As Jonny says, it's been a bit quiet on this board, so time to liven it up a bit.
I finally managed to get out on the boat from Amble with Oli on Bank Holiday Monday. My first proper outing in the boat since last summer due to some medical issues following an accident in September, now all behind me, hopefully.
Big tides delayed our departure until midday, and then down came the fog and drizzle. On the face of it, it didn't look good. We didn't go far either, this being a trial to test the engine etc. But the fishing was awesome. Nothing particularly big, but no tiddlers either. We got back to the marina at 6.30 pm, and I'd landed 75 fish, three quarters of which were chunky codling, all in prime condition and almost all sized 1-3lb, with a couple of larger specimens. Oli had around the same number. The rest were pollock, typically 1-2lb, and coalies, again saimilar size. And a lone purple pout. Even the fins of the fish were purple. They all went back.
Water clarity was good, typically 7-8 feet, but water temp was 8.7 degrees inshore, so still cool for mackerel, though we did see gannets around, and almost ran over a dolphin in the fog. The drifts were perfect, but at one point we stopped fishing for 10 minutes or so as we were convinced we were drifting over a rope. The "rope" turned out to be a carpet of codling and just looked how a rope looks on the Dragonfly scanner.
Let's hope the fish hang around a while. They look to be feasting on very small sandeels, but frankly, everything worked - lures, bait, hokkis, sandeels, jellies. It was a remarkable session for this time of year.
Good luck everyone, and let's get more reports in.
Adrian
I finally managed to get out on the boat from Amble with Oli on Bank Holiday Monday. My first proper outing in the boat since last summer due to some medical issues following an accident in September, now all behind me, hopefully.
Big tides delayed our departure until midday, and then down came the fog and drizzle. On the face of it, it didn't look good. We didn't go far either, this being a trial to test the engine etc. But the fishing was awesome. Nothing particularly big, but no tiddlers either. We got back to the marina at 6.30 pm, and I'd landed 75 fish, three quarters of which were chunky codling, all in prime condition and almost all sized 1-3lb, with a couple of larger specimens. Oli had around the same number. The rest were pollock, typically 1-2lb, and coalies, again saimilar size. And a lone purple pout. Even the fins of the fish were purple. They all went back.
Water clarity was good, typically 7-8 feet, but water temp was 8.7 degrees inshore, so still cool for mackerel, though we did see gannets around, and almost ran over a dolphin in the fog. The drifts were perfect, but at one point we stopped fishing for 10 minutes or so as we were convinced we were drifting over a rope. The "rope" turned out to be a carpet of codling and just looked how a rope looks on the Dragonfly scanner.
Let's hope the fish hang around a while. They look to be feasting on very small sandeels, but frankly, everything worked - lures, bait, hokkis, sandeels, jellies. It was a remarkable session for this time of year.
Good luck everyone, and let's get more reports in.
Adrian
