Another Tide, Another Tope

After the success of the first Tope trip Kieren wanted in on the action so we headed off to the North Coast for another short evening session. It would be the first time Kieren, Elliot and myself would be fishing together on the kayaks so we were hoping for fish all round. Conditions were less than ideal with a fair chop being whipped up by a brisk onshore wind. We battled our way out to the mark and dropped the mackerel baits down....

---

Within minutes I had the first bite and a missed run and not long after Elliot had hooked up into the first fish. The wind was taking us inshore quickly, which was annoying as it was taking us out of the deeper water. It was a battle to paddle against the wind to catch up with Elliot and his Tope! It was soon across his lap and quickly unhooked, measured and released. The first Tope of the session - around the 25lb mark. That was Elliot happy.

It was a couple more unsuccessful drifts and strenuous paddles back to the start of the run until I hooked into the second fish of the evening. A series of strange bites erupted into a high speed run which failed to slow even after setting the hook! Great fun! The multiplier handle even started winding backwards with the speed of it– that’s not supposed to happen!?!! 10 minutes of hard fighting later and the fish was in view but not for long before it steamed off back to the bottom. Eventually I was able to grab the rubbing leader and haul the fish on board. Another lovely Tope around the 25lb+ mark! Unhooked, measured and a few quick photos and the Tope was swimming off strongly back to the dark depths.

Kieren was getting annoyed. He had just watched Elliot and myself land Tope but couldn’t get a bite. 3 snags later and he finally hooked into a fish. It wasn’t a Tope but a small dogfish! We wound him right up – we had told him that he had caught his shark so it was time to head in! He wasn’t happy!! Eventually we let him catch one. He couldn’t quite believe the power of the fish and was loving every minute of it! The fish came alongside the kayak and told him to hold on to his rod as it would kick off when we tried to boat it. I grabbed the leader and the shark was having none of it…. back to the bottom it went at speed, Kieren laughing his head off as line poured off the reel! Soon enough it was back at the surface and Kieren swiftly had it across his lap for unhooking and photographing. His first Tope at around the 20lb mark – he was over the moon!

We were getting cold so decided at a fish a piece to head in for shore. A mile or so of paddling against a chilly wind and choppy water was strenuous and the shoulder muscles were feeling it. Another successful session with more hard fighting Cornish Tope.... Happy Days!