- Joined
- Oct 17, 2020
- Messages
- 660
- Reaction score
- 3,421
- Points
- 93
- Location
- West Midlands
- Favourite Fishing
- Boat
As the Jubilee festivities subsided, the family returned back to the Midlands leaving just me, the Missus and the dog. A quick check on the wind forecast suggested it would be rude not to get back on the water again today.
So I was up at 6am, walked the dog, grabbed a rod, reel and box of lures and set off to to catch the last of the ebbing tide to help me get to my chosen marks. I actually arrived too early for my favourite Bass mark, so headed further offshore to see if the Pollack and Coalfish were still around. A quick check on the sonar suggested that there were a lot of fish 60ft below me so down went a 30g slow jig to try and find out what they were.
I didn’t have to wait long for the first “customer”, although it wasn’t the Pollack I was expecting, nor the Coalie. In fact, it was my first lure caught Wrasse of the season.
I was sorry to see the swim bladder blown but it was quickly returned and managed to kick back down towards the sea-bed. The next few fish were similar sized Wrasse (2-2.5 lb) and we’re released at the side of the boat.
Then came the Pollack. The seabed must have been carpeted with them; nothing below 1.5lb, biggest around 3.5lb.
Nothing special really, but great fun on light gear. I checked the time and was surprised to find I’d already spent a very pleasant hour wheedling out these critters. Time to move.
With the tide running it was time to hunt some Bass. Off came to the slow-pitch jig and on went the 15g Savagegear Sandeel in Khaki. First drift I missed a decent bite, and couldn’t tempt the culprit to a repeat attempt. After the initial interest, it took me a while to find the fish. They couldn’t hide forever though and half an hour later I finally got the target species. I didn’t weight it, but guessing it was around 2-2.5lb.
This was the first of a steady stream of similar fish. I had half a dozen or so before the shoal moved on.
I changed the drift a few times, eventually got another bite and it was immediately clear that this was a better fish. The bite stopped the retrieve dead and line started to get pulled off the reel. I had to play the fish for minute or two, but eventually got it to the side of the boat and into the net. It wasn’t as big as I’d thought. The scales bounced around from 4.5-5lb before eventually settling at 4lb11oz
Sorry the pics are so boring. It’s difficult to get any real perspective when you can’t hold them up to the camera. It was a decent healthy fish and gave a good account of itself. It swam off strongly I’m pleased to say.
After that, I had two more 2lbers before I lost the tide and decided to head for home.
By now the water had settled to flat calm and I was fortunate to see two separate pods of Bottle-nose Dolphins on the way back in. Both times I slowed the boat before switching off the engine and watching them for a while. The first pod had a small calf in it; one of the adults in the second pod swam right up to me and under the boat. An absolute joy to see, but they did make me late home (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it
)
After 2 years of interruptions due to Covid, hopefully things can get back to normal now, and if this is normal, I’ll be well happy
Cheers
Kev
So I was up at 6am, walked the dog, grabbed a rod, reel and box of lures and set off to to catch the last of the ebbing tide to help me get to my chosen marks. I actually arrived too early for my favourite Bass mark, so headed further offshore to see if the Pollack and Coalfish were still around. A quick check on the sonar suggested that there were a lot of fish 60ft below me so down went a 30g slow jig to try and find out what they were.
I didn’t have to wait long for the first “customer”, although it wasn’t the Pollack I was expecting, nor the Coalie. In fact, it was my first lure caught Wrasse of the season.
I was sorry to see the swim bladder blown but it was quickly returned and managed to kick back down towards the sea-bed. The next few fish were similar sized Wrasse (2-2.5 lb) and we’re released at the side of the boat.
Then came the Pollack. The seabed must have been carpeted with them; nothing below 1.5lb, biggest around 3.5lb.
Nothing special really, but great fun on light gear. I checked the time and was surprised to find I’d already spent a very pleasant hour wheedling out these critters. Time to move.
With the tide running it was time to hunt some Bass. Off came to the slow-pitch jig and on went the 15g Savagegear Sandeel in Khaki. First drift I missed a decent bite, and couldn’t tempt the culprit to a repeat attempt. After the initial interest, it took me a while to find the fish. They couldn’t hide forever though and half an hour later I finally got the target species. I didn’t weight it, but guessing it was around 2-2.5lb.
This was the first of a steady stream of similar fish. I had half a dozen or so before the shoal moved on.
I changed the drift a few times, eventually got another bite and it was immediately clear that this was a better fish. The bite stopped the retrieve dead and line started to get pulled off the reel. I had to play the fish for minute or two, but eventually got it to the side of the boat and into the net. It wasn’t as big as I’d thought. The scales bounced around from 4.5-5lb before eventually settling at 4lb11oz
Sorry the pics are so boring. It’s difficult to get any real perspective when you can’t hold them up to the camera. It was a decent healthy fish and gave a good account of itself. It swam off strongly I’m pleased to say.
After that, I had two more 2lbers before I lost the tide and decided to head for home.
By now the water had settled to flat calm and I was fortunate to see two separate pods of Bottle-nose Dolphins on the way back in. Both times I slowed the boat before switching off the engine and watching them for a while. The first pod had a small calf in it; one of the adults in the second pod swam right up to me and under the boat. An absolute joy to see, but they did make me late home (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it
)After 2 years of interruptions due to Covid, hopefully things can get back to normal now, and if this is normal, I’ll be well happy
Cheers
Kev
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