Lens change
Some sessions bring you more joy than others, and this is one of them. The day before, I'd gone in search of green crabs and a few arenicoles. My objective was a quiet session, drifting slowly, looking for emissoles and royals. The coefficients were low, which suits my type of fishing. I don't fish with an anchor, which I find dangerous on a kayak and makes an extra mess in the float, so I prefer to drift, which is why I choose calm coefficients. A session was normally planned for spotted seatrout and gilthead bream. I was ready to do battle with my emissola friends.
Arriving at daybreak, I get the kayak ready and already see quite a few birds at work. Looking out over the water, I tell myself I'm going to change tack. I press on a little and head down to the slipway, where I'm treated to a special splash show. Beneath the birds, there are huge shoals of forage and, of course, predators gorging themselves. There's no doubt about it, they're bonito on the hunt, and I can see the lines left on the surface by their movements. The schools are bursting at the seams, and some of the smaller fish, in a panic, even run aground on the bank. I'll see later that these are schools of anchovies and small sardines. Striped bonito, or Sarda Sarda, are back in the Brest harbor, like torpedoes.
New technique
Fortunately, I always take my lure rod with me for sea bass, so a change of tactic, ditching the crabs and cushy drifts and switching to the chase version. I set up my favorite lure, a blue Yozuri 3DB Jerkbait. Heading for the hunt closest to the hold, I cast out to about twenty meters, close the pick-up, two strokes of the reel and it's hooked. It's violent, it's fast, it's bonito. I chase them all morning, from hunt to hunt. The surface burst only lasts a few minutes at most, and you have to be close by. For this type of fishing action, the propelled kayak is an asset, as you need to be reactive and move fast. From time to time, in the middle of these hunts, I'll hook a sea bass or a big horse mackerel. I'll get a good fifteen of these bonito, some of which will come off the kayak, but will give me a good fight.
Around midday, my arms start to feel a bit hot, so I decide to take a break, as the hunts are still on. Having swallowed my snack, I return to the water for the return trip. I'll catch another nice bonito and two sea bass. It's 1:00 p.m., the hunt is still on, but it's good, I've had my fill, I'm exhausted... There are times when things don't turn out as planned, and you have to be able to reconfigure. It would have been a shame to miss such an opportunity. The emissoles and royals are still present for some time on these spots, and I'll be back to dedicate a session to them. Thanks to the bonitos for a great time on the water.
