Fish of the day perhaps, but plenty similar...
The day americans eat turkey... What is it with western societies that we take a day we hold in high esteem, and decide to eat something bland and dry and quite tasteless.. ?? We Limeys follow you, AND throw religion into the mix at Christmas. But actually, it isnt just western society now I think about it. A whole swathe of eastern Europe suffer Carp at Christmas. I am all for traditions. Except when they taste like crap...Notice the same letters as carp... Not without reason I feel... I digress.
Mark LOVED the topwater fun...
Out with Mark, who was investigating wether or not he would enjoy lure fishing. Indeed, Mark was signed up for the whole day. A voyage of discovery. As we chatted on the way to the boat, I found out he is also a highly certified mariner, and a former charter skipper... no pressure there then. We had a lot in common, as he ran a charter boat out into the Thames and Blackwater estuaries, the very places I learned a lot of my craft. However, I also remeber the shock at how different all of the fishing was here in Brighton when I first dragged myself away from the Essex mud to check it out. I felt he would be impressed... The first session however, was a bit more of a gruler than I expected. Indeed, I expected that I wouldnt have to go more than a mile from the marina, but apart from a few taps, the fish I had been spotting during the big NE wind were suddenly quite absent
A few on the fluff for the skipper...
When it was clearly not happening, I made the call to head to an old faithful further west. A good call. A lot more fishy marks. And fish even. A baptism for Mark with shads, and with surface lures. Nice fish, mostly in the 2-3lb range. On our light rods, just so much fun. And of course the take. Nothing beats a good surface take...
We pushed well past the allotted finish time, as I thought I only had Mark out again. However, as we enjoyed our spoons breakfast, and coffee, my phone rang. A very nice man called Del had some hours to kill, while his car was being serviced. Did we have any sailings? Welcome aboard Del. There is some kind of magic happens on BIF1. Ive never seen a crew not gel. Maybe the intimacy of the group. Maybe that is is an open boat with nowhere to hide away. But the banter was good. It so often feels that I am simply fishing with friends than skippering a charter vessel. I really love my job.
Josh in action...
The sea and tide we had come in on, were just dropping perfect for plaice. So, I called the next session on as gurnards, plaice and mackerel. All on lures of course. And we hit all the targets. Too many small gurnards. They were particularly active. Plaice, just three. And all small. Mackerel, plenty. No problem. But the conditions, were polar opposite from when we had gone in. The mirror sea had been eaten by a stiff SE wind, our worse direction, which was smashing against the flood tide. It was bouncy. Very bouncy. After a while, I suggested we head in and play bass again. But I simply couldnt find any in Brighton bay, and that was the only place with any shelter. I think we will see Del again though. I am very keen to show him what lays outside the bay.
Third session was a shorter session, as we needed to be back for a 1745 rendevous with Josh and Bruce. Heading out, we had the ebb, and the wind had died. Conditions were again great for plaice, and I could get out to the further off banks. Here, we found the target. Not many, and only one excellent table fish, very plump and around the 1.5lb mark. That took a 75gm HTO Frolic...!!! Then, back on the bass.
The final session was also to be about bass. Josh had a passion to catch one on the fly. He reminds me a bit of my friend Matt. Very determined. And when you are very determined, you get rewards. Josh caught his firs TWO bass on the fly. And more importantly, got a good feel for the technique. Next time you hear of Josh, he will catch ten bass on the fly. And after that, twenty. To get it right, is not easy. To get it right, hurts muscles you do not even realise you have until you fly fish for Brighton bass. But once you get it right, the catching doesnt stop.
Bruce lost a real whacker. Mark lost a whacker. I lost a whacker. There were some very good fish happening. Not sure why we kept losing what seemed like well hooked fish. I will be keeping an eye on that. But the good news is, the better fish are here. The happy days have arrived. And an awesome forecast for the foreseeable future..