First sailing, all regulars. Mark, David, Lee and Max. And I had a plan. Yesterdays second sailing didnt just hurt. It was a sign of change. Confirmed by a late night stroll onto the reef by one of my guys, to look for something I have been asking him to look for, for the last month. The thing is late. But the thing has been happening the last few days finally. And this is why I altered my strategy today. If anyone wants to know what the thing is, simply book a trip and I will tell you all about it as we fish. But a huge thanks to the guy, who in my rare times of business, is able to keep me in touch with every seasonal happening on the shore. A very valuable friend for a guy like me. Thanks dude.
A brief check on the mega shoals, which were not there in mega proportions. We picked a few out, but on the whole, with what food sources are available, the big bass prefer an easy meal. And the thing is easier for a bass than chasing little fishes. So, we headed to the thing grounds. Where we proceeded to smash out another thirty bass bringing the total to thirty five for the session. Plus a pollack for Max. Fish for all those that wanted. And more and more returning from spawning aggregations every day, as confirmed by a colleague having a go on one such spawning aggregation, to find it no longer there.
Second sailing, and I must admit I am struggling a little on the ebb tides. I kept us to thing grounds, and it showed in the results. Just six bass landed between Nathan, Joel, Alan and Paul. But of these, four were quality fish, with just two schoolies. I got a bit panicked half way through, and started jumping around. Already, as I type, I regret that decision. I should have kept on the thing grounds. We may have only ended up with ten fish, but ten 50 plus fish is always worth a hundred schoolies.
Third sailing, at the new, proving popular time of 1730, I was joined by the lovely couple Dave and Natalie were back on board as a fishing team, joined by James and his dad Mark, new to BIF1, although I fully expect to see them as regulars. Fishing was actually quite hard, but I could see they "got" what BIF1 and I are all about.
I stayed on the quality fish idea again, and as a result numbers were low. Six once more. But four were decent, which is significant, compared to the 100 for 2 killed recently. Further evidence that the thing is doing its magic, and that the fish have finished spawning. I was hopeful of a twenty plus bag of quality fish, but still more are returning every day. Looking like the next sailing day is Wednesday, although a lot can change in the forecast between now and then.
