We got a few trips in before we had to stop running trips in line with government guidance. This report covers the last couple of trips as I forgot to take any pictures on one of them. The first day saw us leaving a little later than usual as Ian and the lads had a long way to travel and wanted a leisurely day. We compromised on a 7.30 start which meant we would get an hour or so fishing with wind over tide. We started a little further out and had a few roker, dogfish and whiting before to tide died. There was a fresh breeze which was forecast to pick up and it would soon be wind against tide. Once the tide was on the turn we had a move to where we had seen good numbers of roker the other week. They weren’t here today and things were very quiet on the start of the tide so an hour later we had a move. Typically as I hauled the anchor we had a double hook up on roker. We had a move anyway and the next couple of marks produced fish but not as many as we wanted. Finally our last mark proved to be quite busy as the tide died and we had a nice flurry of fish to end the day.
The next day I was joined by Dan and his mates. There were 7 lads in total and 6 of them were on hire rods although most had been with me before. The lads last trip was very different, way back in November when we first launched the catamaran. Dans group were on the second trip I did with her when the sea was like glass and the sun was shining. Today was quite different, although the sun was out there was a strong easterly wind blowing straight down the river. We took a slow ride straight into the sea and the boat took it very well. We had a small amount of shelter on our first mark and once we were anchored it was perfectly fishable and even making tea was no problem. The good thing was we had a few fish coming over the side for the first couple of hours. Not heaps but it was steady fishing with roker and dogfish coming aboard. Once the tide turned we had a short move and were afforded even more shelter. The boat was barely moving and the fishing was good. The wind its self was still strong but for those that could shelter out of the wind it was a lovely afternoon. We had a steady afternoons fishing and packed up early as the lads caught enough. The lads had 31 roker, loads of dogfish and several whiting for their efforts. Not a huge amount for this time of year but a good day when many boats would be stuck in port.
Please keep an eye on the Essex sea fishing website and facebook page for more reports both old and new over the coming weeks.
At the moment we still don’t know when we will be running again but feel free to contact me to discuss future trips or just to talk about fishing as im bored right now and could use the distraction.
Scott Belbin, skipper of the Galloper, west Mersea, Essex, 07956411528