Pollack for Grey Viking

After a weekend that proved to be really hard work on the Pollack Fishing and struggling with conditions that proved to be not ideal due to poor water clarity and higher winds than expected etc we decided that today we would punch out in a different direction in search of clearer water.
The crew today was Nick, Katie, David, Ray and myself.  A right motley crew if ever there was one.  Nick an experienced fisherman and his dance partner Katie.  David the Brighton boy, who was seeking a distraction, due to his girlfriend being away on holiday.  We headed out East to join a friend of ours out in his neck of the woods and whilst steaming out we had a good old natter and the banter was soon flowing between the five of us.  The sun was shining and no matter what happened we were going to have a good day.

Arriving at the intended spot the first and most obvious thing was the water clarity and of course another boat already fishing ….. that will be our mate Butcher Boy.  The name will become obvious a little later.

All rigged up and lines wet we were soon into some fish.  To start with a couple of huge pout and some lovely fat whiting all of which came in on Nick and Jackie’s rods who were working with cod feathers and pirks.

At this point the glorious weather conditions that we were enjoying vanished under a blanket of fog.  At first this came in small pockets but before we knew it the visibility was down to less than 100m. This put Ray out of action as far as fishing was concerned as we could see next to nothing but hear fog horns blasting all around us.  Ray was on full alert keeping us on the drifts, into the fish and keeping watch on the radar.

This was followed by a quiet period.  Fish showing in masses on the sounder but slack water was upon us and the ebb was just a short time away and the fish would be ready to bite.  After waiting for the action to start it soon became evident that it wasn’t going to happen in this spot so a move was in order and we steamed out for another couple of miles to another wreck which proved to be the spot for the day.

We were again fishing with our dear friend butcher boy who came up trumps with the sausage sandwich, which was landed on board our boat after some careful manoeuvring and a damn good fling by the sausage cooking master himself Mr S Butcher (boy).  I am pretty sure if he tried for the Olympic team in the discus he would stand a damn good chance at beating any other British Olympic hope that this country has been able to produce.  To throw a sausage laden bap across the water and land it right in front of me must be some sort of achievement.

Lunch all sorted and it was into the fishing.  Ray continuing to do sterling job,  setting us up on the drifts and keeping us all out of harms way.  The fog at this point was so thick you could  slice it.

Rods down and it was bite, bite, bite.  The first Pollack and the one, which was going to prove to be the biggest of the day for us was brought in after a fight that would have you thinking it, was a much bigger fish.  Diving 3,4,5 times this one was going to get away if given half a chance.  No chance was given and it came on board to the delight of myself (being my first ever Pollack at 14.5lb) not huge but very, very nice.

This was followed very quickly on the next drift with Dave bringing in a nice Pollack and Nick and Jackie bringing in the Cod.  The Pollack coming in on black and pink jelly worms and the cod on gold sidewinders.

Then again and again with each drift three out of the four of us who were fishing were getting the bites and the fish were coming on board.

We were bringing in some lovely quality fish none of which were massive in size but the most beautiful specimens.  They were coming in thick and fast and bringing much delight to the crew.

Achieved today was Jackie’s  first ever Pout quickly followed by her first ever Whiting.  But it was not about to stop there as soon her first Cod  came aboard weighing in at 10lb and she made it look easy.  She followed this with her first ever Pollack which was a very nice one at 12lb.  Well done Jackie!

David was trying his best to get the big fish but it seemed he was destined for smaller one but made up for it in numbers.  He had a bite every drift and landed a Pollack on most of them, losing a couple along the way.  You can only believe him when he says the ones that were lost were soooooooo much bigger.

I have to give some credit to those bites that were lost as some of them were real rod benders.  Some of which I lost myself.  Every fish today was so lightly hooked it was gentle persuasion to the surface for all of them.

Nick was spending the whole day being the gentleman and was getting the bites that would have seen him bringing some lovely fish on board only to hand over his rod to enjoy seeing Jackie really get the most out of her first days fishing.  I take my hat off to that man as to share the joy of fishing is the most wonderful thing.

Due to the distance travelled today and the fog that came in we ended up with just a couple of hours on the action but with just four people angling we brought in 20 fish.  David seeing 3 lovely Pollack not massive but very nice and no I am not taking the Michael, Jackie and Nick bring in some lovely cod and Pollack too along with the smaller fish they caught earlier in the trip, and then I came home with 3 Pollack one of which was the biggest of the day.  I only mention this so David knows the score.  But all in all the numbers did not count today as it was a great day out with lovely people and it was fun all the way.

Before this story ends though you have to hear about the tedious journey home.  Pea soup is telling the story mild it was like navigating through flipping ovaltine, the fog was so thick tonight.  (ovaltine is an old fashioned milky drink that you would not wish on your best friend or is that horlicks ermm?)

We were only looking at a 30 mile plus journey at reduced speed with radar watch and the foghorn put into action.  Having navigated the next target was getting through the may nets and pots that appear from nowhere 5 miles from home.

The new electronics saw us in easy the fog got forever thicker and all eyes were on watch.  Skipper proved his skills bringing us into the marina and Nick was a really helpful member of the crew standing out on deck and being the guiding eye whilst Ray took us safely home on what was a an almost blind navigation back to port.

Moored up and a quick run down of the day saw us all heading our different ways and back to our beds.  I would like to extend a big thank you to Nick, Jackie and David for a lovely day and also thank you all for gutting the fish and cleaning down the boat whilst we were busy with getting us through the beginnings of our passage home.

You were a wonderful crew and we would be delighted to have you on board at any time.  Cheers!

Bring on more of the same.  Fingers crossed for the weather to stay good.  We have the fire in the belly and need the opportunity to get you guys out there to spark your enthusiasm for more of the same.