Just a quickie - I managed a day off work yesterday, and went out late morning. I went south of Coquet island into the tidal races to see if any mackerel around. I couldn't connect with anything, but the screens showed fish, so out of curiosity I dropped some sabikis to see if they were launce/sandeels. Instead, they were coalies, and masses of them. But clearly feeding on micro-feed rather than larger prey such as sprats or sandeels.
I headed north up to Dunstanburgh, stopping along the way. The water was more discoloured than Saturday, and the bites were slow and gentle. Not aggressive takes. The tides were big - 4.9m and I had expected very fast drifts, but it was the opposite. In hindsight, I should have gone straight to the wrecks, but I didn't have that long before having to return.
I had around 15 codling off the hard ground, best being a fish of around 4lb, plus a lot of coalies. Not wonderful, but better than nowt. There were a few boats around, and those that I spoke to reported the same story - slow and nothing of great size. Maybe the discolouration is down to an algae bloom, driven onshore by the easterlies. Hope not. Will try to get out again at the weekend and report back.
I headed north up to Dunstanburgh, stopping along the way. The water was more discoloured than Saturday, and the bites were slow and gentle. Not aggressive takes. The tides were big - 4.9m and I had expected very fast drifts, but it was the opposite. In hindsight, I should have gone straight to the wrecks, but I didn't have that long before having to return.
I had around 15 codling off the hard ground, best being a fish of around 4lb, plus a lot of coalies. Not wonderful, but better than nowt. There were a few boats around, and those that I spoke to reported the same story - slow and nothing of great size. Maybe the discolouration is down to an algae bloom, driven onshore by the easterlies. Hope not. Will try to get out again at the weekend and report back.
