A truly fascinating day. On several levels. Mostly with the extreme speed fish can vanish. It all began, with Jon...
1st Sailing. and it took three moves, but then we found some consistent bass fishing. Quality schoolies. Some other threatening to push 2.5lb. But most importantly, plenty of action, which has been missing the past couple of sailings. So, there were big smiles. And also, the wind which began with stiff and particularly chilly gusts, backed down as the air warmed from an early sun ascending in a cloudless sky. A common phenomenon these past few days. Something to do with the difference between land and sea temperatures perhaps. Calmed enough, to consider the big bass bank.
"Jon, I know a place, where the bass don't get caught under 5lb" I said. "Righto" he replied, with that cheeky smirk that suggests he thinks I am pulling his leg. "You don't believe me do you? " I enquired. "Right... Reel up" I passed him a heavier shad, and informed him we might get wet, as there was a bit of swell offshore.
On arrival. I gave Jon strict instruction. And then I watched, as he took 8 fish to my halfhearted take, on consecutive drifts to the end of the session. Amazing. If a little frustrating. Sadly 3-4lb stamp. No sign of those long lean ones from a week ago. Most importantly, for my client, very enjoyable fishing. The pure delight each time his rod bent over. Especially when mine did not... One very happy Jon left the boat, and happened to bump into my clients for the next session. Bubbling away, he explained to them about the 25 fish, and the excellent average size.
Shall I bother with writing the rest of this blog? As I am guessing you know where it is going. After really good action, I truly expected to pick up where I left off. But for Mark and Armando, it was simply a struggle. The wind had veered a little more easterly and increased, which restricted visiting the more deep marks. But nothing but a single schoolie for the entire session. The exact reverse of the 1st session. And I was very sad for the guys lack of action. But, they are seasoned BIF1 anglers, and have seen how it works.
Next up, was Bruno returning for another go. He had a great session on his previous trip, with bream and bass, and had already been fishing on the marina with a couple of plaice to his credit already. This session was slightly less severe than the previous one. Bruno had a mackerel, and we found a couple of schoolies. We even popped out to the big fish place over the low tide, but with the new flood, the wind suddenly tracked SE and got up forcing us back to inshore. This wind now became a major feature, with some very strange swells created by the wind veering NE, then SE, and blowing hard.
Despite all this, we fished on. And Bruno proved his patience warranted with a nice fish from a fairly inshore mark. But then nothing to the end of the session, despite really covering some reefs. Lots of bait fish showing on the sounder. But nothing interested to eat them. With the flood tide now pushing hard, the confused swell got worse. Combined with the poor fishing, I made the decision to cancel the final sailing.
But every day is different. Indeed, as has been proven time and time again,. every sailing is often very different. Seeing what the next day is going to bring, is a lot of the fun of the job for me. And hopefully, through this blog, for you also.
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