Very capricious weather
The first point to note is that the elements are not there to encourage me in this choice of life. In fact, as soon as I set up as a sea-fishing guide in Dieppe, I had to deal with some very difficult weather. Never in my memory have I experienced such a harsh winter in terms of wind. A permanent wind made it impossible to set sail all winter long. The first customers were patient! We had to adapt and wait until spring to make our first outings.
Big yellow lees on the first outings
The first customers were spoiled. Right from the start of my season, the big yellow lees were there first fish of the year at 81 cm.
Yellows exceeding 80 cm are regularly caught.
Bars on the menu in 2024
While I was all set to offer some great off-shore pollock fishing, sea bass fishing can be tricky. So, I made my first scouting trip in early April. Fou, sea bass are already present on the coastal wrecks. Not in great numbers, but there are some good-sized fish biting on both shad-type soft lures and 25 to 40 gram jigs.
The opening of the sea bass fishing season is well underway, and our customers are catching some fine fish, like Paul-André from BGFCF, who caught a magnificent sea bass in 12 meters of water.
Beautiful fish in June
June saw an acceleration in the number of specimens caught. In fact, the scouting work carried out over nearly 3 years is bearing fruit, and customers are setting their own personal records, with bass over 70 cm and yellow lees over 80 cm on a regular basis. It's a real pleasure that the convivial days I offer often end with such catches.
Groundfish arrive in July
The stingrays have arrived and I've found a way of regularly catching emissoles at Dieppe, which is something new for me. Having fished for this fish two years in a row on the English coast around the Isle of White, then this year in the Brest harbour, I've set up this experiment in Dieppe. The fights are powerful, and the anglers are delighted to hit a beautiful ray or a beautifulmissole on a specific workshop set up for one or two hours. These fish are the perfect complement to bass and pollack fishing.
In addition, the large dorados, other bottom-feeding fish, have arrived.
Fishing guide, the right choice?
The days are clearly exhausting. Weekends are few and far between. But the pleasure experienced by our customers is an enormous source of satisfaction, and a constant motivation to improve the quality of our fishing trips from Dieppe. For the moment, at the halfway point, I don't regret for a single second having left the office for this lifestyle choice.
What's more, I've had a string of good news: reports on M6, France 3 and Youtube, IGFA Captain and Capitaine BGFCF certification, ANCV vacation voucher certification...
