Think I got fish of the day...

Typically, a fully sold out 3 sailing day curtailed to just first sailing by the forecast. I got BIF1 ready in the gloom, and then headed to meet my two crew who had whole boat chartered me for the sailing. You could have knocked me down with a feather when it slowly dawned on me it was Mike and Tony... I had Mike Curry written down in my diary. I tracked backwards. Mike "the" curry on my phone... of course... Mike was one of the organizers of the S.A.S. (Shoreham Angling Society) of which I had happily partaken in the annual inter-county competitions with Essex and Kent. Because of my love for match fishing? No. Because Mike would make the most amazing chicken curry. Worth suffering a match for. And my lovely man Tony, beautifully opinionated and one of the nicest guys in fishing, and also a veteran of two of my Fuerteventura tours. It was going to be a great morning regardless of the fishing.

However, the fishing was actually really very good indeed. It started well, with a nice coddie in a spot I wanted to drift for an hour. We got 30 minutes before a tangle netter shot a net exactly in the middle of the drift line. We could have worked around it, but I had mood to move on. We headed down west to a well know wreck, to be beaten to it by minutes, by Shoreham charter cat "New Dawn". Running her twin engines, which of course is exactly in the manual for big charter boats running twin diesels as a safety means, less chance of drifting without power should the starter motor not work again. And no bother, in the 100' plus these boats are designed to fish in. But on a 40' 50 square yard mark, simply a fish scattering technique. I pulled away onto some nearby rock, where we opened the bass score. "New Dawn" went to fish the looe gate. I headed tight inshore.

First few marks and I began to feel dread. Biut working further east, we finally found fish. Not just bass either. Mike had another coddie in a place I had never had a coddie before. Amazing stuff. And then, on a reef which had been barren yesterday, we found some good bass. Perhaps another 8 fish, to around 7lb. The sort of quality fish I have been hunting all week. Now, I got tabs on them again.

With the rest of the day cancelled, and the forecast weather not showing, we stayed out longer, and continued to enjoy the fish right to the last cast. Tony was unlucky not to get among the bigger fish, but there will always be another day. Coz I think Mike and Tony really enjoyed the BIF1 experience. Almost as much as I enjoyed giving it to them.

Sailings Monday - Great forecast - plenty of fish around. 07970 112774 to get on board.