Gurney Bashing

With Nick being up in Mozambique I decided that a trip to the harbour was in order. After all, I didn’t want him to get an early lead in 2013.

The low tide, which is essential for wading the sand banks, fell at around 1pm. Although this is not ideal for the game fish, the nice thing about the harbour is that there are always some fish around. With that in mind I climbed into my Jeep and headed down to be there at 11:30.

Things got off to a ropey start when I came to a stand still on Field’s Hill. A taxi had potentially hit another car and had rolled. After not moving for 30 minutes they finally opened the road and I was finally on my way.

When I arrived I spotted Simon’s car but he was nowhere to be seen. None the less I waded out and began fishing around the yacht mole. The tide was pulling strongly and I thought a few fish may be waiting along the drop off for any food being washed off the banks. Simon and Christian then joined me and half an hour later we were all still fishless.

We then decided to head up along the drop off in search of fish. With a southerly wind blowing we were casting straight into it which did make our lives difficult. Fishing was slow and we eventually decided to fish over the banks in search of any fish feeding in the shallows. These could included species such as spotted grunter, sand gurnards, sole and rays.

Simon and Christian put on shrimp patterns while I opted for a small, orange clouser that could imitate either a bait fish or a prawn. Almost immediately we found a pocket of sand gurnards and we all started picking up fish easily.

They may not be the most glamorous species but at least they have the courtesy to provide some fun on a fly stick and end the worries of a blank outing.

With a few fish under my belt, and squash fast approaching, I packed up my kit and headed for the courts. It was great to see the gurneys back in full force…not that they ever left.