Tweet
The forecast was very iffy - strong SW winds and a big tide - 5m - on top. But it's been a month since I last got out because of the awful weekend weather so figured that if we hugged the coast we might be ok. Left the berth at Amble at 9 am and had a reasonably comfortable trip up to Seaton point, but the tide was too strong and gave a fast 1.7-1.8 knot drift. The water was an ugly brown colour too. So Oli, my son and I tried off Alnmouth golf course, but really it wasn't any better, so seeing that the wind was veering SW we hopped around Boulmer and tried several drifts the other side. At last we found some codling to 2lb, but the bottom didn't have a great deal of structure so we kept going and tried some of the reefs off Craster. Oli had a couple of nice pollack to 4lb on shads and yellow and red jelly sandeels. And of course mackerel, big ones too. I had some decent-sized coalies and some small codling on lures. Oli switched to a metal jig and I tried some baited hokkis but really, we were struggling.
Early in the afternoon the weather deteriorated further, with big swells appearing, so we opted to stock up on mackerel for ourselves and some neighbours. The strings of tinsel I was using were not much use, so I rummaged around in the tackle bag and found some lurid Shakespeare mini sandeels in a fetching shade of mauve and purple. I really can't remember buying them they were that disgusting, but I gave them a go. Immediately, I was being hammered every drop, mostly by coalies and mackerel, and soon had enough for dinner. I kept at it, freeing everything after that. The pollack were especially keen on this set of sandeels too, and I had 4-5 good fish, one after another, with the best one being at least 8lb.
Around 3pm the seas had built up considerably so we packed up and headed back to the marina - a very wet ride indeed at a sedate 8 knots.
Overall, it was a good day out. Some excellent fish and a new mark. And as usual, we had the entire coast to ourselves.
Early in the afternoon the weather deteriorated further, with big swells appearing, so we opted to stock up on mackerel for ourselves and some neighbours. The strings of tinsel I was using were not much use, so I rummaged around in the tackle bag and found some lurid Shakespeare mini sandeels in a fetching shade of mauve and purple. I really can't remember buying them they were that disgusting, but I gave them a go. Immediately, I was being hammered every drop, mostly by coalies and mackerel, and soon had enough for dinner. I kept at it, freeing everything after that. The pollack were especially keen on this set of sandeels too, and I had 4-5 good fish, one after another, with the best one being at least 8lb.
Around 3pm the seas had built up considerably so we packed up and headed back to the marina - a very wet ride indeed at a sedate 8 knots.
Overall, it was a good day out. Some excellent fish and a new mark. And as usual, we had the entire coast to ourselves.
Comment