Finally, the last day of the summer holidays. This is a milestone that is eagerly awaited by BIF1 and I. Less chances of turning onto the main fairway and being rammed head on by someone who thinks the rules of the road apply to the sea. It is amazing how often this happens. While the rest of Europe are sensible, and require you to pass a basic test before you are allowed at the helm of a boat, no such rules apply in the UK. A result of being a "proud island nation" apparently. But, there were no jet skis back in Sir Francis Drakes days. Just saying like.
First sailing, and all very regulars along for the ride. Dave, Natalie, Mark and Lee. Always a nice ride with these guys on board. And as a plus, the wind was not as strong as forecast, and had a little more North in it, making for great drifts with the early flood. Always adapting with lessons learned from the previous day, I ran some ground that has been mostly disappointing so far this year. But that was while the spider crabs were around and the bait was staying offshore. Its all suddenly reversed.
It was a good call. It was a long way from fast and furious, but when the takes came they were from quality fish. We quickly hit the max kill and carried on with releases. Wind did become a little obnoxious towards the end of the session, but with 20 fish landed I was really quite satisfied. And more importantly my guys all walked away happier for the session.
Next up, Tim and Jake returning, and Charlie and Teddy, both new to BIF1. I always worry a little meeting new people as sometimes my enthusiasm for the job and the fishing and for life can be misconstrued as bat shit crazy by people that have not previously met me. But actually, I felt connection and I suspect we will be reading more about their times aboard in the future. But for now, once we beat some freshwater habits out of them, I was happy to see them grasp the concept very quickly.
Considering it was Charlie and Teddy's first attempt, and it is all very new if you havent touch lured before, I think the tally of 12 landed was pretty good, especially when you factor in 8 of those were killed. Not bad for 3 hours on 30gm gear. And the wind was backing off as forecast which made me happy on two counts. It meant we could go Sqodding, as we couldnt kill anymore bass. And it meant it was likely the afternoon sailing, which had been in the balance, would go.
Sqodding?... Well, I like to mix things up. Please remember, I am never looking to show you how much testosterone I own when I take you anywhere. Always, I am looking to put the fun back into fishing. Squidding alone is not very challenging. So to add to the alure, instead of a weighted jig or a lead to hold the squid jig down there, we use a large shad and hop the bottom as cod, unlike bass, are not put off by the jig dancing above the shad, and squid quite often end up on the shad anyhow. Hence Sqodding. Squidding and codding at the same time. Zero cod, one squid, and the wind noticeably increased and swung literally as we re-entered the marina.
A cafe zio takeaway later, and we had a stiff SE wind. I drove Richard, who booked the boat for the third and final sailing. Had the forecast not changed mid morning, we would be out there now on the lightest winds of the day. Sadly, what we saw from the Breakwater Cafe , was a mass of white horses. SE. Our worst wind. Trip cancelled, although as I write this, if the wind does drop before dark, I will be taking them out for an hour on the squid.
コメント