Smutfest 2016

It's the annual meet for us kayak anglers in the solent when the smooth-hounds start showing. There was a good showing this year with about 30 anglers in total. After the coffees and breakfast the first few start hitting the water and finding their spots. It was a slow day for most but the radios did light up every now and then with reports of catches.

The morning was dead for me with every crab and squid bait coming back up covered in welks and weed. I broke for lunch and beached the kayak and headed to the BBQ to grab some sausages and chicken. A lot of people had already left by then showing how slow the day had been. After I'd filled my belly I headed back out for a couple of hours determined to catch something. Half hour into being back out I started getting knocks on my squid. Thinking it was a ray I waited for a take and struck. It turned out to be a smooth-hound of about 6lb so the target species was at least bagged. After that it was back to normal service so it was time to head back.