The constant stiff NE wind was forecast to lull just for a few hours, and on that basis, I called the first sailing on. Regulars Mark and Lee were joined by new to BIF1 Mark and his lad Ethan. Ethan's mission was to catch something to take home and cook. Not a problem, I thought.
I have spent the week watching the baitfish swarming just out of reach of my beach gear. I did have one shoal come close, and I nipped seven fish out of it, yesterday morning. But on the whole, I have been frustrated. With the boat, should be easy, right? Well, should be. But for the curse of the multitudes of tiny things that I always rave about at this time of year. A hell of a lot of bait fish out there. But very few bass predating it all. I thought we found the shortcut when Ethan landed a plump mackerel. But even that managed to flip at the wrong time as I transferred it to the bait well and it bounced off the transom back into the sea.
Happily, before the wind did return and cause us endless problems, we did drop into a shoal nicely. Nine bass were landed, with just one for the table. And guess who caught that one? Mission accomplished by Ethan. Next few days the winds remain strong and Northerly according to the current forecast. Sitting on the beach it is hard to believe it is unfishable. But one of the achilles heels of light line lure fishing, is the movement of the boat across the tide makes for very poor returns. Limited contact with your lures. Hard work for little reward. Better to spend your money when conditions are good.