First sailing, regulars Richard, Kaz and Sam, and Sam had bought along his delightful girlfriend Sarah, complete with Kiwi twang. I miss that twang. I used to work a lot with that twang back in corporate IT days. It was very nostalgic. And, despite the tiny tide, the fishing was reasonable as well.. We did have the best bit of the ebb to play with which helped, as did the early start of course.
We were fairly limited to staying in quite close, as there was some bounce to the sea and a brief jaunt out of the lee of Seaford head wasnt so nice. But on the patch we were on, we managed 21 bass in the first two hours. It did begin to slow up though so I suggested we finish off with an hour on the squid, as the clouds were preventing full brightness. This went quite well also, and with mackerel top ups, and five table bass there was quite a banquet for the guys and the right weather to cook outdoors also. Perfect.
Second sailing was on the last of the ebb tide. Had I been able to get off a bit, I could have worked with that. Now factor in the Duncan had bought his friend Steven along, plus his 8 year old Alex (very keen and capable) However, a last minute play group change meant young Frazier was also along for the ride. Not a problem at all as it turned out, but possibly the youngest I have had out on BIF1 for actual fishing?
Bigger problem was that bass just were not an option. I simply couldn't find any. Which left... plaice... This was not very productive, although happily it did give Frazier a fish which made him very happy. Mackerel were also introducing themselves to us and I think we did manage another squid... Maybe two. But it was hard going. And the wind seemed to be increasing towards the end of the session, to the point that I had to make amendments to the 3rd sailing, delaying it to a 1600 start, when kinder winds were due to happen.
Pretty much how it turned out as well. I did lose two of my guys in the kerfuffle, but knowing Kaz was fishing the marina wall, I offered him the place and he took it. And Marc bought along his lovely daughter Alexia, which made up the group. Winds were dying all the time, and we actually had a very pleasant session. Plan was to fish bass for the first two hours, then cod and squid the last.
Plan was a good one. Bass were not throwing themselves out but we did manage to find some. Table fish among them. Final hour, onto the squid. These also were playing a bit of hardball, but we picked away. More mackerel also. And Kaz, determined to get a bass kept at it with the Axia mighty minnow, and did connect with the best one of the day at 62.5cm. A dozen squid at the final tally and another great foodie session.
Comments