Dawn Raid: Dart

There's something about a dawn raid, is it the pay off for getting up early, is it the getting it all to yourself, or is it just something to do with being out and about as the sun comes up? I don't know. But I do know that whatever it is it's a great feeling. I've made a few dawn raids this year, board surfing at Constantine, kayak surfing at Bantham, wave ski surfing at Saunton, and some playboat missions on various spots locally, and they've all been great. The gamble of will there waves/water? will I make it back to work on time? all paying off. The thrill of being one of the only people at the break, or queuing in the eddy, knowing that there's more than enough to go round. I really just can't describe it, its something spine tinglingly good, that always makes the effort feel more than worth while.

The go-pro doesn't really like low light, but the water was just lapping onto the slab, honest!

And that's how it was when I pulled up at Newbridge in the fast approaching dawn. The water level great, just starting to wash onto the ledge. Top wave would just about be working, it was just a shame I didn't have time to get to Triple Three, that would have been perfect. But beggars can't be choosers, and a dawn raid on a small top wave before dashing back to work was way better than nothing.



It may not be a ripping ride, but it was better than no paddling!

Hopefully there'll be more water, or possibly surf (or even both!) this weekend, and I'll be able to get out for some more fun.

More fishing!

Another weekend with no water in the rivers, or surf at the beaches, and I can't find the enthusiasm for solo biking at the moment, so it was kayak fishing again. Having had a great time at Meadfoot beach last time, I thought I'd give it another go.

It was also a chance to try out some more tackle that I'd been given by my father in law, cheers Vic! So now with two rods and reels, I thought I'd try and get two lures in the water at once whilst trolling. However this turned into a complete mess with masses of line in a big knot. So I went back to just having one on the go at a time.

My only catch comes to the boat

The weather was far nicer this time than last time, with the sun blazing and no rain. After sorting out my line tangles things went much smoother, but I did manage to hook a plastic bag aswell as some seaweed.

All set up and ready to go

Eventually I managed to catch a fish, and it gave me a really good fight, I was quite surprised when I got it to the boat that it wasn't as big as I had expected. It turned out to be a 2Lb Sea Bass.

A strangely distorted shot of the boat all rigged up.

Kayak fishing, again.

After a kayak fishing trip earlier this year (check ewarts 3bsports blog) I'd been keen to get out there again and try my hand at fisihing again. I finally got the chance this weekend. I loaded up my freshly kitted out Manta Ray, and headed off to Meadfoot beach in Torbay.
Meadfoot is a great location for a bit of fishing, easy parking, a slipway straight to the beach/water and it seems to be host to some good fish too!

All the gear and no idea!

After a short while trolling around some mackerel feathers, I switched to a plug lure and started trolling with that. Almost immediately I caught a Sea Bass. Unfortunatly just as I was reaching into the water to pick it up it shook the lure, and shot off back to the depths! Bugger! oh well back to the trolling. I had a couple of other hits that reeled off a few foot of line but had gone by the time I grabbed the rod, and a cheeky seagull who managed to dive in and grab the lure, but luckly not hook itself.
And that seemed to be it,I was thinking oh well, time to call it a day, when I decided to go for one last lap round the rock in the bay. Just as I was about to turn to shore I got another hit. This time I managed to land it. It turned out to be a 2 1/2 Lb Sea Bass!

Mmmm..... dinner

Three hours on the water, two definate Sea Bass, two other strikes, and a sea gull! Not bad. The Bass tasted great, oven baked with butter, garlic, basil, bay leaves, lemon juice and some pepper. At this rate I could well be doing some more kayak fishing.

A day out at Duckpool.

As part of my un-ending quest to find good out of the way surf breaks, and generally explore more of the North Coast, I went to Duckpool beach today. At high tide it's barely a beach, just rocks and cliffs, but as the tide went out it turned into a lovely little beach.
From the car park the surf looked quite small, but when a couple of surfers got in I soon changed my mind! The sets were rolling in with 5-6ft faces, sweet!
Just a shame I didn't have any gear, just the cameras! Oh well better snap the action, check it out.

The biggest bummer of the day was when the air suspension on my van gave up on one side and left me with a wonky van. Time to call in the tow truck!

Happy birthday 3rider

Hey Hey, Its been a year today since 3Rider hit the web. So Far I've made 65 post (thats more than one a week!), added loads of photos, and had loads of fun along the way.

Heres to another years great blogging. See you out there!