Instow Schminstow

Fishable at low and high tides, Instow, or so I'd heard. So I went there on two evenings this week, as it's relatively close to home and involves neither scrambling over rocks nor losing loads of tackle on rocks.
I didn't lose any tackle, that much is true. Nor did I have to do anything in the way of scrambling.
But then again I'd have had as little scrambling to do, have lost as little tackle and actually have caught as many fish had I simply gone a hundred yards up the road and cast my line in an empty field on the outskirts of my village. Bleeding useless is what my two evening sorties to Instow were last week.
For bait I tried mackerel and I tried mussels, both of which should be relatively attractive to fish in the estuary. I tried size 4/0 hooks and size 2 hooks. I tried different weights and lengths of cast. I tried near the rocks by the cricket ground and I tried right into the Torridge estuary on the other side of the beach.
It's all very well, and I quite enjoyed my evening on the beach and didn't mind the fact I didn't get home until 1.30am on Saturday. But I would really like to catch something soon. I'm in half a mind to start praying for fish. And I'm an athiest...
Any suggestions on a postcard, in an email, as a comment please...

F's for feather

You'd have thought I could at least manage to catch a bleeding mackerel. In fact you'd think I'd be able to catch a mackerel of some kind, bleeding or not.
But no, it would appear I could not.
My plan was to go to Westward Ho! for high tide and just use the feathers and my beachcaster. But, as can happen with a mid-morning weekend fishing trip, it turned into a family outing; Westward Ho! turned into Instow; and beachcaster turned into spinning rod.
I wasn't as hopeful about fishing in the estuary, but nevertheless I was undeterred. It was a beautiful day and high tide after all, so surely something would go for one of the lures. I used a set of three feathers and then looped on a set of four silver things supposed to look like shrimps...
I spend a good hour up to my waist in it, figuring that although it was the estuary if I could cast far enough out it would be OK.
But of course it wasn't.
Total equipment failure. The handle dropped off my reel. Fortunately I managed to locate it on the seabed and took it home, where I managed to fix it back on with the help of some thick copper wire.
Getting an ice cream was about as near as I was going to come to catching a fish. You're right - it is not even close.