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So, after my successful trip out on Thursday, it was time to try the kids out of the harbour. I worked in the morning so only had the afternoon available. Launching at wareham about 2.30 then motoring down the the quay to pick up 2 VERY excited 9 year olds. Up till now, we've had a few short sessions in the harbour, but this was to be a REAL trip. I had been advised by Mike at Poole Sea Angling that the outer patch was fishing well, so we headed ther. What a great afternoon/evening. 25 bream of all sizes (grandad definitely caught the smallest), a couple of doggies and my son got a real bend in his 20lb class rod with a nice (angry) conger on a mackerel head. Dropping the kuds off on the quay at 7pm, they felt like royalty being dropped off in front of l9ads of early evening revellers. Id definitely call that a successful trip.

Wow, An Alderney trip where not only was the weather good. But it was a stable forecast in the lead up and we could be confident that the trip was on. Gear was loaded and Ice into two coolers on Thursday. Friday 22nd a very early start as the sun rose at Cobbs Quay before 0600 we were off No sign of birds inshore so we pushed on and found some Pollack on the wrecks Plus a few other things that like sidewinders We did not stop too long on the wrecks, before pushing on past Alderney and the Caskets lighthouse to the banks. Lots of Launce, a single mackerel and sardine/pilchard plus three Turbot. It was soon time to get into the harbour and pick up a mooring. Clean the boat up and head ashore in the water taxi. We stopped for a pint in the moorings and met up to compare notes with Ian and Steve. They had enjoyed a similar day. Taxi up the hill to our accommodation, which was already feeling a tad warm. But at least Kevin was on the quiet side of the hotel, in a room with a view. Lol Saturday We knew this would be a long one, as Reel Magic cannot do a four day trip without a fuel stop. Prior to the trip I had checked prices and was astonished that the diesel price, even at the cheaper rate was £2.14 per ltr. I cross checked with boatworks at Guernsey, another surprise as their price is £1.06/ltr We would have to add 30 miles to the days milage, but as we needed 400ltrs , its a no brainer. For the first time ever Dave and Reel Magic would visit Guernsey. Fishing was very slow for us with just one flatty, so mid afternoon we headed South. Dave was being cautious as he did not know what to expect. I think he was a little pleased and surprised, that the waterway known as Little Russel is so massive. Fuel onboard and another 12 volt battery installed, we enjoyed an ice cream in the sunshine [Thanks Kev] before leaving and heading North again to try the Schole Banks. an area we always used to fish but is now trawled out. We were joined by a pod of large dolphins 20260523_185203.mp4 They were still around as we cruised to the Island, enjoying the sight and the company. 20260523_194904.mp4 We ate on route as it was going to be late as we arrived back in Bray, but what great weather We may have been late but we managed to squeeze a beer or too in before walking up the hill for a quick shower. and more Guiness. Fishing has declined over the years but the trip remains great fun. Sunday Another great days weather and time for Tigerfish to head home via some wrecks and banks. No doubt Steve will update us with his reports. We tried a different area and enjoyed slightly better sport. even though we had more doggies than I have ever seen here, we also had a few nice flatties Dave had the last one, but also our biggest The wind and tide got a little awkward, with lines going under the boat, and Dave was not happy. So we decided to try another old haunt of speedy rock. we had saved mackerel heads for this plan and were soon anchored up to see if Tope were around, which unfortunately they were not. However there were some obliging Bull Huss to double figures. We did not stay long as the tide started to really push, but at least these were better than doggies. Back into harbour, water taxi ashore and back to the pubs. The moorings had a DJ blaring it out and Dave was with the beat. 20260524_200907.mp4 Not sure Mark who is a DJ, enjoyed it as much as the locals were. Before another walk up that damn hill, a shower and really nice last night meal in the Thai restaurant. The locals from the moorings finished up having a Karaoke night in the hotel bar, so we gave up on an early night for one last beer in there. Monday By now the weather was a little harder to predict, but we had a plan so by 0900 everything was loaded and off we go. Steady passage to the first wreck. But once we arrived it was a good one, by drift No 2 we had all managed some pollack. Steady retrieves meant the small ones could go back, but the bait tank was filling up steadily. Wreck hopping as we headed home was good with a few fish here and there. we were expecting building seas, but as we got nearer to Poole it calmed right down. Wew were all a bit tired by now, 4 day trips can do that too you. Cant they Kev in the calmer weather we could take a few pictures and start to sort fish out What a great trip. Excellent company, lots of good company and plenty of laughs. We had fished hard, and caught a variety of fish. Not up to the old standards but the flatties were all keeper size. Sorting the fish to various coolers at the end, we certainly did well Thanks Dave for another great trip on Reel Magic. I am sure we will be planning other things soon. One last thought. All the best Charlie

I saw a decreasing wind Sunday afternoon, however it remained bumpy longer than anticipated but it was all worth while for this 12lb specimen bass. The rest of the trip was 20 plus dogs, that still could not dull my delight. IMG_9336.MOV

The forecast for Monday was looking good and because we haven’t had many chances to get out lately we sacked off our band rehearsal. I was thinking of the Shambles and when I saw Steve’s post we made the decision to head that way too. We cruised down to the Shambles at a steady 20knts and as we approached we counted 11 boats already there! We set up our first drift a nice long one right down the middle of the bank. On reaching the end of the drift we had a bit of a problem I put the boat in gear and there was no gear. Oh S**T !!!!. Luckily Steve was there and had just gone past to start a new drift. A quick radio call on channel 6 and we came up with a plan to tow us into shallower water and I would then call up Sea Start (only joined last week😂). So while we waited for Steve, Bobi came up with the idea of turning off all the isolators and basically rebooting every thing. Well guess what, yes it worked !everything was working fine. Another quick call to Steve to cancel the tow as we motored back up towards him. After a chat Steve said he would be around if there was any more problems and would let us know when he was heading back. Boat wise everything went OK for the rest of the day. So we set up our second drift lines down and we had sabiki`s out for launce or Mac’s. I was dealing with a rather feisty launce that didn’t want to go in the live bait bong, when Bobi said what’s that noise. It sounded mechanical oh no ! what now. Well we soon realised it was the drag on my rod paying out line she grabbed the rod to stop it disappearing over the side while I put the Sabiki rod down. She said you are stuck in the bottom but as soon as I took the rod I knew it was a fish and not too small. As it came up to the surface we could see it would need the net. It was expertly netted by Bobi and weighed in at 10lb 1oz . We had several more drifts and the tally at lunch time was 5 to me and 1 for Bobi. There was a steady stream of Launce and one very welcome Mackerel. Over the slack things went quiet Steve had called and said they were off to try for something different, I decided to take the risk that nothing else would go wrong with the boat and we would stay for the tide change. Once the tide started running again we were into fish again Bobi managed 2 on one drift. We ended up with 7 Turbot to me and 4 to Bobi. I had a weaver on the sabiki`s.Bobi also managed a small Blonde . As is normal the last drift went longer and we drifted off the bank I called lines up and Bobi finished the day with a nice fat Dab. We had an uneventful trip home at 22knts having auto pilot makes these trips so easy and stress free.

Myself and Kev hatched a plan for a bit of bassing on the small tide then anchor over the slack water tide change. We had a few bass on the ebb when we got there, the tide was dropping away so dropped the anchor. The wind held us at an angle that was a pain but just about fishable. We had many congers from 18” to about 12lb and Kev got a bonus blonde ray of 11 1/2lb. When tide picked up we decided to try for bass again but it was very quiet. A nice day out with good company as we haven’t fished together for a while, thanks Kev. Always good to know club boats are around having a good day too.

Smile please

My guest was one of my oldest friends who I met at college in 1977. The finest of company and a rare someone who could look upon spending three days living on Endeavour three with Gummage as a great adventure. TUESDAY The drive down from Wiltshire was beautiful. The launch was easy and the cruise through the harbour was uneventful save a quick slide on the mud where a red pole is missing. Someone has replaced it with an anchor buoy but at first sight it looks like a bit of flotsam. If you go up there watch for this and go round the buoy. Turns out we weren’t to be the only one thus fooled. Otherwise the trip to the ocean was uneventful, no explosions. This trip was a retry. Look up “It went with a bang” to see how it ended last time. We paused for breakfast and a mackerel hunt by the Hook Sands where first catch of the day was a Gurnard to Ian which took the slow jig we had under the feathers .🎣 I decided to go west to Peverill ledge. Club members warned us to be careful on the flowing tide. We stayed well out and were able to drift in the chop and the fresh 10 mile an hour breeze. We used sidewinders whole squid feathers slow jig and even a squid jig for a couple of hours. All we caught for the rest of the day were two small scad. One was volunteered for bass patrol to no avail. With the tide flowing in the late afternoon we tried anchoring a ridge mark. No knocks. We moved on to Bournemouth in the early evening. After losing a few rounds of bait to something small and annoying we decided we were tired enough and set off to ridge. At the river Frome The missing navigation pole had snared a victim. Three folks in an inboard engined 18 foot(or so) boat were sat firmly on the mud a couple of foot above the water line. They got off at the next high. WEDNESDAY Went into Wareham for petrol and a bacon sandwich. It was 9 o’clock before we chuffed out of Ridge . It was a beautiful start for the day, but we knew the wind was forecast to get up. It takes an hour from here to get down the harbour and it wasn’t until 11 o’clock that we found ourselves at the 50-50’s Another Club member Graham Nash on Samoya had already been there for a productive couple of hours. Encouraging! The conditions were initially languid and we chucked squid and worm Bates down on a very slow drift. They included a whole squid with two big hooks in it, a shark‘s breakfast! This was to produce our only catch there; a 12 ounce bream.🎣 As per forecast the wind got up blowing from the SW against the tide and we found ourselves drifting uptide at half a knot. Anchoring was in the original plan but I dropped it.(The plan, not the anchor)The other boat had a mixed bag of dogfish,bream eel and smoothie. It’s the early bird that catches the worm! We ran in on the blow and anchored 1 mile out at the rocky pool patch. Wind over tide as before produced a maverick anchor set up. We bounced caught rocks and nothing else. Went on to Bournemouth to Plaice drift . Ian had a lively Gurnard but at about 4.00 a pub supper beckoned and we gave it best A tomahawk pork steak and a Purbeck cider or two hit the spot. Then a gentle stagger back down the river towpath to the boat The full moon rising to make it an entirely memorable evening. DAY THREE It was never going to be the earliest of starts to a short session. After 3.30 there wouldn’t be enough water at ridge to retrieve the boat on the steep slip. So a short day. We left at nine and slipped down to Poole Ian Bought a small pack of fresh worm while I waited at the town steps. The bridge upstream had just lifted and boats came through from Cobbs quay. We got a cheery greeting from Chris Witherford on Kingfisher. A top club angler. He went plaice fishing outside the harbour along the swash. It would be a good plan and he welcomed us to shadow him; even gave us some ******(it’s no for me to give his secrets away😉) to cap our worm baits with. We had a good couple of hours and caught three plaice( two keepers) and a bream. At 1.30, time to run in. NO GOOD TURN GOES UNPUNISHED As we ran up the Frome on our tight schedule we came upon the missing Nav pole’s next victim. At the same spot as before a 30 foot yacht was teetering in the mud. Ian advised,”Don’t get involved.” I probably should have heeded. The vessel had deployed a rear anchor which had set but its keel was just in the mud and it was pinned to the bank by a cross wind I figured my 60 horse power could get him off before it got worse. (I wish I’d left him there; and so does he I expect) How? I found that by reversing into the crosswind I had good control; upsteam ,downstream, backward, forward. I suggested picking up his anchor line with a loop of rope and pulling there. That idea was rejected by the other skipper. Perhaps he feared the salvage rules? Instead he threw me a line from his rear starboard cleat and Ian OXO tied it to our bow sprit. I was concentrating hard on not becoming the next victim here and doing well at it thus far. As I put the power on to initiate the tow I had to look lively as E3 was becoming wind driven as I knew she would. Then, is this unlucky or what? As the tow line tensioned it didnt draw up out of the water straight as I expected but span like it does when two people work a skipping rope. Why is that a problem? Because it flicked behind his port side mounted auxiliary outboard and before I could throttle down, it lifted it off its mounting and dropped it in the drink🫩. Whilst both of us had that heart sinking feeling it wasn’t a reason to abandon the tow. E3 controlled well and a burst of power had the yacht following me across the channel . Ian was on constant standby to cast us off if we lost control. I know this is a danger when towing a vessel Thats bigger than you are. But we manoeuvred around and set to towing down stream to a wider part of the channel. But we made no progress . Nobody had attended the anchor line and as we pulled his boat round the line had gone over his prop and the anchor was still set beyond.🫩 Perhaps I might have tried to clear that rope with my boat hook, but it didn’t occur to me at the time , and time was running out For us . When I came upon the scene I might perhaps have called the coastguard for him. When I left, perhaps I should have called the Samaritans . Everything else went fine.

Nice brace today. Two nice ones of many

Kodiak's report: I had deer stalking buddy Pete onboard, and as we were locked to Sat with the breezy forecast opted to stay inshore. We fished the Patch for the morning - a little mark I found a few weeks back - a real honey hole, of what I assume are black bream nests - the sounder was wild! A 1lb box of squid was gone in no time and we were only fishing 1 rod each. But whilst it was non-stop action, the stamp of fish was very average. Best fish to me (as only member counting) was 1Lb 12oz. After a few hours of manic fishing the powerboats started up, and we soon found that we were in the middle of the racetrack. Whilst it was pretty cool to see these monsters zooming past at what I assume must have been over 60 knots, it killed the fishing pretty quickly! Pete asked it Kodiak was quick enough to keep up.... I never run her at anything like WOT, but a quick blast proved that 36 knots was still someway short! Plan B was back in the harbour out of the wind after a Gilthead. The plan worked when wind, tide and weed aligned and it was pretty hectic fishing. We had about a dozen gilts, including a new PB for me.... and only 1oz under Charlie's club record.... MAN... do they fight. I think they might just be the hardest fighting fish lb for lb we have. For Charlie's overall catch and release record, black bream - 40 fish caught, 5 retained. Gilthead, 12 caught, 3 retained. My Fish: Black Bream - 1lb 12oz Gilthead Bream - 2lb 12oz

With small tides and very little water movement we were planning a trip way off shore, that did not happen as you will read below. A 5.00am alarm for me and on the boat prepping by 6.0am. Lots of bait thawing and dreams of something large bending the rods. All was going well till Chris had a troubled look on his face and his ears tuned in to the engine note and watching the rev counter, temp and oil gauges. He had noticed 400 revs missing at the top end, maybe something around the prop, a dirty bottom or something unexplained. Then I suggested could it be as simple as the throttle cable adjustment. Up came the engine hatch and a quick check, no not the throttle cable, but what's that noise and the temp has gone up. A quick look over the side and no water pumping around the engine, switch off quickly and let the engine cool down. Right lets deploy the Anchor, we do not want to end up in the channel. Get the rods out, no point wasting the opportunity, who knows the fishing gods may give us a gift to raise the spirits. It was very strange, we had broke down but no panicking just methodical thinking and complete confidence in Chris, with his engine knowledge, his meticulous planning carrying spare parts often needed and all the tools he needed. Well, lets get the kettle on. The fish were biting and a steady stream of bream and a Tub caught whilst we put a plan together. Time to do some investigations, undo some awkward hoses and lets check the water pump, we were fairly sure it was not spinning, with me on the Helm and Chris balancing on one leg in the engine well, right Mal hold the stop button and turn the engine over was the instruction, okay, the impeller is not turning, is it stuck, not turning. That's weird these are all new parts, plan B call home and dig out the spare from the garage ( thanks Leanne) and ask Martin at home to be on standby for a break down call out. Why is it not turning, lets get it out and inspect it. With the Impeller in hand Chris then took the centre out of the impeller, and Bingo. In the meantime as if we did not have enough on our minds, I suggested we could lift the anchor and drift over to the SRM and drop Anchor there, we can better that. If you sit in the engine well Mal with the hose running down the engine intake we can slowly make our way over there. Job done, rods over, kettle on and let the Engine cool down again. With the part in hand and the centre pulled out, what's that burning rubber smell, a quick look at the centre spline noted the grip was just not there and the splines had worn down. No problem I have 4 spares in the locker up front, change that over and put the pump back together and see what happens. Whilst all this is going on we have managed a small undulate and some more bream. Right Mal do the same in the wheel house, that's better, its spinning. Lets put it all back together, turn the water back on and see what happens. Water thundering out the exhaust is what happened, right stand Martin down and thank him. Right what's the plan where shall we go, the Banks were close so lets go there, not much tide so a bit quiet with the boat wandering on the Anchor line till the tide started. We had as many bream as we wanted, in fact they were chewing up all the baits. We also had a few Conger, Smooth Hounds running riot and some Tope, so the fish count was doing well. Not happy with that, lets deploy the Shark rod. First bite a short strip of line and a small mouthed bite off (Tope). New bait down and a fifty yard run, much more furious and some triangular tooth shapes and a much larger mouth (Shark). We have a shark in the area, all the bream went missing for a while. Very exciting and another bite off before it was time to go home. A few more small Rays and Smooth hounds added to the total for the day. Still time for a Guinness and a good clean down before our bodies and minds started to shut down, neither of us would have needed much rocking after that day out.

Well that took way too long to sort out. From what looked to be a small fault, it proved to be a much larger and more expensive one. Initially the engine would not start, I checked some connectors and it started. Tested it several times and went to an anchorage in the harbour, went swimming and cleaned the hull and sterndrive. A few days later went onboard to give the clean boat a test run, as on the previous fishing trip it seemed to have lost speed compared to the engine RPM. When I got onboard the engine failed to start. Fiddled with all of the same connections again, but this time it would not start. read out said , engine in gear will not start. Initially I kept checking things online and Chat GBT which gave a variety of possible causes. I made a list of them and over a few days in really hot weather, worked through the list. No change I was being helped by Richard from Pinnicle Marine, but eventually we ran out of things to try. I had to book another engineer to bring his Volvo Vodia diagnostic system onboard to fault find my Volvo Penta D4. [Richard did spot a cracked bracket on one of the pump mounts, I ordered parts and fitted while waiting for parts to arrive.] This system indicated that one of the EVC units was showing fault, not only would I need to buy a replacement PCU, but then I would have to have it programmed to communicate with the other parts of the system by Volvo. This part is not refundable due to programming, we were only 99% sure Vodia had this right, but it had to be changed. To be honest the engineer was as worried about this as I was, so with permission of another boat owner at the yacht Club, he fitted my PCU to another vessel and its system immediately came up with the same fault code. This is where time started go wrong. The engineer went on holiday. Volvo Penta messed up the order. Engineer returns to be told part not ordered. But worse than that Volvo Europe were now on shut down. Part arrived back in UK about a week earlier than anticipated after programming. engineer fitted it and all system start communicating with each other, great news, but engine would not start [*^*^*^] A bit more auto configuration and calibration bought up the same message that we started with, "engine in gear will not start." During the initial fault finding Richard and I had tested the throttle lever, to find that its microswitch closes a circuit when in Neutral. I had made up a small lead to insert in the circuit to trick the system. It had not helped at the start , but was still onboard, so we used it again. I was very pleased when Sam turned the key and the engine started for the first time in over a month. Three faults all at the same time. who would believe it When I get back to the office, I contacted Volvo to just pay them for fast delivery of a part. Once again they were useless [Its obsolete, no alternative] Back to the boat to get the control lever, then a few hours trying to chase up the part required. I could not find the complete part ,but did source two options for microswitches, sod it I ordered one of each. After a few more days parts arrived and one of them was a good match, so was fitted. I took the lever back onboard, wired it up and all was good again, engine runs, gear change works. I only had time to properly fit the various parts back on the boat and engine, before Wendy and I flew off to the sunshine of Madeira for a week, [The holiday was cheaper than the parts] When we came back, I still had the original fault to sort out. That of slow boat speed for engine RPM. After getting hold of, and cleaning up a second hand set of G5 props, I changed them from my dinghy last Friday. Out past the chain ferry, throttle up and back to the usual boat speed at 2500RPM. At last I have my boat back. Sorry for the long ramble, but I wanted to give other Members an idea of what I have learned from this experience, apart from how frustration it is to have a broken boat in a long hot summer. 1. If you fiddle with what may be loose connections, do it one at a time, so you know which one fixes the issue, should the fault return. 2. Volvo Penta parts departments are useless, chase them up for spares and ask for confirmation of orders 3. Volvo parts are expensive and not always available. 4. Find yourself a good engineer with knowledge and contacts for your boats engine. 5. Have a very understanding wife. Lastly have some very good friends at your fishing Club, that will listen to you banging on about bloody boats, engines and particularly Volvo F*****G Penta. But offer you the use of their boats or take you out fishing. Thanks guys, you have helped keep me sane since July. I hope that the fish are biting now Alfresco is up and running.

Took a couple of friends out for a days fishing today. Phil is a keen freshwater angler but has done a little bit of sea fishing before. Darren is not an angler but was keen to give it a try. Lazy start out through the 9:30 bridge lift from Holes Bay out into a fresh breezy bay. The tides were large today so decided to stay inshore. Our first stop was at Poole patch. Lots of small bream and mini conger up to 8lb. SIFCA fisheries boat came alongside for a chat helmed by an ex club member Dave Mayne. After a quick chat they went off to their next victim 😄 The guests were looking a little green but adamant they wanted to stay out. A move was called for so down to Southbourne Rough for more of the same ie bream and slimeys. by now Darren was looking not to good so I decided a return to the harbour was called for where we had more mini bream plus loads of weed. Gave up and came back in thought the 15:30 lift. Whilst the old Poole bridge was midway through lifting some idiot thought it would be a good idea to jump the barrier and make his way up the Poole side leaf with a view to jumping to the other leaf. The bridge operator was not a happy bunny giving the offender short shrift though the tanoy. The guy bottled out of jumping and made his way back to civilisation. Well that made the day more interesting lol. Back on the berth the boat was given a quick wash down then into the bar for a beer. Both guests said they enjoyed the day and were up for another go at a later date

Thanks to all the committee members for making the effort to come along and one member in particular who is hopefully joining soon us as long as we haven't put him off to take over from Brian's roles. It was a long meeting and yes we did digress a little, but often good dialogue comes up when people relax and give opinions that are very impactful and useful. We do realise that our speakers do uplift what to some may feel a like a "Wheel Tappers and Shunters and Social Club event" if you can remember back that far, style and dated format with us upfront . We will be asking you about that and any feed back you might have to keep you all entertained on your evening trip out. Things that we are going to target and goals. 1. Speakers, the best we can book for you. If you have anybody you think will be interesting, please put them forward. 2. Members giving after meeting talks on some of their own experiences. Say "Engine rebuilds" "BFT" experiences, You tube films etc. A quiz. 3 We are going to be asking you for your feed back on an organised day out for our non boat owners or I really can't face launching members or I just want to share a day out with other members on our own club boats. I know some members have already said they would like that. 4. As you know we need to revue our charity recipient, can you give that some thought before the AGM in April. 5. As we move forward to a new era the Angling Trust becomes more involved with all aspects of sea fishing, fish stocks, the environment and the impact of pollution and predation. We need to think about showing them our support and perhaps more interactions with them. I have made a start with that and awaiting replies. 6. Our website moving forward from its transition to the current up dated version will still have to move on yet further and we are making more plans wit Mark P on that. 7. Social side, the BBQ is returning to the same venue without the rain hopefully. We also wondered if any of you would be interested in a quiz or two, maybe after a meeting or at an away venue. Those suggestions come from Alan G and a few more from AG in the weeks to come. 8. Our catches/photos and reports, we have realised we are not reaching the public and have become a little insular, therefore not promoting our club and fishing areas like we did in the past, we are looking to change that. I have already sent an email to the Sea Angler to see if we can have an editorial piece done on the club, our boats, skippers and fish catches etc to promote us. 9. I will continue to learn and absorb all I can regards the FMP's "Fishery Management Plans" some arrived today and for me a few days reading in small digestible chunks before the yawning begins. Plus cultivating a better relationship with the Angling Trust. 10. Competitions will follow suit from last year, keeping the bream comp and hopefully one more if you approve. That's a quick up date from your Committee, I need to go and have a power knap most of us did not get home until 11.00pm and even then buzzing with ideas and not much sleep. This is your club and your interactions are what keep it going, in the current climate we are doing better than most so we need to keep on going and growing, cheers all.

I found that I could get away on Sunday. Endeavour 3 is champing at the mooring in the silage clamp, sporting her new tyres but the offer of a place wiith Greg on Marlin seemed too good not to follow up. The milking machine still hadn’t been switched on when I was leaving the downs . Met Greg as planned at seven. Keen as Mustard 7.30 bridge. We had both seen that the weather was set to go downhill and were anxious to make the best of the bright start.🔆 After a couple of drifts by the Brownsea cardinal Greg hit on a cunning plan.💡 You know how annoying it is when just as you are lining up to take your favourite mark some whipper snapper of a boat slips in ahead of you?😫😫😫 Well, that’s how annoyed they all were on Martin Burke’s boat as I clumsily picked up their favourite market buoy and tied Marlin to it. sorry lads I feel so embarrassed about that.🤭🤭🤭 Smack bang next to an old hulk that is obviously so full of species that they will likely film the next series of blue planet there.🐟🐠🐡🍤🎣. The wind and tide were squabbling over Marlin and she didn’t lie a we had hoped . So efforts to harvest the BluePlanet foundered. Lines tightened for a couple of schoolies each and Greg encouraged me with tales of how many flounders he had caught there; in the past! Greg and I were enjoying not trying too hard . Conversation was easy, coffee hot and Greg had prepared an excellent fried rice lunch. Just after midday and the heavy rain was imminent all boats saw sense and slipped under the 1.30 bridge and crews were son in the bar . Jerry can deal with the results but it was convivial. Thanks Jerry for making it happen , Greg for hosting me so well, and the rest of you for your sporting Company👏👏👏

After 4 weather cancellations trying to book a trip out with DL, we decided to confirm today as he was in Christchurch for a Mullet trip tomorrow. As you will all know today was not ideal at all, but Chris and I were fully commitment to do the trip and do the best we could to promoting the club. After a hard day with waves breaking over the boat this morning we did manage plenty of species for the camera. Dave enjoyed his day and would like to come back and do a talk and another day fishing on a better day. Hopefully we will see a good report in the Sea Angler and a positive spin on the club.

I took the two grandchildren back to the outer patch again and it proved a good move. I baited up grandson 1s rod and dropped it in, as soon as it hit the bottom it was taken with a good bite. First (and by far the best) black bream of the day. 37cm and 2lb. A steady stream followed but nothing could match this one. Wrasse, mackerel and small congers made it a very memorable trip for two budding fishermen. 7 mackerel, all kept 14 bream all went back 7 cingers all went back I ballan wrasse went back

A family day out but Blake fished the comp only one Gilthead at 14ozs. We did have an interesting time with some large smoothounds biggest 6/7lb. plenty of small bass, but we had a bonus species a silver eel, then ten minutes later I thought we had a strap conger but it was a huge silver eel. Weighed in at 2lb 4oz, well done Blake a cracker apart from the slime everywhere. 🫣 8 Bass, 4 Smoothounds, 2 Silver Eels, 1 Gilthead Bream. Comp Result. Blake - Gilthead Bream 14oz. Silver Eel new club record.

Thanks to Mick for joining me yesterday, even though the forecast showed a lot of rain possible and the tides were on the large side. 0800 at the boat and off we go to see what the sea state was like, it was a bit better than expected so we pushed out, to make the most of slack tide in 27 metres of water. For my first trip of 2026. Even though the wind was light there was still a big swell. We had a variety of baits out and it soon became apparent that most of the whiting had gone, while the weather was rough. The ones we did get were small and went back. The usual species started to nibble. Whiting, Pout and a few congers, then Mick had a couple of Blondes. Well done on getting them up on your whiting traces and 18lb traces. After the swing of tide I joined in with a nice Undulate that bounced the scales between 17lb 2oz and 19lb. I am happy to take the lower weight. At the end of 2025 I tried several places to get one of those, with no luck. Yesterday I had two.😁the second one weighed 9lb 8oz after three hours the tide beat us, [as expected] and we moved in. we tried half way to Swanage, but even though we were getting a few fish, the tide was ripping. Big weights are not really Micks thing so we moved again. finding a calmer spot on the edge of Swanage Bay. The usual doggies were about but no sign of the rays I had hoped for. One more move to the secret ray mark also proved fruitless. By 1600 it was lines up and run for home in fairly heavy rain. For Feb it had not been a bad trip. Great to be out fishing again and in good company, even on a very damp day. lets hope for better weather and calmer seas next time. The de humidifier is running hard today, trying to dry the cabin out.

I went out on Wednesday with my eldest son James, we had a few bass to start with and one huge mackerel. The tide eased and the wind increased so we came in and anchored around the spoils, wind was beam on so a little uncomfortable but ok. 3” cut off the mackerel for bait fillets, the rest sent out as shark bait. We had bream, one lsd the first for a while, small tope, no rays but kept busy. The shark bait was hit by tope but not hooked, Bitten to the hook! 🫣 New bait sent out, but frozen mackerel not fresh. Huge squid were following the baits up and I suspect it was them that ripped the shark bait to bits. We decided to give the harbour a go for a gilthead, had everything but, plaice, bass, wrasse and black bream so called it a day. A decent day, kept busy with a variety of species. Sunday, myself and Blake decided we would have an early morning session as he had a football match to watch in the afternoon. Picked the bait up at 6.30 and off we go, picked a buoy up outside Salterns to see if a plaice or gilthead may be about. We had a run of small bass to about 1 1/2lb and loads of wrasse so decided to move around the back of the islands. Was cracking out of the wind, but just more small bass, Blake had one decent run with line being taken but missed it. Decided to move as bait was disappearing at a pace, so I said we would drift the ferry basin for the last hour. On the way as went over a hole it was full of fish so went back and drifted over it, more small bass but gave a bit of fun but not what we were looking for. Off we go and a few minutes later the exhaust alarm sounding, no way twice in three trips! 🫣😤 Never happened in all the years of owning the boat. Check strainer, no water but no weed, check impeller, all good. I took the pipe off pump and blew down the into the strainer and could hear the bubbles going outside the boat, very strange. Put it back together and a little drop of water from exhaust but not enough. So best to check what’s going on underneath on the intake, strip down to boxers and on the bathing platform, dip a toe and it doesn’t feel the 20+ degrees it’s showing on sounder. 😂😂 Blake offered to go in, nice offer but never going to happen. In I go and found a lump of weed like a wig attached to the intake. 👏👏 Blake started the engine to check everything was working, all good so swimming lesson came to an end. Off in as our fishing time was now passed, a quick washdown and home. Got home 5 mins before kickoff instead of an hour so no footy for Blake, but he had watched moby dick swimming around earlier. 😂😂 Hopefully not a third time lucky waiting. 😢 I’m starting to think this is a young man’s sport. 💪🏼💪🏼🎣🐟 Fishing Wednesday with eldest son, round of golf with second son on Friday, and fishing with youngest son on Sunday, a perfect week. 👍

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Another day out on Madness. The plan was to head out to the 50 / 50 secret Ray, Bass, Mackerel, Conger, Gurnard and "anyone else who knows me" Mark. We decided to go for a leisurely start and go through the 8:30 lift. Took the slow journey out of the harbour and then picked up a bit of speed. Not too fast though as there was still a residual swell from yesterday. Got to the banks and saw YKnot (Mal) out there. We tried for quite a while but didn't get very much. Phil picked up a couple of Joeys (just big enough to keep for bait). He then had a few Congers followed by a good Bream. I had a little Conger and a small Shad. Followed by a smallish Gurnard. Martin had several Congers. We decided to move and went to another secret mark shown on Martin's plotter as "Chris's Bass mark". Well wouldn't you know it!!!!!!! Some cheeky blighter was already on it. We'll let him off . . . . . it was Chris. 🤣 We looked around for a suitable spot and anchored. The tide was almost stopped and the wind took us off course a bit. Not a lot happened until the tide turned. Then we (Martin) had to re-anchor. As the tide picked up so did the fishing (a bit). I had an eating size Mackerel on my lazy line. I had the biggest Conger of the day which Phil guessed at 5lbs ish and a good eating size Bream. Now I'm not sure if Martin had a Bream or not of if Phil had the others. Martin will clarify. I think it was 5 Bream in total. (help me Martin) Lots of Congers. Phil got a good but not massive Tope which we hoped was a Bass when he first hooked into it but Phil called "Tope" and was correct. Chris and Kev (Ark) decided to up anchor and try some drifting for Bass and about ½ an hour later we did the same. We didn't do any good so went back to the 50 / 50's to try drifting there. Didn't do any good there either. Decided to head back just in time for the 4:30 lift and a good scrub down. Phil the Gent as always shared the catch out between him & myself. (Thanks Phil) Martin didn't want any today. Didn't get many pictures today but if I have anything any good I'll post when I'm not so tired. If I've got any details wrong Martin please correct me. I'm very tired and now on pint number 2. 😉 Good news I suppose. Not one dogfish. ! ! 😉

Posted for Colin-58

Loads of bream, a few dogs, Jenny got a lovely 2.2 black bream

Solent Gilthead 2-9, my PB

Violet with her 2-3 bream

Hmm clowns error, I have an isolator switch that stops the windlass from being used. This is very useful when taking the grandchildren out as they cannot hurt themselves upfront by accidentally touching the operating switches. Hmm would help if I remember to turn off the isolate switch when fishing Ooops

11lb 6oz of hard fighting lure caught offshore banks bass

WOW Well done everyone who entered and got out on the Bream Comp, 13 boats which I believe is the most entries we have had for a long time for any competition. Juniors, ladies, old codgers! They were all there, really great result and effort from lots of members. Seniors 1. Adam Franklyn 2lbs 12oz Gilthead Bream 2. Jenny James 2lbs 2oz Black Bream 3. Mal Thomas 2lbs Black Bream Juniors 1 Grahams grandson!!! 2lbs Black Bream ( a force to be reckoned with in the future!) 2 Blake Witheford 14oz Black Bream Congratulations all those who took part and especially those on the leader board. Let’s hope the enthusiasm continues and we can perhaps test the water with another comp or two in 2027

Another Day out on Madness. Left Cobb's for the 08:30 bridge. It was a pleasant morning with a gentle breeze & hazy sunshine. The harbour was quite calm and we made our way to the chain ferry. Once outside it was a different story. It was quite breezy & lumpy. We decided that Ballard would be a good choice so off we went at a gentle pace. We lined up for anchor and found there was a problem with the windlass ( Martin will explain ). We had a go at drifting and I "winkled" out a Pollack. It's too rocky at Ballard for drifting so a change of plan was needed. We headed for the beaches at B/mouth to drift for flatties. On the way Martin sorted the anchor so we then headed for the patch. Anchored on a nice spot but there were only a couple of boats out there (both charters) so we guessed that it had been overfished and not producing much. We were right! Martin had one and put it back. Martin and Phil had a couple of doggies. We all hooked a couple and lost them. I had a Bream as well. Then we moved and had nothing but a wrasse to me and a better Bream to Martin. We decided that the Harbour would be better but just caught Weed. Last few minutes by the Ro Ro and I had another Bream. Back in at 3:30 lift. Thanks Martin & Phil for another great day out. Not many fish but so good to get out. Thank you.

Photo of Frank Morris who got soaked doing my anchor in torrential rain and rough conditions. He is using clothes out of my survival bag to change into. Allan.

As your Chairman I have been closely involved or keeping in touch with the Health and Welfare of our membership. It is no surprise that we are of an average age when health issues become more prevalent, whether it be joints wearing out or more serious issues. The reason for this post is to invite you and encourage you to use your club site or talk directly with your close friends. A friendly ear or a shared experience or just some good wishes and support can be a positive experience. The mental strain of the Health issues can be as serious as the illness or disability, whilst PRIVACY is VERY important and many would rather keep things that way. Someone may want to share and benefit from a kind word or a shared experience and of course you can Private Message a fellow member for Privacy. I want you, our members to feel that this site is full of caring friends and members who may have experienced something very similar and may be able to sympathise or offer some positive words. Greg recently had some work done on his knee and I know he appreciated the get well soon messages when he was bored due to restrictions on his freedom of movement sat on his sofa recuperating and bored. I hope this post has helped or reassured someone or encouraged them to talk to their doctors or seek help for whatever may be concerning you. Generally, Men are the worst at discussing their concerns and bottling up worries inside. Sharing may be the step forward to dealing with your Concerns. I ask you to Please talk to your friends and listen out for signs that they might like to talk. You are not alone with what ever you are going through, I wish you all good health for the New Year and look forward to seeing you at our February meeting on the 3rd.

Chris with his Bass.

Thank you Martin (AKA Gummage) for saving the day and joining me on Marlin. Having been not fishing for 5 months this was a must do event. We caught the 07.30 bridge and set off for a drift in the harbour entrance to see if there were any Herring about. There were none!! My second part of the plan was to tie to a buoy in the Witch channel and fish there for a while. So we made are way off to the buoy and I could see Madness in the distance coming down Wills Cut and I had a sneaky suspicion that Madness was heading for the same buoy. This became apparent when I saw him cut across the end of Wills Cut. Unfortunately, we got there first and the look on Chris W's face was a picture 😛. Any after few expletives coming from the Madness crew they buggered off with their tale between their legs. 😂😂 We settled down and had a steady flow of small Bass coming on board, The weather started to settle in and Jerry called us to ask if we were happy to get the 13.30 bridge back in. Fishing conditions were certainly not ideal!!! We were quite happy having our cups of coffee, mince pies and Chicken Fried Rice, but we agreed and all met up in the pub for a few drinks and plenty of Banter. Despite the weather and lack of species it turned out to be a great day. Thanks again Martin for joining me and special thanks to Jerry for organising the event and raffle prizes it was well worth taking part. 👍 And a Very Merry Christmas to Everyone

I was very excited for me and Andy as we left tuckton on Monday morning. it was on Andy’s Orkney out of Banff that we had a great day on Haddock and ling a couple of months back. Tides might be brisk but it was a flat forecast. I wanted to give my all to a Bass project. Colin and Jerry1 gave me the. Lowdown on how and where. It would be some fifteen miles steaming. we stopped to feather several times on the way out. On the east drop off at the southern end of th shingles I tussled a handsome bream to the boat only to lose it. NOTE TO SELF: Throw away the rusty feathers! They are catching any amount of mackerel in the moray firth, Andy has a freezer full…..in Scotland. wed bought some tiny frozen joey fillets so that and Squid baits were used on our markswhere Colin has reported great success before. we fished and moved many times on the Ebb One fish only became apparent as I wound in at the end of a drift. A keeper, but only just Our luck changed with the turn of the tide but not for the better. The wind got up, the sea got up and I started to question whether I dare go on burning fuel for the drifts, with the sea getting ever more lumpy we soon lost our nerve. I can up the east side of the ledge with waves beam on. That spared us the cathedral hull slam and we made a useful 10 knots. IMG_0277.mov I was weary by the time we got near Hengistbury and steered for home

Not going to beat the juniors, but had a good Fathers Day with Dan yesterday

Alfresco had a slow day (can we blame jetlag, probably not. Lol) Started in the harbour, only one checker and 4 smoothies of 4/5 lb Fun on very light tackle, but not target. Weed was a pain, so we went outside. Looked around a couple of marks but no signs of fish. So just picked one and dropped anchor.. Not a great plan or result. even after a couple of short moves. I had one black bream 1lb 3oz. A couple of congers Wendy had a few Ballens and pout. A last hour move Was also poor, just one more small bream and a conger. By 4 we were lagging so called time. Great to hear many on the radio taking part and supporting the Club. Well done all. Especially those that caught well.

Why when your retired why is life so busy?!!!!!! We had arranged last year for my Godson to come down from St Albans for the night and his parents. I couldn’t believe the weather the last three days and I couldn’t get out, we were planning to take Danny and his wife out for dinner after Martin had recommended a restaurant. Then I had a devious thought, how about a picnic on board and we could even wet a line. They managed to get to us just before 4 so we made the 4.30 lift and saw Madness heading in. The Swash was alive with birds and Bass, I had emptied the boat when out of the water and not a lure, shad, feathers, SPJ to be found, what an idiot!! So a quick get the monkey out the boat didn’t happen, arrived at Ballard hook down and the dogfish arrived! However with non anglers on board they proved great amusement, especially to Dans mother who as a staunch vegetarian was keen to know if we could eat it! 40 minutes of LSD was enough so we moved, only 100m and fish showed on the sounder, first drop a two pound Bream followed by two more about 1.5lbs then the dogs came back. So everyone had played and landed a fish and all happy and the sun was still out. We still needed another fish if possible for the family of 4 , nailing a dogfish to a telegraph pole in St Albans to skin it slowed the vegetarian down a bit!!! We moved again a few hundred yards and destroyed the picnic and a few drinks. Getting chilly a slow cruise home for the 20.30 bridge was decided, bringing the rods in, a dull weight on a light lure rod a Small Eyed had attached itself to the rod, the now very excited hunter gatherer vegetarian was straight on the rod. ” Can we eat it” after a short discussion it was thankfully decided Cyril the Small Eyed should go back, so another “And Away” was sent home. Mortimer and Whitehouse fans had all now caught a fish. Great evening a few fish and a lot of laughs.

Joined Martin on Tuesday, was my first sea fishing trip for over 30 years, caught a dogfish, lost a bigger one (if you believe that) Martin had a dogfish and a small conger, bought back many memories of days when mackerel was plentiful. Sad to hear the tackle shop in Cobs Quay had had to shut. Thank you Martin for a great day out.

3000 piece 3D Jigsaw Puzzle to put back together. 🫣

Loobie 1V had decided on a casual start, not rushing for any particular bridge but try for a mini species in the basin. J2 was first off with a Blenny with orange dorsal then a black dorsal, i joined in with one with a long whispy dorsal! I haven't looked in my book to see if we have discovered a new species!!! but we all decided they were Blennys so one species down. Tony had appeared with a serious amount of Christmas tucker to add to the bacon butties and Malbec so was forgiven for not joining in with the party at this stage. Ro Ro next and we all had multiple Bass best going 4.5lbs to me by complete fluke, then Aunt Betty, got to be a Dab or a Plaice there surely. NO just more Bass. Then Madness came in behind us stealing our drift, saying they had had nothing, yes ok we believe you----------not, only to see Martin balancing on his swim platform netting a fish with no handle on the landing net, must be a Dorset thing. We picked up a buoy and had a few more Bass. At this point moral was begining to flag so a quick call to Greg and Martin and we decided early doors at 1.30 rather than 2.30. A huge tide which didnt really move all morning and water the colour of chocolate, mostly fresh i would, think did not help our cause. Any way i certainly could not take the Turkey home, so a raffle was quickly organised, yep as you know already Golden Goolies Jim won the Turkey. Even though the fishing was to say the least a little slow, we had some good banter and a beer afterwards for an hour. Well done everyone who entered, those who didn't you just don't know what you missed!!!! Happy Christmas everyone and lets hope for less wind and more fish in 2026

I had another trip out on Madness with Martin & Chris W. Some "cheeky beggars" appeared out of nowhere to nick the buoy we were going to tie up on. 😜 So we changed plan and headed for the castle. Guaranteed a fish there we thought. Martin skilfully took us all around the mark but not a single bite. OK off to the swash. Certain to pick something up. Nope! although I did have one bite but missed it. 😪 (That'll be another one that gets bigger every time I tell the story) 😁 It was jolly lumpy out there and with the waves hitting us side on we gave it a couple of hours and then we headed back into the harbour. Greg was still on "our secret mark" Jerry was drifting and after a while tied up to a buoy. We just kept trying different drifts. Chris managed to "winkle out" a Bass which saved the blank. 👍 As said above: Back on the 1:30 bridge and a clean down then into the club house for the "weigh in" 😉 Jerry decided to do a "raffle" for the turkey which some Fat bloke won. Thanks Jerry. 🤣 He had also made sure that everyone got a prize so smile all round and Jackie's pleased with the turkey. ( Winner winner turkey dinner) Thanks all for taking part. Thanks Jerry for organising it. And thanks Martin & Chris for putting up with me again. At the end of the day .. . . . . . It's just a lads' day out. Oh . . . . . . and the days are now getting longer again. Yippppppeeeeeeeee. 😃

A last minute decision to go out on Wednesday, having driven down from North Yorkshire on Tuesday then on down to Poole the old body was complaining! I arrived in the dark and sorted the boat, doing engine checks etc, all seemed good, crew expected 6.45am and a hard frost forecast. Rumors of the the odd Unicorn coming out, squid, cuttle and sardines as bait ever the dreamer! Crew arrived and after de-icing and J2 and Dogfish thinking they were chatting to Chris across the pontoon they discovered it was Mal, lots of woolies obviously, we headed for the 7.30 lift, calling the bridge Charlie replied, strange he's got another job? No skipper hadnt noticed it was on channel 6, derrr, then as Chris and Mal came past (safety officer) they announced my Starboard light wasnt working, after some verbal abuse i discovered they were not winding me up it was out. The day was going well!! Hook down and a LSD for Dave first drop and a Whiting and LSD for me, Monkey out the boat. After what must of been 50+ LSD and only 4 Whiting, one about 3lbs one of Daves commercial mates was hauling pots next to us, a quick phone call and we had 16 crabs for tea, result! Tried squidding with no joy so back in on the 14.30, washed down, fuel stop, ( fuel 6p cheaper by the Old Town bridge than MDL) we had a lovely day, Chili for lunch via Dave and a bottle of Rioja from me, another day they cannot take away.

Jim's first Bass in ages. Caught at a secret location in Dorset.