First sailing, and the return of the Mackie. Not the fish, they returned last week, but the DJ come tree surgeon and regular BIF1 angler. Joining him was Chris, a former work colleague of Mackie, and possibly my future gardener. .
The fishing, was not as hot as the previous night, but the bass still wanted to play. They filled the bulk of the trip, with perhaps a dozen landed over the next three hours at various locations. No beasts. A couple of wrasse also.
We did spend 30 minutes on the plaice, and quickly landed a dozen. The main thing about this mornings plaice was that sizes were up, with quality table fish. But again, these plaice had a lucky escape.
2nd sailing, was free time for me. Used to full effect to catch up on things like a lovely bath, and some banking and paperwork. Back to the boat, and an hour with the fly rod for just a schoolie. Then, off to meet Garry and Bruno, both of whom responded to a last minute plea for customers last night.
Bass though, were back to playing pretty hardball. A couple of smalls, and a clonking great cuttlefish for Bruno, who was very happy for it, as he has culinary skills. But after a proper hard try, we went for the plaice. Now... I saw in his eyes, that this seemed to be a step backwards, in Garry's thoughts. But I was not worried at all. I know how big a smile, even a small plaice brings to a face. Especially, on a piece of starch, flavoured blueberry. These japanese made eco lures, Maryku Isomes, are perfect for BIF1, where I have pretty much managed to keep fishy bait smells well away.
The morning plaice had been generally quite plump, and sized. Now, a lot of smalls, but still, plenty to take for the table. And ... I think Garry had a ball. He acknowledged straight away, there IS an art to it. It was lovely to watch him digest what was happening, and ammend his technique accordingly. Initially, Bruno and myself were catching everything. But then, Garry came into the game. So much fun. And such big smiles on both Bruno and Garry's faces/ Which in turn, led to a big smile on mine.
Final sailing, and Captain Bruce was back on board, for his regular Monday evening slot. We chased the bass, with just a couple of missed takes to show for it. One half tidy schoolie. Lots of hunting. But not every hunt has a result. I floated the idea of Plaice. "Yeah, that would be great" said Bruce. He has loved Isoming for plaice right from the beginning. And we nailed a lot of plaice. Right up, until very near the end of the session.
Thats when I fired up GO LIVE on facebook. And thats when the plaice suddenly went camera shy. On reflection, I think the low light levels were likely responsible, as it was right as the sun vanished below the horizon. But we simply struggled to find one for the camera... A really funny situation, and a great way to end another very long day. Only about another month of 4 sailings a day...
Comments