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Has the Shambles lost some of its glory? We headed down to the Shambles from Cobbs around 7.15 am. on one of our annual pilgrimages. Departure was a little later than anticipated due to a few hiccups and an iced up boat and slippy pontoons. As high water on the Shambles was 8 am. We had a little bit of tide against us and conditions were relatively calm. Our average speed was around 18 knots. Spoke to Doombar and Bobblin 3 several times during the day ( Buddy Boats). On our arrival at the East Shambles Buoy, we joined the flotilla of some 22 other boats. Our attempts to catch Mackeral and Launce resulted in one Mackeral so mainly frozen baits were used. We had seen Mackeral earlier in the day on the way down not far from Dancing Ledge. They were skillfully being chased by Puffins. Around half the birds were diving to chase the fish to the surface, while the remainder of the flock were scooping them up. Great teamwork. I would have loved to get a picture but they would not let us get near and the shoal of fish was darting in all directions. The weather during the day was quite chilly and, at times, the water was a murky grey. In total we caught four Turbot. Three keepers and one returned. The largest was just under 5lbs. so nothing exceptional. However, as they say, fishing is not always about catching fish. There seemed to be very few fish about and most boats were hammering a small area. For those who are interested, three of us used "bling boom" rigs while Ray Ashby ( ex England and former Boat Team Manager) used a simple single flowing 5 ft trace baited with a thin sliver of Mackeral as a Launce look alike nailed to the bottom. This caught him one fish. No real conclusions here. I had two fish on bling booms, Mike Hall had one and our other Club Member, who will remain anonymous, blanked. We left early in the afternoon after a couple of hours of the flood as we were catching nothing. We then headed some twelve miles to Kimmeridge having first checked with the Lulworth Range Safety Boat before entering the restricted Firing Range Area on Ch 16 and then Ch 10. Fortunately, the Bream were more cooperative than the Turbot. Fuel wise (there were no unforseen circumstances and the weather and tides were favourable). Hooky on Doombar, a Wilson Flyer with two on board with a new FStroke 115 Mercury used under 70 litres. Fisheagle, Merry Fisher 755 Marlin with four on board and quite heavily loaded used around 170 litres with a Suzuki 200 V6. The total distance for Fisheagle was around 90 miles. A bit less than anticipated as we did not stay for the whole afternoon. So saved on going back up drifts and wind and tides were favourable both ways.

Went out to the Black bream mark in the fabulous early conditions. Didn’t find any but did get some dogs and 2 personal best Rays Undulate at 16lb and Spotty at 4.75. Question. My scale does pounds but to me it looks like it then does percentages of lbs? The undulate bounced from 15.98 to 16.28 lbs. The spotted from 4.75 to just under 5 Will be adding the weights to catch reports once you chaps clarify Cheer

Thanks all for the Birthday wishes. Been working today and NO BEER. Did have a takeaway curry & cake though. Steve & family came over for tea yesterday brandishing beer and a cake that his eldest had made. Not gone short of beer over the past few days so won't hurt to have a day off ! Jackie's gone overboard on the pressies so I'm a very happy old codger.

Cheers chaps. I don’t always weigh like this. I’ve got a big net laundry bag that acts as a sling for stingers and gilts. This way seemed a bit more brutal but they both swam away well. If i’m honest i’m sure I’ve caught bigger undulates at Southbourne but it looked pretty good so got out the scales. Makes me wonder if I should have weighed the others. The spotty was a good size and until I started hauling I thought I had my first Bream as it shot around the yak at first. FYI my chum eventual found 2 bream

Belated birthday wishes to you Jim.

Belated Birthday wishes Jim Good to read you had a great day 🍺🍺🎂🎂

Sounds like you had a good one Jim, good to hear, now catch up with a beer or two. 🎂🍻

Yann has asked my to post a picture of his Bull huss caught at kimmeridge on Sat. 23rd. It weighed in at 11lbs 12ozs.

No, at Kimmeridge. Go past Old Harry then past Peveril continue past St Albans. Probably better to go with another Club Boat who knows the tides and likely effect of weather conditions as some of the Headlands can really rough up. I have had to turn back or leave early due to inaccurate forecasts. If you go there, it is about 12 miles from the Shambles Buoy. Go a short distance past St Albans and before Kimmeridge. If you go just past Kimmeridge you need to be aware of the Firing Range and the times when they operate. You can phone or contact them at Range Control on Ch 16 or 10.

Happy birthday you old codger 👍

Happy Birthday Jim Hope you've had a great day

You're welcome Jim, I enjoyed both your company and the day afloat, shame the fish weren't to interested in playing

Strange weather when we went Plaice fishing on Madness. Quite a few squalls about but none of them hit us.

One of my turbots