First sailing, and all returnee's. Bradley, Tim, Max and Mose. It was always going to be fun. But would the fish be playing... Well... Of course they were. And with good rods on board, we made 19 bass, mostly quality fish over 45cm, and bronzed almost as common carp. But Mose, born and raised in Italy, and now here with his wife, both nurses in the local NHS, wasn't satisfied with bass. The cuttle plague interested him, and he ran a simple jig rig through for the last forty minutes, adding 8 to his bass tea.
Everybody fished well. Surface lures were the obvious choice, with shallow seas, cloud laden skies, and zero wind for much of the sailing. When the cloud did burn off, and the sun peeked through, with the combination of the now rising tide, it was time to get the shads out. And more bronzed beauties were landed. Really good fun with like minded people.
Second sailing, and it was Martin and Carl returning once again. It started well, with Carl landing a bronzed cracker, and one to Martin soon after. But then, the fishing died with the tide. A SW breeze had also appeared, to push the boat along, ruling out some of my preferred high tide slack water marks. Mackerel occasionally played "Pass the mighty minnow" as they do, with larger ones hooking up. But bass were playing hardball. As the tide began to change direction, we added another three smalls, but that was it, on an ever bumpier sea as the SW wind increased.
The same wind increasing that meant terminating the third and final sailing. A theme that sadly looks likely to continue at least up to the weekend based on the current forecasts. If you are booked on in the next five days, likely you may need a plan B.
