Paul J Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 14lb Turbot and 11lb Brill- report later im knackered PJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob F Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Bl@@dy Grrrrr... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alun j. Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Well done mate............. just a little bit jealous !!! Alun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy fred Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 what can i say fanbloodytastic well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Brilliant fish. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Quest II had a great time in Alderney. Much harder fishing than anyone expected, but we achieved every goal with the exception of Pollock, which, unusually for us, we failed on abismally. May 2nd saw us leaving Weymouth at about 06:15 trying to get an early start to beat the SE 5 that was blowing hard on the nose. Stopped at the Bill for no more than a few minutes and feathered up about 30 plump mackerel for bait and then set a course of 166 for our one and only planned stop, some 40 odd miles South. The weather seemed nasty, but bareable for the first 25 miles with our speed gradually reducing from 14 knots to about 10.5. Then the last 1/3 was really cr@p and we were taking a lot of "green water" so down we came and ran the rest of the way at about 9.5 knots. Our chosen "Pollock" mark in 330 foot of water was hard going. We arrived at about 10:00 and the wind was up making standing quite hard work. The drift was very fast and at about 3 knots was proving very tricky to manage in that depth and so after a couple of fruitless drifts we resigned ourselves to an early run in to Braye. Chris at "The Armoury" was surprised to see us when we rolled up at about 13:00 after a couple of quick ones at the Moorings. May 3rd saw us ignoring advoce and heading West to the Casquets where we dragged lumps of mackerel around for a fruitless few hours before heading down to the Schole to join the "car park" for about 14:00. After 3/4 hour steam through very dense fog we arrived ad instantly hit into Turbot with Mark bagging our best of the day at a smidge short of 8lb. Tally for the day, a hard worked 4 flatties. Mostly small, around 4lb, but Mark fantastically beat the club record for Brill with a lovely 5.5 pounder (wait for Duncan's report). On meeting the crew on Tiger Lily we heard their stories and immediately decided to work the Shole throughout the following day. May 4th saw us steaming to the Schole and being one of the first on the bank. Beaten only by Duncan on Phaeton who belted down their at warp factor 5. We chose to do our own thing and often found ourselves well away from the pack. I was trying to suss out the changing tide and setting us up on what seemed like good drifts and it worked! Reports were coming in of a real struggle onboard the professional boats with 5 to 12 fish coming from full compliments of crew and expert skippers. Quest II banged out a very creditable 9 flatties including another plump 5.5lb Brill to just 3 anglers. May 5th and we were on the boat for 08:00, but needed fuel and couldn't get on the berth until 09:30 so we enjoyed the glorious sunshine, had a coffee and relaxed wondering how Phaeton and Tiger Lily were both doing, both of which had headed off early. Due to our late departure we decided to head straight off over half way and steemed towards Portland some 29 miles only to find a trawler neatly circleing our wreck. No problem, the next was just 5 miles on so on we carried. As we arrived we were very surprised to see a Warrior 175 on the mark. This wreck was well over 23 miles off the Bill, but the weather was stunning and the guys looked like they knew what they were doing. We had a quick chat with them to find that they were really struggling and after 2 more drifts they pushed off. A quick chat with my crew to explain tactics and that Ling were the quarry and we all dropped down short traces, 6/0 hooks and fillets of mackerel into over 200 feet of water. I snagged the wreck and lost my gear, Mark was still sussing how this wrecking malarky worked and Malcolm hooked into a very small Ling of about 5lb. Next drift saw the largest Pouting you have ever seen to my rod, but not much else so a quick check of the mark and I set the next drift a little north of my numbers. BANG, at first I thought I was into a Conger as the drift was only just over a knot, but after several minutes of grunting and groaning and a very nice 19lb Ling lay on the surface waiting for Mark to net it. Several more Ling came to the boat including a couple of doubles with Mark bagging his first at over 10lb. After getting just enough for the ice box we moved on to another wreck abut 19 miles off the Bill. This was supposed to be a dead cert Pollock mark, but nothing and after three or four drifts with virtually no tide we headed for the Bill to bag some fresh mackerel and had a few bonus Herring too. Hard, but successful fishing, great company and a very enjoyable time. Thanks to my crew, Mark and Malcolm and, the crew of Phaeton and the crew of Tiger Lily for making the trip very memorable. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coddy Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Great report Tom and well done to PJ and others all seemed to have been lucky this year. Am I bovered? Do I look bovered? YES Coddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIMBOB Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Go PJ !!! what a brace well done mate Tom great report, nice ling and you got in amongst the flattys James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedger Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Fantastic I am a little jellyarse Well done chaps . What a break from the Winter blues. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nipper Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 a very big thankyou for tom and malcom for inviting me on there very nice boat quest 2 . tom was a very competent skipper through the 4 days that we were there and he kept me and malcom on fish through out our trip. the weather was great and i caught some great fish, again the armoury lived up to all expectations the breakfasts are something else! so i better carry on filliting the fish and fitting them in the freezer had a fantastic time great bunch of guys . mark b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 well done mark and paul both fantastic fish looks like a good trip in alderney, i just checked with the fish recorder now he is out of bed and unfortunately that brill is not a club record peter peck had a fish of 8lb 8oz back in october. still a fantastic fish and cant wait till the boat is finished and can join in. sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted May 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Way to go Mark- a great result Weather and company was excellent PJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Nice fish all around and great to see you all had a good time out there. Fished out of Lymington for smoothies yesterday and blanked. Welcome home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Moore Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Sam Did I miss something 11lb smaller than 8lb 8oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy fred Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 tis when its caught on a charter boat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Sam Did I miss something 11lb smaller than 8lb 8oz Tom was claiming for his (crew) fish on Quest 2, club boat in club water. How did Duncan do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 gordon i was talking about 5lb one mark had because pauls will not count unfortunately still i am sure paul is not bothered that is a fish of a lifetime well done mate. sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 nice report Tom, a great read..........with regard to clun record brill, is alderny actually in club waters? Im well jelous and would of loved 2 go, just aint got the dosh...well done to everyone, and to PJ with that cracking brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Hi Dan Alderney is well in club waters a steady 166 degrees south of Weymouth. Wait for Duncan's report as he did quite well on the last day, but it seems the club Brill record is higher than we first thought.... Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss2 Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Nice reports hope i can do aswell as you guys i am off on monday for the week to the Island Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueboatdriver Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Good luck matey. Put me down for a couple of fillets; tubot or brill, I'm not fussy Make sure you get the right island; who's navigating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 As this seems the place to post it, and convientently keeps it in perspective given PaulJ's fantastic fish - I'll just type......... Monday saw me fly back into the UK first thing after a hard weekend earning brownie points then get int a car after a few hours kip and head to Poole. The weather gods were tantilising us with the prpspect of excellent conditions - but getting there was never going to be easy. I had a clear plan in my head that involved lots of sleep, lie in and head off at a reasonable midday hour. Discussing this with Dave, over a beer of course, got a bit of a push back with the suggestion that it was going to be a lot worse than I thought, later was daft, and that we should really consider an early one to take advantage of the overnight lull. Just as I had won the argument (and the 4th game of pool in a row) the phone goes and it's Adam ...........he's just letting me know that Chris has asked them to get to the boat for an early start - 0500h!!!!!!!! Thanks for keeping me insformed I said and idea when Tom's heading out .........close behind! When I recount this to Dave he just smiles and heads to the bar for another round leaving me to argue with myself. Inevitably I loose and compromise at 0600h with the half of screaming for sleep. This seems to fit with Dave so I head for bed and Dave sorts out the ice and what should have been mackerel but failed to materialise......... 0500 on the boat - 0600 we are off and running. Resisting the early hour to open up through the harbour and staying at 9 knots we eventually cleared the entrance and were making 18 knots comfortably. No mackerel of Peveril None on the Kyarra None a couple of miles further on Speed down to 15 knots then 13 then 11 finally 8.5 6 and a half hours for the crossing and no mackerel Cup of tea time in Alderney harbour and another shot at the mackerel saw us with a couple. Picked up a mooring, put boat to bed and, after clearing customs and paying the dues we find a bar, some cider and await the rest. Accomadation was excellent adn suited the group great, having to get up at 0600 everyday to get out fishing didn't seem to bad at the time but clearly wasn't goung to mix well with late nights adn heavy boozing - so we went to bed reasonably early. First day saw us run down to the banks below Alderney - with everyone else! More charter boats than a busy day on the patch! Thanks to Adam we had a stock of mackerel onboard, so inveitably when we tried feathers we hit mackerel and launce straight away! First drift across the bank saw a slightly out of synch movement on my rod develop into a healthy 2lb 8oz bass - and it still wasn't 0800 - this is going to be easy! Dream on...........by the end of the day both Dave and I had one flattie each at one above and one below 3lbs, and last drift a spirited fight turned out rather disappointingly to be a pollack - good fish but not what we expected. Next day was the same except we couldn't get it right - 5 dogfish saw us head of for an early bath and a few extra beers. Dave dropped what was clearly a great fish and this didn't help the mood. Final day and we decided to hang around Alderney then dash home rather than fish the wrecks. So we headed off on our own to find some different banks and play hardball with the fish. This turned out to be a good call and we fished steadily through the day. I had switched to a really light set up - St Croix 8-12lb rod, calcutta 400, 14lb braid and a 3 oz lead on the bottom of a portland rig which suited the strip baits and the live launce equally well. We saw Tiger Lilly sneak onto the back a bit later and I question where Chris thought he was going to find a wreck full of snakes he told me that his crew had had the same idea and wanted more time on the banks. At the end of the day I had a couple of turbot and a brill to add to the first days bass, pollack and brill which made it an excellent trip over all. Unfortunately Dave wasn't as fortunate and was clearly frustated as hell that I was hitting the fish and he wasn't even getting touches. I dropped one fish that day, and from the 30 secs or so we were connected it felt good. The run back took 2h 30m from Alderney harbour (we picked up a little fuel to be sure) and were tied up by 1930h. Dave then weighted the fish on good old terra firma and the brill went 6lb 10oz, the turbot 9lb 9oz. Both were taken on a tail flapper of launce. Roll on next year - we may just make it a long weekend though. Thanks to all those with helpfull hints and tips, Chris was excellent, Steve Porter & Trevor Small chipped in too - thanks guys. Finally a big thanks to Adam and all the crew for a fantastic trip - glad you got back ok too Tom. Pictures to follow whan I find a method of getting them out the camera - left the lead in the caravan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted May 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Nice one Duncan-lovely fish! PJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 once the kids explain that I can put the camera card straight into this new fangled laptop........................ my alderney double - poor comparison to Paul's but at least I was on my own boat..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Nice pic Duncan, lovely fish mate. Mine were all tiddlers so I am well jealous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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