Ian with the biggest fish of the day...
A real struggle from the off. Well, not actually, if the very first drift could have been repeated, so factually, a real struggle from just after the off. First session was very much about a cod hunt. Timed to catch the last push of the flood, Ted, Harry, Shalam, Marco and I headed to some reefs to the west. Very first drift, Ted's rod buckled over, as did Harry's and Carlo's. Harry and Carlo's hooks were buried in the rock ledge we had just passed. But Ted's was bucking away to a creature that quite likely was a cod. We will never know, as seconds later it threw the hook, but it was encouragement enough to spend the next two hours out on the rocks. Sadly, without further takes, other than the odd pull. Cuttlefish have all vanished though... We came back in close for the last hour, to see if we could find a bass. But in close came with quite poor visibility, and I was happy for the two schoolies landed by Harry and Shalam. And there ended the first session.
Shalam's first ever bass...
2nd session, Carlo and Ted stayed on, to be joined by Ruslan and Ian. Now, with the first of the ebb to play with, I was again confident to try the outer rocks while there was some pace to the tide. We did, we also saw a lot more bait out there. But couldnt touch anything. For the final hour, I headed inshore again. At one rough ground spot Ian managed a fish of 44cm, which ended up being the biggest of the day. Indeed, one of just three bass, and a solitary mackerel, which was our tally for the day.
One for Harry...
3rd session, it was just Ruslan and me. I was confident that if we could find the fish, the fly rod might be the answer. We found a stack of fish, but still could not get them to take anything, not even the fly. And then, after another unrewarded jaunt to the outer rocks, I spotted a squall coming. We tried to outrun it back to the marina, but failed. Happily, the sea did not get up too much, but I discovered, along with Ruslan, that hailstones hurt at 25 knots...
It wasnt for lack of fish...
Probably the worst trip to date on BIF1. I think the sudden calm, after over a week of heavy seas, is the problem. Viz not great. Bait smashed up, although actually, we found STACKS of bait. Simply no shoals of bass feeding on them. "The shoal" was uncontactable today, although I feel I found the bait line they usually are attending. As I write this, I feel a bit lost. My spider senses are distinctly not tingling. But I have been here before. I have a shore job in the morning, followed by an afternoon on the fly. Still 3 spaces for last sailing. And will it be better than today? Well, it certainly cant be any worse...
