TomBettle Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Not! Met up with John Jeffries at Weymouth just before sunrise yesterday morning to spend a day aboard his boat "drifter" after the mythical Bluefin Tuna that have been supposedly chasing bait shoals around the Bill. I had brough three rods along which were pre rigged and ready to run. 1) Penn Waveblaster 12/20 with TRQ100 real loaded with about 500 yards of 12lb braid topped off with about 100 yards of 20lb mono finishing in a double tied with a bimini twist to a big game swivel 2) Penn Waveblaster 20/30 and TRQ200 reel similarly set up 3) My treasured Alba custom built, "Tuna Tamer 30" and Penn Formula 15Kg John had bought his new Penn Innerguide 30 and Torium 14 and also a UK stand up stick rated 30/80 with a TLD 20. Despite the heavy rating and plenty of power, this rod was really rather nice. Within half an hour the boat engine was warm, John's rods were rigged with bimini twist doubles, big game swivels and 80lb five foot leaders and lures attached. Now a Raider 18 is a pleasant enough boat, but was never rigged with trolling lures in mind and so had no flush mount rod holders, but this was no problem. She did have a set of four "rocket launchers" on the transom and the fifth rod would be wedged in place and held fast by being tied to the lanyard of a bucket! A lovely orange glow was appearing above St. Albans Head as the first lure was set. Attached to the Alba rod a Rapala Magnum CD22 in purple and black was slipped right down the centre line some 80 yards or about 11 waves back. This was to simulate a struggling fish, left behind by the rest of a schoal. Typically we would have set this one deep on a downrigger and that was the plan, but with limited space to cobble a makeshift downrigger together we allowed it to run with out any hindererence. Next, outriggers! Yep you heard me, outriggers. Using the rail mounted rod holders on John's boat we employed two 12' beachcasters complete with reels mounted and line thread through the first two rings. Attached directly to the line were two Popper style lures with the hooks removed. These were sent back into the wash at about 15 and 20 yards respectively where they worked as small, but definitely effective teasers, popping and burping their way along and creating a nice little smoke trail behind them. A length of 100lb mono was now wrapped around the rail of John's boat and up through the remaining eyes of the "outrigger" before having a zip sider threaded on and the two ends tied with a swivel. It was now a simple job to send my 12/20 and John's 30lb rigs back to the 8th and 9th waves running 7" Williamson soft Mackerel lures. Using elastic bands clipped to the lead link on the zip slider they could simply be pulled out to the tip ring of the "outrigger" to create a spread of over 30 feet wide. Not bad considering it was being totally bodged. The final two rods had Rapala Magnum CD22s attached and these were run at about 25 and 30 yards behind the boat respectively and to keep them well apart more elastic bands were utilised to bring the line down to the cleat on each side of the transom. This had the added effect of creating a "flat line" to the water which allowed the lures to dive a little deeper. Now the rods stacked in the rocket launcher on the transom didn't look conventional, but we had an effective five lure spread running complete with two additional teasers. Drags were checked and set at about 4lb or so whilst running with the ability to run up to about 7lb at strike on the two lever drags and close to 14lb at sunset for these two. The other reels were star drags and more guess work was needed, but we were now running up the east side of Portland and trying to manage our expectations. Anyone who has trolled for Pelagic fish anywhere in the world will know that this can be a waiting game. You can go days or even weeks without seeing a fish, but it doesn't mean they aren't there. The hardest part for us was that this was our first ever go fishing for a fish that we suspected would be there, but had no proof apart from a spear fishermans picture. We were telling ourselves that this was nothing more than an experiment and don't expect too much, but this style of angling really is rather alien to UK boat anglers and so boredom and perseverance will always be the hardest things to control. Especially until techniques, knowledge and equipment are all refined. One thing that kept me positive was the belief, enthusiasm and trust that some truly great anglers / boat captains in the big game world had in what we were doing. Roddy Hays, Adrian Molloy, Trevor Gunning and even new big game captain Oliver King had all been enormously helpful with advice and sharing knowledge, not to mention quite a bit of kit in due course. I am proud to have these guys as friends of mine and their belief and genuine excitement in what we are doing back here in blighty was a tremendous boost. So with the sun rising to the east we headed south. Huge balls of bait were showing on the sounder as we kept to the relative shallows of this area and drove following the 20m contour line. A few birds eyed the teasers with interest whilst others sat lazily on the water. The odd gannet dived like a missile after the occasional Mackerel silly enough to stray near the surface, but hour after hour nothing. We tried to hold ourselves as close to four knots through the water as we could. We rounded the Bill, still following the winding path of the 20m contour and headed through the rough of the race and on down the western side. Back up on the 30m line and we began to head across to the Kidney Banks to follow their contour patterns. "That area screams Giant Tuna" were the words of Irish record holder, Adrian Molloy and they rang in my ears, but as we crossed back over the race even on a neap tied it was building into something very uncomfortable for a small planing hulled boat running at displacement speed and with green water rolling up the screen and confused waves washing over the gunnels it seemed prudent to turn back towards the Bill to face the conditions. The next couple of miles took literally three hours with our speed over the ground down to about 0.8 knots we headed back towards the mussel beds and the West Shambles Buoy. As the tide slowly eased we headed back along the original 20m contour and then doubled back across the shallower still 10m lines looking for the bait balls we had seen at first light. Little sign of the bait now, but this time and the only time our hearts began racing there were very definitely some very large returns on the digital fish finder display. No not the random blue with orange fleck "clouds" you see when passing bait. These were bright orange and red, at about 20' through 30' and the overall return of each coming back on the screen was a flattish oval shape. I cannot possibly say what these were for sure, but they were much larger than a Bass or Pollack return and each one was almost definitely coming from a single mid water object with each one being fairly uniform in size. Still, no hits, no screaming reels and no conclusive proof. A fairly long day doing something we really are not used to. Boring? Yes, in a way. Will I do it again? You bet I will! I need to find out what those big blips were! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Well done for giving it a go Tom - someone has to get the first one!!!! I knew you should have borrowed my White&Orange CD22!!! Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niggle Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Well done to you and John giving it a proper go,maybe next time Tom,and thanks for the report Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great detailed report Tom Perhaps a high pressure hose on the water might bring something up to investigate? PJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great detailed report Tom Perhaps a high pressure hose on the water might bring something up to investigate? PJ I cannot possibly confirm what these large soundings were and I am not going to comment on where they were, but I saw the soundings with my own eyes. Next attempt will be a Bass fishing trip to the same location using livebaits both just under the surface and also on downriggers. Either drifting or very slow trolling. The hose idea is a good one and may well be employed. Be a right pain if those pescy Bluefin ruined a decent Bass session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Be a right pain if those pescy Bluefin ruined a decent Bass session. Yes, that would really pi$$ on your fire!!!!!!!!!!!! Next time I\we would like more pics of the rig and setup, also of the "blobs" on the sounder!!! You could do with one of Jims Bagutte roof holders for all those rods! Perhaps have it mounted on the transom! R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Be a right pain if those pescy Bluefin ruined a decent Bass session. Yes, that would really pi$$ on your fire!!!!!!!!!!!! Next time I\we would like more pics of the rig and setup, also of the "blobs" on the sounder!!! You could do with one of Jims Bagutte roof holders for all those rods! Perhaps have it mounted on the transom! R Rob I have a very short video I need to upload. No voice over, but it shows the outriggers in more detail and then show the rods. Only about 30 seconds worth. No pics of the returns on the sounder, but rest assured this was a 12" screen, split down the middle with plotter on one side fish finder on the other. The water was roughly 30 to 40' deep and the soundings were more or less in the middle, closish together over about a 100 yard area maybe slightly more. It is a pure guess, but these soundings were barrel shaped and the indication was they were three to five feet long and maybe up to 18" deep. Bright red in the centre of the return fading to orange with only the faintest soft blue in the return around the very edges. I sware I am not making them up, JJ saw them as clearly as me and there were quite a number of them. That said, I cannot categorically say what they were, but the shape was certainly an indication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niggle Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Tom if you look on beach and boat forum.......boat fishing section page 19 labelled" frustrating sunday"by me niggle youll see a sounder picture with fish ID on....its big when you consider the others are 10 to 15lb!!!!!!!!!! And in feburary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Tom if you look on beach and boat forum.......boat fishing section page 19 labelled" frustrating sunday"by me niggle youll see a sounder picture with fish ID on....its big when you consider the others are 10 to 15lb!!!!!!!!!! And in feburary Well I have just discovered that ccurrently the UK has no Bluefin quota and so it is illegal to target them which means that from now on I will be mainly fishing for Bass when using 9" plugs or livebaits on downriggers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Tom if you look on beach and boat forum.......boat fishing section page 19 labelled" frustrating sunday"by me niggle youll see a sounder picture with fish ID on....its big when you consider the others are 10 to 15lb!!!!!!!!!! And in feburary Well I have just discovered that ccurrently the UK has no Bluefin quota and so it is illegal to target them which means that from now on I will be mainly fishing for Bass when using 9" plugs or livebaits on downriggers... As a recreational Sea Angler on a non registered private boat how are you affected by quota's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overrun Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great read Tom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Tom if you look on beach and boat forum.......boat fishing section page 19 labelled" frustrating sunday"by me niggle youll see a sounder picture with fish ID on....its big when you consider the others are 10 to 15lb!!!!!!!!!! And in feburary Well I have just discovered that ccurrently the UK has no Bluefin quota and so it is illegal to target them which means that from now on I will be mainly fishing for Bass when using 9" plugs or livebaits on downriggers... As a recreational Sea Angler on a non registered private boat how are you affected by quota's? In theory we are all held to ransom as the UK has zero quota for Bluefin both for commercial and recreational FISHERMEN. This means that Recreational FISHERMEN cannot target Bluefin in the UK and overseas they can only do it if following the rules and guidelines and if issued with a permit to do so. We have no permit as we have no quota! Now the observant amongst you may have noticed I have written FISHERMEN. There is a clear and understood difference between recreational fishing and recreational angling. Fishing is the use of any method to catch your fish, either for the purpose of sale or as food for yourself. On the continent many recreational fishermen do just this and use nets, traps and so on in order to catch several different species, often being sold to local restaurants and often being used for food. Those of us who dive for scallops or drop a few lobster pots for example would be classed as recreational fishermen. Recreational anglers are those of us who use rod and line for the purpose of sport, sometimes to catch fish for our own consumption, but never to sell on. These definitions are known, but do get blurred. I think it's time to keep these distinctions very clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirky Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great report and a great effort Tom and JJ ......who will be the first PBSBAC member to bag a bluey ?? Game on !! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnessboy Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great read Tom, thoroughly enjoyed it, better luck next time looking for those, ahem!! Bass. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Tom if you look on beach and boat forum.......boat fishing section page 19 labelled" frustrating sunday"by me niggle youll see a sounder picture with fish ID on....its big when you consider the others are 10 to 15lb!!!!!!!!!! And in feburary Well I have just discovered that ccurrently the UK has no Bluefin quota and so it is illegal to target them which means that from now on I will be mainly fishing for Bass when using 9" plugs or livebaits on downriggers... As a recreational Sea Angler on a non registered private boat how are you affected by quota's? In theory we are all held to ransom as the UK has zero quota for Bluefin both for commercial and recreational FISHERMEN. This means that Recreational FISHERMEN cannot target Bluefin in the UK and overseas they can only do it if following the rules and guidelines and if issued with a permit to do so. We have no permit as we have no quota! Now the observant amongst you may have noticed I have written FISHERMEN. There is a clear and understood difference between recreational fishing and recreational angling. Fishing is the use of any method to catch your fish, either for the purpose of sale or as food for yourself. On the continent many recreational fishermen do just this and use nets, traps and so on in order to catch several different species, often being sold to local restaurants and often being used for food. Those of us who dive for scallops or drop a few lobster pots for example would be classed as recreational fishermen. Recreational anglers are those of us who use rod and line for the purpose of sport, sometimes to catch fish for our own consumption, but never to sell on. These definitions are known, but do get blurred. I think it's time to keep these distinctions very clear. Given the different authorities involved you could catch 20 tons before anyone noticed and die of old age before anything was decided Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuie Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great report Tom. Your rigs sound very complicated - mind you it's very late. Stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Great stuff Tom. I've done a far bit of trolling in hotter climes and what you rigged up sounded pretty good. If/When you get one it will be very well deserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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