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Leisurely sunday start today with it being a comp n'all so with Norman getting there first all I had to do was saunter down to the fuel pontoon and off we went (missing out the lock, the re-fuel etc etc 
)
Comp' days are always different to leisure days as the focus is on trying to knab a biggie, that said though we don't complain if we catch the smaller ones as they make the better eating by far
So off we went into the wide blue yonder in hunt of prize winning specimens....didn't "mess about" inshore today and I think the closest we ever got was 5 miles and the furthest up to 12.
We ventured from wreck to wreck and pulled in fish on a fairly consistant basis - nothing humungous but still good eaters
At the twelve mile mark we dropped down into 250 foot of water which is always a double edged sword because it takes ages to get to the bottom and even longer to bring a fish up
This is when I had the "panic attack"...I hooked into something that stripped line and shook it's head about like a monster...I wanted to ease the drag slightly but in doing so I slipped the drag completely and ended up with a braid birds nest - luckily Norman was on hand with a controlled calm and after a minute or so we had sorted it out and STILL had the fish on...I hold my hand up at this point and called this a double, it was stripping line and fighting all the way to the top - this felt like the biggest fish I'd ever caught. I even called for the gaff (on camera
)
Eventually the fish gets to the surface - somewhat smaller than we'd imagined given the histrionics from a certain somebody but it still tipped the scales at nearly 9lb...honest to god this fish fought like Tyson
C'est La Vie - it wasn't a double but the fight knackered me well and truly
After a few more fish at the twelve mile marks we headed back in.
There was no one tactic that stood out today and I would say this was probably one of the most attritional and tactical days on Slinky I've had because if they weren't biting then we'd switch tactics again and again until we found what turned them on
I'm quite a superstitous person and this morning on the way to the RQ I saw 18 magpies (every one got a spit and salute ) and all day I was trying to foretell what the 18 would mean - for the record my fish weighed in at 8lb 10oz - those two numbers equal 18 
Although no doubles turned up Norman also caught a cod which (on the boat) was impossible to tell who's was bigger so we had to wait until the weighmaster made the call..on this (rare) occasion I just pipped him as it was a mere 8lb 3oz
All told we kept 16 or so Cod and Ling with more than a few returned - great days fishing, am totally shattered and want my bed
Cheers as ever Norman - see you next week
Few pics...
Morning sunshine
The double that wasn't (lovely markings)
Norman with one of the few nice Cod of the day
Tea for a few
Thanks for reading
Cheers!!
)Comp' days are always different to leisure days as the focus is on trying to knab a biggie, that said though we don't complain if we catch the smaller ones as they make the better eating by far
So off we went into the wide blue yonder in hunt of prize winning specimens....didn't "mess about" inshore today and I think the closest we ever got was 5 miles and the furthest up to 12.
We ventured from wreck to wreck and pulled in fish on a fairly consistant basis - nothing humungous but still good eaters
At the twelve mile mark we dropped down into 250 foot of water which is always a double edged sword because it takes ages to get to the bottom and even longer to bring a fish up
This is when I had the "panic attack"...I hooked into something that stripped line and shook it's head about like a monster...I wanted to ease the drag slightly but in doing so I slipped the drag completely and ended up with a braid birds nest - luckily Norman was on hand with a controlled calm and after a minute or so we had sorted it out and STILL had the fish on...I hold my hand up at this point and called this a double, it was stripping line and fighting all the way to the top - this felt like the biggest fish I'd ever caught. I even called for the gaff (on camera
) Eventually the fish gets to the surface - somewhat smaller than we'd imagined given the histrionics from a certain somebody but it still tipped the scales at nearly 9lb...honest to god this fish fought like Tyson
C'est La Vie - it wasn't a double but the fight knackered me well and truly
After a few more fish at the twelve mile marks we headed back in.
There was no one tactic that stood out today and I would say this was probably one of the most attritional and tactical days on Slinky I've had because if they weren't biting then we'd switch tactics again and again until we found what turned them on
I'm quite a superstitous person and this morning on the way to the RQ I saw 18 magpies (every one got a spit and salute
) and all day I was trying to foretell what the 18 would mean - for the record my fish weighed in at 8lb 10oz - those two numbers equal 18 Although no doubles turned up Norman also caught a cod which (on the boat) was impossible to tell who's was bigger so we had to wait until the weighmaster made the call..on this (rare) occasion I just pipped him as it was a mere 8lb 3oz
All told we kept 16 or so Cod and Ling with more than a few returned - great days fishing, am totally shattered and want my bed
Cheers as ever Norman - see you next week
Few pics...
Morning sunshine
The double that wasn't (lovely markings)
Norman with one of the few nice Cod of the day
Tea for a few
Thanks for reading
Cheers!!
, I'll just have to hire a photographer to come out with me , take snaps as I fish 
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