Notso much a catch report, more a fishy story

Oston meets Raja and Califoricus ( Cal' for short ) for a session on the beach.

Early one summers morning, Oston woke from his sleep as the birds began their morning chorus it the trees outside his bedroom window.

Without stretching, yarning or making any sound he quietly slid out from under the sheet. something he plenty of practice doing. Leaving just the impression of his head on the pillows and of course his sleeping wife, who barely stirred as he slid into his slippers and crept out of the bedroom.

Downstairs, the kettle was quickly put to boil. Glancing at the clock on the wall, that in the quiet of the morning sounded loud with its rhythmical Tic Tic ... Tic Tic ...  17 minutes past 4.  Must hurry he thought, high water is at 8am and I want to be fishing by 6 o'clock at the latest.

While drinking a strong coffee and chopping through three slices of thickly buttered toast, he dressed, made a flask and retrieved his already prepared baits from the freezer.

With his tackle already loaded into his car from the night before it was just a case of adding the flask and insulated bait bag to his box and he was ready to go.

As is often the case, the excitement of going fishing made the short drive to the beach seem like a longer journey.  However 50mins later he was stood on the flat rocks at the edge of the water.

Small almost nonexistent wavelets were gently rolling over the bare but barnacle and limpet covered rocks, filling the small rock pools with fresh sea water. Little shrimps and goby darted about, while the odd shore crab scuttled from rock to rock looking for somewhere to hide.     

With a well practiced routine, he methodically put his gear together, carefully selecting suitable rigs, hooks and baits for the session he had planned.  He got a lot of pleasure from making his own rigs and preparing the baits he uses to catch his fish. This along with his absolute love of all the things that nature has to offer and the sheer beauty and splendour of our coastline.

In turn he baits his hooks and casts them out into the calm but far from clear waters of the upper Bristol channel. Although maybe not to blue flag standards, they are  far cleaner than they once were. He can remember what it was like when he was a youngster, when it was a standing joke that you had to be careful swimming off Barry island beach, in case you bumped into a log...

Settling down on his seat padded box, complete with back rest, a vital part of his equipment now he is getting older. He smiled as he felt the warm gentle breeze of his face as he watched the few high level clouds change colour from crimson to a pinky orange and then to pure white as the sun rose over the distant horizon. Yesterday's hustle and bustle were now just a bad memory, as his mind cleared and the peace of his surroundings flooded over him.

Time all but stood still, only the slowly rising water showed it's passing.

As if prearranged Cal' was the first to turn up and join Oston on the beach, flapping and splashing his tail in the shallows.

Oston was very pleased to see him. They don't meet as often as they should because Oston doesn't  go looking  for him very much. Raja is Oston's favourite companion but he was late arriving today.

While Cal' relaxed and got his breath back after thrashing about in the shallows,  Oston rebaited and cast his lines back out.

Suddenly Raja was there, he smoothly slid up to the edge of the water, flapping his wings and sucking his body into the soft sand.

Now all three were together again. Oston climbed down off the rocks and stood in the water with his two friends.

What you hunting for today he asked Raja. Just the usual he replies, some sandeels and a bit of squid, they are my favourites but I do like the odd bit of fish as well. Mackerel and any oily ones. Cal' had his breath back by now and with a flick of his strong tail, he turns and heads off out to sea. I'm off to catch some crabs and maybe the odd squid or prawn if I'm lucky... with that he was gone.

With a few flaps of his wings Raja was off as well. All Oston heard was a faint "see you later" from them both.

By now the tide had risen to its full extent and the sun had climbed high into the sky. Noisy Seagulls had gathered to try and pick up any scraps of bait that Oston may have thrown away. Gone was the quiet of the early morning, even the waves had become bigger and crashed repeatedly onto the rocks in the never ending cycle of the tides. The low hum of human activity was quickly replacing the hushed sounds of nature. Soon it would be time for Oston to head back home. His four hours of shear pleasure would soon be over.  

Both Raja and Cal' had come back to see him several times. Oston had caught plenty of his favourite fish (but we won't talk about them ) but he had put them all safely back for others to catch and enjoy lol .

Another busy session which made him happy. Although he would have been just as happy to quietly have sat there and simply just enjoyed being at one with nature.

Oston knows that he is lucky and that it won't be too long before he's out again doing what he loves.

Next time he'll probably go on one of his night low water jaunts.

Happy Hooking and tight lines everyone...