I got so fed up with the floodwater since the big gale and accompanying rain, that I felt I had no choice but to run away and sulk. And since I was really really sad, I had to run a long way away, somewhere landlocked, where fishing is rarely talked about in my circle. This way, Neptune would lose track of me, and press his reset button. Well, it only bloody worked!!

On returning, I grabbed a couple of local regulars to give me some ballast to get off the dock, and we went out searching pretty much everywhere rather quickly. Part of the reason for the poor results. The other part forgetting to kick out of summer mode. Clarity was way better than I expected, as there was more rain in my absence. Bass most definitely reduced around the inshore with that huge gale, which was somewhat of a suprise as a wind like that normally pulls them to the edges as a magnet to iron filings. Mackerel all but gone in any numbers, wether to sea temperatures plummeting inshore (suddenly just 11.5 degrees at height of day) or sucked into mid channel supertrawlers only they know. Herring replace them, as the charter skippers replace chunky daylights for more sensitive size 6 true white feather rigs. Still the most effective way to target silver darlings. Must remember to order mine...

But still a few fish. A bass for Steve, a wrasse for myself, Fish of the day, however, was a truly stunning 6th John Dory to grace BIF1's deck. Once again, the HTO mighty minnow was responsible. An unproductive session for fish, is not always an unproductive session for me. There were distinctly bait free areas where I expected fish to be, which I decided to leave well alone on the following days sailing for example. And I also remembered how bloody annoying rain is when you forget to turn off the touch pad on a fish finder in a center console boat...