Tenerife pumping surf for 10 days straight

Spent great 10 days in Tenerife surfing and fishing with family. After a long few months without surf apprehensively took on a great long period swell that was hitting the Las Americas peninsula. Surfed 7 out of 10 days and the days we missed the surf still pumped. Surfed primarily with middle son Henry who really started to gain confidence on some pretty decent days.  First session we went to our previous main stay of El Medio which is effectively the break on the outside of Spanish Left. It produces good lefts itself and a slower right. Unfortunately the place is crammed with all levels of surfers now and getting an unmolested wave is difficult.  It is easy though with paddling out either across flat rock or from the shit pipe that stretches out in front on McDonalds. Despite good waves it was tough to get a decent ride and the locals were getting heated as proficient soft boarders covered every wave.

As the week wore on and the swell jacked to overhead on some of the exposed spots we found La Fitenia was showing good form. This is the last point before the Los Christianos breakwater. It was smaller but wound off beautifully down a right hand point. For days we shared this wave with just a handful of friendly locals and tourists. Wind was gentle breeze to howling offshore and it was unseasonably warm with temps hitting 27C. The one downside was the parking which has now become an absolute nightmare on any weekday with no spaces even before sunrise. I have created a little map as I find all the spots here confusing here with multiple names.

La Fitenia showing some class rights

Cornish excursion

Wonderful few weeks in Cornwall. Surf small and clean most of time with some flat days or northerly winds dictating a bit of South coast kayaking. My lads totally into the surfing for the sheer fun whether its on shortboards, softboards or bodyboards which suits me fine.

All the beautiful Bass caught close to the shore not necessarily at high or low, but in the movement of tide. As ever the Bass went back to grow on. Great sport looking for chasing fish and then casting in front with lures waiting for the hit. Weather sublime, water crystal clear. Mackerel too were great sport together with lots, and I mean lots, of small Pollack.

South Coast Kimmeridge looking like Indo

Cracking swell on the Dorset South Coast shame my surfing was not quite there to take advantage of the most unbelievable waves. All the reefs lighting up down the coast with most of the crowds on the Bench and Ledges. Yellows and beyond towards Chapmans was the unridden realm...

Rest Bay mayhem on a good swell

Surfed Rest today with son Henry and friend Rich. We got there an hour after high to find the tide just coming off the rocks with beautiful head high peaks reeling into bay. It was busy and the tide soon started to undo the great swell as it ripped out. At low tide it cleaned up again with some nice 4' peaks hitting the banks down by the golf course. Saw the sun quickly set before departing. A nice trip with the odd good wave. I didn't really get cold but fear next session will see gloves coming out.

It's been a while but I will recap a glorious summer in the South west...

Spent many wonderful weeks in Cornwall. Kayak fishing and surfing with my family. Lots of Mackerel inshore and a few suprises but no Bass although it is a different story at time of writing with plenty of Bass now being caught along the South Coast.

Little video of two of my lads enjoying prolific Mackerel on the Roseland. One interesting trip out from Portreath saw a close encounter with an Ocean Sunfish and squid surprise. The squid regularly took the feather but rarely stayed on long enough to enter the boat!

 Back in July the Black Bream fishing was superb off the Solent with the shoals feeding on the moving tide and then switching off immediately on the slack.  

The surf was in no way great over the summer but I was super stoked to see my two eldest lads finally getting the bug. Now they know what it feels like to be a surfer!

I need to relocate returning to Bristol and work just doesn't get any easier.

2014 Easter in Cornwall, where else when the sun comes out...

What a week in Cornwall. Wall to wall sunshine with some nice 3-4 foot clean surf at times resulted in some quality time. Spent some great family days on Crantock where the banks produced some good waves semi sheltered from the light north winds.

Summer surf in Tenerife - lesson is 'Early bird gets the worm' at Las Americas

During a couple of weeks in Tenerife I managed to get a handful of surfing sessions in with the largest day about shoulder high. Surfed mainly Piscinas off Las Americas as the swell had a fair bit of South in it. Piscinas is familiar to me as it breaks not unlike the Ledges at Kimmeridge with an easy takeoff and a winding left. It sometimes has two peaks combining to lengthen the ride. The right can suck up on the inside but tends to be fat on the outside. The only downside of the break is that it attracts surfers who ride longer boards and a half a dozen proficient long boarders on the peak can keep your wave count down.

Piscinas (or El Conquistador) on the best swell of the fortnight 

One day the swell came in more from the NW and Spanish Left started to work which is a few hundred meters N of of Piscinas. (Its worth noting La Derecha is classy right in between the two which is dominated by good locals). On that swell I did surf the slower right which peels off the other end of Spanish Left (not sure what the wave is called) which is the haunt of the local surf schools. I am amazed that the local shops take groups of inexperienced young beginners out here - not exactly the best conditions to learn in. They troupe them out on the shit pipe into the line up and coax them into powerful waves that offload onto the flattish rock (if your lucky, if not it might be lava lumps). I guess they see it as a local resource they need exploit at Las Americas but surely onshore El Medano would be better option where children and beginners can learn over sand. 

Funnily enough  the best swell of my visit must have sneaked through unseen as the session saw the smallest crowd.  On all days however by mid afternoon every break was pretty saturated with surfers fighting over ragged small peaks in the onshores. I could only conclude that the surf community here at this time of year thrives on social interaction with a certain amount of exhibitionism and few hangovers thrown in. This suits me as I will continue to get uncrowded better conditions at dawn.  Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of the surf in the height of summer when I thought it was going to be pretty flat.

Cornish Coarse on the fly

Just spent glorious week in Cornwall. Not much fishing other than dabbling with a bit of coarse fly fishing on a local campsite lake - that was until I was told it was banned due to health and safety reasons. While it lasted I caught Roach and Rudd on the dry and nymph. I have to say most sport came with some tiny bread flies I tied for Mullet but I did get sport on some Size 16 pink Grayling nymphs and parachute flies. The Rudd were incredibly fast and enjoyable to fish for on the fly even though none were more than palm sized. My brother caught a couple of nice Carp, one on my Size 10 bread flies linked to a bubble float. 

Surf was uninspiring with best session a 3-4ft day at Crantock which was sheltered from the predominant NW wind. The weather however was in the main great with endless days on the beach rockpooling, bodyboarding and relaxing with the family.

My son Henry paddleboarding up the Gannel at Crantock.

Cold Cornwall - Turns on the surf and dolphins at the Cribbar

Just come back from Easter weekend in Cornwall. Temps still in single figures with a stiff Easterly wind. If you got out of the wind it was nice. Surf on Saturday maxed out with a hardy crew out on the Cribbar. I surfed Great Western and got a few nice lefts on the dropping tide at about 4'.

For a while the surfers on the Cribbar took a back seat while a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins, including some young calves, came through off Towan Head.

Looking forward to fishing the rivers tomorrow even if it is still freezing!

Chunky Croyde

Day trip to Croyde on a mild November day with my bro Rich. Light onshores and a chunky swell seemed to go unnoticed by most as we battled out to a fairly empty lineup. Tide coming in and caught some big rights but had some hellish paddle outs as there was little let up between the sets. Worth the effort and felt suitably refreshed since I hadn't been out since September.

Some late summer surf and back on the Chew

I haven't been fishing a great deal of late due to other distractions and commitments. A few weeks back I had a lovely few sessions surfing at Penhale in Cornwall in the late summer sun with my brother and few friends. Small but beautifully formed little swell that we surfed in relative solitude. The Haven holiday park at the top of the dunes is enough to send you packing but break through it and you find a wonderful pocket of Cornwall away from the crowd.

Back to the fishing and finally got back out on the lower Chew after what seems like an age. The water as low as I have seen it all this year. Very few fish rising and the two I did see, a Grayling and a Brownie, I caught. Netted a few more on a weighted nymph fished in the medium depth runs. The big pools surprisingly failed to produce. Ended up with three small to medium sized Grayling and two Brownies. Still eerily quiet compared to previous years. Amazed how dynamic the river is with changes in depth and substrate from earlier in the year. The rains have certainly mixed it up a bit. 

Cornwall Summer Hols Part 1 - Surf, Sea Trout and Pollack

Just back from first summer holiday week down in Cornwall. Weather was in the main vast improvement over previous years with lots of sunshine and some sporadic heavy showers. Kayak fished on the Lizard at Kennack and caught lots of Pollack on the ebbing tide and a handful of Mackerel. Still no Bass evident. Shore fished a number of marks over the week plugging for Bass all on the incoming tide but no joy - this is getting frustrating.

Fishing for Pollack on the Lizard with my fishing buddy for the day Lisa.

Fished one of the local streams and caught numerous Brownies to about 8" mainly on the nymph. At one fairly shallow run my fly was hit by a bullet that went skyward. After  a colossal struggle in the small stream I bought my first confirmed Sea Trout to the net. Not huge at just over a 1lb, this fish which was a bar of silver with a bluish tinge, gave me immense satisfaction. Although initially I thought it had taken the dry when it was in the net I realised it had taken the Size 16 Goldhead. Releasing it I waded upstream disturbing another much larger fish but that was it fro the evening. I have to say catching this powerful fish in the small stream was fairly familiar as it was not unlike hooking a 2lb Rainbow on the Upper Chew.

A good sized Brownie for this stream

My first confirmed Cornish Sea Trout 

I surfed about a half dozen times mainly confined to sheltered spots - Aggie, Lusty Glaze and Great Western due to the big swell and southwesterly winds.Although yesterday had a nice little Magic Carpet session on Perran as the winds had flipped to offshore. Surprisingly Great Western at about 4' gave me the most enjoyment mid tide coming in when the closeouts can't really make up their mind whether to break or not!