All the gear, but no idea.

It has always seemed a good idea to catch fish from the yacht, why not… but my previous experiences have been mixed, at best.

Over the years, I have spent fortunes on fishing gear but my sporadic efforts at fishing have amounted to little, not that I have actually invested much time or energy in it… We did catch dorado and tuna on the first Trans-Atlantic and these ate well, but I think this was more by luck than judgement and it was achieved with little effort on my part.

The basic problem is that I had no idea what I was doing, and this ignorance made me reluctant to invest much time or effort in the quest.

I know a local chap, John Rose, who is a keen sea fisherman and conversations in the pub led to a day out, specifically for fishing.

November the 5th & 6th were chosen as the weather was to be calm and dry. The colder weather, I was told, should mean that there might be cod which was an additional attraction.

Arriving at the bait shop on Hayling Island at 08.30, on John’s advice, I parted with nearly £40 for some squid and live rag worms.

Joined by Richard and his friend, Dave (also a fisherman) at the marina, we set off, full of hope and expectation – John had guaranteed fish, so I had brought along three large buckets for our substantial ‘catch’ !

So, we motored out in very light winds and with a spring tide under us. We paused at the Nab Tower and  drifted west as suggested.

No fish, or even a hint of a fish. This was apparently because we were not anchored – so we anchored… still no fish. With dusk approaching, we picked up a mooring buoy off Seaview for the night.

The ‘enthusiastic three’  proceeded to fish in the gloom and dark, convinced by fisherman John, that this was the best time to hunt our prey.

I must accept that fish were caught, but none that would supplement our rations.

 

Richard writes:

Oh dear, it was all going so well.

We started with high hopes and great expectations with dreams of huge cod by the dozen. But John warned that the waters may not be cold enough for cod at the moment but said that we could expect to catch different species, which indeed we did.

The two fishermen were enthusiastic, I was keen to learn and Nick, as we were to find out, has the patience of a gnat! If a fish didn’t bite within three minutes of getting his bait in the water, he would wind it back in and declare, “spinning, that’s what we need to do, spinning”.

And so, spinners were found, tied to his line and off he went, merrily casting with his new, brightly coloured casting rod trying not to take anyone’s eye out. But, three minutes later, “this is a bloody waste of time and what you lot have caught wouldn’t feed anyone, they’re all inedible and far too small”.

Well, the numbers don’t lie. The final tally was;

John                      5 conger eel, 1 smooth hound and 2 dog fish

Dave                     1 dog fish, 2 lovely sea bream and four eels

Richard               1 beautiful and quite enormous sea bass and 3 eels

Nick                      Nothing. Nada, Niet, Zero. SFA. Not even a tiddler.

(Editors note: all of the fish were returned to the sea, alive, but probably with sore lips)

But, all of this pales into insignificance because, this morning, Trump is in the lead and Nick is seriously grumpy! Breakfast was had in stoney silence, nobody dared say anything for fear of eruption. What’s Nick going to be like if Trump actually wins? It will be like Brexit part II ………… OMG