HEAD CUT OFF FOR PRIVACY REASONS, BANKSY DOESNT WANT TO BE KNOWN
Just 13 degrees on the car thermometer on the way down, and with far more northerly wind than forecast the end result was chilly. Very very chilly. Already I recommend to my first sailing sailors, dress for March and you should have it right. Joining me this morning, annonymouse the headless, Will, Patrick and Chris.
And out into fish soup. It is rare these days that being a charter skipper is easy. usually much effort is put into finding fish. But this morning, being a charter skipper was easy. Fish everywhere. The skills came in filtering out the smalls to find the table fish. Happily, I got methodology to apply in these situations. 31 bass landed, and once we found the better fish we quickly hit the max kill and carried on. Mackerel, gurnard, and another little coddie for Patrick. A great session despite the howling Northerly wind.
2nd sailing and being a charter skipper suddenly slammed back to the reality. Wind wasnt too bad, but finding fish was suddenly tough. In fact the wind slackened back and allowed us to get offshore a bit further to some normally very reliable spots. But on reflection, I wish I had stayed in tight. One of this weeks changes, and an incredibly significant one, is that roles have been reversed. The bait shoals, complete with mackerel, seem to have deserted the outer reefs and everything is in tight. This is what most of the south coasts shore lure anglers, myself included, have been waiting for. It is finally worth having a go. Rivers should also repopulate. I am always looking for reasons. Why did the bait stay out so long? Is it a co-incidence, that when the spider crabs (billions of...) left the edges, that is when the bait came in?
What this meant for David, Fred, and new to BIF1 Tom and his father Gerry (I know right... ) was it was suddenly a struggle. And it did show. Hard fishing. Happily, Neptune did allow some action, with just 8 bass landed. And Neptune also shows fairness, as from those 8, 4 were table bass, and that meant one each. At least something for planned bbq activities.
Final sailing, and I was very pleased to see returning after quite an absence, Asim, who bought along his friend Joy, who was well named, as it was an absolute pleasure having her aboard. Her enthusiasm for every aspect of the trip was very uplifting somehow. Also along, regulars Nick and Dean.
Having learned the lessons from the previous trip, I stayed in close. But despite lots of bait around, not so many predators. Indeed it was that slow, that with cloud cover, I asked if anyone was up to having a look at the squid. Which was everyone. And happily they were playing. Right up until the wind returned, a very stiff northerly. That somehow made them no longer want to play with us. A return to the edges did see us manage two bass and a mackerel, with just one bass for the table. A tough one.
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