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With a moderate tide, and light westerlies, Oli and I set off from Amble for the Farne Islands. Flat out it took us just over an hour - but got a shock to see how much fuel the engine had gulped to get us there - it meant monitoring what was left so that we didn't run out later!
I'd never been out to the Farne before, not even on the boats from Seahouses. I was surprised at how many islands and islets there are, and how many inlets and coves. And seals. And divers. And trip boats. But still beautiful in a stark kind of way.
We mooched around a bit, getting the lay of the land, not even sure if we were allowed to fish them being a nature reserve, but lots of googling later we came to the conclusion that angling wasn't banned.
When we did start, the fish came thick and fast - loads of coalies, up to a pound and a half, nice fighters on light gear. There were plenty of Pollack too, with Oli getting one of around 6lb. I was picking up codling to 4-5lb in the slightly deeper water, and in close I had a small Ballan. Still mackerel around. I kept 4 for the table, and 2 of the codling. Everything else we had yesterday went back.
After about 3 hours, the wind suddenly veered easterly, which was not forecast! We headed over to Beadnall for about 30 mins, catching more Ballan, kelpies, mackerel and coalies , but instead of dying the wind increased in intensity, and it was a long, wet slog back to Coquet, with waves well over a metre every few seconds. Still, it kept the fuel consumption down and we had plenty of reserve in the end.
With 30 minutes to kill before meeting the missus at the marina we gave the north side of Coquet island a go, and I had another 18 codling, mostly small mind you, plus another Ballan.
All in all, well worth the cost of the fuel !
I'd never been out to the Farne before, not even on the boats from Seahouses. I was surprised at how many islands and islets there are, and how many inlets and coves. And seals. And divers. And trip boats. But still beautiful in a stark kind of way.
We mooched around a bit, getting the lay of the land, not even sure if we were allowed to fish them being a nature reserve, but lots of googling later we came to the conclusion that angling wasn't banned.
When we did start, the fish came thick and fast - loads of coalies, up to a pound and a half, nice fighters on light gear. There were plenty of Pollack too, with Oli getting one of around 6lb. I was picking up codling to 4-5lb in the slightly deeper water, and in close I had a small Ballan. Still mackerel around. I kept 4 for the table, and 2 of the codling. Everything else we had yesterday went back.
After about 3 hours, the wind suddenly veered easterly, which was not forecast! We headed over to Beadnall for about 30 mins, catching more Ballan, kelpies, mackerel and coalies , but instead of dying the wind increased in intensity, and it was a long, wet slog back to Coquet, with waves well over a metre every few seconds. Still, it kept the fuel consumption down and we had plenty of reserve in the end.
With 30 minutes to kill before meeting the missus at the marina we gave the north side of Coquet island a go, and I had another 18 codling, mostly small mind you, plus another Ballan.
All in all, well worth the cost of the fuel !
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