First sailing and out with my Essex mucker Charlie (Google "the illustrated angler") as well as Garry and his lad Tom and frequent flyer Stuart. Once more, a struggle to find the better fish, so I incorporated some cod rocks into my routines. This paid off with Charlie landing his first UK cod on lures (he is a Norway veteran so not his very first) and still some bass and the ever present mackerel. Garry also managed one to bring the C.A.T. up to 3. Garry and Tom had big smiles if not double figure bass as they left, and Stuart is always happy to be out.

Family session next, with dad Nick bringing me Hugh, Butcher and Felix to become life long BIF addicts. And I must admit, we did have a lot of fun. Managing family sessions is always interesting. It is a permanent watch to see which nipper is losing interest first, and deal with it by changing techniques at that point. But in fairness, these three were actually very keen, and although perhaps young Felix was beginning to think about his Xbox back home towards the end, they actually really wanted to be out there and fishing. It makes a huge difference for me, as a keen lad or lady is much easier to entertain than a reluctant one. A great session.

Final session, and Charlie was back, joined by regular Simon, and new to BIF1 Hani. And finally, the bass showed some promise. We saw a lot of big bass, coming to investigate surface lures, and we landed some ok fish also that made the mistake of not veering away as many of the bigger ones did (bright sunshine and uber clear seas). Shads also worked. It felt like we were bassing again. And with three non-bass eaters on board, Hani's cheffing for his family, was well provided for.