Having raised my hopes with that rather yummy bunny , I've been dropped by the wayside AGAIN

Their first expedition was to Sea Palling to try out the new boats - AGAIN ! Onshore winds were whipping up the sea and made anchoring impossible and fishing out of the question. So they launched into some heavy water and had fun playing AGAIN.

You really can't be that interested , but if you are here's the video shot by another member of this mental cmmunity.

Sea Palling Play Day - Click Here

To rub salt in the wounds of hunger his recent trip to Trimingham was also a complete failure AGAIN. Five hours watching hang gliders and not a bite. So how come the guy in the next bay was catching yummy bass. Need I comment AGAIN ?

Well at last , I have good news to report. The old git has finally taken up something that puts food in my bowl !

The Jimmy (his Yakking buddy) has been training him to shoot shotguns and rifles and they've been given access to some land that is suffering with an excess of rabbits and pigeons. Now this may seen a bit harsh shooting bunnies but they are a pest apparently and cause the landowner massive problems - not to mention the fact they do taste rather good.

So he got up early Tuesday morning and set himself up in a field overrun by rabbits. His first incursion on his own was always going to be low output tis true but I guess one rabbit brought home was a bit of a result. Me and the missus have never had rabbit before and I have to say, after a bit of sniffing and prodding, I found it most palatable.

As my fans will know I always like to have a bit of a side swipe at the end of my posts and this one is no exception ! After selling his old Kayak in Fakenham he decided to do a bit of shore fishing at Cley. Guess how many fish he caught - you got it !

George

I know I'm sounding like a worn out record, but grumpy is a disaster waiting to happen. I should be annoyed with him for misplacing my tea, but in truth you really do have to laugh !

OK , he set off this morning about 7-30 to launch from Sea Palling. Now you need to know he's been busy modifying his trailer with the help of "The Pedro" and reorganising his boat gear. So he's on the A47 in his usual little dream world, and he realises when he's in Acle he's left his boat wheels behind, so a slight course adjustment was made and off he headed to Cart Gap, where at least he could carry the boat to the water.

All fine so far, dumps the boat by the slip and goes to put on his gear only to find his neoprene boots are missing. The spanner had left them in his workshop - dooh. So the decision was made to go out in the shoes he was wearing - oh dear !

Well the nice thing about this new boat is that everything can be stored in the hold, so with some rather peculiar waves coming in at 45 degrees to the shore the launch was going to be tricky, but amazingly the old git made it out without rolling.

He went out about half a mile and the fishfinder was showing a bit of a gully at 40 foot and loads of fish in it. He spent two hours sitting there without a take. OK little knocks on the rod and the odd crab having a feast at his expense and that was it. His frustration was watching that damn sonar and seeing masses of fish going by and not one of them interested in his bait.

As the current stopped running the wind picked up almost immediately and the sea changed from a mill pond to three footers with white horses and just as this happened a slight rattle on his rod occurred. He tried to pull it in and the rod bent into a U shape and the fight was on. It took a while to land it as those small rods he uses don't give you a lot of take. Once on board he had a lovely 2 lb dogfish sitting between his legs - probably the most action that part of his anatomy has seen for a while !

Well with that swell kicking off and his prize doggy (or rock salmon as I like to think of them) in the rear bay he lifted anchor and made a slow journey in. The waves were still at 45 degrees and he came in very slowly and carefully at right angles to the waves. It was all going fine until the Kayak nose hit the shore and a lovely breaker behind him rolled him over. Now this would actually be funny if my bloody dinner hadn't gone back into the sea. Talk about raise a cat's hopes and then dash them.

Shall I mention the lighting board falling off the Yak on the way back and smashing to pieces ? No , that would be just a cheap shot and way beneath me.

God help him
George

It shouldn't, but does still surprise me that Grumpy manages to come back alive from these little Kayaking trips.

The sun was shining hot and I had found a nice sunbeam to lay in , as any sensible mammal would do. However Grumpy and The Jimmy packed their little boats onto a trailer and headed to Cart Gap to try and catch fish.

Grumpy grabs his gear from the shed and packs his hat into his shore fishing box, so amazingly he had no hat on arrival. Currently I am looking at him resembling an overcooked lobster.

They launched into still water but he still managed to find the biggest breaker of the day that filled the boat with water and gave him a bath. He anchored up and managed to slip off the anchor line twice.

They both spent a couple of hours anchored (when they weren't drifting off the rope) and grumpy managed to catch two small whiting and that was all they produced for that work. This might be partly explained by grumpy casting out and letting the line run free for a few yards but forgetting to put the catch back, subsequently when he next looked at his reel there was no line left, it was all heading towards Kings Lynn - dooooh !

So after returning to the shore for a pee break they set out again and headed for Sea Palling for an exercise paddle (I'm still in my sunbeam - by the way) Two hours extra paddling in afternoon sun just finished off that lovely roasted complexion he's currently wearing ! So they came back and landed , scratching their heads as to why the launch ramp had changed shape and colour , when it dawned on them they had landed too soon, so it was back in the water and another 15 minutes paddling to arrive back at the car park - oh dear....

Still waiting for that fish I was promised
George



The Jimmy looking very assertive !

I'm not actually sure why Mrs Grumpy puts up with this obsession of his ! The women must be a saintess or whatever it is female saints are.

After long discussions / negotiations - whatever you want to call them , Grumpy went across to Uttoxeter and bought himself a new Kayak. Having got himself into a little bit of bother at Cley the other day , he realised his old boat wasn't giving him enough control and speed, so in the interests of safety (of course !) an improved boat was felt needed !

He came back from Whitlingham Broad yesterday knackered, which he blamed on his clay pigeon shooting the day before and a bit of practise of self recovery. He did however have a stupid grin on his face , so I'm guessing this new boat must be pretty special.

OK folks that's the stage set - now let's watch this space and see how many fish start to come home eh ? !!!!

George (a hungry cat)

Well he's had two trips out in the last week and no fish have been forthcoming, no real change there eh readers.

A fishing trip was suggested at Gorleston , but instead they took the play boats out in the surf. Grumpy and the Jimmy spent about four hours catching waves and making fools of themselves. Apparently the reflected waves off the breakwater mix it up with the incoming waves and create what grumpy calls "confused waters" and he spent a couple of hours in that mess daring himself to get as close as he could to the brickwork without capsizing. Please, what is that all about ? for gods sake the old fool is 53, he should be playing bowls or something more sedate than that.

His next fiasco was yesterday when he went along to see some of the lads at a fishing match on Cley beach. So quite sensibly he had a late night getting wacked and lost an hour because of the clocks going forward. How clever when you're getting up early to launch ?

Well the wind was blowing at force 4 to 5 on the beaufort scale - how knowledgeable is that for a cat , I'm no slouch I tell you. He met another human called a "fishyfingur" there, who had just come in after half an hour in the rough stuff. Common sense is obviously something that diminishes with age, because at 30 this Shaun had the nounce to get back on shore in what was really quite rough water. So grumpy launched into moderate surf and got out about a mile and anchored up. This was interesting as the wind was blowing harder than the tidal current and he was just wandering around getting broadsided by some 6 to 10 foot swells, but being the stubborn old goat he is he toughed it out for 90 minutes before losing his bottle and raising anchor after he got walloped by a couple of nasty waves. Who's the Pussy ?

Having got back in he dumped his gear and had a go at Marine Surveying. Launched back out and got blown about all over the shop and started heading out to Scandinavia cos he couldn't swing the boat back to shore. Luckily the wind dropped for a few minutes and he managed to get back in having discovered where the gulley was and how big it was. Call that fun, I'd rather spend 10 minutes licking my butt.

Did I mention he managed to catch a Dab ? Did I mention he put it back ? One day he will come back with a nice cod and I may forgive him his sins !


George