First up, husband and wife Simon and Jane. The bassing has been pretty hard, so they happily agreed to split the session between a bass hunt and some plaice hunting thrown in. And the usual issues remained. Plenty of bass being marked. Few being hooked. Happily though, I did manage to winkle out a table fish, so the guys would have some silver to take up the road for tea. Would there be plaice to accompany them though?
The previous afternoon. the plaice had seemingly vanished. I know less about plaice, but once more I am engaged with their quirky habits. As with bass, each time I feel I have resolved an issue, the fish let me know otherwise. I have lots of questions to ask plaice. For example, some sessions only smalls to mediums erring on small. Other sessions, same ground, all over 1lb, and just a few smalls. Does this mean that fish of a certain size all feed at the same time? Are all the fish down there but taking it in turns to feed, size dictating the order? Does every new born plaice, get the "Little fishys book of rules" by A. Neptune.?
Happily, the fish were behaving. Although the session was mostly smalls, at least all caught, and there were smiles thrown upon me. I think the whole experience is a really great one for couples. Especially those with partners just entering the sport. Better to hand the job over to a complete stranger. Its similarly stressful to learning to drive. And all know teaching your partner to drive is rarely a good idea.
Next on, Nick and Ian. And a similar routine. A few bass landed. Onto the plaice/ Which is always fun. Ian gave it a fair go with the fly rod, and did have two pulls./ But were they plaice? We will never know. But huge respect to give it a try. We have had plaice on the fly previously on BIF1, so I am sure it is viable.
Next, Rupert and his wife, Michelle. And, I thought we would reverse the routine, to take advantage of the feeding plaice. Yesterday. this was the session that they wouldnt feed. I was nervous. They were though. Quite ravenously. And these were mostly medium erring towards large. Plus some tiny's to balance it out.
The bassing though, was terrible. We ran around a lot, but didnt have any luck whatsoever. A first for quire a while. Usually there is something to find. Not on this session though. But a bag of firm, fat plaice were destined for some culinary event.
Next, Ash and his brother Lloydl. And the words I didnt want to hear. "We really just want bass..." Hmm. I explained the situation., but the guys were still keen. I went to some spots I hadnt tried all day. A close encounter with SPLIT3 - the jumbo floating dumper truck, sent me out to some deeper water. But all the usual fish ambushing spots were barren. Not even very much bait. I decided to have a look closer . In the land of the moulting crabs. A good move.
Not stacks of fish, but enough to keep it worthwhile. Interesting. Not boring. So, we didnt bother bothering the plaice. One taken for the table, and a couple of table fish released. More food for thought. Coz thats just what I need... more things to think about.
Comments