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I t was a bit of a last minute decision to go out on Saturday. The forecast wasn't great, and after refuelling, Oli and I nosed out of Amble to be met by very lumpy seas, and the wind a lot fresher than forecast. The conditions were not right for heading out to the wrecks, so we opted to stay inshore, and stooged around Hauxley and Bondicarr for the first hour and a half.
The fish were there, mostly in the shallower water and kelp - 20 foot or less. On plastics, I had 10 codling, half-a-dozen coalies and 3 mackerel. Oli had fewer, but his were better specimens on his home-made lures. After a while, the seas abated a bit, so we dropped onto White Bank, just off Hadston. The seabed was carpetted with fish. Fortunately, I had half a flask full of frozen prawns as they seemed to prefer bait. It was a fish a drop. Nothing big, 3.5lb being the largest, but it was fun. Still on his lures, Oli picked up pollack to 5lb and codling to 6lb. Over the next 2 hours, I had 70 codling, half-a-dozen pollack, a dozen coalies and 3 or 4 mackerel. Everything went back.We also saw the large solitary dolphin again.
With the winds even lighter, we headed down to Cresswell. Here the rains started and the fish became harder to find. Moreover, someone had strung a net along the eastern side of the drop-off, and I lost a couple of sets of gear to it. Apart from a couple of orange surface markers, there was nothing to tell you it was there, strung out over a hundred yards or so. On the reef itself, I had another half-dozen codling, several pout and a few more coalies and mackerel. One of the small codling had a rusty old hook sticking out of its head, showing that fish can sometime survive the experience.
It was time to work our way back, and stopping at White Bank and Bondicarr brought a few more codling, giving me a tally of close to 100 fish for the day. The codling were mostly kelpies too, but being small reminded me of what fishing is usually like in late May or early June. Maybe the season is late this year? If they manage to pack on a few pounds over the next month or two, it should be a good end of season.
The fish were there, mostly in the shallower water and kelp - 20 foot or less. On plastics, I had 10 codling, half-a-dozen coalies and 3 mackerel. Oli had fewer, but his were better specimens on his home-made lures. After a while, the seas abated a bit, so we dropped onto White Bank, just off Hadston. The seabed was carpetted with fish. Fortunately, I had half a flask full of frozen prawns as they seemed to prefer bait. It was a fish a drop. Nothing big, 3.5lb being the largest, but it was fun. Still on his lures, Oli picked up pollack to 5lb and codling to 6lb. Over the next 2 hours, I had 70 codling, half-a-dozen pollack, a dozen coalies and 3 or 4 mackerel. Everything went back.We also saw the large solitary dolphin again.
With the winds even lighter, we headed down to Cresswell. Here the rains started and the fish became harder to find. Moreover, someone had strung a net along the eastern side of the drop-off, and I lost a couple of sets of gear to it. Apart from a couple of orange surface markers, there was nothing to tell you it was there, strung out over a hundred yards or so. On the reef itself, I had another half-dozen codling, several pout and a few more coalies and mackerel. One of the small codling had a rusty old hook sticking out of its head, showing that fish can sometime survive the experience.
It was time to work our way back, and stopping at White Bank and Bondicarr brought a few more codling, giving me a tally of close to 100 fish for the day. The codling were mostly kelpies too, but being small reminded me of what fishing is usually like in late May or early June. Maybe the season is late this year? If they manage to pack on a few pounds over the next month or two, it should be a good end of season.
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