Friday Fishing On "warren"

[Mike Fox]

Following Rich's kind invitation for crew on the Forum, I accepted, and took the afternoon off work and popped down to Hamworthy to meet Rich, who I had helped with the RNLI SEA Safety Check earlier in the year.

 

Left my car at Rich's house, and popped down to Baiter with him before low water to launch, and we reviewed some of the safety improvements made in the year to "Warren", his Orkney 520. What a lovely little package, easy to tow and launch single-handed, and with uplifted electronics and safety gear to make it a good self-contained inshore angling boat, and loads of carefully considered personal touches to make it all work for him.

 

Rich was keen on getting a tour of local marks, further uplifting his safety knowledge, and improving his fishing abilities, and I was more than happy to oblige:

 

- We started off fishing a couple of plaice/bass marks in the harbour, getting two plaice in two drifts - both around a pound and a half. A nearby boat had another plaice of similar size, and a red mullet.

 

- We then popped down to a well known wrasse spot, getting 3 or 4 quickly, and a solitary mackerel (in the harbour!!!) before the continual stream of ferries made it difficult. The occasional flats, bass and pollack were absent for the duration of our visit!

 

- We checked out the edge of some harbour banks for bass, but apart from shy bites on rag (small bream?) none were found.

 

- Popped down the Swash, pointing out seasonal marks for different species.

 

- Moved round the back of Old Harry, pointing out interesting reefs and marks there. Eventually anchoring off Ballard Down to try for rays in 60' or so. Unfortunately, there were shoals of small bream attacking whole squid and mackerel fillet baits, with Rich catching a couple to positively identify the culprits. Was sure mine were doggy bites - but none showed up! One heavier catch proved to be a spider crab that let go just under the surface.

 

- Popped out to the Whitehouse Grounds, trying a few intervening reefs on the drift, but the SW sea breeze and tide were combining to give 2.7 knots over the ground. Too fast for everything but snags it seemed, and anchoring seemed a little pointless, having seen the tide rushing past the crab pot marker buoys.

 

- Headed out for the Sadler (now BT) Mark off Bournemouth, getting loads of fish showing on Rich's new fish finder. Mackerel feathers were dangled in vain, and eventually two small scad of 6-8" were caught, identifying the culprits. Interesting bites on baited feathers (gurnard?) failed to develop.

 

We eventually called it a day, and returned to Baiter where Rich did an extremely slick retrieve up the slipway, proving that all of the practice over the summer has paid off.

 

What a lovely afternoon and evening! A cracking break from work, and great to see Rich enjoying his boating so much. I just wish I had time to join him mid-week for further trips, and suspect anyone who does will have a great time, with superb company!

 

Mike

Edited September 7, 2007 by Mike Fox

[rich]

 

Mike,

 

You were more than welcome on board.

It's great that the experienced members in the club put so much time and effort into helping us "Rookies".

When you said we were going out to get 7 species on Friday afternoon I did have a wry smile.

When the first plaice came aboard after about two minutes into the first drift the smile vanished. By the time the next plaice came aboard after about two minutes into the second drift my jaw had dropped. Most impressive.

I probably learnt more in that afternoon than reading a years supply of all the fishing mags put together.

We did'nt get the seven species you aimed for, but five out of seven ain't bad. Must try harder next time.

 

Thanks again Mike. A great afternoon!

 

Rich

 

[Mike Fox]

We had the doggies and bass today! Shame they weren't a bit earlier to complete the 7 target!

 

Mike