BigMac Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 Many of you will have heard of Langstone skipper Spike Spears and his boat "Bessie V" and of his having to give up work because of serious illness. Some members of the Professional Boatmans Association agreed to take out anglers and donate their takings on those dates to Spike. Over 20 skippers, from Brighton in the east to Exmouth in the west, are taking part in this fund raiser this week. We've had a couple of excellent trips with Spike in the past fishing for smoothies and tope so when Rob Thompson of "Shogun" asked us if we would like to fish, we jumped at the chance. The forecast for today on the net said that the wind would be from the north west and between 15 and 20 mph. No problem in a 38ft catamaran.....probably! A day sat at anchor, waiting for a cod, was the plan and we met Rob at the boat at 7.00 for a 7.30 start. As we left the river and got nearer to Hurst, you could see that the forecasters had got it totally wrong again!! They ought to have a look out the window from time to time!!!! We arrived at the good old Needles cod grounds with only an hour and a half of the flood left and the sea was running about 8 to 10 feet with the odd 15 footer coming through. The wind was blowing about 40mph and holding us at 90 degrees to the anchor warp and beam on to the sea. about as uncomfortable as possible. All 8 of us eventually got baits on the bottom and we were fishing. Today, everyone wanted cod so it was big baits or bust. The tide died and we had only a couple of doggies to show for our efforts. The tide turned an hour before the boat did and Plug lost a heavy fish as we swung around on the rope. It moved uptide and seemed like the target species had to be a cod, surely? The boat swung round and the sea flattened off a bit and you could actually stand up without clamping fingers around the nearest grab rail. Rupe had a proper bite and was attached to somethjng that pulled back. It fooled him for a couple of minutes and then did the first spin that deckared it a conger. A few minutes later and Rob T barred off a conger that we all guessed at 40-45lb. I was next, 10 minutes later with another eel of about 30lb, before Paul latched into a fish that took 30 or 40 metres of line on its first run on his uptideing gear. Ten minutes later, a conger of 45-50lb is released at the side of the boat. The wind picked up a bit more and the sea started to build again. The quick flurry of action is followed by a long lull and a couple of straps keep our interest up until we unanimously decide to knock it on the head at 4:00pm and get the hell out of the wind and sea for a pint!! A great day,in difficult conditions, in good company, with much urine extraction and mirth making and all in a very good cause! All the best Spike Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 All for a worthy cause..............Good to see you back in the catch report section Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 Our trip on Wight Rebel was cancelled, just as well then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 great report - well plugged away! glad to hear about the conger action - Dave only commented last year that we haven;t seen one since last winter when AlunJ was moaning so much about the damm things............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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