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The alarm went off at 415am and Lynn for once jumped straight out of bed, the Whitby challenge was upon us! After just shower and coffee it was off on the 45 minute drive. We arrived to this.
Nice, so we duly got some free parking and Lynn went for the rolls. Mmm, long roll, 3 rashers of bacon and 2 fried eggs and bizzarely toast! £2.70, sorted. Duly sated, we boarded Trot-on ll. Not full today, ourselves, two local lads, a mother and daughter and a lone guy who arrived hungover with just a Co-op carrier bag with a sandwich and a bottle of pop, no fishing gear whatsoever! What a beautiful spacious boat she is, with private toilet, covered seating area and oodles of room.
We took up our chosen spot and off we sailed under the bridge at 7am, crowded!
We arrived at the first wreck after about 30 mins and after a couple of drifts one of the local lads pulled in a nice Cod, closely followed but his mate. I was soon into a good fish, first Cod of the year methinks - nope a foul hooked Whiting! Confident of plenty of Cod today, I returned a decent 2 pounder. Then things went quite, which became the norm for the day. We tried numerous other wrecks and 2 Ling for the local boys came onboard. I was getting pretty cheesed off by this, not helped by Lynn who had caught 3 Pouting and then a really nice 5lb plus Cod. All I had caught was the wrecks...and numerous times!
We moved again, this time way, way off to yet another wreck and Lynn took some time out.
Suitably refreshed as soon as we arrived she caught a small Ling!
So by now it's mid-afternoon, I had 1 Whiting(returned), Lynn had 3 Pouting, 1 Cod and 1 Ling, the local lads had a Cod each and a few Ling and even the guy with no gear had a Cod! I had lost at least 8 rigs and the will to live and in a fit of sheer desperation I put on a single hook plastic, of which I had "bought" loads off The Jester, and baited it with a whole squid. Hit the bottom and bang, fish on. It fought well and I thought small Pollack, couldn't believe my eyes when a Haddock came into view. The first I have caught in 35 years! Newly invigorated I baited up again and dropped it down, bang, in again. Fought really hard and I knew it was a decent fish and sure enough a Pollack of just over 7lbs came to the boat. Very happy!
So sorry about the colour clash today, I dressed in the dark! Plus my head seems to be merging with the sky!? Lynn take a camera course!!
Things slowed down again and we started to move back inshore. No more fish came to the boat, but on our way in the Skipper suggested I weigh in the Haddock. This I did and cruised effortlessly into 3rd place in the species competition. So with the heaviest fish and the Haddock, Lynn had to concede defeat!
Not the best day ever, but given the recent past, 6 species is a veritable cornucopia of breeds!
Round 1 to me, 3 to go. Watch this space.
Nice, so we duly got some free parking and Lynn went for the rolls. Mmm, long roll, 3 rashers of bacon and 2 fried eggs and bizzarely toast! £2.70, sorted. Duly sated, we boarded Trot-on ll. Not full today, ourselves, two local lads, a mother and daughter and a lone guy who arrived hungover with just a Co-op carrier bag with a sandwich and a bottle of pop, no fishing gear whatsoever! What a beautiful spacious boat she is, with private toilet, covered seating area and oodles of room.
We took up our chosen spot and off we sailed under the bridge at 7am, crowded!
We arrived at the first wreck after about 30 mins and after a couple of drifts one of the local lads pulled in a nice Cod, closely followed but his mate. I was soon into a good fish, first Cod of the year methinks - nope a foul hooked Whiting! Confident of plenty of Cod today, I returned a decent 2 pounder. Then things went quite, which became the norm for the day. We tried numerous other wrecks and 2 Ling for the local boys came onboard. I was getting pretty cheesed off by this, not helped by Lynn who had caught 3 Pouting and then a really nice 5lb plus Cod. All I had caught was the wrecks...and numerous times!
We moved again, this time way, way off to yet another wreck and Lynn took some time out.
Suitably refreshed as soon as we arrived she caught a small Ling!
So by now it's mid-afternoon, I had 1 Whiting(returned), Lynn had 3 Pouting, 1 Cod and 1 Ling, the local lads had a Cod each and a few Ling and even the guy with no gear had a Cod! I had lost at least 8 rigs and the will to live and in a fit of sheer desperation I put on a single hook plastic, of which I had "bought" loads off The Jester, and baited it with a whole squid. Hit the bottom and bang, fish on. It fought well and I thought small Pollack, couldn't believe my eyes when a Haddock came into view. The first I have caught in 35 years! Newly invigorated I baited up again and dropped it down, bang, in again. Fought really hard and I knew it was a decent fish and sure enough a Pollack of just over 7lbs came to the boat. Very happy!
So sorry about the colour clash today, I dressed in the dark! Plus my head seems to be merging with the sky!? Lynn take a camera course!!
Things slowed down again and we started to move back inshore. No more fish came to the boat, but on our way in the Skipper suggested I weigh in the Haddock. This I did and cruised effortlessly into 3rd place in the species competition. So with the heaviest fish and the Haddock, Lynn had to concede defeat!
Not the best day ever, but given the recent past, 6 species is a veritable cornucopia of breeds!
Round 1 to me, 3 to go. Watch this space.
roll on friday
Just noticed they mis spelt my name!!
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