lowered to the bottom with a 2oz. lead.
As is usual on Miss Claudia as soon as we cleared the bar, Peter the mate put the kettle on for our first of many cups of tea he has the knack of remembering who has what and everyone is well satisfied with his efforts. It takes about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the mark so there is a lot of tale telling and leg pulling on the way.
Eventually the anchor is dropped and we set to the tide, the baits are lowered and the anticipation begins, each of us willing those big Tope to pick up our baits in preference to anyone else’s, I am hoping that Danny gets the first one though as he has not been here before and all the rest of us have had the thrill of a large Tope running away with our gear. We wait and wait then Steve’s rod nods a couple of times then the reel starts to give line against the check and we have our first run developing. The reel clicks for a few moments then goes quiet, the fish has put the bait down, we all wait with baited breath for the run to start again but it is clear that the tope has lost interest,Steve winds in his gear and examines the chewed bait then replaces it and lets it down to the bottom again.
Andy and Pat are up the front of the boat “noddying” for small bait fish when Andy’s rod starts to perform in the manner it should and as he is not present Charlie picks it up and is about to commit a cardinal sin of hooking up a fish on tackle that in no circumstances would any of us touch even if it was going over the side. Andy comes back into the cockpit and has a go at Charlie for picking his rod up, we apologise for Andy’s outburst explaining that he is paranoid about any one touching his gear when fishing, as it happens the run did not develop. Andy rebaited his hook and retired to the prow, he had not been gone a minute when his unattended rod took off we all shouted for him to return, he requested Charlie to take the run but having been tongue lashed a few minutes earlier Charlie did a bit of his own abusing, Andy being the target. I will not repeat the language but any party angler will get the drift of his tirade. Andy sheepishly came and took the rod from the rest and struck immediately probably hoping to shake off the fish to hide his embarrassment but the fish was hooked and came back to him like a pet dog. I had got the camera rolling by now and as the Tope broke the surface it came to the side of the boat still asleep, Charlie removed the side rail and got his tailer ready when suddenly the fish came to life and took off down to the bottom again Andy did well to hold it and eventually it was boated, a fine male of about 37lbs, the angler and the Skipper shook hands and the feud was forgotten photos were taken and Dennis was returned to the water, that is what Charlie called the fish, they all have names in Cardigan Bay.
At this stage Charlie was a happy man as was Andy, Pat was knocking out small fish on his “noddy” gear Whiting and Dogs mainly but the rest of us waited patiently for the next Tope. We had about five runs but no takes and Charlie started muttering to himself, which as we have learned is that a move is on the cards.
“Wind em up lads”, we were already in front of him and had the gear up before he had the engine running, Peter went up the front and stowed the hook, and we were on our way to another mark. Peter went below and put the kettle on and he and Charlie discussed the lack of fish, they both put it down the green water. During that first day we moved four times and each was worse than the previous one, Charlie was getting agitated but there was worse to come.
We got back to Aberdovey at about 7pm and after a quick wash and change Mick, Mark, Steve and I went to the Dovey Inn to try the menu there bearing in mind the remarks Richard had made about the Brit the day before. I had fish and chips, Steve had Steak pie, Mark had a steak and Mick had ribs, there was very little returned and it was quite good, Andy Rich and Danny came in a little later and were well satisfied, so that took care of the feeding and watering hole for the week, now what about the fishing.
Next morning, Tuesday we meet up with Charlie at 9am and set forth once again into Cardigan Bay. Charlie has an impressive bit of new kit on board, a plotter with a screen as big as a television set but the chart shows no differences in bottom contours and I ask if he has all the features on he runs through them and yes they are all switched on so the bay is akin to a billiard table. “We will try the reef first”, was the opening gambit from the Skipper so we steamed out along the coast in a Northerly direction.
At the reef we set up two rods with balloons and two with nothing save a bait and trotted them off the stern the rest were set up with light leads and let go to find a fish. Pat and Andy were up the front with the “noddy” gear and caught Pollack and coalfish along with the occasional whiting and inevitable doggy but the tope were absent and we were soon feeling a move coming on. “Lets go try for the bream”, was Charlie’s next ploy, he was getting up tight by now.
Following a twenty minute steam we arrive at the Bream mark we are already tooled up for them with 8lb line and small hooks baited with tiny strips of squid, it takes an hour to get the first one, 8ozs., it is returned without the camera coming out. Mick gets a slightly larger one but even that goes back un-filmed. It is beginning to get desperate, and Peter puts the pies in the oven and makes the tea, this generally brings on the fish but not this year. We have our lunch then we are on the move again, everywhere we go the water is green and the fish are not at home. Charlie throws the towel in at 4pm and we are on the jetty at 5pm.
Andy and Pat, fish the jetty with Danny and Richard the rest of us retire to the digs and get ready for the evening meal at the Dovey Inn again. During the evening we discuss the reasons for the lack of fish between ourselves and come to the conclusion that it is either the lack of flow due to extra small tides or the green water in either case we cannot alter it and must make the best of a bad job. We are informed by a commercial potter that his fishing has come to a dead stop as well, and also his mates up and down the coast are in the same dire straits.
Wednesday, off again at 9am, out into the bay and hoping for better things alas not to be realised, we have loads of dogs and small pollock, but the Tope refuse to put in an appearance. Charlie is beside himself muttering that this has never happened before to have such a long period of inaction, we tell him we are used to it and not to worry at least we are out on the boat unlike last year when we were blown off for the week. The main entertainment is pulling small fish up and trying to improve on our species count. As we came in over the bar the lads ask Charlie to slow down a bit and they try with Rapalas for bass but even they are not playing. The weather forecast for Thursday is not good and Charlie we think is secretly relieved to put us on the beach for the day.
Thursday as forecast the wind is strong from the south-west and boat fishing is cancelled. Charlie comes to Awelymor to inform us, very considerate of him , all he needed do was to phone, but he is like that and we were beginning to feel sorry for him.
After breakfast we all go for a hunt on the beach to see if we can find any crabs moulting and we get a fair few, we arrange a match on the jetty to commence at 3-30pm and terminate at 5pm. Meantime we drove to Twyn to see what the tackle shop had to offer and get some lunch. It was coming down in horizontal stair rods and we walked the full length of the high street, found a tackle shop, but the café’s were closed for dinner and we went back to Aberdovey and ate in the Hungry Fisherman. This establishment was under new management and the food was not bad, we cleared him out of bread and left satisfied. It was still raining and the match was a couple of hours away so we retired to our rooms and I for one had a siesta. At 3pm I awoke and had a leisurely shower then got my gear together to go onto the jetty, the digs were very quiet, I went down to get the others ready for the fray and guess what, they had gone already, I went to get the crabs we collected and they had gone too.
Cheats never prosper and when I got to the pier I found the crabs untouched as yet, hidden among the pile of pots that occupy the jetty, along with Danny who was keeping out of the wind, Andy and Rich were down on the lower level and Pat was toughing it out right on the very end trying to shelter behind a life ring holder. I set up and then watched Danny as he cast out and then let the lead settle his rod was twitching the whole time and I asked was it the tide he affirmed, then I looked at the water and decided it could not be so, it must be fish.
Baited up with half a peeler I cast out and immediately connected with a schoolie about 8 ozs this was followed by about 6 of them I declared myself the winner and retired from the comp, charging them with foul play in that they started before the whistle, and they had no chance in matching my catch as there were no more crabs left. I was accused of being a crafty old git, well you don’t get to 61 without learning a trick or two.
Steve, Mick, Mark and Self, left them muttering and went to get ready to go to dinner, the other three left Pat on the jetty and came along shortly after. All of turned out together and as we passed the Hungry Fisherman the proprietor came running out after us, he had a parcel in his hand and gave it to Rich saying he was closing up for the night and it would only be thrown away. The parcel was full of pies, pasties, rolls, chicken pieces and a few chips, we decided to take it to Pat who was still on the Jetty and must by now be half frozen, Rich took it and was a little while joining us in the Dovey and no doubt helped Pat with his supper before coming in and ordering his from the menu in the pub. Charlie was in the pub with Megan but could not stay long as Megan had to get back home as she had no cover for the old folk and some one has to be on hand pending emergencies. Charlie came back just as we had finished eating and spent the rest of the evening with us, he still was bemoaning the lack of fish but was hoping that the blow would put some life back into the bay, we had a pleasant evening and retired to bed quite late.
Friday, every one up with the larks except Danny and Richard who were chased up from the submarine by Andy. We got to the jetty on time and again full of optimism the tackle was set up, Roger was the mate this morning and had got the gear from the forward cabin prior to our arrival all we had to do was check it and bait it. Although the weatherman had given a receding wind forecast the sky was still full of scudding clouds and there was white water on the bar and beyond it did not look all that promising.
Miss Claudia rode over the bar and even she was rocking and rolling most unusual for her, after clearing it, head butting into the sea the ride was not comfortable. Roger was below trying to make tea and although he succeeded the effort required to keep upright did him for the day and he failed to recover, being sick for the remainder, but not beaten he still made the tea and got the pies hot, and stowed the anchor, but he was a queer colour.
Charlie was a man on a mission and we continued to butt out as we headed for Top City “got to be fish there today”, hanging on we had no choice but to hope that he was right. Two hours later we knew he was wrong and we upped the hook and headed in towards the shore it would be no calmer there as the wind was onshore, but it made us feel a bit better being closer to home. Three dog fish later, Charlie came out onto the after deck and declared “No charge for today, we are going home”, we needed no second telling not from a financial motive either, Roger could not get the hook up quick enough.
All that remained when we got back to Aberdovey was to clear up and get the tackle off the boat we settled up with Charlie who was still upset about the way the week had turned out we told him not to worry we get this all the time. The tackle was stowed in the car and we went to the Hungry Fisherman to eat, and then I for one went to bed for a couple of hours to recover from the beating we all had suffered that morning.
Andy had brought his Dreamcast with him so we did get some fishing in on a game that put you in the paradise fishing world catching huge tuna and marlin it kept us happy for the rest of the day, in fact it was time to eat again before we realised it. Richard went out for a walk and returned with another hand out from the Cafe we all got stuck into that lot though and there was not much left for Pat. The last night in the Dovey was a blur I cannot remember a lot about it, not through the drink though, I think it was the pressure coming off, being the organiser is almost as bad as being the Skipper when the wheel comes off.
Saturday we said our goodbyes to Brian and Jenny and having retrieved the cool boxes from Charlie’s van we made our way home.
Well that’s it for 2001, where we get to in 2002 I do not know there have been murmuring’s of pastures new but we will see.
Tope 2002
We should have made the break last year, 2002 turned out to be a disaster. On the 12th May we made our way to Aberdovey independently, I was driven by Pat and we did a little detour almost visiting Nottingham before I realised that we had over shot the M6. Mick and Mark got stuck in road works, and Danny came up from Hampshire the pretty way and took hours, the only car to arrive with a clean sheet was Steve with Andy and Richard.
Brian and Jenny made us welcome and then we went down to the jetty to meet Charlie as he came in with his Sunday party, they had done well they said, had Twenty fish, (all returned naturally). Charlie reckoned we would be out next day and would expect us at 9am. We retired happy looking forward to the day.
Monday 13th Brian had done breakfast early, and we were about to leave for the jetty when Charlie arrived in his best suit, this is a sign that the fishing is off, I did not even wait to hear his explanation, as far as I was concerned the first day was a no-no, and I was not best pleased. The wind was up a bit but we had been out in worse before and I was making excuses for him all that day. Tuesday was a real hooligan and no excuses were needed, we mooned around all day not knowing what to do. Mick and Mark went fly fishing, and the lads went to Aberystwyth Steve and I went with them. Pat did a disappearing act but was fit to fish the jetty in the evening.
Thursday was a glorious day no excuses could have been made so we were out at 7-30am and although the fishing was patchy we were all glad to be on the boat, Charlie’s mate Tom though needed a lesson in tea making and after the second one I had to go and tell him that it was unfit and tried to educate him, I found the fault straight away, he did not use boiling water, after that it did improve slightly. As did the fishing we moved around the bay and finished up were we had started but this time the ebb was running and the bite was rapid, Pat, Mick, Danny, Richard and Drew boated fish, I lost two one of them on a trace intended for a skate and Pat had a great fight on a rod built to catch Carp on, the fish won in the end, Pat was nackered. We kept a fine skate of 14lbs taken by Richard and claimed by me, Rich hates fish. We got back to shore at 8-30pm, and considered we had had a good day, but one swallow does not make a summer.
Friday, start 9am, weather foul Easterly a good six, surely we would be grounded again, but no, were are on, Megan must have got all her jobs done. The fishing is crap and the sea is rough, two tope, three huss, and two skate, all returned, by 4pm we had had enough and were back on the jetty by 6pm.
Next year Andy takes over the organising and has us lined up for a week in the warmer climes of Lanzarote, I cannot wait.
TROUBLESOME TOPE
At last the day had arrived, 16th May, 1999, and we were on our way, we being Mick, Steve, Mark, Pat, Don, Andrew and Richard the brothers and myself John, the daddy of the party.
This fishing trip had been on the stocks since August 1998, and had only been confirmed in the new year by our skipper Charlie Bartlett, who runs “Miss Claudia” a 34 foot Freeward, out of the picturesque port of Aberdyfi, GWYNEDD, WALES.
We had met at 11am at the South Mimms services and had an uneventful journey up the M1, M6, M54, then to the last 50 or so miles through the beautiful countryside of Shropshire and the borders into Wales we arrived at our Digs, at about 4pm, to be greeted by our landlady Cathy,who had the kettle on in no time flat, she was going to be OK as far as we were concerned. After settling into our rooms, Cathy moved her car from her space at the rear of the guest house and invited us to park there for the week, following a walk around the village a drink and a meal, I checked with Charlie on the phone to ensure we would be on for tomorrow.
Monday 17th, following an excellent breakfast, we got our gear together and made for the jetty to embark “Miss Claudia” Charlie had already brought her from her mooring, and was ready for us, the fishing tackle was stowed and Peter the Mate let go the ropes and off we went, to our first day of a most memorable fishing holiday.
None of the lads had been here before, I had fished with Charlie before and therefore knew what we would be up against in the way of fish I had told the stories of previous visits but they were taken with the proverbial pinch of salt by the lads, who I must explain do most of our fishing in the Thames Estuary, and are all familiar with uptide tackle and methods, the main difference here are the numbers of fish, and the fact that casting is not necessary. The tackle used was uniform throughout the 8 of us, a 6 to 8 oz., uptide rod, an ABU 7000, or similar reel, 18 lb line to a 50lb rubbing leader, and a 250lb nylon biting piece, with swivels between each joint, terminating in a 8/0 O’SHAUGHNESSY, bronze hook, weights varied between 2 and 6ozs depending on wind and tide and the position on the boat.
Following a run of about an hour the boat was positioned and the order given to commence fishing, 8 frozen Mackerel made their way down to the bottom. The reason they were frozen is because fresh mackerel were not there to be caught if they had been I think the catch rate would have been even higher, but the individually blast frozen ones were a very good standby bait, and within 20 minutes Steve was into a fish, two or three savage nods of the rod followed by a twenty yard run against the drag indicated that this was what we had come for, Charlie was at his shoulder giving advice and encouragement, the fish ran again Steve lifted the rod, thumbed the spool, and leant back into a very lively 25lb ish, Tope, which after about ten minutes or so was boated by Charlie and Peter, Steve posed for photos and then it was returned. Seven baits were already in the water before Steve could get his breath back, Micks went almost before it had hit the bottom, so again the lines were retrieved to allow him to play his fish, leaving lines in the water when there is a fish on is fatal. Mark had the next run, and boated fish 3,4,6. Pat had 5,8. I had 7, Richard boated number 9, with Andy at number 10., Don failed to boat any but did have runs, in fact had we boated the runs we would have had many more fish but such is the way of Toping, we were well satisfied with the day .
Day Two, Tuesday 18th, May, on board at 9am, and out again over the bar, running time about 45 minutes, an inshore mark this time, Charlie is working from his history book, “Big females show here, we will see if history repeats itself”, Don is the first to run and boats a fine male of about 30lb, it is carrying war scars “Been messing with the big females” says Charlie, Dons luck has definitely changed and during the day he boats number 1,2,8,11., all are male fish and are in fine fettle full of fight in fact No. 11, has a “go” at him and nearly had a piece of his thigh. Andy has 3,6. Steve has 4,12., Mick has 5,10., Mark 7., Rich has number 9 again, and I have number 13 not so unlucky, as Pat fails to score, all the fish were male going on average 30lb with two at about 38lb, Steve had the fish of the day a fat female with young going about 50lb, it was a comical scene as he held it for the cameras, the fish was about five foot long and he is about five foot four so all we could see was a Tope standing upright and a pair of trainers protruding at her tail fin, she broke wind and frightened the life out of him, he returned her to the water post haste. The sport is excellent and at one time we had three fish on at the same time and tempers were somewhat frayed when the fish decided they had had enough of us and dropped the bait, or chomped through it without getting hooked.
Mick must have lost about five runs due to this and was trying to develop a means of presenting the bait that would ensure hook-ups, I let him stew for a while then dipped into the communal tackle box and handed him a 16” baiting needle, this allowed the bait to be presented with the hook halfway along the flank instead of in the head as we had been presenting it, he did not lose another fish, although I think he annoyed one, whilst posing for the camera it slapped him round the face with it’s tail, broke free from his grip on it’s head and made a lunge for his wedding tackle, luckily Mick had the presence of mind to drop it, Charlie was not amused.
Wednesday 19th, May, 9am, start again, flat calm, the first two had been a little bouncy due to the wind being North East 4/5, but today the wind was having a day off, the mark we tried at first produced a fine male fish going 38lb for Mark, but was not prolific enough, and as the sea was so kind, Charlie suggested we try for the Bream, this was welcomed by all ,as it promised a respite from the hurley burley of Tope fishing, little did we know, out came the light gear, stepped up carp rods, open faced reels, 8lb line, No. 6. hooks, tiny strips of Squid and Mackerel, 30ft of water, Tap, Rattle, Tap, the fish were here in numbers but we were far to slow to hook them, Charlie took a rod from one of us and did a master class, five fish in five minutes all on the same bit of bait, we did not need showing twice, it was so hectic that I being the only one in a boiler suit was deputed to remove the fish from the hooks and selecting the ones for the table, Charlie and Peter were also kept busy at this task, the rods were getting three fish a minute, that’s 21, so you can see how busy it was, the lads were soon falling into a heap pleading to be put back on the Tope. For the first time during the holiday lunch was taken with all the rods out of the water, Megan, Charlie’s wife had come up with another excellent packed lunch too good to be rushed, and definitely too good to be mixed with smelly bait.
Thursday, another calm day, wind South West 2/3 becoming 4/5 towards evening. Charlie has saved the best till last, he explains that the forecast is not good for the rest of the week and that tomorrow is doubtful, in view of this we will visit “Tope City “ today, it requires about 90 minutes to get there. We set up two sets of feathers, and whilst the cockpit is fished by six , looking after eight rods, two of us in turn, feather off the bow for bait fish we get small whiting an excellent bait by all accounts, these are kept in a bucket until required. For the first hour or so nothing happens except for the bait fish coming in steadily we start to release these as we have enough and it is a waste to kill them by over crowding the bucket. Charlie starts to pace around you can feel the tension, “Should be fish here, can’t think what’s going on”, out comes the history book, we feel a move coming on, then as the tide dies away my rod goes into “one” and the reel screams, Charlie is now tuned in to each of our reels and shouts from the wheelhouse “John your on”, I was already on station awaiting the 2nd run, the fish is there I can feel him slowly mouthing the bait, the reel is put into free run, the rod held high with the slightest tension on, held by the reel thumb, then the fish is off and running the reel spins under the thumb then the thumb goes down hard and the angler leans back as the rod curves over and the strike is made it is now that you feel the joy of angling after these magnificent fish, after several less powerful runs the fish is brought to the side of the boat carefully lifted in, the hook removed, or trace cut if it is too deep, the angler holds the fish for photo’s, then it is carefully returned.
During the next hour or so over the slack water period it was mayhem, fish were picking up baits running around other baits dropping them picking up another and eventually getting hooked up and boated with three or more sets of tackle wrapped around it we boated nine fish, Andy had a hat trick all well over 30lb, we lost at least twelve fish, but no tackle was lost, I would hate to think of a fish swimming around with line around it, hooks that are left in the fish to avoid damaging them due to them being deep are soon disposed of by the fish and to be double sure we don’t use stainless hooks, the bronzed ones will rust away in a very short time.
“Irish Sea, South West 6/7 locally 8, Friday , becoming West 6/7 during the day” was the forecast on the radio as we made our way back to port, Charlie is sure we will not be fishing, and we get the tackle together to take off when we reach the jetty, all of us have had a great time, and thank the skipper and mate for their efforts during the week, we arrange for next year and invite Charlie and Megan to dinner on Friday evening at the “Brit.”, which has been our watering hole for the week,
The last day is spent roaming around Aberdyfi or as we spell it Aberdovey, getting a hair cut, buying presents, the usual things, but in the afternoon, Mark, Mick, Andy and Pat, get the urge to wet a line again and go off to a trout lake they have been told about, they returned in time for dinner with a sorry tale, Pat was in a boat with Andy, and at some stage was standing up, in a 12ft skiff is not a good idea, the inevitable happened and Pat had to wear a flotation suit for the rest of the afternoon, At dinner they related the tale to Charlie, who listened most carefully and then stated that from the description of the lake they had given they had been to the wrong place anyway. Oh by the way if you are ever out with Charlie and the action is a bit slow just ask Peter to put the kettle on it works a treat with the fish.
TOPE 2000
This year we will travel on the 13th May, being a Sunday again, we have arranged to meet at the South Mimms service area at 11am. Judging by last year’s journey time we should be in Aberdovey about 4pm. We will have a new host this year as Kathy has sold the business to a Mr and Mrs Johnson who sound quite nice on the phone. I have spoken with Charlie and informs me that he is already catching the Grey “Bs,”.
We arrived on time as predicted, and were met by Brian and Jenny they made us welcome and we settled into our rooms, we took the same ones as last year. When we had sorted that out we went out to get the fish bait from Andy’s motor, Brian our landlord had not appreciated how much room we would require in the freezer and we had to remove a large amount of his stock to accommodate our bait, however he did not seem to mind.
A quick recce was made and we found that Charlie was out fishing so we hung around until he returned the weather was beautiful and warm and we roamed around in shirtsleeves. The town was alive with visitors more numerous than I have ever seen there before and we were told that this weather had been like this for the last fortnight.
“Miss Claudia” hove into view at about 7pm and we went down to the jetty to meet with Charlie, to find out if we were out in the morning and more importantly to see what the crew had caught, yes we are out at 9am. And yes they had had a few fish six on the boat and lost as many runs we felt happy and confident we could do better, we had a meal at the Brit. and retired.
Breakfast at 8am, went down well, then out and down to the jetty carrying all the gear required for the week, Charlie and Peter are waiting for us. We stow the excess tackle and Charlie hits the throttle and off we go out to the Tope everyone is excited and cannot wait to get among them again. On the way out the tackle is set up,” same as last year,” some of us cannot remember so I go through it again with them, “link swivel, bead, swivel, 8/10feet 50lb mono, swivel, 2/5feet 150lb mono, to a bronze 8/0 O’Shaughnessy hook”. This end tackle is married up to 18lb main line and fished on an uptide rod with a 7000 type reel, the bait offered is a Mackerel in our case frozen, but if available a fresh one is “TOPS”.
Miss Claudia, a 34ft, Freeward, pushes out over the bar and into Cardigan Bay, this is a Tope hotspot. Well known haunt to anglers from all over the UK, and further afield, who wish to pit their wits against fresh, hard running tope, from May to September this is the Mecca for them.
Today is Monday 14th May 2000, the first day of our second visit to Aberdovey. You will have read the account of last year’s holiday and we are expecting to better it. The weather is fine and the day promises to be a hot one, Charlie tells us he has had two weeks of hot sunny weather, we pray it will remain so. After an hour or so the boat is slowed and then the anchor is let go, 8 baits descend to the bottom and 8 anglers await with great anticipation to see which one will be first to go.
Mick was the first to strike, a fish of about 28lb, then the action started and we were kept busy with fish that were very finicky, picking up baits running 30 yards or so then dropping them. The tide was nearly slack and fish had a great time running around with baits and tying our lines into undoable knots and testing the patience of everyone, fortunately we are a close knit group and apart from a bit of leg pulling nothing serious develops between us. (We always blame the biggest who happens to be Mick.)
We boated a few more fish during this time Mick was well in the lead in both fish boated and runs lost, as the morning wore on the sun came out and the temperature began to rise the fish seemed to go away, and Charlie was beginning to become restless. I have fished with him for a number of years and I can feel when a move is coming on, I told the lads to get ready to wind them in. We heard the GPS squawking and as Charlie emerged from the wheelhouse, we were already bringing our gear in. Charlie muttered something about mind readers and started the engine.
The boat was moved about 2 miles and the anchor set, the baits were offered and immediately taken by the waiting residents, two or three runs at once, some were hooked up others were dropped and quite a few were Bungled. Peter was ever so busy running around trying to encourage us but we sent him away to make the tea he is pretty good at that.
We spent the rest of the day chatting and fishing, more fishing than talking, drinking Peters tea, and eating our packed lunches, every one had fish except Don but it was not one of his days so it did not matter. Mick had a feisty one that nearly bit into his leg “Again”, and Mark had fish running off for about 10 minutes and then just when he thought it had left the bait it screamed off to the horizon causing all the rest of us to wind in so that he could play his fish. It is a rule of tope fishing that when a bait is taken the rest of the party remove their gear from the water to allow the runner to play and boat his fish. I could imagine this causing tension amongst a mixed crew but when you are out with friends it causes no problems at all, “Tell that to a sailor”.
Pat and Andy went up to the sharp end to fish with smaller baits and were quite happy hooking dogfish and small whiting. Pat had already had two tope so was content, both runs coming after Andy had been moaning about losing a run on his rod and people letting the “clicker” off and handing him his rod in silent mode. Seeing that being the recipient of “Drips” had worked for Pat, Andy asked Pat to moan at him to maybe change his luck. Meanwhile in the cockpit of the boat things were going from good to even better, I hooked up and boated two fish on the trot, both of them from under my feet,while others were running baits as far as they could in the tide and then having fun with a May Pole dance as the fish played fast and loose with their baits. Mick discovered on a visit to the cooler that we were running low on bait. Charlie told us to cut the baits in half having a head section and a tail section, this proved to be the answer to the dropping, immediately we were hooking up on every drop and the fish came thick and fast for the last hour, even Andy got one.
The time came to “wind em in” and we made our way back to Aberdovey, Mick “did” the two Bull Huss on the way in. Charlie had the radio on checking with the weatherman and gave us the glad tidings that we were iffy for tomorrow, and may be the rest of the week. Unfortunately this proved to be the case so the tope had to left for others more fortunate with the weather than we were.
The final score was Anglers15, Grey “Bs”20,
Tuesday was spent at various locals, Mick and Mark went fly fishing on Tal-y-Llyn, Don went beach fishing near the bar, Pat, Andy and Richard went digging bait at Barmouth, Steve and I went to Tonfannua to look how rough the sea really was, it was.
All in all it was a really boring day, and we were getting a little despondent we roamed about Aber like a tribe of lost Jews. The day was ended by the lads fishing on the Outward Bound jetty and having a meal in the Brit which in my mind has gone downhill since last year.
Wednesday morning Charlie came to the digs to inform us that we were not fishing again, we asked to remove the gear from the boat he agreed. The wind was from the West but was going round Northwest for Thursday. We asked Charlie if he thought we may stand a chance of a boat out of Pwllheli or Abersoch, he said we might, so after retrieving our gear we all drove out to the Lleyn peninsular to try to find a boat for the next day. We tried at Pwllheli but looking out to sea it did not look favourable so we went on to Abersoch, which was closed for the foreseeable future. Pwllheli was tried again and we found a boatman in the Marina, the boat was a 38ft Aquastar named the “Highlander”, her skipper Tony seemed to be a nice chap.
Could he be chartered for tomorrow?, ring to-night at 7-30pm to verify was the best he could do. We returned to home base via, Portmadog, Dolgellau, and stopped in Tywyn, to have fish and chips, the first decent meal since we had arrived.
That evening we rang Tony but he was unable to take us the weather would be too rough, so that did it, and we resolved to come home the following morning. Charlie was informed and he had no objection nor did he penalise us which was decent of him, the same went for Brian at the digs. Before we left we promised to return next year, although disappointed we cannot beat the weather. After breakfast we packed the cars and said our goodbyes, Don stated that he would remain until Saturday, the rest of us left beaten but not broken.
It is that time of year again and we are looking forward to revisiting our friends in Aberdovey. We pray that the weather will be kind to us this time. Andy and Rich have ordered about a hundred ragworm just in case they do not get off on the boat even if they do I can see them spending a lot of time on the jetty in the evenings. The team has been altered this year Don has been dropped mainly because he wanted to bring his dog and the digs would not accommodate him, in his place is Danny a mate of Richard’s he has been with us on previous fishing holidays. Steve is taking Rich, Andy and Danny, Mick is taking his van and Mark, and I will be taking Pat when he is clear of a family commitment he has to attend. I hope that the rest have everything sorted out by the time I arrive.
TROUBLESOME TOPE 2001
Pat and I arrived at about 10pm the journey had been awful heavy downpours had stopped the traffic on the motorways and we were forced to stay with it and the final 50 miles or so had been in the dark with Pat doing his navigator bit “right hard 40, left 5, straight on”.
We were almost too late for a pint but the lads were already on the jetty trying their luck with the ragworm they had brought and Mick told us of the disappointing meal they had had in the Brit.
Monday morning following a good nights sleep, and having had a good breakfast, we got to the jetty to meet Charlie and Peter, I had driven the car round with the tackle on board and we unloaded it as close as possible to Miss Claudia, Charlie was fuelling up so we had to wait a few minutes to get on board. The weather was fine and bright, and the day looked full of promise, even though we had fished with Charlie two years on the trot we were still excited and could not wait to get among the Tope again.
The lads were a little subdued as they had not slept too well, they had opted for a room were all three of them could share and it transpired that two of them Richard and Danny were on a bunk bed they were not too impressed but said they would ‘tough it out’ for the week. As we made our way out of the river towards the bar and the open water I noticed that the water was a definite shade of green and when I asked Charlie what was going on he stated that it was an algae bloom, and it had affected the fishing to a little extent but we should be OK. We get the same in our area but we call it baccy juice as the growth takes on the sand suspended in the water and turns brown.
We were off to Tope City and the tackle was set up accordingly, uptide rods, 20lb line, running ledger to 50lb rubbing length, and a 140lb hook length to no.8 bronze O’Shaughnessy, this would be baited with a whole frozen Mackerel, and lowered to the bottom with a 2oz. lead.
As is usual on Miss Claudia as soon as we cleared the bar, Peter the mate put the kettle on for our first of many cups of tea he has the knack of remembering who has what and everyone is well satisfied with his efforts. It takes about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the mark so there is a lot of tale telling and leg pulling on the way.
Eventually the anchor is dropped and we set to the tide, the baits are lowered and the anticipation begins, each of us willing those big Tope to pick up our baits in preference to anyone else’s, I am hoping that Danny gets the first one though as he has not been here before and all the rest of us have had the thrill of a large Tope running away with our gear. We wait and wait then Steve’s rod nods a couple of times then the reel starts to give line against the check and we have our first run developing. The reel clicks for a few moments then goes quiet, the fish has put the bait down, we all wait with baited breath for the run to start again but it is clear that the tope has lost interest,Steve winds in his gear and examines the chewed bait then replaces it and lets it down to the bottom again.
Andy and Pat are up the front of the boat “noddying” for small bait fish when Andy’s rod starts to perform in the manner it should and as he is not present Charlie picks it up and is about to commit a cardinal sin of hooking up a fish on tackle that in no circumstances would any of us touch even if it was going over the side. Andy comes back into the cockpit and has a go at Charlie for picking his rod up, we apologise for Andy’s outburst explaining that he is paranoid about any one touching his gear when fishing, as it happens the run did not develop. Andy rebaited his hook and retired to the prow, he had not been gone a minute when his unattended rod took off we all shouted for him to return, he requested Charlie to take the run but having been tongue lashed a few minutes earlier Charlie did a bit of his own abusing, Andy being the target. I will not repeat the language but any party angler will get the drift of his tirade. Andy sheepishly came and took the rod from the rest and struck immediately probably hoping to shake off the fish to hide his embarrassment but the fish was hooked and came back to him like a pet dog. I had got the camera rolling by now and as the Tope broke the surface it came to the side of the boat still asleep, Charlie removed the side rail and got his tailer ready when suddenly the fish came to life and took off down to the bottom again Andy did well to hold it and eventually it was boated, a fine male of about 37lbs, the angler and the Skipper shook hands and the feud was forgotten photos were taken and Dennis was returned to the water, that is what Charlie called the fish, they all have names in Cardigan Bay.
At this stage Charlie was a happy man as was Andy, Pat was knocking out small fish on his “noddy” gear Whiting and Dogs mainly but the rest of us waited patiently for the next Tope. We had about five runs but no takes and Charlie started muttering to himself, which as we have learned is that a move is on the cards.
“Wind em up lads”, we were already in front of him and had the gear up before he had the engine running, Peter went up the front and stowed the hook, and we were on our way to another mark. Peter went below and put the kettle on and he and Charlie discussed the lack of fish, they both put it down the green water. During that first day we moved four times and each was worse than the previous one, Charlie was getting agitated but there was worse to come.
We got back to Aberdovey at about 7pm and after a quick wash and change Mick, Mark, Steve and I went to the Dovey Inn to try the menu there bearing in mind the remarks Richard had made about the Brit the day before. I had fish and chips, Steve had Steak pie, Mark had a steak and Mick had ribs, there was very little returned and it was quite good, Andy Rich and Danny came in a little later and were well satisfied, so that took care of the feeding and watering hole for the week, now what about the fishing.
Next morning, Tuesday we meet up with Charlie at 9am and set forth once again into Cardigan Bay. Charlie has an impressive bit of new kit on board, a plotter with a screen as big as a television set but the chart shows no differences in bottom contours and I ask if he has all the features on he runs through them and yes they are all switched on so the bay is akin to a billiard table. “We will try the reef first”, was the opening gambit from the Skipper so we steamed out along the coast in a Northerly direction.
At the reef we set up two rods with balloons and two with nothing save a bait and trotted them off the stern the rest were set up with light leads and let go to find a fish. Pat and Andy were up the front with the “noddy” gear and caught Pollack and coalfish along with the occasional whiting and inevitable doggy but the tope were absent and we were soon feeling a move coming on. “Lets go try for the bream”, was Charlie’s next ploy, he was getting up tight by now.
Following a twenty minute steam we arrive at the Bream mark we are already tooled up for them with 8lb line and small hooks baited with tiny strips of squid, it takes an hour to get the first one, 8ozs., it is returned without the camera coming out. Mick gets a slightly larger one but even that goes back un-filmed. It is beginning to get desperate, and Peter puts the pies in the oven and makes the tea, this generally brings on the fish but not this year. We have our lunch then we are on the move again, everywhere we go the water is green and the fish are not at home. Charlie throws the towel in at 4pm and we are on the jetty at 5pm.
Andy and Pat, fish the jetty with Danny and Richard the rest of us retire to the digs and get ready for the evening meal at the Dovey Inn again. During the evening we discuss the reasons for the lack of fish between ourselves and come to the conclusion that it is either the lack of flow due to extra small tides or the green water in either case we cannot alter it and must make the best of a bad job. We are informed by a commercial potter that his fishing has come to a dead stop as well, and also his mates up and down the coast are in the same dire straits.
Wednesday, off again at 9am, out into the bay and hoping for better things alas not to be realised, we have loads of dogs and small pollock, but the Tope refuse to put in an appearance. Charlie is beside himself muttering that this has never happened before to have such a long period of inaction, we tell him we are used to it and not to worry at least we are out on the boat unlike last year when we were blown off for the week. The main entertainment is pulling small fish up and trying to improve on our species count. As we came in over the bar the lads ask Charlie to slow down a bit and they try with Rapalas for bass but even they are not playing. The weather forecast for Thursday is not good and Charlie we think is secretly relieved to put us on the beach for the day.
Thursday as forecast the wind is strong from the south-west and boat fishing is cancelled. Charlie comes to Awelymor to inform us, very considerate of him , all he needed do was to phone, but he is like that and we were beginning to feel sorry for him.
After breakfast we all go for a hunt on the beach to see if we can find any crabs moulting and we get a fair few, we arrange a match on the jetty to commence at 3-30pm and terminate at 5pm. Meantime we drove to Twyn to see what the tackle shop had to offer and get some lunch. It was coming down in horizontal stair rods and we walked the full length of the high street, found a tackle shop, but the café’s were closed for dinner and we went back to Aberdovey and ate in the Hungry Fisherman. This establishment was under new management and the food was not bad, we cleared him out of bread and left satisfied. It was still raining and the match was a couple of hours away so we retired to our rooms and I for one had a siesta. At 3pm I awoke and had a leisurely shower then got my gear together to go onto the jetty, the digs were very quiet, I went down to get the others ready for the fray and guess what, they had gone already, I went to get the crabs we collected and they had gone too.
Cheats never prosper and when I got to the pier I found the crabs untouched as yet, hidden among the pile of pots that occupy the jetty, along with Danny who was keeping out of the wind, Andy and Rich were down on the lower level and Pat was toughing it out right on the very end trying to shelter behind a life ring holder. I set up and then watched Danny as he cast out and then let the lead settle his rod was twitching the whole time and I asked was it the tide he affirmed, then I looked at the water and decided it could not be so, it must be fish.
Baited up with half a peeler I cast out and immediately connected with a schoolie about 8 ozs this was followed by about 6 of them I declared myself the winner and retired from the comp, charging them with foul play in that they started before the whistle, and they had no chance in matching my catch as there were no more crabs left. I was accused of being a crafty old git, well you don’t get to 61 without learning a trick or two.
Steve, Mick, Mark and Self, left them muttering and went to get ready to go to dinner, the other three left Pat on the jetty and came along shortly after. All of turned out together and as we passed the Hungry Fisherman the proprietor came running out after us, he had a parcel in his hand and gave it to Rich saying he was closing up for the night and it would only be thrown away. The parcel was full of pies, pasties, rolls, chicken pieces and a few chips, we decided to take it to Pat who was still on the Jetty and must by now be half frozen, Rich took it and was a little while joining us in the Dovey and no doubt helped Pat with his supper before coming in and ordering his from the menu in the pub. Charlie was in the pub with Megan but could not stay long as Megan had to get back home as she had no cover for the old folk and some one has to be on hand pending emergencies. Charlie came back just as we had finished eating and spent the rest of the evening with us, he still was bemoaning the lack of fish but was hoping that the blow would put some life back into the bay, we had a pleasant evening and retired to bed quite late.
Friday, every one up with the larks except Danny and Richard who were chased up from the submarine by Andy. We got to the jetty on time and again full of optimism the tackle was set up, Roger was the mate this morning and had got the gear from the forward cabin prior to our arrival all we had to do was check it and bait it. Although the weatherman had given a receding wind forecast the sky was still full of scudding clouds and there was white water on the bar and beyond it did not look all that promising.
Miss Claudia rode over the bar and even she was rocking and rolling most unusual for her, after clearing it, head butting into the sea the ride was not comfortable. Roger was below trying to make tea and although he succeeded the effort required to keep upright did him for the day and he failed to recover, being sick for the remainder, but not beaten he still made the tea and got the pies hot, and stowed the anchor, but he was a queer colour.
Charlie was a man on a mission and we continued to butt out as we headed for Top City “got to be fish there today”, hanging on we had no choice but to hope that he was right. Two hours later we knew he was wrong and we upped the hook and headed in towards the shore it would be no calmer there as the wind was onshore, but it made us feel a bit better being closer to home. Three dog fish later, Charlie came out onto the after deck and declared “No charge for today, we are going home”, we needed no second telling not from a financial motive either, Roger could not get the hook up quick enough.
All that remained when we got back to Aberdovey was to clear up and get the tackle off the boat we settled up with Charlie who was still upset about the way the week had turned out we told him not to worry we get this all the time. The tackle was stowed in the car and we went to the Hungry Fisherman to eat, and then I for one went to bed for a couple of hours to recover from the beating we all had suffered that morning.
Andy had brought his Dreamcast with him so we did get some fishing in on a game that put you in the paradise fishing world catching huge tuna and marlin it kept us happy for the rest of the day, in fact it was time to eat again before we realised it. Richard went out for a walk and returned with another hand out from the Cafe we all got stuck into that lot though and there was not much left for Pat. The last night in the Dovey was a blur I cannot remember a lot about it, not through the drink though, I think it was the pressure coming off, being the organiser is almost as bad as being the Skipper when the wheel comes off.
Saturday we said our goodbyes to Brian and Jenny and having retrieved the cool boxes from Charlie’s van we made our way home.
Well that’s it for 2001, where we get to in 2002 I do not know there have been murmuring’s of pastures new but we will see.
Tope 2002
We should have made the break last year, 2002 turned out to be a disaster. On the 12th May we made our way to Aberdovey independently, I was driven by Pat and we did a little detour almost visiting Nottingham before I realised that we had over shot the M6. Mick and Mark got stuck in road works, and Danny came up from Hampshire the pretty way and took hours, the only car to arrive with a clean sheet was Steve with Andy and Richard.
Brian and Jenny made us welcome and then we went down to the jetty to meet Charlie as he came in with his Sunday party, they had done well they said, had Twenty fish, (all returned naturally). Charlie reckoned we would be out next day and would expect us at 9am. We retired happy looking forward to the day.
Monday 13th Brian had done breakfast early, and we were about to leave for the jetty when Charlie arrived in his best suit, this is a sign that the fishing is off, I did not even wait to hear his explanation, as far as I was concerned the first day was a no-no, and I was not best pleased. The wind was up a bit but we had been out in worse before and I was making excuses for him all that day. Tuesday was a real hooligan and no excuses were needed, we mooned around all day not knowing what to do. Mick and Mark went fly fishing, and the lads went to Aberystwyth Steve and I went with them. Pat did a disappearing act but was fit to fish the jetty in the evening.
Thursday was a glorious day no excuses could have been made so we were out at 7-30am and although the fishing was patchy we were all glad to be on the boat, Charlie’s mate Tom though needed a lesson in tea making and after the second one I had to go and tell him that it was unfit and tried to educate him, I found the fault straight away, he did not use boiling water, after that it did improve slightly. As did the fishing we moved around the bay and finished up were we had started but this time the ebb was running and the bite was rapid, Pat, Mick, Danny, Richard and Drew boated fish, I lost two one of them on a trace intended for a skate and Pat had a great fight on a rod built to catch Carp on, the fish won in the end, Pat was nackered. We kept a fine skate of 14lbs taken by Richard and claimed by me, Rich hates fish. We got back to shore at 8-30pm, and considered we had had a good day, but one swallow does not make a summer.
Friday, start 9am, weather foul Easterly a good six, surely we would be grounded again, but no, were are on, Megan must have got all her jobs done. The fishing is crap and the sea is rough, two tope, three huss, and two skate, all returned, by 4pm we had had enough and were back on the jetty by 6pm.
Next year Andy takes over the organising and has us lined up for a week in the warmer climes of Lanzarote, I cannot wait.
