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Oli and I had a spare afternoon, so around 15.30 we took advantage of the afternoon flood to take the boat out of Amble and see what was what. Inshore, the water was very discoloured, and at 12.4 degrees was not exactly warm for July. We tried around the reefs off Coquet Island, but nothing doing, we headed south to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening on the wrecks. There was minimal bird activity though, nor much by the way of baitfish on the sounders which were not good omens.
Even 3 miles out, the water was much clearer, with some 10-12 feet visibility, which improved to at least 15 feet when 6 miles out later on. In spite of the big tides (5m) the drift was nice and slow, and stayed that way all afternoon, so we were able to get plenty of time over all the wrecks we visited. The first wreck yielded just 5 mackerel. The next wreck, a little further out and still heading south gave Oli a 2lb codling, but nothing for me. Water temp out here had dropped to 11.9 degrees, but should still be good for mackerel.
The next wreck, and the one after gave nothing at all. And these are all good-sized wrecks too, and normally very productive.
2 more wrecks followed in a similar fashion, though there were a few mackerel on one of them.
We kept going further out and further south. The next wreck gave me 2 codling, one of 2lb and the other even smaller. This was looking silly, and we were in over 200 feet of water by now. We gave one final try to another smaller wreck that we had not visited before, but it was to no avail, so we turned around and headed for home. It was all rather disappointing. The sea was like glass, the wind had abated, good tides and water clarity, but no action. So let's see what the weekend brings!
Even 3 miles out, the water was much clearer, with some 10-12 feet visibility, which improved to at least 15 feet when 6 miles out later on. In spite of the big tides (5m) the drift was nice and slow, and stayed that way all afternoon, so we were able to get plenty of time over all the wrecks we visited. The first wreck yielded just 5 mackerel. The next wreck, a little further out and still heading south gave Oli a 2lb codling, but nothing for me. Water temp out here had dropped to 11.9 degrees, but should still be good for mackerel.
The next wreck, and the one after gave nothing at all. And these are all good-sized wrecks too, and normally very productive.
2 more wrecks followed in a similar fashion, though there were a few mackerel on one of them.
We kept going further out and further south. The next wreck gave me 2 codling, one of 2lb and the other even smaller. This was looking silly, and we were in over 200 feet of water by now. We gave one final try to another smaller wreck that we had not visited before, but it was to no avail, so we turned around and headed for home. It was all rather disappointing. The sea was like glass, the wind had abated, good tides and water clarity, but no action. So let's see what the weekend brings!
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