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Purple patches ....... 
............ we'll come to it.
Being as how the forecast was good, and the sea and wind followed the forecast and since we'd not yet had a decent sunrise picture this season ... it was decided that a slightly earlier start of 4.30am this morning would be the order of the day which would allow time to get out, fish, catch, get back to fillet (hopefully) and return home all in good time for the FA Cup Final. (with a 5pm kick off it made it easy really ).
What a fantastic morning as we slowly motored across the marina basin towards to the lock, everything so peaceful .....
Straight out this morning no need to fuel up since last weekend we went no further than St Marys' saving £££'s in fuel costs must make a note of that.
However early we thought "we" were, as we approached the piers in a streaming golden sunrise we found we'd been beaten "again" there was bert and the lads on the pier wrecks happily sticking up fingers showing us how many they had caught already great stuff lads, just a good job it wasn't two each
Still, this was a sign and within minutes I myself was into a nice codling and barely as Tony had put the camera away he too had a rod nodding away with the sure sign of codling. Both caught on the infamous Slinky Football grub - sunderland style (well, infamous to us )
We stayed a while, but the call of the St Marys spring run of codling just got too much for us and we decided to head north at the now very late time of 5.45am ....
Top of the tide and slack water was at 6.00am so here we were at one of our favourite spots right on top of a spring tide with an hour or so to go before the water would begin to wake the fish and set them on the feed ........ well, thats what we thought.
Within moments of touching bottom Tony was into a fish and before I could lift the camera ... so was I , not big but good hard fighting fish which were both returned. before these 2 could have got back to the bottom both rods again were rattling to the signs of codling, and on it went ..... some, the bigger ones we kept but most we did not, this was sure the "Purple Patch" ..... time after time it was like fishing in a shoal of mackerel only they were codling of all sorts of sizes but mainly on the small size there were singles, double headers, double headers with scotchies wow what an hour or so. At one point whilst continually pulling in fish in the 1,2,3lb mark my rod bent into a much better fish, somehow amongst the hundreds of smaller fish down there I had hooked into a brace of a 6lb and a 5lb double header, both on tiny 4/0 hooks with mini slinky grubs 
both were boated safely and boxed up
As the hour or so purple patch passed the stamp got bigger but the qty got less .... then it stopped as fast as it had started ....
At this point we decided to try some inshore wrecks, more on an investigative viewpoint than any other, however all was quiet .......
With a last look around the pier wrecks we decided to call it a day with a full box of fish, a tan on our face moved only by the smile that was bigger and the knowledge we'd come and do it all over again next week
cheers .....
a few pics of the day ......
The Royal Quays Marina at 4.30am .... so peaceful ..
Sunrise at the piers ......
My First cod on a Slinky Mackem Football Grub in golden sunrise
And a similar one for Tone .....
A nice Brace of a better stamp caught amongst Tiddlers ......
bert and the lads returning on Shady at a similar time ....
and a bit Shady video to suit .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmYOjlzSsso
and as ever .... it's tea time
Thanks for reading ....
norm
............ we'll come to it.Being as how the forecast was good, and the sea and wind followed the forecast and since we'd not yet had a decent sunrise picture this season ... it was decided that a slightly earlier start of 4.30am this morning would be the order of the day which would allow time to get out, fish, catch, get back to fillet (hopefully) and return home all in good time for the FA Cup Final. (with a 5pm kick off it made it easy really
).What a fantastic morning as we slowly motored across the marina basin towards to the lock, everything so peaceful .....
Straight out this morning no need to fuel up since last weekend we went no further than St Marys' saving £££'s in fuel costs
must make a note of that.However early we thought "we" were, as we approached the piers in a streaming golden sunrise we found we'd been beaten "again"
there was bert and the lads on the pier wrecks happily sticking up fingers showing us how many they had caught already great stuff lads, just a good job it wasn't two each Still, this was a sign and within minutes I myself was into a nice codling and barely as Tony had put the camera away he too had a rod nodding away with the sure sign of codling. Both caught on the infamous Slinky Football grub - sunderland style (well, infamous to us
)We stayed a while, but the call of the St Marys spring run of codling just got too much for us and we decided to head north at the now very late time of 5.45am ....
Top of the tide and slack water was at 6.00am so here we were at one of our favourite spots right on top of a spring tide with an hour or so to go before the water would begin to wake the fish and set them on the feed ........ well, thats what we thought.
Within moments of touching bottom Tony was into a fish and before I could lift the camera ... so was I
, not big but good hard fighting fish which were both returned. before these 2 could have got back to the bottom both rods again were rattling to the signs of codling, and on it went ..... some, the bigger ones we kept but most we did not, this was sure the "Purple Patch" ..... time after time it was like fishing in a shoal of mackerel only they were codling of all sorts of sizes but mainly on the small size there were singles, double headers, double headers with scotchies wow what an hour or so. At one point whilst continually pulling in fish in the 1,2,3lb mark my rod bent into a much better fish, somehow amongst the hundreds of smaller fish down there I had hooked into a brace of a 6lb and a 5lb double header, both on tiny 4/0 hooks with mini slinky grubs both were boated safely and boxed up
As the hour or so purple patch passed the stamp got bigger but the qty got less .... then it stopped as fast as it had started ....
At this point we decided to try some inshore wrecks, more on an investigative viewpoint than any other, however all was quiet .......
With a last look around the pier wrecks we decided to call it a day with a full box of fish, a tan on our face moved only by the smile that was bigger and the knowledge we'd come and do it all over again next week
cheers .....
a few pics of the day ......
The Royal Quays Marina at 4.30am .... so peaceful ..
Sunrise at the piers ......
My First cod on a Slinky Mackem Football Grub in golden sunrise
And a similar one for Tone .....
A nice Brace of a better stamp caught amongst Tiddlers ......
bert and the lads returning on Shady at a similar time ....
and a bit Shady video to suit .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmYOjlzSsso
and as ever .... it's tea time
Thanks for reading ....
norm
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