No two days are ever alike in fishing. But the good thing is, the more I slip that boat out of the mouth of the marina, the more I am getting better at interpreting Neptune's attempts to guide me. Yesterday, as we came out, the bird life (notice I said bird life... one of Neptune best bass angler messengers is actually the Brighton penguin itself, the guillemot. Gulls can be very misleading...) screamed "hang around Brighton". And yet, I initially ignored it and headed west. Today as we headed out, the bird life was simply absent. At this time of year, that is a Neptune suggesting "get away...". So, I headed west. with a full boat composed of fly angler Tony, and lure anglers Malcom, Garry and Theo (Garry today qualified for the "Frequent Flyers" club... Welcome aboard sir...:) )
It began reasonably well. Some marks on the finder, and a few clicks on the bass counter. Some gurnards, including an absolute belter for Theo. These fish are simply stunning. Although normally more about jagged head shakes, this bigger fish actually performed well, keeping us all guessing before it broke surface. But the action was not as fast as I would have liked. With the new ebb, we tried some offshore rocks, before I decided to return inshore, and have a look in my little Hove hole... Always there is SOMETHING in there, and the sounder agreed. But a lot of it was mackerel. Some huge garfsih. And just a few bass. I decided to head east side of the marina. Similar here. Just enough action to warrant the fishing. But nowhere near as fast and furious as the previous day. Those shoals had passed through..
2nd sailing, and another full boat. Captain Bruce joined us, as did FF member John. EA officer Nick came out to play, and the final place was taken by Stuart, who can flit between fly and lure with ease. However, again today it was rather proven that fly is not cutting it. Lots of follows, often by big bass, but no commitment to take. John even had one swimming alongside the fly, eyeballing it. What is that all about? Next time I sail with some space, I will have a go myself. But it is looking like, the fly season for bass finishes with the clocks going back...
This session was a grueller. I headed west again, I headed east. I did not head offshore, as the fly is very ineffective out there. I was at a loss as to what to do. A lot of squid began attacking the lures over the slack on low. Bruce, Stuart and I kitted up with jigs. 14 landed in 50 minutes. A bit of fun to recover what actually was a dire session, although in part compensated for by the stunning flat calm. The bass counter sat at 18 for the day. Some nice specimens amongst that tally. Especially for our 35gm outfits. Smiles are on faces with every fish, regardless of size. A good thing we guarantee smiles on faces, rather than monster fishes... They are simply a bonus on BIF1.
Weekend winds come to ruin everything. Monday mornings sailing is now all sold out. Monday afternoon I have three spaces availalbe. An excellent forecast, and the bait balls will not be smashed by the weekend winds, as they are mostly NW direction. So, I am fairly expecting to get back on fish. The afternoon will include some outer rock fishing, hunting for those autumn doubles.
Wednesday and Thursday also looking viable for sailing, keep an eye on our BRIGHTON INSHORE FISHING facebook page for latest announcements.