Paul D Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Had day off work today ( having fished Friday to Sunday in the 48 Hr Comp as well ). Change of scenery today though. I went over to fish off my friend's boat WestRay out of Emsworth. Useful "pre-reccy" for the forthcoming trailaway, which can't come soon enough ( read on ... ) Launched at 9 AM and headed off for some mackeral. After 15 mins we had one single mackeral to show for our efforts. Decided to head to the "mark" ( which I have the numbers for now ;-) ) and pick down. Teeming with mackeral, so we both put one rod out each. One fishing squid for the Smoothies and one fishing Mackeral flapper for the Tope ( and doggies ! ). 10 mins in the squid rod has a bite which I hit and the fish headed south - trace then breaks - Increase in trace strengthg need I think - so up to 30 lb trace. Then it is Smoothhound after Smoothhound and these are good sized fish as well. Lost count how many we had but my back was aching. In between this we are catching Tope on the other rods - at one time I had Smoothie on one rod and tope on the other at the same time. Tope weren't the huge size we had last year though However, this time I had a nice Thornback Ray and an Undulate which decided to grab my finger when I tried to pull the hook from it with my hand - painful ! Steve had a beautiful Undulate as well. All the above action was on the ebb mainly. Tide turned and the flood didn't fish at all well. On the way back had a go at fishing a wreck in the harbour approaches but failed to find any fish - then off to the marina and a happy drive home. Sure beats working Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Nice one mate. Tim Doswel, a Keyhaven skipper had a 65lb Tope on his charter boat yesterday off st catherines! There are plenty of fish around now Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted June 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 And one of the Smoothhounds ( a Starry one as well ! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamouse Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 If you guys are thinking of a trailaway up east, here's an update. We fished last friday over towards Selsey, picked up six plaice to 3.5lb on the mussel beds. Fishing the deeper water for hounds and tope (not actually utopia, but the whole area fishes similarly) we had 8 hounds of which only two were under 10lb. No tope runs at all, while Moby had only a single offer that didn't hook up. That seems to be the pattern this year so far. The tope have barely showed at all, the hounds are in good numbers and unusually high average size. Slightly annoyingly, the pin bream have appeared a good month early and they are everywhere on the tope grounds, so hermit and peeler crab baits don't last long. We had all our hounds on squid. I'll have a look for the trailaway date in a second. If it suits the FPO's schedule of domestic chores, I'd be happy to come down with SeaMouse and help out? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Nice one Paul I wonder who is getting the tope?? Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted June 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 We had a few Tope but nothing sizeable and we didn't have the screaming runs we had last year ( as Seamouse has noted ). We weren't actually fishing utopia but a nearby mark. All smoothhounds were to squid. rays were to squid as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 quote...Steve had a beautiful Undulate as well. I would guess from the picture it weighed about 12 to 14lb but without holding it up it is difficult to gauge. Some times you get a really thick fish that weighs heavy for it's overall size. What did that one weigh as a matter of interest? The undulate I had, for what it is worth, was a fair bit bigger than the one pictured. Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted June 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 The undulate I had, for what it is worth, was a fair bit bigger than the one pictured. Mike, Before I divulge the weight of Steve's Undulate can you guess how heavy these two different fish are ? ( I feel a competition coming on ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Blimey your not asking a lot are you Paul I would say the first one is getting on for 20lb so Iwill guess 18lb and the one in the lower picture a shade less at 15lb. But as I said before it is only a wild guess without actualy holding the fish. Sometimes as a kid in the 50's I would visit my Uncle Morris in Blackpool. Morris had several stalls on Blackpool pleasure beach and was for many years president of the stall holders association. Any way what has this to do with guessing weight? One of his friends had a stand on the beach, and this guy would bet any one at a 100 to 1 odds that he could guess their weight. All he did was put his hands either side of the punters waist and just lift against the the weight without moving the customer. HE WAS ALWAYS SPOT ON!!! In Stones, pounds and ounces! If it was a trick it was one not shared with me. I remebered going all over the tarmac where his stand was looking for a sort of secret weighing pad Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted June 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 As you probably guessed, I was using these as an example of how difficult it is to determine the weights without scales. Steve's Undulate was a shade over 10lb - much less than your 12lb to 14lb guess ( maybe they are thinner in the East ) = 20% to 40% error The Undulate Pete Russell is holding weighs 18lb 10oz - not a bad guess The Thornback I am holding weighs 9lb - much less than your 15lb guess = 66% error. Therefore scales are needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted June 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 I'll have a look for the trailaway date in a second. If it suits the FPO's schedule of domestic chores, I'd be happy to come down with SeaMouse and help out? Steve Steve, No trailaway date set yet ( Manic Moore is sorting this ). You are of course more than welcome to come down and help out - the more the merrier. ( and we will probably need all the help we can get ! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 (edited) although i think that the fish should be weighed, i think most experianced fishermen can guess close. I would be fairly hopeless at guessing the weights of sea fish, but i think i would be within 8oz of guessing the weight of a 20lb carp. Its also diffucult to judge the weight of a fish from a pic. Some hold fish out far, other close in, size of hands, camera angles etc Although, i think i would of guessed Petes undulate spot on as i remeber the pic when it was posted 1st time around, Edited June 12, 2007 by Gnasher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I was going to say 18 and 10 lbs before I saw the answer. Peter's fish was well documented, didn't it share or come very close to the record? A picture is worth a thousand words..... but that depends on how big the bloke (or woman) is holding the fish as well as how far he/she sticks it if front of the camera. Hence most fish you see me holding is pretty huge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 As I said judging from a picture proves nothing. A far more accurate judgment would be made by holding the fish with ones eyes closed. I know from years of coarse and sea fishing that I am as good a judge of weight as most fisherman once one has 'felt' the weight. It was a bit like being asked to gauge the fuel consumption of a car by looking at a picture of it. So a nice game but 100% inaccurate in gauging ones judgement Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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