With only being out 4 times this year - yes 4 times! I was most pleased to take advantage of the weather window we had on Sunday. Thanks to those howling westerlies on Saturday the sea was nice and flat.
Graham and I headed out around 9am and got to the first wreck around 20 past. hHalf a dozen drops and nothing. So we moved to the next wreck, same story bar a few whiting. Next wreck same story, whiting again and gues what.....next wreck - yep a few whiting - Graham finally managed to hook into something decent which unfortunately came off half way up. It wasn't until 11.30am when I boated the first fish- a modest cod around 3.5lbs.
I was getting very down hearted, especially with the clouds looking darker every time I looked up signalling the inevitable soaking we were in for. And it wasn't before long the soaking came and with it a nasty north westerly breeze.
I decided to head close in to fish the hard ground, we hit a few fish but nothing worth keeping although I did get this little fella - my first ever herring!
We plugged away and decided to head south. We had the inevitable mackerel hounding which given the lack of fish was quite a welcome. Drifting away I spotted a reef on the seabed which looked like it may hold fish. So it was marked and we drifted back over it. Bang - Graham was into a fish, a cod of around 5lbs
Next drift, bang again Graham was into another fish, this time a better one at around 8lbs..
And so the pattern emerged, before long graham had 5 fish for around 30lbs!!! All quality conditioned fresh run fish. I on the other hand had - nothing - yes - nothing.
A few more drifts and it died off, the sea had flattened off and the wind had dropped so I decided to give one more wreck a chance to save the day. 20 minutes later we were at the wreck and same story as the morning, loads of whiting - some of them a decent size - no cod or ling. With the heavens set to open again we called it a day around 6pm.
An enjoyable day, great to be back out also. Not so good for me on the fish front but there's time yet.
So, I leave you with a question: Towards the back end of every season (August/September) I find that the wrecks are full of whiting and small stuff. Is this an indication that all the big stuff is gone? it stands to reason that if larger fish were there, the smaller fish certainly wouldn't be?
If this is true then it worries me that I am already catching whiting and it's not even July!!!
Until the next time...tight lines.
Dave
Graham and I headed out around 9am and got to the first wreck around 20 past. hHalf a dozen drops and nothing. So we moved to the next wreck, same story bar a few whiting. Next wreck same story, whiting again and gues what.....next wreck - yep a few whiting - Graham finally managed to hook into something decent which unfortunately came off half way up. It wasn't until 11.30am when I boated the first fish- a modest cod around 3.5lbs.
I was getting very down hearted, especially with the clouds looking darker every time I looked up signalling the inevitable soaking we were in for. And it wasn't before long the soaking came and with it a nasty north westerly breeze.
I decided to head close in to fish the hard ground, we hit a few fish but nothing worth keeping although I did get this little fella - my first ever herring!
We plugged away and decided to head south. We had the inevitable mackerel hounding which given the lack of fish was quite a welcome. Drifting away I spotted a reef on the seabed which looked like it may hold fish. So it was marked and we drifted back over it. Bang - Graham was into a fish, a cod of around 5lbs
Next drift, bang again Graham was into another fish, this time a better one at around 8lbs..
And so the pattern emerged, before long graham had 5 fish for around 30lbs!!! All quality conditioned fresh run fish. I on the other hand had - nothing - yes - nothing.
A few more drifts and it died off, the sea had flattened off and the wind had dropped so I decided to give one more wreck a chance to save the day. 20 minutes later we were at the wreck and same story as the morning, loads of whiting - some of them a decent size - no cod or ling. With the heavens set to open again we called it a day around 6pm.
An enjoyable day, great to be back out also. Not so good for me on the fish front but there's time yet.
So, I leave you with a question: Towards the back end of every season (August/September) I find that the wrecks are full of whiting and small stuff. Is this an indication that all the big stuff is gone? it stands to reason that if larger fish were there, the smaller fish certainly wouldn't be?
If this is true then it worries me that I am already catching whiting and it's not even July!!!
Until the next time...tight lines.
Dave
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