Adam F Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 A very interesting morning out on JV today... and a new club record to boot! Ive been exploring local bass marks to avoid having to steam miles and miles and my recent activities have seen a small amount of success on Peveril Ledge. A decent attack was needed so I assembled a crack team of bass experts...OK well Rob F and Charlie A - and with a plan more cunning than a fox we met at a grey and damp marina at first light - 6am to have a short morning session - everything looked perfect. Baits were easy and within 10 mins I had a livewell on JV full of bristling mackeral. The plan was to fish the last of the flood and the start of the ebb - I was expecting a decent tide with some nice turbulent water - which I had on Thurs and managed a couple of fish.... however this never really got going and we fished a frustratingly slow 3 hours of pathetic flood and very slow ebb.... ... with little to show by 10am I was grateful for the banter to keep the mood light, a coolbox full of baitfish and a couple of small pollock were all we had taken and I was begining to think of heading home when Rob and Charlie spotted some strange fins poking out of the water about 30' away.... DOLPHINS - was the first shout, but these wernt moving....TOPE shouts Rob....??!?! What the hell were these things? With all the talk of Pelagic Game fish and Tuna our minds were on overdrive and I shouted at the guys to get the lines in. Without a second thought I gunned the engine back towards the fish - they were right in the slop of a new strong ebb tide race - not a great place to be - but sure as eggs are eggs - their they still were - almost 'boiling' on the surface... Now - I'd love to tell you that Rob reacted quick as a flash as Charlie stood and watched - he whipped off the leads on the two bottom rods and lip hooked a pair of lively joeys - signalaling though the wheelhouse door he dropped them astearn and run them some 30 yds back whilst I began a slow troll over the tailing fish. To be honest we werent expecting anything and still thought we hadnt really seen what we had - but bugger me - not 2 mins into the troll Robs rod nealy goes over the side. 'its in the bottom' I shout - we all seemed to agree but on picking up the rod all hell broke loose and an amazing 25 min scrap ensued. The fish stayed deep but what a strange fight - very jagged - was how rob described it.... we still had no idea what we had hooked and to be honest all 3 of us where just as excited! Finally the beast broke the surface - 'what the %$&~ is THAT!!' we all shouted - with a dip of the net, this weird beast lay on the deck.... Quickly weighed she went 12lb 6oz - we slipped her back in and she swam away strongly. WOW!! --------- However I cant tell you that and the above was true apart from the trolling bit - we did spot the fish tailing in the rough water, but with a bit of careful boat handling Rob managed to net one as I came alongside!! Awesome to see such a rare fish in our waters. We handled her very carefully - quickly weighed her in a wet sling - all of us paused for a quick photo and then we slipped her back. So all in all - a slow day with a magic twist!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niggle Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Sweet what a interesting twist to you're day. Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsplace Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 WOW! What a great fish!!! Well done Erm... what is it? A Sunfish? Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted July 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) Yep - Sunfish (Mola Mola) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish Seems they are very rare and that this one was just a baby! Aparently they run to 3500lb!! http://oceansunfish.org/ Makes interesting reading. Edited July 30, 2011 by Adam F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlieannear Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) It was an extremely surreal morning! Adam- I hope you've reported the 'sighting' on that sunfish site? Just to highlight- they may be rare, but there were at least 2 of these there! Apparently related to the Trigger Fish, which was once 'rare' around here but are now fairly common if you know where to look Perhaps we will soon class these as common in club waters as Bream, Bass, Tuna and Haddock? Edited July 30, 2011 by charlieannear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted July 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Yep - Ive just logged it now. A once in a lifetime moment!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Adam, Had one swim past myself and MarineBoy a few years back when fishing off Hengistbury Head. Not so quick on the landing net though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsplace Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 If it comes back at this time next year it could be as large as 150lb plus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Well done, a great fish. Never seen one caught on rod and line, I did see one a few years back while on a chartered swimming pass the boat, it was the size of a dust bin lid, we too were too slow with the net. Apparently they are poisonous, not sure if it is true or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 I saw one off St Albans a month ago Apparently it's unlucky to try and catch one We shall see? PJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Nice one Mate A lovely specimen, I always thought they were more coloured than that Not quite the "Caught it on float fished mackeral" that you told me on your way in But good reaction with the net Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedger Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Nice one boys The most common of the ocean sunfishes is the Mola mola. These fish, like all sunfishes, appear as if their bodies have been somehow truncated leaving them little more than a large head equipped with long sweeping fins atop and below. The body is less than twice as long as it is deep. Mola mola have a rounded tail, gritty sandpapery skin covered with copious amounts of mucus. Typically silvery in color with a slight opalescent sheen, they can exhibit strikingly changeable spotty patterns. They presently hold the record for the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Nice one Mate A lovely specimen, I always thought they were more coloured than that Not quite the "Caught it on float fished mackeral" that you told me on your way in But good reaction with the net Charlie Yes, I had a very similar story given to me and rather stupidly believed it until going home from the marina I kept recounting the story and wondered: 1) What do Sunfish eat anyway? 2) I don't think it is live bait style prey? 3) If it is, how the hell does that thing chase down a mackerel? 4) If it does, how the hell does it get it in that mouth!? Still, brilliant to see and a lovely twist to your day at sea. Nice one chaps! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Tom, those things can shift!!!! Luckily Adam had the BIG conger net onboard so Charlie and I had one each. When we came very close the one of them I had the net in the water and had to quickly dunk it as the Sunfish went off deep like a rocket and hit the net with some force! On release Adam put it in and it shot under JV and appeard on the surface 25yds away on the other side in a few seconds! Adam has some video of it flapping, maybe he could post it? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaicemat Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Nice to see them back, we used to see them fairly regularly in the late 60's, early 70's. I haven't seen one since then. Terry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 I was suprised how quick they move and i've heard they are capable of giving you a nasty nip This is the pic from last months sighting, i feel lucky to have seen two but they have been about 8 years apart. All you see at first is a dorsal fin that flops about from side to side Moonfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted July 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Yeah - sorry for the fishy story Tom and Charlie - just couldnt resist it after all the Tuna talk etc!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 certainly a good story and a good find had one under identical circumstances off St Ives many years ago - haven't seen one up this way ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisE Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Nice story. I don't know if it is a micro environment or something but we reckon to see a sunfish or two most years, funnily enough off Sun Corner about a mile east of the Needles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 I saw one 50metres off the end of Bournemouth Pier last August - Whilst considering how to catch it for the species list - it suddenly swam off. Neal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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