On Tuesday 11th August I planned to get out at Aberaeron after work for some mackeral and bass fishing. Although the early evening was still sunny, the wind had increased during the afternoon and after parking up at Aberaeron beach I decided that fishing in the swell would be hard work. I decided to go further south to seek shelter at Newquay, but upon arriving there it was really busy with tourists and it would have meant a long trolley down of the scupper pro from the top car park. So I headed further south and checked out the beach at Cwm Tuddu - really nice bay but the sea looked choppy just outside the bay and I wasnt sure about solo paddling around the headland with the wind against tide. So I got back in the car after a short clifftop walk, and headed down to Llangrannog for a look there, having more or less decided not to launch. I was lucky at Llangrannog and found a parking space right at the top of the beach, so decided to go for a paddle anyway without the fishing gear. I launched just after 6.30pm after a trolley down the sandy beach, and got ditched by the first wave in a foot of water! Got out after that one and paddled for an hour and half on either side of the wide bay, taking some pictures, and then practising some surf entry and exists.Here are some pics from the evening paddle.
Left work early on Thursday 13th and launched onto a smooth Aberaeron bay from the beach with just a gentle swell present. Paddled accross and along a few marks in the bay trolling a J11 plug and then switched to a chug bug surface plug to try closer in for bass. Lovely views across Aberaeron town, the harbour and the coasdtal protection works in progress to the north of the harbour entrance. After a few sweeps of the bay I switched over to the second rod and drifted over a few marks further out in search of mackeral. I had been told that they had been a few miles out of late but having heard one or two splashes on the paddle I decided it was worth a go. 30 mins later, whilst drifting over one underwater feature in the bay, I had a good series of knocks and a second drift brought a hook up and a nice size mackeral was wound in - success, I now had my tea sorted! - I saw a few more mackeral jump clean out of the water in different parts of the bay as I paddled around in search of more, but failed to catch any more. Around 9pm with the sun going down over the water, I paddled back into the beach and trolleyed the scupper pro up to the car, stopping on the way to have a chat with another local sea kayaker (nice to meet you Gary). Here are some pics of this second session of the last week:
South of Aberaeron bay
North of the harbour entrance looking at the coastal protection works underway
Looking at my work offices from the sea :-)
Aberaeron town from the sea
The harbour entrance at Aberaeron
and the sunset looking west:
Happy evenings!
