First sailing, and out with regulars Martin, Steven and Neil. Quite a bright morning, and with a very stiff N wind, which was annoying. and of course making things very difficult, as well as shutting down any ventures offshore, as out of lee of the land, the drift across the tide would have needed heavy gear I simply dont wish to fish to have any chance at all. Making fishing fun is the aim of the game. My arms hurt enough each evening working 30gm gear.
However, Neptune did smile upon me, and we finally settled on a patch of mostly 45cm fish, which was great for the fish wells. from 14 fish landed, plus super fat mackerel, six were in the well and others released. Really great fishing, on subs and surface lures. However, its nightmare season for the young gulls at the moment. Do be very careful and stop and have a sandwich if you attract a crowd. Their stupidity as they learn what and what not to eat, still amazes me, but is very bad pr for angling, as a recent local newspaper report showed. They are also learning about which cats eat them, and if they can bounce off moving cars, but these are less often featured in local newspapers.
I must also thank the owner of the Orkney day angler 21, that bombed past picking up 4 subs (20 quid each) and a smashed rod. And a reminder you are legally obligated to keep a watch, and yours was a very poor one as I signaled clearly to come around behind me. Any other vessels that follow this blog, please be aware that as much as other vessels might just jig up and down from their boats, my guys are working subs at over 100 meters. Just putting that out there. Shore luring afloat, means just that.
2nd sailing, and again we were back out as above, as Martin, driving down from Essex, likes to max it out. A long day for these guys, with an 0400 up to get down for the 0600 start. Fish were again hard to find, despite the wind easing to nothing, meaning I could journey out to where I had fairly recently enjoyed some fair bassing. However, on this occasion, a long drift only produced cuttlefish.. Next stop, not what we were after. Next stop... Finally. And wow. Some serious quality fish among them.
Both fish fell to Steve. First one, a beast of 72cm. Followed shortly after by one of 60cm. With quality fish of this caliber, the doubts I was having about September fishing, slightly retreated to the rear of my mind. More fish followed, but with the max kill achieved, all fish returned. 9 was the final tally, plus a few strings of mackerel at the end.
Final sailing, and sadly no pictures, as my phone died. On board, Dil, Julian, and his two lads, Joe and Alex. Catching being the priority we went straight into the plaice and mackerel fishing, with great success. Sadly, all bar two of the plaice were too small for the table, but the mackerel made up for it, b y being super fat. But, for the final part of the session, we went on a cuttle hunt. Well, Joe did, as he had expressed an interest, and dad was happy to try eating them. He managed two, when Alex also had a go. But sadly, two was the final score. All in all, a pretty successful session. Keeping the lads attention to the end. And a cracking feed to extend the benefits. Kids learning where food comes from, has never been more important.