BigMac Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Saturday Up with the birds again on Saturday and "Aquafresh" left the mooring at 5.00am. Rupe and myself had on board, as a guest, Carl Bagshot, who used to run "Blackjack" out of Mudeford before selling her to the present owner. In a way returning a favour, the last time we both fished on Carls boat, last May, Rupe had a 300lb lemon shark!!!! (Florida) He had never caught any real amount of bass as a charter skipper, mainly because his crews of the day always wanted to fish mid-channel. Most of the bass he had caught had been on wrecking or deep water gear.We've been telling him for a couple of years about the fun of float fishing for them and he was as eager as you like to give it a go. The mackerel, when we found them, duly obliged and we set up for the first drift at exactly 6.00am. The wind was from the south east and was holding us back slightly in the tide which helped to make all 3 floats work perfectly with the baits just tripping bottom in 10m of water. Rupert was away first and a bullish 8lber was in the net on the 2nd drift. The next drift produces a double header to Carl and me, a 6lber for Carl and a 5lber for me, hit the net at the same time. By 7.30 we have added a further 3 fish, all in the 3-4lb range, then things go quiet. Its a full hour before anymore action, then Rupe bends into a good 'un. It gives an excellent account of itself, but is soon in the folds of the net. 9lb 6oz. Nice one By 10 the livelies have run out and we head south east to replenish stocks. The sky is darkening and the distant sound of thunder reaches us from the east. We're on our way to the usual bait spot when Rupe points to an acre of mackerel busting up the surface. 3 minutes later we have 30 baits in the well. Back on the drift we catch another 5 fish between us over the next 2 hours giving us a total of 12 for the boat but we can see the weather front coming from the south and decide to have a few drifts on the ledge before heading for home. On the way there the surface was alive with mackerel, aint seen that much surface activity for years. The front approaches and we run for home. The rain and lightning reached us just as we got within the first channel markers to the run, at the time the visibility was down to about 30 yards and lightning was hitting the surface less than 100 yards away. Sunday An hour later than yesterday, 6.00am, we slip the mooring and head out for some bait. 30 livebaits and 30 for cutting up as chervey are procured in double quick time on the same grounds as we saw them busting out yesterday afternoon. The plan is to anchor a shallow water wreck and trot livebaits back to the structure, hoping to induce feeding with small cubes of mackerel dropped over the transom. When we get to the wreck, the long lazy swell of about 6ft will keep tripping our grappel anchor, and plan B is brought into play. Nothing complicated....... same as yesterday Its not long before the first fish is on board, a plump 7lber. A couple of smaller ones follow before a good fish takes my bait. The fish stays deep and its a good 4 or 5 minutes and a good 200 yards from where it was hooked before we get a first glimpse and can see its a good fish. Rupert does the honours with the net, looks at the fish in the net and offers a hand of congrats. Nicely hooked in the corner of the jaw a couple of quick photos and she swims of strongly. 10lb 8oz Rupe adds 2 more of 4 and 5 lb before another solid take on mine. "This has got some weight about it" I say to Rupe. This ones different to the last and comes virrtually to the surface to thrash it out. Rupe gets a glance and states "its bloody enormous" No real dramas and Rupe gets it in the net first time. As the netsman your nearly always the first one to see the fish properly and he turns to shake my hand for the second time of the day!!!! Its a huge fish in immaculate condition and on the scales goes 13lb 6oz Its weird how you notice different things about different fish, but on this one I couldn't help but notice how big its eyes were! What a predator!!!! We carried on catching fish regularly if not quickly and when we counted the releases and captures for the morning we had had 19 fish in total including my first ever brace of doubles in a day Does fishing get any better than this??????? Cheers Rupe, another fantastic couple of mornings on the bass, Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Nice fish Al, we did hear you shout and the fish looked enormous from where we were fishing as well. We had a good day as well, but no doubles for us. I took PJ over and it was his first time fishing this mark. First drift and I am straight into a bass - only a small one at 3lb. Subsequent drifts and I get a 5lb fish, then PJ catches one. Replenished the mackeral stocks ( dead south from where we were fishing ) and PJ has another. I then get my third and fourth another two 5lbers. PJ then has his third and fourth. Tide slackens and we await the ebb. All the mackeral have died now, so I fish a dead one on the bottom and we kept our drift going a little longer and I am into a last fish of, you guessed it, around 5 lb. 5 bass for me and 4 for PJ and it wasn;t even 11 o'clock As I wanted to fish the species comp headed back towards Dolphin Sands, caught a Tub Gurnard and then over to the ledge where caught 3 pollock and 3 wrasse. Time was running out, so hammered over to X-Ray where I got 2 dogfish, 4 bream and the smallest smoothhound you have ever seen ( Picture coming soon ! ). Great day out in great company and the fishing was top draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIMBOB Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Well that club record had been rocked a few times lately so it had to go some time ,it had stood for 11 years! super fishing Al and Rupe and I think fishing doesn't get any better! .....................................................or does it!!! James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 A fun day out with Paul D, cheers Paul it cheered me up no end Good to see the bass bandits doing their stuff, it's inspirational guys keep it up PJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 A new mini species for Paul D? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Al, You could report the fish to BFM as it has got to stand a good chance of winning the catch and release Bass prize ( Navman plotter ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted July 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Here she is 13lb 6oz, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIMBOB Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 A new mini species for Paul D? ][/quote Are you sure that's Paul????????????.......................................................................................................................................... it looks like he's been possessed by a cross between the Cheshire cat and the devil!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 cracking fish and no i dont think there is anything better sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 Rup, Al Simply Stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 Rupe, Al, true dedication and consistency, I take my hat off to you guys, I thought Jimbob did well with his trio of fish caught during a speciman hunt I had the pleasure of crewing for him on. One double in a day is a feat, but two is truly great. From a technical aspect, what are you using for a stop knot, power gum or mono? Has it ever snagged in the tip eye? Are you still using the barbel/fixed spool combination, as I noticed Rupe was using a multiplier in his "Builders bum", (nice grundies Rupe!!!!!!), in one of the pics of him playing a fish!! I havent tried this method of deep water float fishing yet, but it certainly seems to do the bizz. I must have a crack at it before the Bass move offshore. Well done lads. Paul.........how about a new level after Marlin Master, Bass Bandit Supremo? Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les L. Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 Very well done Aquafresh, what a fish Just want to tell everyone about a small act of kindness that speaks volumes.Got to the same mark that they were fishing with just bottom bouncing tackle on the boat.Have never much liked it because I genarally loose a lot of tackle on it but plan was to fish it until we lost two sets of tackle each. 30 minutes later that time had come, with no fish. I had never met Rupert or Al , but i was flying the club pennant so i guess they recognized another club boat and spontaneously offered tp throw over a couple of floats ( which i foolishlessly declined since i wanted to show my crew, who had never fished the area the banks a few miles away - a decision i regretted when i got there and the swells made the fishing pretty uncomfortable ) What a contrast to the behaviour of a certain charter skipper who thinks the mark is his and who i saw almost ram James on the mark last year.Al and Rupert, you are a credit to the club and the sport Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac Posted July 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 Thanks everyone for your very kind words. As all of you know fishing can be a lottery, for example yesterday, Paul D and Paul J on "Neo" and Les L and his mate on "Manatee" were drifting exactly the same line as we were and caught fish 9 fish to about 5lb. In the same time we caught 19 fish to 13lb odd. Does that make us better anglers? Definitely not!!!!! I think we're just a lot more confident in the rig than most and always go out with a huge amount of confidence, expecting to catch fish whatever. Thats not trying to sound big, thats just the way we are. I know that Paul D would have been fishing exactly the same way as we were because I sent him a PM, with everything that we do, in detail. The only difference I can see is something that harks back to the freshwater scene. We're both great believers in getting "in tune" with the method and the venue that you are fishing. Quite hard to explain, but you get a "feel" for what your doing. The float going under is not always a bite and with time you almost get a 6th sense about what your float and fingertips are telling you. We've spent nearly 4 full seasons on this mark and theres not much of it we haven't covered several hundred times. We know what is about to appear on the sounder, dependant on which line we take, and can make the adjustments neccessary in presentation to give us maximum time in the best area. We waypoint nearly every bass we catch and when you have plotted say 100 captured fish, your plotter will tell you the areas that are worth fishing and the areas that aint!! Rich, in answer to your questions, I use a 12ft Fox Barbel plus rod, with a Shimano baitrunner 8010, loaded with 30lb hi viz power pro. I tie my stop knots with a length of the braid that I cut off after attaching my leader. I dont have a problem with the knot catching in the rings on the way out but I do have the occaisional problem with the long, limp tags of my stop knot tangling around my bead that is between float and stop knot that can be a bit of a pain at times. Rupe on the other hand prefers a 9ft Shimano Esox 2 1/4lb test spinning rod with an Ambassedeur 4500 loaded with 30lb braid. He ties his stop knot with 24lb power gum and has to work his stop knot out through the rod rings a little bit more than I do. He doesn't seem to have any problems with retrieving unless he puts on too long a leader. I cant say that theres much difference in the way we both fish cause if there was a difference I would be fishing identically to Rupe or he would be fishing identically to me, neither of us are slow on the uptake Al Ps Rupes grundies will be on evidence much more as he has now become a celery munching t%$t and is losing weight at an awesome rate. Thinking of calling him "Rupe the pant puller" as none of his tracky bottoms fit him any more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 hes gona be down graded from Large Fries to Happy Meal soon...............Well done fellas, great angling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 As all of you know fishing can be a lottery, for example yesterday, Paul D and Paul J on "Neo" and Les L and his mate on "Manatee" were drifting exactly the same line as we were and caught fish 9 fish to about 5lb. In the same time we caught 19 fish to 13lb odd. Does that make us better anglers? Definitely not!!!!! ..... We're both great believers in getting "in tune" with the method and the venue that you are fishing. Quite hard to explain, but you get a "feel" for what your doing. The float going under is not always a bite and with time you almost get a 6th sense about what your float and fingertips are telling you. Al, I think you are doing yourselves a misjustice - you and Rupe are definitely better anglers !! - however, I can confirm that I am improving each trip 1st trip I was pleased to catch the one fish, second trip my wife had a cracking fish, third trip my son caught, fourth trip with Sam Chapman the less said the better and the last trip we had the 9 fish. Getting the feel for 1) where the fish can be expected and 2) how deep to fish the float and 3) what is a fish and what is the bottom. Saying that I lost what seemed a big fish when I thought I had snagged the bottom. But each time I get more confident and when confident you catch more ( in general ). Also picked some more tips up from your posts, so will be putting that into practice next as well ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Al, thanks for that, also had a PM from Rup, (although he didnt pass comment on the Builders Bum!), so if I get out on plot at all before the fish go, I'll have a couple of rods set, one with the power gum stopper and one with a braid. Using a longer rod for most of my comp. angling, I have found it does become a tad clumsy at times, but the through action in the rods described will out perform my tippy Grauvell jobber. The line retrieve on each reel must differ somewhat. I have an old 5000 series ABU which I used for all my pike angling when fishing the huge Irish loughs, "when I was in the War", which pulls in a little less than my baitrunner, I think, but each is loaded with braid so easy to switch. I've not used a fixed spool on that mark, mainly closer inshore in shallow water, anyhow, will give it a go. Cheers, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Sam Chapman the less said the better true i did bad but just need to get out again and try again so if anyone wants to offer i can't quite get the grip of this float fishing sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 (edited) Rich, Use the baitrunner, it's so much fun to hear the thing whine as line disappears off the spool PJ Edited July 25, 2006 by Paul J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Use the softest rod you can find. I use a light spinning rod and it was so exciting not knowing if it would snap or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Great Job Alan [and Rupe of course] equaled the Club record that has stood for 11 years three weeks ago and now add another 6 ounces to it I have added it to the book, Paul can you update the record list on the website mate. You lads really do know your bassing. Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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