The super combination of Steve Porter and "True Blue" was my host for a Cod/Whiting trip today. A fortunate break in the weather saw us heading out to the old "Summer Banks" between the IOW and Swanage where we'd be relatively protected from the 'wind against tide' chop. It was a mixture of anglers today, a few novices and hire rods, and a few more experienced anglers which would make for an interesting day 
Steve predicted a slow start as we arrived at the top of the tide, but the sonar did show some activity at the mark. Undaunted I threw out a 6/0 pennel loaded up with squid and lug to tempt any passing Cod and put a single 2/0 with mackerel strips on a second rod. Within a minute the first Whiting came aboard and it was a stonker - nearly 4lbs gutted (I didn't weigh it until I got home) 
Others were into the Whiting too but they were a bit hit and miss. Steve did his usual masterclass and started hauling up Whiting on the starboard to prove the fish were there and I reciprocated by hauling them up on the port side 
Sadly a novice fishing at side of me wasn't catching so as I'd got a good haul of fish I took him 'under my wing' and changed his rig, hook size and bait until he started catching...
After a couple of hours of good Whiting fishing, without the Cod baits being touched at all, things went really quiet with only the odd knock and even less bites. Steve made a gamble of moving us to another mark a couple of miles away where there would be less Whiting but a chance of Cod, Conger, even Bass!
I threw out my big Cod baits again (but this time with the addition of a mackerel fillet) but decided to pack away the smaller rod. Action at this mark was as slow as the previous one with only Pout, LS Dogfish and the odd Whiting coming aboard. To be honest I'd virtually stopped fishing by then - I had a leisurely lunch, had a lengthy text conversation with my daughter, and a chat with the rest of the fishers (but always keeping an eye on my rod).
This was the story of the rest of the day, Steve trying to find us the fish and the fish refusing to play... A fast dash back to port saw us safely back in Poole - everyone had fish (as we shared out the Whiting) and everyone felt they'd enjoyed it. I certainly did !
Thanks Steve, a great day with plenty of fish
