Pictures connected with fishing were among the earliest Wyllie exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 1870s. These portrayed fisherfolk on the coast of the Pas de Calais in northern France where the Wyllie family spent their summers. In 1873 he exhibited 'Landing fish at Ambleteuse', and in 1876 'Blessing the Sea', now in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

It is not known precisely when Wyllie visited Vigo Bay on the north-west Atlantic coast of Spain, but the opportunity may have arisen during a cruise, perhaps around 1900.