Fishing Afloat This Week

The East winds have been blowing this week, which has meant flat calm seas on parts of the coast. The water has slowly started to warm up, and it seemed a good opportunity to get out there and do some fishing afloat in the evenings.

Met up with a mate, and we took to the sea in his small boat, with the hope of finding a few fish, and to check out the conditions and signs at this time of the season. I decided to fish with a baitcastwer set up, my Major Craft Volkey Big Lake Custom rod, paired with a Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL reel, spooled with Sunline Super Braid PE#2.0 / 20lb.

The wind was making our drifts a bit too quick, and we had to keep repositioning the boat, making the fishing a little tricky at times. The water was flat calm tho, and the recent algae bloom was not too much of a problem where we were. One downside was we simply did not see the promising signs of fish breaking the surface, baitfish scattering etc. It took a while, but finally, after clipping on a DUO Tide Minnow SLD125, I had a hook up just as the lure hit the water. Only a small Bass, but a very welcome one.

We fished on, changing spots untill dusk, and decided to call it a day, with just one other Bass following the lure to the boat. Earlier in the week, I had ventured out on a fishing ski, for a paddle around the bay. It had been a while since I last fished from a very small craft, and forgot how awkward the simple things can be when space and balance is limited. Didn't find any Bass that evening, but the Mackerel and Wrasse were about. It was a good chance to try out the Van Staal VSB150B reel I recently picked up, a real workhorse, and not a problem using it in the wet conditions when fishing afloat on a small craft.