Sailing a little earlier to avoid low tide issues (marina is desperate for a good dredging currently and this is likely to be a bigger problem for me before it is resolved) and with my crew's (Mark, Damo, Phil and Ashley) agreement, we spend the first hour of the first sailing on a very determined cod hunt. Two of my better cod spots we gave some concerted effort to, but for nothing. Well, not nothing. Jumbo pout and a single gurnard obliged.

So, onto the big gunnie banks. Initially, I was concerned, as just the odd fish, and mostly small. But as the tide got flooding hard, the final 40 minutes was back to hectic. Mark was doing a good job of filtering out the plaice from the gurnards, but sadly, the theme of lots of small spotties continues.

On the lunch turnaround, we said goodbye to Phil and Ashley, and said hello to Lee and Jack, both BIF1 virgins. And once again, on venturing back out, we were greeted by a fresh breeze. Happily though, today's was NE in direction so sea state was still quite smooth. But it was chilly... I felt robbed after being promised 14 degrees and sunshine by the nice lady on the telly earlier...

Lee and Jack had mentioned they would quite like to catch a bass, so, to break up the gurnard fishing which was to come, I said I would take us to some. And take us to some, I did. Well, two actually, and large schoolies, nothing amazing. Except the smile on the guys faces. I think they liked that. Then, back to those gurnard banks.

I was expecting hectic, but the ever stiffer NE wind pushed us across the tide, and I couldnt match the drifts of the previous few days. As such, we were only getting sporadic action, indicative of the boat being blown ACROSS the gunnie highways, instead of running along them. A very few small plaice, a whiting, and occasional gurnard. Nothing much over 2lb though either, which I found interesting as before the wind, the sizes were good.

After perhaps twenty gurnards, I suggested we spend the last hour on a more dedicated plaice hunt. Everyone was happy for that, so off we went. First spot, banks in front of the marina, the tide was too slack. No action other than one that had dustbin lid potential, but sadly departed Marks hook before we got to find out. I headed further west. Here, more tide, and actually not too bad plaice fishing. Jack and Lee both scored well, but once again, small was the rule. And then, the time ran out. A very interesting day. The common theme of the week, big smiles on happy faces.