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Set off early because the forecast hinted of storms later in the day. Oli and I headed up to Seaton Point from Amble, and found plenty of bird activity. There were indeed loads of baitfish being driven up by large mackerel. There were some small codling around too, to 3lb, and lots of small coalies. We also saw what could have been a large solitary dolphin, or maybe the Minke that had been around the previous week, but we didn't get close enough to make a definite ID. Most likely a big dolphin as it was too big for a porpoise.
Water clarity inshore wasn't great, but that didn't put off the swarms of mackerel. Water temp was up to 14.4 degrees inshore - positively bath-like.
Towards slack water we upped and headed out to some wrecks and used some of the mackerel for bait. All of the wrecks though were not that productive. It was often a case of nothing per drift. We did catch, but the ling were small, 5-6lb max, but very few cod, and a few pout. The drift speeds were building too, and it became impossible to hold positions long enough, so we came back inshore and tried the 70 foot contour off Dunstanburgh. This brought a stream of small codling, but still no haddock (not had any this year!). Then it was onto the reefs, but they were fishing poorly, so then we motored further up to Newton. It was the same story. A few small codling to 3-4lb, lots of mackerel and coalies but little else.
We thought about heading up to Beadnell and the kelp beds, but the wind was picking up, and not wanting to be caught out in a thunderstorm we backtracked to Boulmer, where again, lots of mackerel and coalies and a few kelpies, but nothing of size. We finally made it back to the marina around 6.30pm, before the rains actually arrived.
For the ornithologists among you, we managed to scoop out of the water off Newton this small bird that had fallen in the sea and was desperately trying to flap towards the boat. It's quite a rarity apparently, and my brother-in-law, who is a birder thinks it may have been a juvenile Subalpine warbler. Sadly, the bird decided to make off once it had dried its feathers, but it unwisely headed back towards Norway from where it had probably come, only to be set upon by a black-backed gull that took it mid-flight.
Water clarity inshore wasn't great, but that didn't put off the swarms of mackerel. Water temp was up to 14.4 degrees inshore - positively bath-like.
Towards slack water we upped and headed out to some wrecks and used some of the mackerel for bait. All of the wrecks though were not that productive. It was often a case of nothing per drift. We did catch, but the ling were small, 5-6lb max, but very few cod, and a few pout. The drift speeds were building too, and it became impossible to hold positions long enough, so we came back inshore and tried the 70 foot contour off Dunstanburgh. This brought a stream of small codling, but still no haddock (not had any this year!). Then it was onto the reefs, but they were fishing poorly, so then we motored further up to Newton. It was the same story. A few small codling to 3-4lb, lots of mackerel and coalies but little else.
We thought about heading up to Beadnell and the kelp beds, but the wind was picking up, and not wanting to be caught out in a thunderstorm we backtracked to Boulmer, where again, lots of mackerel and coalies and a few kelpies, but nothing of size. We finally made it back to the marina around 6.30pm, before the rains actually arrived.
For the ornithologists among you, we managed to scoop out of the water off Newton this small bird that had fallen in the sea and was desperately trying to flap towards the boat. It's quite a rarity apparently, and my brother-in-law, who is a birder thinks it may have been a juvenile Subalpine warbler. Sadly, the bird decided to make off once it had dried its feathers, but it unwisely headed back towards Norway from where it had probably come, only to be set upon by a black-backed gull that took it mid-flight.
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