Ultimately, having experienced the benefits of the Minn Kota system of forward electric motor, and how useful the ability to instant stop and hold, or determine the drift regardless of wind and tide. is an amazingly advantageous thing to have for lure fishing. However. with the weight of my boat, I would have to go for the heaviest options. 36 v system, 3 300mah lithium batteries, at 3k us dollars a piece. Makes the 4k for the engine seem like small money. So, on hold for the moment, but deffo on my mind.
It would be useful for example, on days like today. Big NE wind. Drifts smashing across the tide way too fast. Yet fish are tight to the edge. Clients all cancelled on the strength of the forecast. But the winds are again not blowing as hard as predicted, and with two local anglers having spotted the flat seas, I decided to use the situation to practice the poor mans version of the minn kota. Mud weights.
Well, that was the plan. But at the meet up time, the rain was heavier than ever, and the wind so strong, I didnt think I could get her off the dock without wind induced safety issues. We retired to Cafe Zio for coffee, and to see if the wind would drop. It did not. Sadly, I apologised to the guys and sent them off, a wasted journey. Other than Zio's coffee, which is worth any journey.
Sulking, I wasnt done. I was so ready to fish for fish I knew would be there, I wondered if I might reach them from the shingle, with the big NE wind behind me. As I drove into the car park, I saw a familiar vehicle. Zio coffee had not been enough for Jon, and he was scanning the water, supping a Mcdonalds coffee. Which is no substitute for a Zio's coffee, but hey, he had driven 45 minutes to be there. I tapped on his window. "Want to give it a go Jon?" . Reluctantly, he said "Might as well now I am here".
Just like with the boat, when shore guiding, it is a case of finding the fish. Unlike the boat, moving is a big effort, and we did a lot of steps before we finally found a patch of feeding fish. The last hour of the ebb was simply stunning. I landed five, Jon two, and we missed plenty also. Quality fish. And then, the tide swung and started flooding hard. And with that, the fish were gone. Thats shore bassing for you. Had I more time I would have continued looking for them, but, on the promise of home cooked food for the first time in years, I had to retreat.
Commentaires