1st day out since the 18th October. Three weeks of wind and rain. Traditionally in the days when there were fish, for shore anglers these would be exciting times. Seas heavily laden with silt, meaning cod especially would have the cover to come in close to the edges at this time of year. A few still do, and a few hardcore shore anglers will be finding some. But an absolute shadow to what was before.
For the boat lure angler though, extended wind and rain has two major effects. It affects the visibility making it very tough for the fish to find the lure. And perhaps worse, it scatters the bait into little tiny shoals. Which in turn, tends to spread the bass, certainly inshore. In deeper water, the effects of wind and rain are far less. But, my certificate keeps me in the shallows at this time, and we have to make the best of it.
I say have to, but always the first day of sailings after extended rough weather, I give the clients a choice. Very honestly, I rang the previous evening to say, if it was action required, re-book. If it was breathing some sea air with a chance of a fish, come on down. First sailing guy, rebooked. 2nd sailing guys, Geoffrey, a BIF1 virgin, and Ian, an old hand, were up for the gamble.
Actually, visibility was way better than I expected. We had certainly caught in worse. In close was very poor, but past the mile line, much better. But that still left the issue of where might the bass be. ? We did a lot of miles, poking in places both old and new. An old one gave us the only fish of the day. And happily, at least luncheon for each of my guys. Banter was good, which always helps when the fishing is slow. And, on the way back in, more and more little pockets of baitfish, likely herring, beginning to show as they desperately hunt each other to make the bigger shoals that keep each individual that bit safer.
With fairly settled weather for the rest of the week, hopefully it will be no more than tomorrow or the day after that we can get back to the 30 - 40 fish catches we were having just prior to the wind. Time will of course, reveal all. And this blog, so keep coming back to check it out.
As of tomorrow, Thursday 5th November, back to the rule of 2 sailings. Effectively cheap whole boat charters, as I can only take a single angler at a time. But still not cheap, I do recognise, at £100 per sailing. However, with no pubs or restaurants, or gyms or knocking shops being allowed to open, I am hoping some of you will give it a go...
