Gaps between diary entries becoming longer, as autumnal weather strikes the floatie thing. Still plenty busy ashore as this is a very special time for bass fishing. Although happiest with a lure rod, bait is still a lot of fun. And a major change these last seven days, that affects both, and indeed, affects bass behaviour. Whiting have returned inshore. And it seems there may be more than the last couple of years which it has to be said, they have not been in usual plague proportions.
I digress. I do that. A lot. Age? Maybe. The thing with growing older is... Haha... Got you ... But who are you ...?... Ok, ok. Fishing. This morning, Mikhail (who I feel comfortable to call Misha now... Slavic folk get that... ), Andre, Matt and Richard all accompanying me. Now, the evening before, I had popped out on BIF1 to assess the impact of the rainwater inshore, for a Kraken squid charter, and to find some mackerel for bait. Squid assessment... we were going to have a heavy fuel burn for the squid, to get away from the influences of our local rivers. As for mackerel, the bass didn't let them have a look in. Which meant I knew exactly where to start today.
The fish were all over the area. I think lots of packs of them, roaming around enjoying the whiting fest. It rarely went very quiet. Sizes typical of whiting chasing shoals. 2-3lb fish with a few up to 5lb (62cm). And lots of them. And lots of big smiles. Bending rods does that. Pb's fell... reels occasionally screamed. Maximum kill. I would say of the 77 fish landed, at least 40 would have been up for death before the regulations. Anglers did used to impact the stock. But the most rewarding thing, was Misha declaring it was the best fishing session he had ever had. And he fishes a lot.
Abandoning the boat in a general state of dishevelment, I had to race back to my car, break out another 4 rods, and leg it to Kraken, the 32' South African Cat, sporting twin 300's, where I was co-hosting a squid session with skipper Greg Bishop. Got there, but forgot my bucket with pre-prepared rigs. Back to my car, and then finally we were off. As well as my survey the previous evening, Greg had been out to prospect for an hour on the inshore grounds, to come up with the same conclusions. Very few squid in close. So, we knew to head straight offshore into the windfarm. We also knew exactly where to go, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of my friend Siri. Not the AI idiot , but the most excellent angler, who is sponsored by a company in his native Thailand to highlight their tackle range. He also is a boat owner, an excellent squid angler, and was kind enough to give me a spot where he had scored the day prior.
That exact spot actually only produced one. But a spot very close, began a succession of squid. It was just like the bass session, with lots of bending rods, lots of big smiles, but unlike the bass session. lots of ink flying everywhere. As much giggling fun as you can have really. Squid are far from sporting, but most definitely produce the smiles I am always chasing. Final score for our 8 anglers, was 72 squid landed. A really enjoyable session, and a delight to work with Greg. Big thanks skipper :)
Comments