First sailing, and true beginner Martin, recently sailed in to Brighton marina and keen to learn techniques he can use from his sail boat to source dinner, joined second timer Ben, who last time out with me was brave enough to chance a January sailing, just before I departed for Portugal.
Back then, whiting were the main source of entertainment so I was hoping for better things for him this time. First though, to get Martin going. Which was I must admit, for a guy, pretty amazing. He listened, initially got flustered with it all, and then calmed down, and suddenly, was casting FAST rod strokes with precision (mostly, but fair do's, his first go at this) releases that gave him distances equalling my own. And I practice daily. Impressive stuff. Ben, was happily listening in, to remind himself of everything we did back in the chilly days. So, BIF1 was armed and ready in short order.
The numbers of bass were similar to the previous morning, with seven landed, but just two in size, joined by half a dozen prime mackerel and half a dozen cuttle that were stupid enough to hold on stubbornly to the last, insisting they saw the "Mighty Minnow" first. Incidentally, HTO Mighty Minnows are now back in the shops, but for some reason, they now sell under the AXENTIA brand, and are available in 14gm, 28gm and 56gm. I cant praise these shads highly enough. And Martin really proved his worth, with what turned out to be fish of the day.
2nd and 3rd sailings were taken by my buddy from the happy days of WSF, Andy, joined by his once little son Reece, who now looks like he should be playing full back on a rugby field. First half, was all about the bass. And a cuttle. Again, seven landed. But this time, just a single fish made it back up the road for lunch. There was a cracker hooked and lost mind. A pit stop for a drink at "SKARA", in the marina, which has tables out of the sun, and then back out, target plaice.
Plenty of them there, but it was very much mostly a smalls day, with those taken for the table, around the 1lb mark only. But wow!! These fish are as fat as I have ever seen them. Very filletable. Plaice goujons... yummy. Then, a drift across a bass mark, but just a single schoolie to show for it. Then, a request to head in ahead of time. Poor Reece was totally suffering in the intense heat, as the sea had become breezeless perhaps an hour prior. So, that was us and BIF1 got a slightly earlier hose down.
