NCKA (UK). St Brides Bay. Sept 27 2009

Ahhhh. I’ve missed kayak fishing. The taste of saltwater. The smell of the ocean. The myriad of tiny cuts and scrapes on my fingers that mean a good days fishing. The wincing pain as those cuts come into contact with the vinegar I’m sprinkling on my cooked catch. The shower full of wetsuit and fishing gear. The taste of ginger as I stave off seasickness. The gentle soothing fuzz of the meclizine. Driving in my wetsuit, way too fast, trying to make an afternoon appointment that I’m very, very late for. All because I wanted “just one more drop”. 20 times. 

It’s all better now my dear NCKA’ers. It’s been three long months since my last yak fishing trip, skunked at Paradise. A lot has happened since then! Our yaks finally arrived in the UK last week and at the first opportunity, I got out on my new local waters.

First, a bit of geography for those not intimately familiar with the UK. My new fishing grounds are the county of Pembrokeshire, which the Lonely Planet guide calls “a little corner of California transplanted to Wales”. By which they mean the rocky rugged coast of Norcal. Does this look familiar?



Pembrokeshire is the southwest corner of Wales, some 300 miles due west of London



I launched in the stupidly picturesque hamlet of St Brides. I didn’t take a pic becase I had Fishing Brain and was desperate to get out and fish. Lisa wasn’t able to join me so I used her Scrambler and met up with a fella from Anglers Afloat, where Todaymueller comes from (you may have seen his reports).  First drop; a nibble and bingo. My first UK kayak-caught fish. I’m pretty sure it’s a Pollock, although the colours appear unusual. Pollock are related to cod but are usually caught in rocky reefs. Thus, I give you, Rockcod (UK).



Soon after I was into something much bigger, drag was ripping off and it felt just like a hearty lingcod at Big Sur. In actual fact, it was real cod. Two of them. Very unusual on the shrimp flies I was using.



It was very tempting to keep them for some Fish and Chips (UK), but they were borderline legal and I recently read Mark Kurlanskys book about Cod (I’d recommend it) so I put them back. Posed for a photo first.



Next up was a wacky little dink fish; a red gurnard. The spine on his back put a hole in my finger.



After that I was picking up loads of Pollock, three at a time. Only one or two were a decent eating size tho’.



And then the surprise catch of the day; a triggerfish. Nice sized one as well.



A local commercial boat obviously got wind of our success and joined us to troll for some mackerel. These were a major target species of the day. I love mackerel.



In the end I took home two macks and a Pollock. The macks we had for breakfast this morning, with eggs on home made bread.



The eggs were home made as well, courtesy of these fine ladies who’ve joined the family recently.

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Overall, I had a great maiden voyage on the waters of Little California. Hopefully I can get out a few more times before the winter comes. I was happy!

Awesome. Those cod look great! And a triggerfish in England? I had no idea! Keep posting these exotics - some of us get bored with the local fish.

nice report phil, glad to hear the yaks finally made it and you can now get back out on the water, looking foward to more reports from the isles, cameron

Awesome report and pictures from the UK Phil. Glad to see you back on the water at
last. Please keep the report and pictures coming Northern Boy. We missed you here
big time.

Jedmo

What a great report! Triggerfish that far north? I never would have thought you would see triggerfish in Great Britain. Keep the reports coming. Maybe you can schedule a hookup for next summer 

What??  No gophers?   

Good to hear your boats got there intact and you got them salty.  Keep posting Phil, we miss you over here

WOW, it doesn't get any better than that, fresh fish with home made bread and eggs. I likey

What??  No gophers?   

Good to hear your boats got there intact and you got them salty.  Keep posting Phil, we miss you over here

Ditto. We miss ya, brother!

That red gurnard is one of the coolest fish I've ever seen!

Very cool report - keep them coming!  Glad things are going well across the pond.

It was very tempting to keep them for some Fish and Chips (UK), but they were borderline legal and I recently read Mark Kurlanskys book about Cod (I’d recommend it) so I put them back.

Out of curiosity, what was it about the book that lead you to put them back?

Michael

Coolest report ever. Thx.

Thanks Phil.

Keep 'em coming. It was really enjoyable to peek at life "across the pond". I'd love to see pictures of the "stupidly picturesque" town you launch from.

Ben

Thanks for taking the time to post, Phil.  I really enjoyed that.  Beautiful country, and yes, oddly familiar.

Great report Phil. Glad you are doing well in the UK and finally got a chance to get out on the yak and fish. Looking forward to more fishing reports from you. Take care.

Very Cool. keep the UK reports coming...
Ryan

Hey Phil! Great report, I got skunked at Paradise yesterday so's not much changed for me.