My plan was to revisit the reef which had delivered cod and wrasse on Monday, this time using weighted shads and sidewinders. The tides today only gave short east-west drifts, and nothing took much interest in the lures. I switched back to my favourite white sabikis and took a decent pollack and codling.

During a break in fishing for lunch, we anchored up in a sheltered bay. My rod was still rigged with the sabikis, so whilst eating, I dropped them over the side. Instantly, there was a strong tug, and I pulled in a ballan wrasse of about 3lb.

I tried dropshotting a pink Power Isome, with no further takes.

Fishing resumed, the boat relocated to the mark where we’d taken the mackerel a few days before. Today, there was none of the seabird and porpoise action, so the big shoals must have been elsewhere. I saw a few mackerel caught on a nearby boat, but I couldn’t connect with any this time.

I rounded off the day, with another troll-by of the productive bass mark, only to lose the Rapala. It felt like a take, but on winding in, the fluorocarbon was cut and the remainder was badly degraded. I can only conclude there’s sharp metal in the vicinity of where the bass live.

Total Catch:

  • 1 Pollack
  • 1 Cod
  • 1 Ballan Wrasse