With the wind a very blustery Northerly for the morning, I decided to only run an afternoon sailing. Three on board, all previous BIF1'ers. Scott, Steve and Mackie. I had actually fueled early and popped out for 40 minutes, to get a feel for sea conditions. A bit bouncy, and damp, once offshore a little. I ran a cod drift for 30 minutes, resulting in a big tub and a schoolie. Those cod will show anytime, I am quite sure.
By the time I had popped back, loaded the guys onboard, and headed back out, the wind was already beginning to abate, exactly as XC had forecast. I would give XC a round of applause, but that would be far too forgiving for all the times it has missed, or got very wrong. But these occasional precision forecasts, keep me coming back I must admit.
Out to the prolific Gurnard banks. Which were, well, prolific. Great fishing, even dounle shots on the frolic / Isome combination. And a new PB for the boat, featured above at 4.5lb. But Steve hit one fish, that screamed line off on a very tight drag. Sadly, the unexpected beast pulled free, but if that was a tub, it was a big tub, If it was not a tub, it was likely a big bass, but I have never encountered those on this mark.
A beautiful, sunny day. Chilly in the gusts, beautifully warm in the ever increasing lulls. Fish on every drop, and with foodies on board, the wells were quickly filled with BIG tubs. Then release. and we released a load. A couple of Grey Gurnards, a few small whiting, and a few small plaice, and then, after two hours of this, I asked if they fancied looking for the first proper bass. The answer was... "yes"
Nothing huge, but for the first time since January, there were bass on this mark. No beasts, but BIG schoolies if that makes sense... Certainly nice to see the size of the silvers increasing. All thin though. And VERY hungry. We had perhaps 8 fish, and then, on a roll, I asked if they wanted to find a cod... of course they said yes...
Off to the cod mark, where we found... gurnard... So, we ended up on a plaice drift, where we got the only decent plaice, around the 2lb mark, of the day, plus more smalls. But all in all, a very enjoyable session, with food fit for kings on the table in three more households tonight.