October Kayak Adventure pt 1, Suffolk, England, 14/15-10-11

I said in my last post I would be doing a trip in October and here is the first part of the report it will come in 3 parts. As per usual this has been cpied and pasted from the AA forum in the UK.



There after supper lit by lantern light
Warm in the cabin I could lie secure
And hear against the polished sides at night
The lap lap lapping of the weedy Bure,
A whispering and watery Norfolk sound
Telling of all the moonlit reeds around.

Norfolk by John Betjeman


Part 1 of my October fishing adventure began at Lowerstoft.
I arrived at Snappers shortly after 7 am. Kayak fisherman came from near and far and tucked into sausage, bacon and eggs washed down with mugs of hot tea and coffee.
Plans were made for the fishing over the next few days, with most opting for the sea. But as I was to be doing a lot of sea angling over the next week or so I opted for the broads and a spot of pike fishing. Ben and Debs were of the same mind. So after a trip to the tackle shop for maggots and stuff we drove down to the holiday village and after lots of faffing about, launched.

Ben and Debs launch !



First thing we saw after leaving the marina was a seal : do they have seals in in Oulton broad? Well, yes they apparently do ! More of 'Dave' the seal later.



I headed off down the broad under sail for Oulton dyke. There was a pike down there with my name on it. : I set up a swimfeeder rod and tried catching some livebait, no luck after 20 minutes, so I moved. This was better with bites coming to the feeder rod, but they were all a bit big, pound skimmer Bream and Roach around 6-7 oz. I bunged one on anyway and quickly had a take. It came off and all I had to show was a mangled Roach. :-/



But then success and a small pike came to hand. I had only been fishing for 45 mins or so in the new spot and was thinking I was going to have a good day, but it was not to be and they were the only two takes I had.



I headed back and had a chin wag with Starvin and Richi before heading back out and trying again near the marina in the reed beds. The seal was still around and I struggled to get any bites on the swimfeeder. Eventually a small fish had a nibble and I reeled in what I thought was going to be a livebait. There was an almighty swirl and a sharp tug on my rod. I had been bitten off. B****** Seal > Still for a moment I probably had the biggest thing in the broad on the end of my line. ;D )
Back at the village it was divvied up that Chris, Andy, Steve, Niki and myself would be in chalet #4. We sorted ourselves out and headed for the bar for food and beer followed by doubles pool.
I have to say I was very lucky at the pool.



Then it was back to the chalet for more beer. "Take this to Scotland" said Jeff handing me a bottle of home made Sloe gin... it lasted 45 minutes

45 minutes later


Next morning everybody was up bright an early ready for some fishing, well around midday we got our act together and decided to head for Beccles ;D.
We had a relaxing paddle down the river, fishing, chatting and taking in the Suffolk scenery on a gorgeous autumn day. Some caught a pike or two, some didn't, but who cared on such a lovely day? Eventually we arrived in dribs and drabs at the 'Old Lock Inn' and had a few beers and some pub grub before taking a slow paddle back.
Here are some pictures of the day and I think they sum it up nicely.









In the evening it was back to the bar for more beer and food. I didn't play pool, lets face it I was never going to be as lucky as I was the night before . They had charity horse racing going on in the bar [ eh? ] I stayed outside with the smokers and talked kayaks, kayak fishing and fishing.
Later Steve said he had had a text from Wal in Scotland, he had had one ( a Skate ). We looked at each other and both our minds were now focused on the deep waters and seas of the 'Sound of Jura' "Lets drive up tomorrow" I don't know which one of us said it, but once it was said, we knew it was time to head north and try to do battle with monsters of the deep. So the next morning we were up and on our way to Scotland. Steve took the low road and I took the high road. We arrived within 10 minutes of each other!


And there starts pt 2 of my October Kayak Adventure.

Thanks for another great report, pictures, and video TM.

Ahh - golden fluid of life in a glass 

Looks like good zander water - the big cousin of our North American walleye. Wonder if the UK wants to see more waters with zander or not?

Two trips to Sweden. 0-2 on the zander. Caught some pike, perch and Baltic sea trout though.

Thanks for the great read/photos etc.!

 

 

Thanks Mueller, as always your posts set the standard. Say hi to Phil if you see him. We miss him dearly. Scott

We do get Zander in the UK but they are only found in some river systems. They were introduced only fairly recently and have often been illegally transferred from water to water.  They are a controversial species. Although I get the impression that the controversy has died down in the last decade or so. I have never caught one myself.