With a last minute cancellation on the first two sailings,. I decided to call on some long awaited shore guiding the night before, which ran onto me getting to bed at six o clock this morning. Plenty of time to get some sleep before my only other client of the day, Mark, at four in the afternoon. I had hoped to sleep till two in the afternoon, but life is rarely that fair. So, finding myself up and dressed by eleven, after a few real boy chores (even fishing guides have to do housework...) and still a couple of hours before I needed to meet Mark, it felt wrong not to give BIF1 a wee run after far too long abandoned because of wind...

I decided to focus on two marks. Both cod spots, but of course, on our inshore, if its good enough for cod, pretty much everything lives there. First spot, a big mackerel (a regular feature at the moment) and a small bass. Second spot, and I thought I had what I came for, when the rod hooped over, and some huge head shakes suggested the whiskery quarry. Indeed, the 7lb bass that eventually came to the surface, had clearly been adopted by cod foster parents, because the entire battle was more coddy than cod. I was actually gutted in a small way when I saw silver instead of cream...

More smaller bass followed, and ANOTHER velvet swimmer crab, to highlight how pretty much everything wants to eat an HTO Frolic. And then my phone alarm reminded me, that we didnt buy BIF1 for my personal fun, and I had a customer to collect. By now, the expected 5mph Northerly was more 15mph, and carrying rain nobody warned the forecasters about.

Marks huge, expectant smile rather lifted the damp, drabness of the situation though. I tossed a question into the air... "Bass or cod Mark?"... How the hell was I to know he is a Libran...??? I called cod. Huge mistake really. Should have known better than to chase cod on the strongest part of the tide. With baits, thats what you want. With lures, oh no... But my personal cod fever has taken hold. However, I would never completely inflict my personal desires on my paying customers fishing. Because, as I mentioned above, if its good enough for cod...

First non-cod was to Mark. A very pretty ballan wrasse found the 65gm HTO Frolic irresistible. Not the first ever. Wont be the last either... Then, a real load of nothing, despite some very promising marks, no hits other than a starfish, again to Mark. Last spot was better. But for bass , not cod. And then, a run inshore for the last hour, showed how bad my judgement was. Bass were really keen to be eating our HTO Mighty minnows. Quality fish as well. Great sport, until the sun, vanishing beneath a most fantastic cloud art sky, meant game over...