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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.

The plan day two was to go sharking but unfortunately J2 couldn’t make it so another plan came together and Stuie was collected to make the 9.30 lift. Traffic was much better than i expected so we had plenty of time to tackle up and a cuppa before leaving Cobbs, arriving at the bridge we were told there was an RTA and the 9.30 was not going to happen. Thankfully we only had a 15minute delay. I still needed a Thornback for the species hunt so that was the plan. After Stuie had had five congers and me two with other bits and pieces in 30 minutes we moved!! This proved a good idea, however no Thornbacks, Stuie was on fire and we managed 9 Small Eyed and a nice Undulate of 12lbs, I had the dogfish side of the boat but still had a few Small Eyed and a Conger or two. We fished for under four hours and caught a lot of fish but unfortunately not the target required. Returning at the 14.30 bridge, a great day out with Stuie, lots of banter and a happy tired angler was dropped back at Cobbs at 15.00. Oh if only the weather played ball a bit more!!!!!

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

Big fish on, very local

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.

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 the weather we have had the last few days I-managed to squeeze in two trips. First day was chasing Bass with a huge tide and J2 and a friend celebrating his 71st birthday, 7.30 bridge and we all felt a few live bait would help our plan, no birds no mackerel or Scad so we managed enough Pouting, though not easy. Off to our chosen bank and fish from the start, smallest probably 3.5lbs most around and over 5lbs and best going 9lbs. We had two triple hook ups and and lots of doubles which caused chaos with the landing net. J2 stuck with Shads which produced the biggest fish of the day, Martin the birthday boy used live baits and dead baits, I did initially but went to SPJ as the tide eased and even had one drift with a whole squid on a circle which again produced a fish. We only had 2 blank drifts all day! Saw Kingfisher who had also had a red letter day, if only we managed a few more wind free days

Sun no wind flat seas and fish what more could we ask for? Arranged a trip out on Madness and press ganged Tony D and Graham N to crew with me. The weather men actually got there predictions spot on for a change and we we headed out on flat seas with sunny glimpses cruising all the way at about 20knots. After a little issue with Navionics playing up on the iPhone sending us past the mark we eventually anchored a bank in 90' of water. Turns out not to be Navionics fault but my new iPhone couldn't see the satellites so wasn't updating correctly (lesson Learned) Virtually zero tide running for a few hours but average sized Bream were caught from the off. Our club chair joined us on Y-Knot just as the tide was about to turn. We were not positioned quite right for the changing tide so re-anchored just as the tide began to run and bagged ourselves a better spot. Here we had a solitary Mackerel on the lazy line, several rays a nice Tope and more Bream The fresh Mackerel definitely upped our catch rate Thanks Tony and Graham for being such good sports and great company

Oh how I love being pretty much retired. Us semi or full on retirees can please ourselves (almost) what we do and when we do it. So happens that the weather man said Friday is going to be a good day, after pontificating for a moment or to and along with Mrs B's wise words of why don't you just man up and get out there a plan started to appear. Messaging back and forth with Mal (must learn to make phone calls as much easier) it was decided to go out on the 7:30 bridge and concentrate on inshore stuff. The first port of call was a bank just off of Ballard about a mile off where we were hoping to get a ray or two. The plan fell by the wayside as we were inundated with small to average 1lb Bream which was nice but frustrating that nothing else had a chance or look in. The moment baits hit the deck then rattle Bream were on the rag and squid baits. We decided to move approx 3 miles offshore to look for bigger stuff. The mark I suggested used to hold a larger stamp of Bream and so it did with fish up 1.75lb so not quite what we were looking for. The tide got up and the anchor tripped which caused a few moments one of which was one of my Kenzakit 6-12lb rode getting stuck in and crack the top 75mm broke off Shite. We took this opportunity to move again as Mal was becoming desperate for a Ray. Anyways we re-anchored to the 50/50ish banks with fish from the off. first drop and almost instantly was a Bas, I must have planted the bait on its head as I never even put the rod in the holder it was straight on. Only small maybe 1.5lb at best but a good start. Not as busy as the inshore mark but we had several rays of which only one was landed a blonde of probably 8/9lb but nice to see. I was into a good fish which was stripping line from my 20lb class Kenzaki and ABU 7000 synchro reel but unfortunately after a couple of mins it bit through the trace line (oh pooh) and so it continued. Al in all the weather was as good as the forecast if not better, the sun was out, the sky was blue and the fish were playing. Such a crack being out with Mal, I loved it, here's to the next time IMG_0022[1].MOV IMG_0026[1].MOV

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👏👏👏

Duncan and I had a red letter day today based on the year so far, 16 rays or one or two more. Nothing bigger than 12lb but plenty of them on two different marks. Our Trawler got close at one point and made us move away further out and it turned out to be a good move. Really tired tonight so this post will developed with some pictures and more stories of the day.

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.

As the species hunt hots up I thought it was time to get off shore for a few rays and a tope. Went out to our mark south of St Alban's. Despite the promising weather forecast, the sea was horrible. Moved to an Inshore mark and caught all day, but no monsters. Plenty of Bream to 1.5 lbs, congers, dogs, wrasse, small rays ( not the ones I wanted). Some large ballans and other mini species and one three beared rockling to Ray Ashby. We took special feathers for mackerel but didn't use them. Had a nice Cuttle that left its mark behind.the

Yesterday my 18 year old Grand Daughter passed her driving theory test which I'd been helping her with. Today at about 3am ish my 23 year old Grand Daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. So . . . . . Yesterday I was a good Grand Pappy. Today I'm a Great Grand Pappy. 👍 Can you imagine just how proud I'm feeling today ? 😄 🥰 👍 😊

Today’s target was squid & cuttlefish - despite trying for ages I had nothing, even though they’ve been showing from the piers. So, plan B was a go for the rays which had been conspicuous by their absence; here I fared better with 6 or 7 nice small eyed to mackerel strip. Lovely & flat out there today, I might go for more of the same tomorrow

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

…were the target today on Christchurch Ledge &, for once, the plan came together!

So what happened on our three day fishing trip bonanza? First of all let’s start wit a spot the birdie competition; my version of where’s Wally There’s loads of prep; light boards ever let me down. Thanks god these work. IMG_9563.mov Gordon valiantly tried to splice an expedition with me onto the end of an overseas break but got delayed ( to fight another day hopefully)…. So proceeded to Ridge Warf near Wareham early on Tuesday. Booked to stop over Tuesday/ Wednesday nights. Intending to cash in on superb weather on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday would be weather dependent . Tuesday on the run out. Almost too quiet Caught up with “ farmer Colin (“ who is a Buckinghamshire (?) farmer who travels down even further than me).. just outside the harbour entrance. I always forget something, I loaded milk , bait ,waders ( for the launch), jack , wheel brace,life jackets, tackle box,rods. Spare radio, torch, change of clothes, towel, toothbrush , nav aids, sleeping bag, luxury half inch thick foam mattress (mattress?), spare wheel, jack, jack handle, spare bearings, hammer , punch, grease, four cans of fuel,change of clothes, £100 cash prize for my crew, vacuum flask of tea , charging cables of the new standard, charging cables of the even newer standard,bait,bait board, bait knife, filleting knives, iced chilly bin and other stuff. But what had I forgot? A box full of goodies and provisions.. that’s what was still on the bench outside my back door. I rafted up with Colin’s boat and and he’d forgotten stuff as well but with combined efforts we produced latte coffees And had a social hour drifting in very light conditions by the training bank lure fishing , lazy lining and dragging plaice gear. I watched the mackerel swimming under the boat but they weren’t feeding. Odd bits were being caught to other boats but Colin and I left them to it . We went to ground further out where he caught squid last year. We kept this up most of the afternoon Colin quickly scored one and I persevered and got my first one ever after a couple of hours. It wasn’t very fruitful. We had three in all. It was a my first and therefor PB for me. We left an hour or so to join the plaice drifters along the shore. Colin caught some quality mackerel there. I had managed a tub gurnard earlier. Left Colin to it and plied my lonely way back to Ridge. I slept over on the boat and got up before seven awaiting the arrival of two guests. Hooky was coming over with supplies and a friend from Pewsey managed to get down. We snacked on the squid before getting on our way. Beautiful glassy still day. Too still Searches around the Hook sands found no fish . I decided to try Peverel ledge where the rough ground might stir some fishy action Mutley was taking it all in . A novice to this job. A steady drift across this interesting ground eventually brought us to Black Bream. With beginners luck Mutley had this beauty . The best of the day We caught over a dozen in the end Beginners luck held and Mutley brought this scrap in Not until I got home and checked the identity did I find out that whilst common in Cornwall it’s very rare in our bay. It’s a Comber. Can’t claim it on the species comp as it’s not on the list yet. A few new species are turning up. It’s great have one on our boat. Other catches; pouting, red gurnard and a string of plump mackerel . Hooky took a head for bait and brought in a Cuttlefish . He used a pouting for bait and it came back macerated by something toothy. No hookup though. We wanted to get our guest back in daylight so sped back at five. Speed limit is relaxed in October so we made good time. Everyone was well happy with that. Sent Mutley home with a couple of bottles of cider to go with his fishes and discovered a flat tyre on the trailer… but I had a spare. Slept on the boat again and dreamt up a plan for Thursday. The falling tide snd the bad weather meant that everything had to be done by 11 am. It gave me very little time to fish but if I got up early changed my trailer wheel and went down the river at 7 o’clock. I could fish at Hamworthy for guilt head bream for an hour or so. That’s what I set to doing But there was quite a thick early morning mist. It seemed thicker on the open water. Anxiety appealed to wisdom urging me to go back. Bravado and a desire to prove that I could handle the conditions said go on . I had instruments after all . The fog would soon lift anyway . It wasn’t on the inshore waters forecast. Turn 30 degrees at the next corner watch the depth sounder watch the garmin and take it steady I passed the post and steered 30 before very long at all I was on mud. Thinking I’d oversteered i steered 20. No improvement then I glanced at the garmin I was way off course in the mudflat then I figured out my mistake I’d made my 30 degree tun one post too soon. I felt very lonely then . There isn’t a higher point in the tide for 24 hrs . I wasn’t in any particular danger but being stuck there would belike bing in the stocks. Adrenalin was high., more embarrassment than panic . I lifted the motor and punished it a bit whilst rocking the boat 1.5 ft depth it took ages but it didn’t stop sliding and eventually I found the gully. That was fun wasn’t it. I was glad I had opted to go up the learning curve but that was enough education for one day and I steered for home. Lovely quiet trip back let’s play spot the birdie again u there he is. uplifting encounter on the cruise home! loaded and away. By 11am who wants to come next time?

What a day, after all the wind it was so nice to get out. Christchurch has a remarked channel today, but again the wind looks heavy for another week. it was so nice to be on the radio with so many PBSBAC members listening in on channel 6 and having a brief check of who is doing what. Great club chat and some fish, what more can you ask for. Thanks to Martin for the invite and thanks to everyone out there today contributing, loved it. I managed a Ray yippee.

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. ! ! 😉

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

Sorry Colin new Club Record. 4lb 6oz Fought well.

I said to Mal last autumn that I sensed a long lazy Indian Summer was coming . So that didn’t happen but it’s happening now and I abandoned the silage fields for yet another three day dose of Dorset Madness. I towed the boat to a secret location near Wareham where I could safely abandon it to attend the meeting. Great meeting and thanks everyone for making us feel so welcome. The talk was fascinating but I don’t think international fishy fame is part of my destiny. At the meeting Rob helped me form a plan for Wednesdays tidal expectations. Plaice drift on the rise. Visit the patches and get pouting over slack Ebb starts at 2.00pm , drift round old Harry using live bait. what ‘appended waz; plaice drifting but I got distracted by the possibility of a bass from the training bank. What do you know ! I caught one with a rusty metal mackerel but only because he was too young to have good taste. The patches refused to yield bait fish although I persisted tried different spots and stayed too long. on my belated way to old Harry I had a brainwave. Squid ! Colin taught me how to catch squid last week . It only took me two hours . I might get really lucky this time. So I arrived at old Harry with only lures to play with at 3.30. I worked that rusty metal mackerel like fury until the tide turned and rocks might be a concern. These Bass had too much panache about them and dined else how .Sorry Rob, I screwed that plan. A bait robbing baby bream fell to my last chuck plaice rig on the way in Today , after sleeping on the boat again I motored across the bay to the Christchurch ledge. Most others chose plaice fishing off Bournemouth beach. I wanted to try for bream and then whilst it was a big spring tide it had a double high which meant a long period of slack water. Ideal for plaice jigging I thought. The tides did what it said on the tin but the bass didn’t . I had one bite all afternoon and that was off in a flash. The plaice drifters did quite well I believe. Let us know Colin. I needed to beat the falling tide to get the boat out or else have to wait till eight. I stopped a few times as I came back across the bay to try and find a mackerel or two but they are scarce. So it was a blank for me today. But it was two days of solo boating . I beat the tide and got the boat out at baiter slip single handed. That was my win from this trip. Special thanks to Dan Barnes for accommodating E3 and Colin for company, logistical support( worms etc) and tutoring on the solo launch and retrieve.

I was hoping for better conditions, I was down on the boat for 5.15am to be greeted with a heavy Southerly breeze which was enough to put me off a sand bar crossing in the dark, so I went back to bed for a few hours and had another go at 10.0am when the tide had risen back up. It was snotty out there on the ledge and a 10 knot trip to the end of the ledge was enough of that. The thought of the planned crossing over the bay was out of the question in a 4ft swell with the occasional 6 footer on the nose, disappointing. I did take some video, not reviewed it yet. Nearly flat calm on the way in. I was followed out by another boat who didn't seem to no where he wanted to go as he zig zagged across my route. Anchoring in a 4ft swell was interesting and I paid out a lot more rope than usual for the rise and fall of the boat and stayed on station with a secure hold, not a big tide it has to be said but 76ft of water is testing. Bites from the off, bream and doggies kept me busy feeding them off till the congers turned up. Then a very strong run with the reel screaming line, lifted the rod out with the clutch released to allow me to get the rod out of the holder and it was gone. Two hooks and a whole squid returned and untouched, what was that, probably a Tope or was it. More congers, bream and doggies and no rays. The Sea was crystal clear, nothing on the fish finder, no mackerel seen. I heard a few boats from PBSBAC but was so busy I forgot to make time for a message. Early finish to get back for the Ryder Cup, what a final day spoilt by the New Yorkers so called fans, they have no etiquette and foul mouths, they should be ashamed of there behaviour which very nearly changed the result such was the impact from the crowd or so called sporting fans. They soon left in their droves with their tails between their legs as the Cup was retained and then won. The governing bodies needs to get a grip, bringing in Police too late and evicting a good number of the crowd was not enough the damage to the event was done.