Bass are in......

[Rob]

I was asked to crew Kodiak back from the Hamble to her home at NHYC Poole, forecast looked 'ok', wind and swell behind us.
 
I chucked in a old rod with fixed spool to try for an early mackerel off the Shingles.......Adam didn't bother.
 
Well, whilst I feathered, Adam cleaned the cabin. I moved us off back towards Poole and the Xchurch Ledge, and no sooner had I said "keep an eye out for birds....." Than Adam spotted some......
 
We headed over, it was like a tuna bust-up. I would say we ended up with 1000+ gulls and a line of them that stretched 1/2 mile or more.
 
Started off on feathers....a decent bass followed them to the boat...
Found a reasonably heavy lure and got close, couple of hits on first cast, then fish hooked on second.
 
That is how we spent the next 60 minutes.....we caught loads, many just under size, but managed a few sizeable ones for the coolbox.
 
Yes, I let him borrow my boat rod to cast with! And I even caught a couple on a lure tied to a spool of line by hand.
 
Not bad for a non-fishing trip!
 
Lovely cruise back, on to mooring and a glass of wine in the sun by the clubhouse.

One of this year's upgrades was sonar with a thru-hull , which needed an extension to a step in the hull ..... It worked beautifully! There was always noise on the display at speed, where we believe air was below the shallow hull.
 
R
 

[great white]

Sounds like a great return trip.

 

Lucky for the fish that you did not have two rods onboard.

I did wonder last night why you were out , on a day when the breeze was fresh in the boatyard.

[Rob]

It was very fishable and we thought it might be a bit snotty, not at all! Even once the tide changed. Small tides I guess. So usual cruise speeds were maintained.

Most boats seemed to think the same, only a few yachts seen in the bay, no anglers at all.

R