alun j. Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 ........and a lot of travelling! A chilly start at first light , with a cool northerly coming off the land, as I set off from Mudeford. [ Jet Lag had me up early]. Found mackerel on the Ledge, but no joeys. With the calm sea , thought I might trip across to the Needles for a go after those well-reported bass....... ....... but my little boat doesn't have a live-bait well.........just a big, wide bucket. I filled this, added 10 frisky fresh non-bleeding mackerel and set out for the 6 mile trip at about 15 mph ; the small chop bouncing us about a bit and 'shaking' the water in the bucket...........but you guessed, when, in 20mins., I got to the Bridge Buoy........... all but one were non-revivable!! Nevertheless, I joined two other boats drifting [nearer to the Needles]; using portland rig with large single , lip hooking bait.......... I watched the sounder as we slid sideways across the rocky ledge and depth going from 15m.........up to 7 - 10 .....the down to 20m on the south side. Third drift.........bang.........good bite..........mackerel gone ...no fish ! Analysis..... bait too big for single hook.........back to my usual Pennel , with second hook nicked just over 1/2 way along........ only problem, no more live bait. Several drifts with dead fish.......no takes; no luck here with feathers and with the ebb picking up........... thought I'd go with the flow. Half way back to the end of the Ledge, stopped and found a few more mackerel, but still a bit large for bait......... but put one out and drifted a bit, moved in a bit, drifted a bit more and so on, keeping bait alive and covering a lot of ground. Drift-fished right across the Ledge on the ebb tide.........not a touch, save for one cuttlefish [saved for bbq]........so change of plan. I don't like the Ledge on the ebb....... so motored over to Southbourne Rough and tied onto a pot/net buoy....... have you seen how many there are there at the moment ??.......near some uneven bottom; livebait on one rod, fish strip on the other,,,,,,,,,which catches????........fishstrip........straight into a blonde ray 10 lb + but then the hordes of baby bream hit and then big dogs........ so another move Start of flood.......so back to the Lookout to Inner Ledge area, anchor up and repeat............ plenty of fresh mackerel [ but still no joeys..... sods law!!] Managed one sizeable bass [on strip] ........... but none of the bigger bream or triggers I'd expected. Lots of boats out, didn't see much caught.........but a gorgeous day Alun. PS Anyone had any triggers yet ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 Sounds like a great days fishing Alun, and quite a long one too..... someone's going to hit a monster bass soon I think with all the effort being put in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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