Out with Mark, Damo and Garry once more. Forecast was for the wind to increase later in the day, and it did seem that this forecast was accurate, with the wind and the swells increasing all the time we were out there. The fishing, was reasonable. At this time of year, there are some HUGE amounts of fish about. However, they are patchy. Heading to one spot, and sitting there, is hardly likely to produce as it would have just four short weeks ago. Now, BIF1's speed and mobility really kick in to produce the results. We hunt, more than we ever hunted before, at this time of year. Lots of short drifts, and then moving on.

We found one stack of fish way down west. Jumbo pouting are reliable, and a great fill in when times are hard. Once everyone had had their fill of these beautiful fish (a 2lb pouting can be anything from dark copper to bright orange almost) we hunted for something different. One thing very different was a little joey mackerel for Mark

We found more different in a shoal of bass that still wants to hang around. With the water temperature hanging bravely on at around 10 degrees, that could be for a good few weeks yet as well, hopefully just long enough for the coddies to return from their spawning, and the first plaice begin to show. Time will tell. But we ended up with some good rod bending action. No table bass today, first time for a long time. But lots of savage strikes, and brave battles. Action, on the 30th December. I'll take that...