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Part 1: How it all started! I've fished like many of us since I was old enough to hold a rod - maybe 5 years old. I remember standing on Boscombe pier with my Dad in the cold and rain, no bites and whilst Dad was keen to go home to bed, I’d always ask for just 5 more mins! Once I was old enough to fish on my own it was on the Stour at Muscliffe with Dad, catching roach, pike, perch and chub. As I got older and more independent I joined Christchurch Angling Club (CAC) and widened my horizons to the lakes in and around Ringwood. I learned my craft fishing the rivers in Dorset however and feel blessed to have been taught by my dad to fish ‘proper’... trotting a stick float in a river. If I had to pick one type of freshwater fishing - this would be it - a centrepin, a stick float and a pint of white maggots. I match-fished for a few years with good success but soon found the constant competitive edge a bit wearing, so moved onto Carp fishing. The combination of massive, hard fighting fish and the added bonus of sleeping away from home and the adventure of camping was irresistible to a 16 year old! I was properly ‘hooked’ on carping for several years and as I progressed into full time adult work, it was normal for me to finish work, drive to the lake, set up - fish all night, up at 6am, pack up and back into work for 7.30. I’d do this 3 nights a week before going home for a shower and fresh food before spending all weekend at the lake. Back in the 90’s a 30lb carp was the holy grail and a truly massive fish. I was fortunate enough to catch a couple of these beasts with my best going 38lb 2oz…. Today that's run of the mill in many lakes - back then it was a fish of a lifetime. So fast forward to what I’d guess is 1998 and it was Carp fishing that got me back into Sea Fishing. Myself and several mates had started to make an annual pilgrimage to France for the HUGE carp that it was renowned for. It was a proper adventure too - a transit van, 4 blokes, a mountain of tackle, nice weather, big carp and loads of beer! Perfect! One year we had a drop out and Neil Cooke who then owned Bournemouth Fishing Lodge ( a mate of mine as I worked in the Lodge from 12 years old to maybe 18) suggested a stand in to fill the trip. A guy joined the group called James Parker. James and I hit it off straight away and we spent every night that trip in France drinking beer on the bank into the early hours talking all things fish and fishing…. He was nuts about fishing as I was! On the last night we started talking about how we started fishing and I mentioned I actually started as a Sea Angler….. James mentioned that he had a small fishing boat back at home in the UK and that when we got back we should do a trip. I didn't need asking twice! A few weeks after getting back from France, James took me out of Christchurch, having launched at Wick on his little 13’ yellow open Shetland… it didn't have a proper name but James called it the Yellow Peril! This was my return to Sea Angling and in a heartbeat I dropped all things freshwater. After several trips in shore with James and having caught some good rays and other fish I fancied a boat of my own. As we all know this was the start of a very slippery slope! I was searching Boatsandoutboards.com daily but in all honestly didn't have a clue what I was looking at, and whilst on a very meagre salary the thought of spending thousands on a boat was terrifying! James called one day and said his mate had a little cabin boat for sale. We went over to take a look - in Oakdale I seem to recall. She looked great - but what did I know! We bought her and went 50/50 on the cost. I was still living at home at the time so ‘Tara’ lived at James’ house in Southbourne. At 16’ long with a 30hp 2 Stroke Outboard she felt like a min-charter boat to a complete novice like me having only been on open boats in the past! James and I fished all over the place in that little boat in some pretty shitty weather! We also caught some great fish! Double figure bass, Undulates to 18lb, Small Eyed to 13lb, Congers over 50lb, Huss to 12lb, 4lb Bream. We fished up to about 8 miles out but that little boat was proof that time on the sea is just as important as fancy rigs or bait! After a couple of years I was earning better, and the lure of a bigger, better and faster boat was too much! I had now started an office based job in front of a PC all day and I’ll admit to being addicted to Boatsandoutboards.com and Findafishingboat.com…. I dreamt constantly of a bigger boat. At this time I was in Bournemouth Fishing Lodge and picked up a flyer for a website called Phantom-Fisher.co.uk this was a website and more importantly a forum for boat fisherman in Poole. At this time Facebook, Instagram etc didnt exist and so a forum for people to talk fishing and boats on the internet was some kind of heaven! Phantom-fisher didnt last long though and as it closed down many of the member were homeless on the internet. At this time I was introduced to (and I’m sorry I’ll forget a few names!) Peter Russell Snr and Jnr, Martin Burt, Bob Fuller, Bob Horne (RIP) Paul Dore…. These guys belonged to PBSBAC, and I joined straight away and threw myself into the club and joined the committee to help. It was apparent that in these new modern times we needed an online presence, and thus PBSBAC.co.uk was born under the tech guidance of Paul Dore (if I remember correctly!?) This proved to be an amazing resource to tap into anything you could possibly need. Want to know how to wire in a twin battery set up? Ask the question and the members would advise! The lust for a bigger boat was growing daily and having been out one evening to be taught the Alderney ring anchor method by (then chairman) Martin Burt on this amazing Warrior 195 called ‘Maverick’ I had decided that whilst a 195 was out of my league I did want a Warrior 165. Trouble was, so did everyone else and having emptied the piggy bank I had no more than 11k to spend. I looked in vain for months, every decent boat I found was sold, all others where shit heaps. Paul Dore rang me one morning to inform me of one that had just come to the market in Eastney Marina, Hayling Island, so Bob Fuller and I popped down the very next Saturday to take a look. It was here I learnt a very sage lesson about buying boats! She was beautiful - shiny and not a scratch on the hull. Clean and tidy she looked a bargain for 11k. The sea trail went great, although the engine alarm did sound as we approached the slipway back home… however it was too late, i was smitten, and whilst the engine looked a little tatty and out of sync with the rest of the boat this was the boat I dreamed of. £11k was a deposit for a house back then, but we did the deal and soon she was sat on the drive back at home. I’d met my wife Rachael by this time and we had our own house in Verwood and I was proud as punch. A new wife, a new house and a posh new boat! A couple of months after buying BW, we didnt the annual club trail-away trip to the Shambles - the engine started playing up on the way back. I felt sick. I managed to get it back to the slip but the engine was very poorly. I was skint after buying the boat, and the call from the workshop that evening nearly made me vomit; ‘The engine is shagged mate - total write-off the block is cracked’ I did actually cry. Rach my wife was ace and after a couple of days we re-mortgaged and bought a brand new 60hp Mariner 4 Stroke. I had more great memories on BW. Some of my best were really pushing the limits of a 16’ boat and going mid-channel wrecking on her. We had to carry 4 x 25l of petrol. 1 to get there, 1 for the days drifting and running about, 1 to get back and 1 for reserve. 100l of Petrol on a 16’ boat is a lot! 25 miles offshore in a 16’ boat was both scary and exciting! One trip we caught so many cod that I couldn't get BW on the plane… we had to come back at displacement speed - the extra 25L saved our bacon that day! One another trip we started the day in beautiful sunshine, and it stayed all day - flat calm, not a ripple. On the way back a ‘pea-souper’ descended and I helmed 25 miles home on the edge of my nerves with no radar and only the MK1 eyeball for guidance. Again, after a few years that familiar itch many of us know, started again - bigger, faster, better?! I looked at a lot of options but struggled to get away from the Warrior brand, so sold BW and bought a Warrior 175. Whilst only 1’ bigger the actual physical size difference was massive - she was wider, longer, taller… self draining deck, integral fuel tank….. A real step up from the 165. I should have learnt a lesson from the 165 right? Well, ‘Out of the Blue’ had a Honda 130hp engine with a 5 year warranty and only 150 hours on the clock. Safe as houses right? We had been on another trail-away to Portsmouth as a club for the Tope off the Nab Tower and on the way back after another great day of fishing, the Honda started to ‘miss’ slightly…. You all know that feeling when your pride and joy starts to miss-behave…. It was a sickeningly familiar feeling from a few years ago. If I recall correctly I had Gorden Moore with me that day. Back home, I started a long drawn out process involving several engineers and lots of more wasted money. You know the saying ‘owning a boat is like taking a cold shower whilst tearing up £20 notes’ well this was that. ‘Maybe its the HT leads?’ Change them - nope ‘Maybe its the Fuel filter?’ Change that - nope ‘Maybe it’s the Injectors?’ Change them - nope After several hundred wasted pounds, I was poking around at the end of my whit and noticed that the oil was emulsified?! Surely the first thing you’d check? I took it straight to Honda who confirmed that Yes - once again the head was cracked. I felt sick again. Amazingly - whilst out of the 5 year warranty, due to the low hours on the engine they decided to honour the warranty and the engine was replaced FOC. I’d lost faith once again in that boat after all that. About this time Rachael and I had moved out to Shaftesbury from Bournemouth to settle down and start a family, and trailering a 17’ boat through the narrow, muddy country lanes started to become wearing pretty quickly. Once again the nagging feeling started again and I began to contemplate a bigger (faster!?) boat that could be moored and avoid the tedious 25 mile trail to a slipway. Another chapter was about to begin!

I asked you for your favourite fishing photo from the last 20 years Our members have voted for this photo by Dave

Got a few drifts over the Camswan in Sandown Bay the weekend before last. Here are a couple of pics, one at 455khz, the other at 800. The banana shape of the first and last pic is because I was trying to correct the drift half way through - doh! Still decent pics though. She's a hungry wreck... I lost 3 rigs on her in 3 drifts. Afterwards I did some research online and apparently she's known for having 4-5m tall beams running along her centre line, which can be clearly be seen in the last pic. No wonder I was losing tackle.

@Gazza

Here’s the most voted for photo from March by Tarlach

Thanks peeps

Mark My son Brad Who was about 10 years old at the time caught a 19lb 11 oz Undulate Ray. He won the Fish of the Month. Not only that Stuie sent the photo and details off to the press. As a result of Stuie’s intervention Sea Angler took up the story and Brad one junior boat angler of the month and was awarded with a Penn boat rod. So I can confirm that the club does promote juniors where they have produced a good catch.

Excellent, really looking forward to the next chapter Adam

Is there no prize given for best fish taken each month by a Junior within the club? If there is not, maybe its something the committee could give some thought too given it would add further encouragement for the youngsters to get out with a rod rather than wear out there thumbs on a playstation!

Is your left leg in it's mouth, Dave? Terry.

It's a Terhi, Finnish built and and plastic. R

There is also the Wessex Junior Fish of the Month and Junior of the Year. Junior Members have won prizes in the past.

Hi Gary, The US is the major market for sidescan, which is why most of the marketing material and videos are aimed at their style of fishing. As for bream, yes. SS can identify their nests; they show up as clusters of circular patterns on the sea floor. I may have a pic somewhere that I'll dig out. As for transducers, your Simrad Go should be compatible with any of the transducers from Navico, the parent company of Simrad, Lowrance and B&G. They have two transom mount SS transducers worth considering at present. Active Imaging 3-in-1 or TotalScan. If you're evaluating whether to invest in SS, then I'd say that if you only ever fish the marks that you already have then you probably don't really need SS. But if you like to scout around for new marks or like to see what wrecks look like then SS is a good tool because you can search much wider swathes of the sea floor vs regular downscan sonar. It makes pinpointing wrecks much easier or spotting structure that could be a fish holding feature.

I can certainly see the sense in the species hunt Chris, and appreciate the point well about not all being available for the Comp days. Its good to see the youngsters getting in amongst top three, and no doubt it'll only be a matter of time before the monthly prize falls to one of the juniors (if it already hasn't!) Just thinking out aloud, if they had a Fish of the Month section of their own, maybe through the summer months, perhaps with the winner getting something like a £10.00 tackle shop voucher for instance, would that get more juniors out on the water?

Hi Mark, We had a restructure regards junior comps, we have proposed running their own species hunt for the season with a last day to include a chance of biggest fish topped off with their own presentation and pizza and chips at Cobbs. We struggled to get junior numbers on Comp days as holidays and other family events clashed last year, along with weather causing cancellations. Gives the juniors a chance every time they go fishing. 👍 Of course they also have a chance in fish of the month to kick our backsides!! 😂😂 More fish registered each month gives us some history and also keeps everyone interested is our intention.

Well done Jan, Colin & Blake ! Pretend we're at a virtual meeting. Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap And a very special well done to Blake. Cracking fish for a youngster!

March Fish of the Month 1st Place Jan Tryska Undulate Ray 14lb 8oz 91% Specimen £25 Voucher 2nd Place Jerry Shutter Pouting 2lb 3oz 73% Specimen 3rd Place Alun Jones Plaice 2lb 14oz 71% Specimen 5 fish recorded on the forum. April Fish of the Month 0 fish recorded on the forum Due to Covid 19 virus Government Lockdown. May Fish of the Month 1st Place Jan Tryska Undulate Ray 17lb 2oz 107% Specimen 2nd Place Colin Francis Mullet- Thick Lipped 4lb 5oz 101% Specimen £25 Voucher 3rd Place Blake Witheford Small Eyed Ray 10lb 12oz 98% Specimen 12 fish recorded on the forum.

Get yourself down west for some blues, i'll switch on my side scan when i am down there next (although old Lowrance Gen1) - prob not this year ☹️

I see a topic / slide show demo for our members at a club night? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's another Googled image that shows more clearly how a single fish shows up on sidescan. Note how shallow they are (8ft) which is one of the main reasons why the fish shows up so clearly, and so large. Fish at our depths will be much smaller and harder to identify.

Hi Gary, it's hard to say if they're fish or not. In the last image the white scatter at the bottom of the pic was my wash as I manoeuvred the boat whilst drifting. In the first pic its possible that the brighter specks could have been small baitfish, but with sidescan you can usually tell it's a fish or not by its shape; a fish will show up as a bright, elongated shape that looks vaguely like a fish seen from above. The specks in the pic seem more circular, so it's not clear cut. Here's an example of how fish show up on sidescan. This isn't my image (I just Googled it) and the shoal is in much shallower water, but you can clearly see the fish (tarpon) in the water column and their sonar shadows on the sea floor. I wouldn't expect this level of detail at the depth we fish over wrecks in the UK, but I would expect to see the rough shape of the fish.