Mission 'Gilthead'

Inspired by Dave's recent trip I had laid down plans for a go at a Gilthead Bream trip this afternoon. Conditions were far from ideal but I'd dug some worm, readied my gear and was going what ever the weather.
Arriving at the mark, there was no tide running yet but I sat there with the wind on my back and flicked a couple of baits out. I knew that fishing effectively was going to be hard work today as the wind was pretty fresh and set to blow against the little tide there would be when it picked up.
As the tide started to run the boat swung round with it and then swung back with the wind. It was like this for the entire 3 hours I was there and it did indeed make fishing hard work with the boat constantly swinging through 180°. Bites were difficult to spot, snags were inevitable and fishing several rods was out of the question.
Undeterred I tried to make the best of the time I had there. Small black bream, bass and wrasse were nailing my baits pretty much as soon as they hit bottom. I must admit I'd pretty much written off my chances of finding a Gilthead today but just after high tide I had a succession of hard bangs. I hit it on the fourth bang and the rod bent round signalling a lively head shaker. I told myself that this was either going to be a wrasse or the target species and sure enough after a good little scrap a Gilthead appeared along side the boat. I could see that Dave's record was still quite safe so a quick lift and I swung it to hand. A very handsome looking fish weighing in at 1lb 3oz.

It's funny how one fish can make all the difference and turn a crap trip into a worthwhile one. Pleased to tick the species off the list this year....now to find a better one!