Just the one sailing, in the last piece of calm, quite literally before the storm. A week or so of heavy winds, plus some significant rain, means more pub time than I really want this coming week. On board, Tristan back for more punishment, Peter also back for more, and fellow boat owners in the marina, father and son Phil and Matt, keen to learn more about latex loving inshore.

Absolutely calm for the entire session, against the forecast. I was happy for the flat calm start, but was braced for the gusts of twenty miles per hour that were originally forecast. They simply did not show. And with a short tide, very little movement. Not a problem though. Because I was expecting these winds, I headed a fair way west, that should it chop up, we would have a drier ride home. And also, because I had not gone so far since the Adur freshwater cannon was doing its thing.Now, it was worth a look.

Some big pouting on the cod spots. Always fun. Bass and some nice wrasse also, working the rocks on the way back towards Brighton. And for the final hour, the tide coincided nicely for fishing a mark very close to the marina. I braced everyone for small bass, and that is how it started.

But as more and more spratt arrived, so bigger fish also were lured into the edges. Some nice fish. Quality schoolies, with a splattering of 3's and 4's, topped by Peters cracker, weighed on board at 7.5lb. 50 bass in an hour. Great fishing for December. Which is why of course, Neptune is protecting his charges, with big winds meaning even all the tangle nets had been collected up as we headed back in.

A very slight breeze was there. Now, as I write this two hours later, the real wind has arrived. Bad for those of us making money from the sea. But with the silver lining that the stock will be getting a break from persecution.