Time and tide

I haven't been fishing as much as I'd like this year, and haven't had much luck the few times I have cast a line in the water.

Some days, though, make up for all the fruitless efforts.

Earlier in the week I had been pruning some trees in the yard and trying to start the lawnmower, when I noticed my watch showed four fish.

My Casio 3768 showing a 'good fishing' rating
of 2 out of 4 fish at the time of writing.

Once you have set the longitude for your location in the watch, it keeps track of where the moon is in relation to you (and the phases of the moon), and gives a 'good fishing' rating for each hour of the day; 4 fish = excellent, no fish = bad.

Not a hard decision to make: keep trying to start the lawnmower or jump on the motorbike and go for a fish...

I grabbed my fishing bag and soon arrived at my local river mouth at low tide.

Ever since a shag grabbed my lure a while ago, I've been using that particular lure more than others.

After a few casts, I thought for a moment I'd snagged the bottom, but I then felt a tug on the line.

The fish twisted and swam free near the water's edge after I'd fought it for a couple of minutes. I hate losing a hooked fish.

I was expecting kahawai, if anything, but the fish seemed more agile in its movement than a kahawai.

Continuing casting, letting my lure sink near the bottom, I soon hooked up again just as the lure was almost wound in. A quick fight that ended with me running backwards to drag the fish onto the shore and hopefully avoid losing it again resulted in a fine sea-run trout.