First sailing, and it was time for very regular both on BIF1 and various local venues Stuart, and the first time on BIF1 for his very good friend, and former proprietor of a tackle business in Biggin Hill, Peter. Out on balmy seas, forecast to remain for the duration of the session. Which of course, did not happen, as the forecast stiff NE wind, forecast for later in the day, had a sneak preview for the final hour of the sailing.
But that didnt deter Peter and Stuart from doing a great job of catching fish. First call, was a good one, but the sizes were not there and based on that, I decided to put some miles in to another venue. Here, things were much better, with sizes up. Additionally, I caught my first coddie of the season, our sixth so far. 12 bass and that cod was the final score, with a couple of mackerel for good measure.
2nd sailing, and a return to BIF1 of the former and final editor of Total Sea Fishing magazine, now sadly defunct. And with him, a lady I had heard many complimentary things of, but never previously met. His lovely wife, of one year to the day, Liz. One year of marriage, after ten years of making sure it was for them. These guys like getting it right. Hence their choice of chatter vessel clearly... Liz was taking the role of camera lady, whilst Paul and I engaged in the fishing.
For a while, the N wind had abated, and it enabled us to put half a dozen bass to the boat. Quality fish as well. But then, it was a real struggle. Even vertical jigging with 56gm shads became challenging. So for the final hour. we went plaicing. Which lit Paul up. Back in the days when we would be fishing for article material, it was deffo one of his favourite things to do. It is marvellous how much they pull back. And gurnards also getting in on the action. A very happy pair of fairly newly weds walked off the pontoon. And all fish returned, as yet another night of romance in store for the pair, enjoying the cream of Brighton town.
3rd sailing was cancelled. Kind of. Having seen what was coming, I suggested Richard and Nick take waders and consider fishing a patch of reef from the shore if the fishing was not viable from the boat, which I considered it not to be, as good lure control needs less pushing from wind. So, of course, I joined them for a couple of hours. Small bass were around, with lots of splashes and scattering of whitebait. Nick managed one fish, Richard, persistently banging away on the fly rod, managed two bass, and I managed two bass, and a couple of other bumped off. A very enjoyable evening.
