Fish of the day for Lionel

First sailing and I was out with Richard, a pair of Daves, and frequent flyer Ashley. And I have to admit, my heart did sink a little when I did not see the birds flocking over the sea as per the previous day. Ive been playing with bass for long enough to know what this means. Almost certainly not a 120 bass day. But it still catches me by surprise that such a huge biomass of fish, both bait and predators, that had been in our seas just 12 hours previously, suddenly vanishes.

The only thing I can do in these situations is head off and hunt. And we found some bass inshore, just achingly nowhere near as many as the previous day. Indeed, it took some rock 2 miles off to provide anything close to consistent sport. And this spot, normally a banker for bigger bass, only grudgingly gave up a couple of table fish, among a lot of smalls. Such a contrast to the previous day. I needed to come up with something to placate expectations which I had happily built.

So, off on a coddie hunt. And guess what...? We found coddies...Just the two for the last bit of the session. But 2 coddies, in Sussex, is a result. Especially in an hour of fishing.A good one around 5lb for Richard, and a smaller one around 2lb for Ashley. But it left me in a bit of a dilemma for the 2nd sailing, where I swapped all crews, taking on board frequent flyers Stuart, and Lionel, plus new regular Armando, plus occasional visitor Steve. What to do? Coddies or bass... We started on coddies, but it didnt go so well. So, I came inshore for bass. And, we found bass. Far more than the earlier session, and enough to put smiles on faces. Snag is... no bigger fish at all. After lots of fun, I suggested we go look for coddies again. Everyone was keen...

First drift, we found a coddie. Not huge, but Stuart's smile suggested what we all know. Any sussex coddie on a lure is a delight. We then, found another Coddie. Armando's rod, suggesting a big double. And it was a big double. Snag was, it wasnt a coddie. Instead an Undulate ray in the 12lb region came reluctantly to the surface. Foul hooked in the wing, I just managed to touch it with the net, when the hook hold tore free. A shame, as an excellent photo opportunity missed, but not a shame, as it would have been released anyhow, and Armando had the buzz of the battle to tell to friends.

And that was not the last of the action. A much bigger coddie (weighed ashore on kitchen scales at 8lb) fell to Lionel's rod. And one last one, on the final drift of the day, to my own rod, but swiftly off again. All in all, a pretty good days fishing, with happy and appreciative customers.

Spaces beginning to go for next week due to the fantastic fishing at the moment, and with a forecast of northerly winds all week, I suspect we will be sailing every day. 07970 112774 to reserve your spaces