I had a birthday treat session on the Shambles with Steve Porter and his superb boat "True Blue" the other day.
We'd gambled on the weather the evening before by deciding to go ahead with the trip despite the poor forecasts as they we showing signs of improving, and by the morning it was a calm but foggy start from Poole. It looked like other skippers had read the weather wrongly as when we got to the Shambles it was deserted. We had the entire banks to ourselves all day, but to be fair to the Weymouth skippers it was quite misty and the Portland foghorn was sounding most of the day 
.Drifting on the Shambles was an amazing experience; mist all around us, the lighthouse foghorn sounding in the distance, the clanging of the bell on the shambles buoy, the gentle lapping of the waves against the hull, and the building excitement of getting a bite
Anyway, the day turned out to be "a game of two halves" as on the morning tide we landed 10 Turbot, 2 being undersized so put back, and 4 more lost by striking a bit too early or by them shaking off the hooks as they fought (one of mine was a real monster by the feel of it) 
As the tide changed the bites disappeared, and they never really came back. Although there were plenty of Sandeels and Launce about - which we amused ourselves by catching to use as bait, we only managed one more Turbot by the time we called it a day and headed home - but 11 Turbot in one session on the Shambles is pretty damn good, although I say it myself) 
The suntan bit is because for a while after lunch the mist cleared and the sun came out, really building on my suntan to the point of a touch of sunburn on my nose Why is sunshine at sea always more powerful than on land? Must be all the reflections...
The photo below is my biggest take-home fish which I've just weighed - 7¾ lbs, filleting out to over 4lbs of the finest eating fish in the sea! Thank you Steve for a great days fishing; a great birthday present !
