Mike had Monday off. That seemed like a good enough reason. What to do then? The bass have been sparse locally over the last couple of weeks and the water wasn’t clear enough to find the mackerel without travelling. I was between shifts and the forecast was iffy with stormy weather apparent; indeed it hammered down around 6am…localised smuttiness then? We settled on Hopton as Corton had resulted in a blank last week.
9am saw us at the top of the ramp getting ready. The sea looked favourable and it was hot and bright; why had I clambered into my drysuit? Oh well, it might rain. We went down the ramp and paddled out against the tide to the usual mark. I chose to fish 3 rods. 1 for thornies with bluey and a 4/0 wishbone, one for smuts with squid and a 4/0 single hook and one scratching with a 2/0 wishbone.
The tide was already running as I dropped anchor and baited up. Casting out I figured it’d be a while but no, bites came from the off, regular but small and connecting was near impossible…it took half an hour until finally a dab came aboard.
Sweet! Another half hour passed before a whiting graced my yak with its presence. Small, it went back.
As the flow increased the bites disappeared. There was nothing happening and this went on for a good couple of hours. I was right on the reef in 30ft and getting more fed up as time passed, especially when the weather began to deteriorate; the wind building and the storm clouds gathering.
The water started to clear as the tide dropped and then the fish started to bite again. Mike was getting harassed by a seal, once jumping just in front of the yak, startling him. He called over to ask what I’d had…a dab and 3 whiting now and then immediately another one took the bait…and another. Oh, and a whelk!
Squid was being stripped, bluey was being stripped and the occasional fish was being hooked on all 3 rods but things were poor with nearly everything going back bar the dab and one whiting for the pan. Two good bites failed to connect and frustration was setting in. We carried on until slack water in the hope that the smuts would come on but no, they didn’t and, out of bait it came time to come in. 10 small whiting and a dab for five hours on the water. When will the next good session come?
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