And so, another bass year comes to an end. Well, for those who like to eat them anyhow. 2nd sailing was cancelled but 1st sailing, looked like I might just be able to get Peter out for his final brace of the year. Knowing full well that we might not get the full 3 hours, as the wind was freshening from the minute we left the marina entrance I made the call to go straight to where we had found the most bigger fish yesterday. A good call.
We got into the routine and were rewarded with fish from the beginning. And every fish was over the 42 cm size. Only up to 50cm, but the action was fast and furious. Autumn bait ball fishing at its best. Then, my rod slammed over, and stubbornly refused to come up. For a full minute, I could not take a yard of line, as fish unseen continued to try and return to the sea bed. All you can do in this situation, with wind and tide meaning the fish has an additional 1.6 knots of tide to use to its advantage, is keep firm pressure on, and the second it has a relax, put in a couple of short pumps. Eventually, the fish, which by now I had convinced myself was a decent cod, began to tire. Soon it was to the surface. A tub gurnard around 2.5lb. It remined me why I love gurnards so much and I cannot wait for them to return to the close banks in the spring.
And then, the wind which had been little more annoying, decided to become more threatening. And with imminent flow change, it was also about to get a lot bumpier as the wind and tide would begin to oppose each other. No choice really. After an hour and ten minutes, and 35 bass landed, with all bar 4 over 42cm, it was time to return to safe haven.
I said goodbye to Peter, who was happy for his brace of fish. And it left me hungry for more action. So I invited second sailing Tim to join me for a couple of hours on the marina walls. Just the one bass landed, at 50cm to show, these fish are quite spread around, and it still isnt over.
