Fun with bars
After an autumnal week and a forecast for this week that was scarcely any better, this weekend in fine weather was much appreciated. Saturday was a trip to the north coast with a colleague who hadn't put his kayak in the water since last year. The choice of the north coast for this morning was the right one. No wind, low tidal coefficients with a rising tide until around 11.00 am, no fog and plenty of sunshine. At 6.00 am I'm ready on the beach, waiting for my session companion, and I head out onto the water to have fun with the sea bass. After a busy half-hour, my colleague joins me. It's a reprise for him, so we'll take it easy.
Heading for the open sea, after 3/4 of an hour we're at work and the first fish come aboard. Olds, sea bass, coquettes, mackerel and, of course, pollack. Caught in around twenty meters of water and gently reeled in, they're off to a good start once the photo has been taken. We even doubled up on some nice passages detected by depth sounder. Peak activity occurred 01 h 00 before slack tide. Many boats surround us, and they too have sensed the opportunity. By 11.00 am, the fishing done, we quietly set off for home. Of course, we share a nice snack before heading home. The few remaining clouds have disappeared, and it's a beautiful afternoon ahead.
Fishing on flushes
On Sunday, I'm doing it again with another colleague, but fog is forecast on the north coast, so we're staying in the harbor. We're in the middle of the Fêtes maritimes with the Brest 2024 event, and there are going to be a lot of people out on the water. As soon as we're in the water, there's a huge chase, and we spend a good half-hour on it. There are mackerel and sea bass chasing small sprats, with hundreds of birds taking part in the feast.
A quick aside about working on hunts. For motorized boats, there's no need to go full throttle with the engine running on the hunt, as this is the best way to bring it to a rapid halt. Switch off your engine well in advance and come on the hunt with the boat's inertia. Work at a distance of about 15 metres from the chase. The boat that came alongside us was unfortunately not a good example...
After this episode, we decided to take to the open sea for a while and on a new hunt, I hit no less than 4 species with small jigs, sea bass, mackerel, sea bream and pike-perch. This allows us to fish fast on chases and to get below the often smaller surface fish, with the big ones underneath. After that, we decided to do a trolling session in search of bonito, but we didn't find them. Once again, sea bass and mackerel were present.
We also take the opportunity to sail past the nautical festivals and admire the sailboats preparing to parade in the Narrows. The beach chosen for the picnic break is an excellent vantage point from which to enjoy the spectacle. After a short sail back to the slipway, the session comes to an end: the weather is fine and the sun is out. Tomorrow they're forecasting rain and I can confirm that, as I write these lines, gallons of water are falling on us, long live summer...
