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For a change, Oli and I headed south, down to Cresswell. The seas were lumpy and the forecast had the wind freshening so we figured we'd get some shelter down there at least.
Only 1 other boat was there when we arrived. We fished the larger reef first, and it yielded plenty of codling, but they were all very small, with the largest perhaps 1.5lb. Frozen prawns did the trick. Water clarity was excellent, down to about 10 feet, so Oli persevered with lures in the hope of something bigger, but ended up scaling back the size of the lure to match what was around.
The frozen prawns were also of interest to some of the resident wrasse, and even a stray mackerel.
A couple of charter boats came on the scene, and with more of the same calibre fish being landed we pushed over to the smaller reef. More little codling followed, with plenty of coalies up to a pound. Tough little fighters.
Oli put down his go-pro camera, with a pink rubber lure as an attractor. And it certainly attracted. In about 5 minutes, you get to see dozens of small codling, coalies and wrasse come over to give it a sniff. None actually take it, which was a sort of relief as he just wanted to film what as there but like the other underwater videos that he took last year, and which I posted in the video section, it goes to show you the importance of getting the lure right. Had it been more of a savage eel, or black minnow they would probably have gone for it. Once he's posted them on YouTube I'll put the link in the video section.
With the wind abating, and swell dying in the afternoon, totally the opposite to the forecast, we followed Alan out on his JFK 2 to some of the nearby wrecks.
With a small tide, the drift was great at just 0.1-0,2 knots, and the water was clear down to about 15 feet, and temp was showing as 12.9 degrees out there. I don't know how Alan got on, but we had great difficulty getting through the coalies and mackerel, whether using rubber or metal.
It being the hottest day of the year, and the BBQ fired up, we had to get back with some of our mackerel, so we were back in at Amble marine by 18.00. My personal tally for the day was about 40+ codling, no keepers, a couple of wrasse, dozens of coalies and mackerel and a bit of sunburn.
Only 1 other boat was there when we arrived. We fished the larger reef first, and it yielded plenty of codling, but they were all very small, with the largest perhaps 1.5lb. Frozen prawns did the trick. Water clarity was excellent, down to about 10 feet, so Oli persevered with lures in the hope of something bigger, but ended up scaling back the size of the lure to match what was around.
The frozen prawns were also of interest to some of the resident wrasse, and even a stray mackerel.
A couple of charter boats came on the scene, and with more of the same calibre fish being landed we pushed over to the smaller reef. More little codling followed, with plenty of coalies up to a pound. Tough little fighters.
Oli put down his go-pro camera, with a pink rubber lure as an attractor. And it certainly attracted. In about 5 minutes, you get to see dozens of small codling, coalies and wrasse come over to give it a sniff. None actually take it, which was a sort of relief as he just wanted to film what as there but like the other underwater videos that he took last year, and which I posted in the video section, it goes to show you the importance of getting the lure right. Had it been more of a savage eel, or black minnow they would probably have gone for it. Once he's posted them on YouTube I'll put the link in the video section.
With the wind abating, and swell dying in the afternoon, totally the opposite to the forecast, we followed Alan out on his JFK 2 to some of the nearby wrecks.
With a small tide, the drift was great at just 0.1-0,2 knots, and the water was clear down to about 15 feet, and temp was showing as 12.9 degrees out there. I don't know how Alan got on, but we had great difficulty getting through the coalies and mackerel, whether using rubber or metal.
It being the hottest day of the year, and the BBQ fired up, we had to get back with some of our mackerel, so we were back in at Amble marine by 18.00. My personal tally for the day was about 40+ codling, no keepers, a couple of wrasse, dozens of coalies and mackerel and a bit of sunburn.
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