LRF landlubber Ben Bassett takes to sea from Weymouth on a species hunting mission to catch the elusive butterfly blenny. It proved to be a ‘red’ letter day in more ways than one
Icould feel the jig hit the mud with a gentle thud. It had descended over 40ft having been cast downtide from the boat. It took only two sweeps of the rod tip before I met resistance. A fish was on; down in the deep and line ticked off the reel, not in bursts but in awkward, twisting lunges. This couldn’t be, could it? I steadily pulled up the fish from the depths and there, in the dark blue, were flashes of red.
I’m no boat angler, in fact I have been on a charter boat fewer than five times in my life. I have always appreciated the accessibility and adventure of the shoreline and nurtured my angling obsession there. Despite my land-lubbing ways I was invited to join a species hunting boat trip, specifically aimed at one unusual species, chartered by wildlife cameraman Jack Perks, and skippered by Colin Penny on Flamer IV out of Weymouth, Dorset. I made the two-hour journey from Plymouth, with a 3:30am alarm, and was soon on the boat with my fishing mates for the day.
I was joining Jack, prolific angling writer and species enthusiast Mark Everard, Scottish species hunting legend Scott Hutchinson, Big Lerf event regulars Tom Stafford and Tim Brewer, and Jon Cranfield with his brother Stephen. As we prepared our tackle for the day ahead, we were blessed with clear blue skies and a gorgeous rising sun coating every surface with a deep shade of orange. I know Weymouth well and it felt strange leaving the LRF paradise of the inner harbour and then both the pleasure and stone piers behind. Despite this, there was a real buzz of excitement on the boat as all of us set up our light-as-we-dare rigs.
SOLID TIP SUBTLETY
I was using my Majorcraft N-One Aji solid tipped rod, rated to cast 12g maximum, coupled with my Daiwa Ninja 2500 reel loaded with Majorcraft Dangan 12lb braid. Considering onshore I use lines as light as 1.5lb breaking strain, this was heavy stuff for me. It is well known that most rods can comfortably handle at least double their casting weight if just dropped vertically from a boat, and I was relying on that fact so I could still make the most of the sensitivity of the solid tip. Our target was small that day, and I needed all the subtlety I could get away with.
My wish to be subtle wouldn’t change the fact we would be fishing in deep water with tide and current to contend with; a 5g or 7g dropshot weight just wouldn’t cut it. So, onto a double snooded dropshot rig, with size 12 hooks, went a 1oz weight. This way I felt I could keep in contact without anchoring my lure to the bottom with weights that could damage my prized rod.
EYES ON THE PRIZE
I was determined
