The forecast was dire, suggesting thunderstorms, heavy rain and lumpy seas. Oli and I took the chance though as Ventusky predicted the thunderstorms would be further north and we headed out of Amble at 9.00 am. We turned south, and wondered whether we were mad as the only other boats in sight were the charter bats out of Amble.
We stopped at Hauxley, seeking mackerel for dinner, and strangely, we didn't connect with any mackerel all day. So we pushed on further south, and on the banks we found some fish. Nothing big, all being under 2lb, but there were codling, coalies, pollack and pouting, and plenty of them. The exception was a 6 pounder (66cm) that Oli managed to bring to the boat.
The winds abated a touch, and the seas flattened, so we pushed on down to Cresswell. It was the same story, plenty of smaller stuff, but using very light tackle they were fun all the same. Still no mackerel though. For a while, it was sunny, then thick fog descended on us, but the fish kept on coming over the side. Knowing that the wind would pick up strongly from about 5.00 pm we made our way back up to Hauxley and the headlands, so that by the time the winds really got going, we were close enough to home. Heading into Amble, we came across some dolphins at the entrance to the harbour, which was a bonus.
May tally for the day was just over 50 fish, but the biggest codling was only 3lb, the biggest pollack 2lb and I did manage to tempt a 2lb wrasse to grab my lure. Oli had a similar score, aside from his one better cod. Maybe it was the small tides, the slow drift speed, or just simply that there is so much feed in the water that the bigger fish are gorging themselves. I've attached a photo of the small sandeels that one codling deposited on the boat.
As a postscript, I took my wife out today, and we very quickly caught a couple of mackerel for dinner. We were also treated to an awesome display by the dolphins feeding between the piers. And for any birders out there we saw a red throated diver chasing fish at the entrance to the marina.
We stopped at Hauxley, seeking mackerel for dinner, and strangely, we didn't connect with any mackerel all day. So we pushed on further south, and on the banks we found some fish. Nothing big, all being under 2lb, but there were codling, coalies, pollack and pouting, and plenty of them. The exception was a 6 pounder (66cm) that Oli managed to bring to the boat.
The winds abated a touch, and the seas flattened, so we pushed on down to Cresswell. It was the same story, plenty of smaller stuff, but using very light tackle they were fun all the same. Still no mackerel though. For a while, it was sunny, then thick fog descended on us, but the fish kept on coming over the side. Knowing that the wind would pick up strongly from about 5.00 pm we made our way back up to Hauxley and the headlands, so that by the time the winds really got going, we were close enough to home. Heading into Amble, we came across some dolphins at the entrance to the harbour, which was a bonus.
May tally for the day was just over 50 fish, but the biggest codling was only 3lb, the biggest pollack 2lb and I did manage to tempt a 2lb wrasse to grab my lure. Oli had a similar score, aside from his one better cod. Maybe it was the small tides, the slow drift speed, or just simply that there is so much feed in the water that the bigger fish are gorging themselves. I've attached a photo of the small sandeels that one codling deposited on the boat.
As a postscript, I took my wife out today, and we very quickly caught a couple of mackerel for dinner. We were also treated to an awesome display by the dolphins feeding between the piers. And for any birders out there we saw a red throated diver chasing fish at the entrance to the marina.
