Norman
Well-known member
Taking away the pre season jaunts in iffy weather etc then today was the first “Proper” fishing day of the 2010 season.
Having watched the weather for weeks there seemed to be a window coming (just today – Saturday) that would allow us all to get out and “make up” for the many hours stranded ashore ……
Due to High Tide being at 5.00am this morning and also the fact that I have a streak of madness that likes early mornings we decided to meet at 4.00 am (Tony the cabin boy and myself) and try our hand at this “fishing” lark J
Off we went with one place in mind today - St Marys ….
A real fishing trip can only be called as such if you witness a sunrise, and boy today done us proud ….
It started before sunrise (se first pics) with orange and yellow skies backlighting the clouds and any other vessels out on the horizon making us stare in disbelief at the beauty ….
Followed closely by the “all of a sudden” appearance of the top side of the disc of the sun …
Then, in almost as little as 5 mins it was up and pulling itself free from the horizon and spreading now golden light upon us. Whoooo what a sight !!.
Anyway, enough of this, back to the fishing .. J
It seemed in the early hours (between 6 and 7) that this was a day where fish were in the upmost of supply since every drop produced a take although to be honest we put back 9 out of 10 as they were immature fish making their way in the world.
Then as happens so often, all of a sudden they stopped taking the bait ……
Luckily at this point in time we had what could be called a decent “Bag” of keepers so didn’t worry too much about it.
Decided to search the ground for better (or any) fish and, eventually as the pictures show the size did improve, improve to the point where Tony landed a fine 7lbd cod which at this point in time heads the leader board in the Royal Quays” heaviest fish of the season” contest (I’m sure we’ll beat it before the seasons out J )
Met up with a few companions out at Sea today (even got a smile from rich) and a wave from the crew of Shanka.
All in all a great day out, in the window of weather we’ve been looking for but ……. Didn’t get it all our own way today , it’s still called fishing and not catching J
End result was a dozen fish (24 fillets mmmmm) with more than double that put back to fight again …..
Once again, many thanks to Tony my sturdy crewman of the day ….
As ever a few pictures of the day :-
Pre Sunrise with a rather Tired Cabin Boy ....
sky prior to sun coming up .....
then 3 of the sunrise ...
Cod start to come aboard ... small at first ...
Then a little better ....
Then eventually into keeper sizes ...
of course there were still the usual ..... Scotchies
And Coalies
But eventually a good 7lbc Cod (cod not codling) to Tony
Great to see familiar faces out there ...... Shanka and Crew
Stingray and Crew ....
With a bonus shot of (honest it really is) Ritchie "Smiling" ...
the bounty of the day 24 good fillets
cheers
norm
Having watched the weather for weeks there seemed to be a window coming (just today – Saturday) that would allow us all to get out and “make up” for the many hours stranded ashore ……
Due to High Tide being at 5.00am this morning and also the fact that I have a streak of madness that likes early mornings we decided to meet at 4.00 am (Tony the cabin boy and myself) and try our hand at this “fishing” lark J
Off we went with one place in mind today - St Marys ….
A real fishing trip can only be called as such if you witness a sunrise, and boy today done us proud ….
It started before sunrise (se first pics) with orange and yellow skies backlighting the clouds and any other vessels out on the horizon making us stare in disbelief at the beauty ….
Followed closely by the “all of a sudden” appearance of the top side of the disc of the sun …
Then, in almost as little as 5 mins it was up and pulling itself free from the horizon and spreading now golden light upon us. Whoooo what a sight !!.
Anyway, enough of this, back to the fishing .. J
It seemed in the early hours (between 6 and 7) that this was a day where fish were in the upmost of supply since every drop produced a take although to be honest we put back 9 out of 10 as they were immature fish making their way in the world.
Then as happens so often, all of a sudden they stopped taking the bait ……
Luckily at this point in time we had what could be called a decent “Bag” of keepers so didn’t worry too much about it.
Decided to search the ground for better (or any) fish and, eventually as the pictures show the size did improve, improve to the point where Tony landed a fine 7lbd cod which at this point in time heads the leader board in the Royal Quays” heaviest fish of the season” contest (I’m sure we’ll beat it before the seasons out J )
Met up with a few companions out at Sea today (even got a smile from rich) and a wave from the crew of Shanka.
All in all a great day out, in the window of weather we’ve been looking for but ……. Didn’t get it all our own way today , it’s still called fishing and not catching J
End result was a dozen fish (24 fillets mmmmm) with more than double that put back to fight again …..
Once again, many thanks to Tony my sturdy crewman of the day ….
As ever a few pictures of the day :-
Pre Sunrise with a rather Tired Cabin Boy ....
sky prior to sun coming up .....
then 3 of the sunrise ...
Cod start to come aboard ... small at first ...
Then a little better ....
Then eventually into keeper sizes ...
of course there were still the usual ..... Scotchies
And Coalies
But eventually a good 7lbc Cod (cod not codling) to Tony
Great to see familiar faces out there ...... Shanka and Crew
Stingray and Crew ....
With a bonus shot of (honest it really is) Ritchie "Smiling" ...
the bounty of the day 24 good fillets
cheers
norm
. Some great shots as I would expect ..... 
)...and was nice to pull a few fish of all shapes and sizes in too - certainly kept the interest up and the tiredness at bay (I only managed an hours kip the night before 
)
I was drifting away whilst reading it. Hell I was just getting up for my first pee at 4am, what an ungodly hour. Great report as usual with fantastic pics. Can't get out there till my landies fixed, made worse by all the boats out today,
