The first Anglers Afloat meet of the year was organised by Seagypsy (Ben). The setting was a chilly Poole Harbour in Dorset.
Ben had organised a series of activities including a flounder fishing comp, an RNLI demonstration and a teach-in for paddle skills. He had also arranged for some burgers and hot dogs – yippee !
Mark (Snapper) from Johnson Outdoors, and nearby Bournemouth canoes had brought along some kayaks and paddles for people to try out…
It was a great gathering, and the weather was cold but calm – and no wind – this was good for the majority of paddlers and fishermen – but a few of us wanted to try sails out… always the way.
I didn’t bring my rods; instead, I just had a paddle and spoke to others.
I got a glimpse of the new Trident 13 – and in particular, the new rod pod hatch (which is also available as a retro fit to existing Trident owners). It looked good, with inserts and fits for Scotty mounts as well as a couple of indents for bits and bobs and a measure (for fish) along the side…
Steve (Lureman) had brought down a Mini-X kayak for Nick (Fruitcake). Steve must live in a dodgy area (Tee Hee !), becuase just check-out the size of the lock he used…
The local RNLI lifeboat soon appeared and gave a demonstration to on-lookers – they also practised some drills with the kayakers present, loading and unloading the kayaks onto the lifeboat.
Ben had also arranged for a local representative from the canoe club to come down and teach the group all about paddle strokes – it was very informative and well received by all who attended…
I decided that I would go for a paddle in the harbour to warm up. I met Steve and many of the others, but nobody had caught any flounders yet.
I managed to find a small secluded bay with a nice beach and decided to stretch my legs and have a bite to eat. A very peaceful spot (as the sign says !)…
Lots of small shells and a group of Oyster catchers…
Upon my return, one of the members, Cam had caught a nice flounder…
I also managed to meet up with some guys from my neck of the woods – RichC from Glastonbury, Yarrow an Baz100 from Bristol.
Baz100 had brought his new Hobie kayak down – and very nice it was too…
All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. A great day out…
Hi Ian , thanks for coming at the weekend and writing this superb report , , glad you had a good day , , see you again soon . Ben
Ben – It was a pleasure. I tell you what, its not often you see me on the kayak without my rods ! I have to say, you did a really good job of organising the whole thing – it was a day which had something for everyone. I really enjoyed myself just speaking to other people (especially newbies) and swapping ideas – a real buzz. Thanks for a great day – hopefully meet up again soon. Ian
Hey! Great analysis on the handwarmers, as with all of your writing for sure. I looked for a link to write you after that post but there wasn’t one. Anyway, I new to the blogging thing and I’m not sure how things are supposed to work, so if I’m over the line just let me know. I was wondering if I could put a feed of that review on my site? I already have you set up as one of my fav sites, but I didn’t know how you’d feel about me putting one of your actual writing up. Just let me know. You have the email address. Have a great one and keep it up. Love your site.
Pam – Thanks for the comments – I always appreciate them. You are more than welcome to put any of my stuff on your site…. Bt the way, I just looked at your site and I think its great. I didn’t realise you were into fly fishing – I am hoping to do more fly fishing on the yak this year. We are trying to arrange a kayak fishing meet on a big trout lake called Wimbleball this year in April, so I’m looking forward to that. Things are very different over in the UK – there are very few lakes where we are actually allowed to fish in kayaks, which is a real shame.
Dodgy Area the cheek, that locks a family heirloom…. see you soon