Bob F Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 (edited) Went out from Wick with Legless (Jason) yesterday afternoon. The tide was up, so managed to launch quite easily with Jas in the boat. Shot out to the bass mark and had no trouble picking up mackerel. The shoals were showing up well on the fish finder. Saw plenty on the surface too. Met Paul and Mark on Neo at the bass mark and started our first drifts. It was my first time with the float rig, so a bit apprehensive about getting the set up right and fishing it correctly. Jas started with a weighted portland rig but soon lost the whole lot in the bottom and so switched over to a float. The fishing was very slow, but there was plenty of fish showing on the sounder. After 90 mins, Mark was the only one to have caught a bass around the 3-4 pound mark. I had just let the float out on a new drift and decided to put the rod down and put my feet up. I turned to Jas and said "of course a good skipper would put you on a bass, but you'll have to put up with me today." Then, wham! The large float shoots under and the rod's bent over in the holder! A fantastic fight ensued, I'd never had so many strong runs from a fish before. This was marvellous stuff. The rod and reel handled the situation beautifully, to the extent that I never thought I was gunna loose this one. Jas did a great job with the net, and my PB bass was in the boat. RESULT!!! I was so excited I forgot to give Jas a kiss!! In the boat the fish weighted ~9lb, but back at home it weighted 8.75lb (yes, unfortunately, this one did get taken home ) Mark, Paul and I all caught another bass, but that was all for the day. Jason didn't want to peak too early in his new small-boat-fishing adventures, so he's waiting for next time for his first bass. Then shot back to the Ledge to meet Gordon and Dom on Enticer with the idea of anchoring up for a few hours conger fishing. Was gutted to come along side Enticer only to be shown a big bass which Gordon had just pick up on his Conger bait!! Jammy Sod! Anyway, stuck the pick in, and as night fell the first conger bites started. I was soon into a beast and Jas hit into one at the same time. A double header on the first drop! We ended up with 4 conger in the two hours before slack water, sizes were 30lb and 20lb to me, and 25lb and 10lb to Jason. A pretty good session all in all. It's great when a plan comes together and you catch the target species. By the way, Legless was a great crew. Eager to learn, but quite capable at the same time. He's not the complete beginner he makes out to be. My only regret was forgetting to ensure we both put life jackets on, especially when fishing at night. I gotta get into the habit of this. cheers BF Edited August 5, 2006 by Bob F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 cracking result Bob, i called dom last night and he said u were on the money. He recons they were tied on the wrong bouy. Dom was at home today proudley showing his missus and her friends a big bass that he caught them for supper.................Of course he was showing off Gordens fish and claiming the credit......haha..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob F Posted August 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 I was in mixed minds about taking mine home, but we had bass steaks on the BBQ this evening and the whole family were stunned by the quality of the fish. Cooked simply with a dash of good olive oil, it was gorgeous. One fish fed 5 people with some to spare. Top draw!! BF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 Our trip out was a little more eventful ( if not fish wise ). Found the bass mark fishing slow. Got Mark into a fish though and had one myself, them Mark had a second. Steamed over to the Sole mark and settled down but nothing showing at all. Decided to move over to where Plaicemat and Lady Jane were but I had forgotten to reel my line in. Fortunately the steam over was shorter that the length of my braid ( just !) - so wound in for what seemed an eternity. Mark had to go one better though - he dropped his rod over the side but had the line inside the boat but the reel was in freespool. Having pulled all the braid in, eventually got the rod back in the boat - phew ! Fished until around 11:00 ish but Mark had to work next day, so steamed back to Christchurch. Problem with electrics as we navigated through the channel though. All lights / GPS turned off when I went to use the power tilt. Evidently they had been running on the power from the engine as opposed to any in the battery. Dropped anchor in the run whilst I switched to battery 1 ( thank god for 2 batteries ). My "Marine" battery is flat as a pancake and I suspect not holding charge as I had a similar occurrance whilst fishing with Paul J. Now back on battery 1 we steamed towards the run, I was regretting having deleted my track out though . Going up the run we saw a boat hammering across the bar which was well shallow - they found this out themselves as the ground to a halt on it ). Steaming up the harbour we were suddenly met with a loud clattering noise. "WHAT NOW!" I think to myself. We both look in the back of the boat and it appears that one of the bass has suddenly decided to thrash around on deck. This was puzzling given we had gutted the fish around 1 hour ago It transpired that a mullet had lept into the boat whilst we steamed past - never had that happen before - amazing ! ( could have been a sea trout though ). The rest of the trip back was pretty uneventful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 Hi Bob, Thanks for a great trip yesterday. I think that you've definitely got me hooked on the old float fishing, and it was a pleasure to land the bass for you. What a fish it was , he was certainly a Mike tyson. I couldn't of wished for a better trip, and it has only confirmed that fishing is great. I'll bring the old disabled badge next time and save a few quid on the parking fees. You must tell your mates to stop following you around so much though ! ! I must admit that i was cream crackered this morning and didn't get out the pit too early...........It must have been all those fish we hauled in......well thats not really an excuse .....cus it's true. Take care c u soon Jas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 Ps don't do kissing ! ! ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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