Got out front by 6 a.m. in somewhat snotty seas. ESE winds 10-15 mph with some swells made the slow up and down ride seem longer. At first light there was a plethora of birds on bait and bass boiling at the top. Best part was I was the third boat to arrive. Quickly hooked up on a sand eel fly and lost the big fish just out of arms reach as the barbless hooked got spit.
Then as soon as it went off...it stopped. The birds were gone. The bait was gone. Even the fish marks were gone. And by then I was not alone. As the party and private boats showed up it hard to get a nice drift. Boats were doing a lot of jigging and trolling so I decided to go and try and find my own fish.
As I pulled away from the pack I spotted some birds working closer to the beach. I cut the throttle not wanting to look as if I was going somewhere with a purpose. But it was too late, about a half a dozen boats were already on my tail. I got to the spot and made a few casts before moving on. Before I left I watched as the anglers on The Fisherman jigged away without a bite.
I went to just "be alone" and got a nice drift and connected on a few bass with a sand eel pattern in 35 feet of water. They hit low, and hard, and the above fish was just a beast. Boat drifting one way, fish running the other.
I didn't wait around for the outgoing to really kick it and for that bite to start but I am sure those that did were rewarded for their patience, or for others, their later start.
