First sailing today was at the new late summer time of 0700. Not that my body recognised the opportunity for a whole extra hour of sleep. It was still an 0430 up for me, and I suspect it is the suddenly much bigger twins, of the seagull variety, squeaking for their breakfast. Before you all go, "but you dont go and live on the coast and then moan about the seagulls", well, I totally subscribe to that outlook. They were almost certainly pre-dating man, and I think first come first served a fine way to live life. Therefore, they have my utmost sympathy for being forced onto rooftops for nesting in the first place. No, my problem is not with the seagulls.
My problem is with the planning and execution of the entire creation of this planet. I truly think a bit more thought would have gone a long way. Why do they have to scream to get their food from mummy...?? Why cant they just go back to pecking the red spot like the time before they learned to scream?? It worked then. Im sure it will work now. But no. The planners decided that young seagulls will make a noise that the entire planet will hate. Including adult seagulls I am sure. Can you imagine Mr and Mrs gull, having a chat, praising their youngsters vocal abilities? I think not. Thats how it works. They have to feed them to shut them up...
Anyhow, They should get blown off the roof and eaten by foxes at some point, as is the usual way. Time will tell. Meanwhile, my first sailing was an absolute delight to host. Long time regular Nick, bought his two nippers along this time. Oscar, who is ...erm... Well... he looked about twelve, maybe fourteen, so lets call him thirteen. Elsie, was definitely nine. Or was it eight... Irrelevant. They were both smiley, happy kids, and most importantly (and this really makes my life sooo much easier), listeners.
No suprises then, that they also caught fish. There was a very specific list of fishes they wished to catch. And we made target, with some additional species for bonus points. The list was plaice, mackerel and bass. We made, plaice, mackerel, bass, gurnards, black bream and... smooth hound... I will just remind you. We do not do baits on BIF1. The hound picked up an isome and I am so glad there were two kids on board to witness it. A real live shark... !!!
We spent the last hour on a proper bass hunt. But it wasnt to be, barring a schoolie each for Nik and myself. Predictable, as very little bait on the sounder. Wherever that bait has gone, the bass will have followed. But one thing I do know, is it can come back, even on the same day. And if you are out there when it floods back in, then these are the red letter times.
2nd sailing, and it was out with Daniel and Jo. Newbies to the game, and keen for food. A challenging prospect... We began on plaice, but the tide had died. We had a stab for a bass, but nothing doing. We bounced about a bit trying stuff, and eventually, with the first bit of ebb, we began to find some fish. Plenty of plaice, but mostly undersized. Just 2 for the table. Mackerel were also surprisingly hard to contact, but we managed some, with some horse mackerel also, towards the end of the session.
And bass also, were on the wish list. With how hard it has been, the guys werent put off. So, we put in some litres and bounced around various spots, ever hopeful. On one area of heavy ground, there was significantly more bait fish, and so it was that there were also bass. Just two, to my rod. A schoolie, and happily for the guys, one of 45cm. Two very happy foodies.
3rd sailing was sadly ruined by a spike of unforecast Southerly wind, that kicked the sea up and would have made already tough fishing very tough. Very frustrating, for my clients and for myself.
Pretty much sold out for this week, with wind looking to ruin Friday and most of the weekends sailings, although of course, there is plenty of time for that situation to change. But please keep an eye out for the latest sailings on the new ticker, if you are interested for a space. With the kids now off school again, there is a bit of advanced booking going on, so feel free to do the same to ensure your spot. 07970 112774 by text ideally, to reserve your space.