Leaderboard

Well, 3 weeks later and the weather and diary gods have come together and saw Ad and I heading back to Cornwall. No faff for fuel this time, so quicker journey as the queues caused jams! Well, he wanted a Blue in good weather, on his own rods and a nice size. So JoJo found him a 100lb er........... Would saw a few bust ups in the distance, some lasting half an hour. We assume tuna of the bluefin variety. One bust up at the end of our day we shot over too, but seemed to only be a huge pod / superpod of dolphins. Still great to see! Plenty of whiting too. Now to rest and have another meal over the campfire, heaven! R

Wendy's new Club record Guilthead Bream. Nice one love.

We asked Blake what he wanted to do as a treat for his 9th Birthday, he wanted to take his friend Harvey out fishing for the day. So today was the day. Popped into Co-op for supplies for them, then Andy for bait and on the boat for a late start of ten o’clock. Safety talk and a few rules for the day before we left and a nice steady motor through the harbour, first time on a boat for Harvey so expecting anything may happen. Not the best of weather but at least it was dry. Looking good so off to the Swash for a drift. New crew taking over. Not a touch after a few drifts and had enough of the continuous wash off passing boats so decided a change of area. Off to the Beach. First drift and Blakes rod bends over, thinking it’s hung in until I felt it take more line than the drift speed, the guys got this little beauty to the boat. Biggest fish Harvey had ever seen so he was really impressed. His tea sorted out. A few drifts with wrasse and pout, no flatties and as the wind steadily increased we called it a day around 3pm. A couple a worn out happy lads after their beef burger lunch at sea. Harvey handled the rock and rolling all day and got his sea legs no problem. They are hatching a plan for their next trip. 😀 A great treat for a cod to show up and a lovely bonus for them.

It’s been a long wait but we’ll worth it. We went to Ventnor on Wednesday for the sea trials of Boblin3. We got to the Cheetah factory bright and early at 0745hrs only to find the windows were still being fitted. They had been delivered late on Tuesday so the guys at Cheetah had to work a midnight shift. By the time we had had a cuppa all was ready for the trials. Watching Boblin being towed out of the factory unit and backed down the slip was a little worrying as at times there was only inches clearance between boat and walls. Everything went well and Boblin was dunked for the first time. We headed out of Ventnor haven as passengers on this trip with the engineers running their checks and recording speeds, revs, fuel consumption etc. The tests were with the tide and against the tide, I must say 33knts against the tide in a rough sea with no cushions on the seats was a bit hairy but great fun. After the test we were able to have a play for half hour or so, Bobi and me enjoyed ourselves doing some high speed turns and turning on the engines without touching the wheel and just enjoying being back on the water. Everyone was happy with the tests, there was a few more bits to finish off on Thursday and Friday was confirmed as hand over. We returned on Friday having scrounged a lift from friends and as we came down the hill into Ventnor there was Boblin having a photo shoot in the bay, looked really good. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Poole, we still have to fit the electronics, all we had for the return trip was compass, plotter on my iPad and a handheld radio. There was a fair old swell running and St Catherine’s was pretty interesting (rob it was a bit like Portland 10 years ago) but Boblin handled like a dream. We motored back at varying speeds between 10 and 20knts as per instructions from the engineers. We got back to Salterns in just over 1hour 30mins. When we left Ventnor the engineer had said don’t use the wheel to manoeuvre just use the engines, so I thought why not give it a go. I’m proud to say I manoeuvred all the way through the marina and into our birth without touching the wheel, great fun. I do have photo’s but I’m having trouble downloading them from my phone. Here’s one of Bobi naming the boat and the picture of Boblin again. Boblin3 9.2 metre 3.7 metre beam twin Yamaha 150’s

On a very cold January day had a pop for bass, result 12lb 11oz!

Stuie with his PB Bass, 10lb 3oz sometimes you get what you wish for. (Returned) 👍🎣

Since I’ve retired I’m enjoying some photography on my daily walks

Only my second ever Trigger Catch and release, boy this one fought well 3 lb 1.5 oz

I hope you don't mind me popping in to say a huge Thank you to you all, firstly for the card. That was such a beautiful card, Thank you for putting a huge smile on his face. Infact I took it into the McMillan unit where it sat on his bedside table for many days being admired by all. I also Thank you also for the lovely comments on here and on his Facebook page. Ime just getting round to reading them. Regards Jackie xx🙏

Left Cobbs at 6.45am on Sunday with my eldest son James and his son Lenny , his first fishing trip with his grandad and he had been telling me the night before at a BBQ at theirs he was going to catch a shark, so no pressure! 🫣 While leaving the harbour through the entrance I noticed a marker bouy with a small fender being used as a Taylor bouy in the tide just off North Haven mast. Suspect fishing nets been laid overnight across the entrance!! As it was and would become a hazard as the traffic increased I radioed Harbour Control and reported it and they sent someone to investigate. i listened on Ch 14 and when they got there the fishing boat was trying to retrieve their suck net! As this was going on Barfluer asked for permission to leave their berth to go to France and were refused as there was a hazard in the shipping channel and were asked to hold station. They were soon on their way but it shows the impact peoples actions can have on others. First thing worth reporting. But the main thing worth reporting is we went Bassing, and James caught a mackerel on a Bass lure, what a result a mackerel and we weren’t even fishing for them. 👏👏 As Lenny wanted to catch a shark I hoped a fresh mackerel may encourage a tope or two over slack water, by then Lenny was producing his own ground bait, bless him as the wind had started to increase. The tope didn’t show up but an LSD did so managed to blag him with a mate of a shark story. Took his mind off the waves by letting him drive back so he was happy, auto pilot worked overtime though. He slept well and has been telling his mum all about it today so it sounds like it all worked out fine.

12:12 for Liv Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

8lb 6oz of Alderney brill. Caught the day BEFORE the flattie comp!

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In my hunt for stingrays I had a nice by catch on my huge rag baits. My mate weighed it on his electronic scales at 2,12 after taking off for his mesh bag. Also had a lot of fun on the smuts. Nice to get a fish on the board, although it'll get beaten by loads of undies this month[emoji23][emoji23] Returned to grow much bigger Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Forcast was light winds for the day = it would have been rude not to take advantage - so it was a leisurely 9am start with friend Ken aboard. The plan was to look for whiting and we motored to a likely looking area well off Ballard. After a brief unproductive drift we dropped the hook and bites began straight away- dogs and a small conger followed by some jumbo pout. Then whiting began to put in an appearance - we managed several dozen with a few kept - they were mainly of a good ,stamp' best being 2lb 9oz. Back at Cobbs shortly after three for a celebratory Doombar. A very successful winter session.

I will try to do these in order Fish on Hang on Dave An idea of the tackle being used, to look after the fish's welfare and keep the fight short. Colour, Wow a thresher!! It buggers off again Great fish , well done mate Well deserved reward Nice fish.

Brighten up a February evening with a insight into our Blue fin Tuna fishery from a registered charter skipper, Steve a close friend of our club for many years has agreed to come along and give us a talk. Please show your appreciation with a like below👍

We left the marina just after 8 and out to the 50 50 area. Just before we arrived an engine alarm sounded, so we swapped to a nearer mark dropped the hook and had a look over the engine. Kettle on and rods out as we let the engine cool down. (should not take long it's minus 1) A few whiting and a bass quite quickly, but nothing big The only thing we could find on the engine was a slightly low oil level, so a bit was added. At 11 the tide was a bit quick and bites were rare, so we pulled anchor and set off inshore. There were quite a few boats on the inner banks, we chatted to a few as we picked a spot. Anchor down and fishing started well. Another slightly bigger bass, whiting , pout and to many damn doggies. Still it was calm and getting warmer, so we were having a good time and some nice lunch. AT 1345 we decided the tide should have eased so back out we went. This time to our original target area. Talking to Graham on the way past I was a bit concerned about so many Dolphins in the area. We did not see any and I do not think it affected us. In the next 90 minutes we had constant whiting, not huge but a few keepers to take home with the bass. We estimated that we had over a hundred, keeping a dozen or so. Heading in at just after 1600, we had enjoyed a lovely cold days fishing. Surrounded by lots of other boats doing the same. Great to be out again.

Our plan was to make the most of the weather on Wed, we had a rehearsal in the evening so couldn’t stay out too long. We planned to get to the boat for 0700hrs but we were ahead of schedule and we were off by 0645hrs. The plan was to head to a bank for bass drifting and anchor for the slack for an hour or so. First drift I hooked up with a fine 48cm bass, second drift which was slowing down I managed another bass of 51cm. So do we drift again or anchor we decided to anchor. We didn’t have any fresh mackerel but our frozen had only been in the freezer since last Tuesday. Down went the big baits on 6oz leads and then lighter rigs with worm. We had steady fish for an hour, congers, a Small Blonde and a few nice Bream. The tide was turning and we started upping the lead, once 10oz wasn’t holding we pulled up the hook and went back on the drift. We were back on the Bass straightaway and we were both hooking up on every drift. I spotted another boat heading in our direction and our thoughts were that a charter was heading to our bank, lucky for us it was Loobie iv. Gerry asked if we were going to anchor or drift. I confirmed we were drifting for Bass. Gerry being the gent he is stayed over a different part of the bank to us, it didn’t seem he was doing as well as us so I told him to follow us on our drift as we were hitting fish each drift. Gerry called up saying that he had a problem with his engine monitoring or something like that. He decided to head inshore so we kept a listening watch in case he had any problems getting home. We carried on drifting and ended up with 24 bass the best 58cm. We headed back at 1330hr and stopped off on a Ray mark near Swanage. The baits were being stripped in minutes by Bream giving any Ray that might have been around no chance. We gave it an hour then headed back. It was a great day to be out and we had our quota of 4 bass all nice eating size.

Well what fun we had. Meeting up with Kev just after 7, on an icy pontoon in minus 6. Thankfully Kev had the kettle and the heater on so that's a good start. We were joined by Dave and blindfolded I was taken to the "secret spot". where we drank our coffee, put the traces on and baited up. we were soon joined by the rest of the fleet, so the spots not that secret Lines in at 8 and lets start feeding a pile of worms to crabs. We all huddled in the cabin, enjoying the warmth from the heater and crispy bacon roll. Not a sign of any fish, and the sky had clouded over Then the snow started and just got heavier and heavier. 20221211_092134.mp4 The highlight of the day was definitely not the fishing, it was the fillet steak lunch Great job Kev thanks mate We stuck with it, catching only crabs, the snow stopped but it still looked very wintery At 3 it was time to call it a day and start the trip back to Cobbs, it was good to see Jerry carrying a bucket with a fish for the scales. well done J2 for getting an elusive flounder of 1lb. w Nice one champ. It might not sound as if we enjoyed it, but that is not the case. I had a nice time fishing with two good mates. Enjoyed lots of drinks , nice food and banter onboard. Finishing off having a couple of beers with more mates at the bar. Thanks all Charlie

I had the day booked off and was going to launch at Kimmeridge, but the weather was windier than originally forecast so Poole harbour as my back up. Launched at Baitor and headed for the secret Gilt head mark. First cast and a fantastic fighting 2lb4 5 more throughout the morning and finished with a 7th at 2lb 4. Dozens of bass, best around 1.5lb A great morning session and good to see they’re getting bigger in our manor. All fish returned.

Well what a day that was A few monster mackerel and then the skipper had a brain fade and decided to try some new spots. These seem to be covered in mini bream, lots of rattles on the rods , nothing hooked and baits gone in minutes. Eventually gave up and went back to Swanage Bay to a tried and trusted spot I had a tiny Small eyed 2lb 12oz Before Wendy hooked the bottom. Then it decided to swim off😁 What I thought was a nice undulate was I believe a very impressive Thornback weighed at 13lb 4 oz When Jerry came over to say hello, she was very Happy to let him and Chris know who caught it. Lol Saved a very slow day Charlie

Headed out in drizzle and a bit of slop this morning on JV with Adam at the helm. Headed south east and tried our usual banker banks. It was slow! Moved to another known mark and found them! But, they were on a very specific part of the bank, 20yds south or north and nothing. After getting out fill of quota, we had a cracking lunch from Adam, stew and dumplings with a side of AJ's homemade bread. Delicious! We then decided to do some exploring as we were out that way and had no need to catch more. But we did! We tried some likely looking spots, nothing and then found one that worked. Giving us more options when we are over that way next time. Nice to have the time to spend testing new water. We headed back in sunshine and and flat glorious sea, I was close to swapping to shorts. We have the mackerel a go for an hour, nothing after drowning feather around Peveril, Ballard and Swash. I think they are localised and if you did em, you find em. Ah well, always next year! Cheers, Rob

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

Guess what we’ve got 😃😃😃😃😃

11lb, yay, we got one

Blake’s biggest Ballan Wrasse to date.

lazy 9am start with Geoff. Went out in favourable sea to an area south of Old Harry and dropped the NEW anchor. Baits set. After a while a sizeable whiting responded to baited feathers. With another couple dropped. Then a doggy on the bottom trace, The wind rose making it uncomfortable so it was up anchor and into the harbour where we tied off in the north channel and had a comfortable lunch in the sun and being sheltered from the cold wind it was quite pleasant. No bites to worms and a 30 minute drift of the main channel brought no response either so it was back to Cobbs for fuel and a cursory clean. Typical February session for us - thanks for the company Geoff.

I hadn't had a Sole this year so a good window appeared Saturday/Sunday night, the weather looked good both days so we organised a day out Sunday to. We left Cobbs for the 5.30 bridge having had a bad run down, a huge amount of unhealthy food that could be microwaved and a good supply of Guinness zero we got to the bridges. Crew looked upset, "I've left the Guinness behind!!" hey ho. Our plan was Squid, Cuttle , and Sole Saturday night then Plaice on Sunday with Stuie. We got down the front trying for Macks but none obliged, an hour of daylight and a couple of drifts produced some Plaice but all small. Down with the hook as darkness fell only to find my anchor light had blown which left me a bit twitchy, luckily flat calm and no wind except 3-4mph SW. The fun fair raged on the pier followed by a firework display just as caught my first Squid on a jig. The Squid and Cuttle were not throwing themselves at us but a steady flow gave us nearly a bucket full. All this time we had 4 Sole rods out, every single cast single or double shots of Pout, then the Congers started, from bootlaces to feisty 15lbs EVERY SINGLE DAMN DROP!!!!! Usually taking the Pout which had just eaten the Sole bait, we had one occasion where a Pout took the worm, a conger about 3-4lbs took the Pout and a 15lbs Conger then ate the pair of them!!!! Cannabalistic Congers (could be good to thin them out!!) So we moved, the disco at Studland was that loud we could pick out the tunes and sing along, a lot of Bowie which i like. MORE Conger and Pout, another move and same again. It was about 2am now and i was getting fed up with straps and Pout so said to J2 i was going to put my head down for an hour. He was into another fish and suddenly a shout, grabbing the net i looked over to see a Turbot i thought which turned out to be a lunker of a Plaice on the first dropper, followed by a Pout on the second and b----r me a chunky Sole on the bottom dropper!!!!! My crew really do have golden goolies!!!. Obviously sleep was forgotten but only more conger, and pout and small Bream, a few squid and Cuttle followed. I did mange a great Red Mullet and a few strings of Scad as daylight broke. ALL night a trawler was working south of us around Dolphin Sands and another just East of East Looe in front of Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs really close in. We headed in to get Stuie from Cobbs on the 7.30 then out with him on 8.30. First drift in the Swash as per usual Stuie had the first Plaice, some Wrasse Giltheads and Plaice to follow. The weeds and crowds started around 10 so off down the front. A few bits and pieces but nothing exciting, around 12 j2 and me were begining to flag and the wind was getting up, so we tried the Patch, with no new speices and wind getting even more we headed in for a Gilt in the harbour before getting the 2.30 bridge. We had a great trip ticking the boxes but a shame we didnt find a few more Sole. Brilliant to have Stuie on board showing us how to do it, but i have to say the body does not like doing straights any more!!! It never used to be a problem but i certainly new it after driving back to Wiltshire. Hopefully a photo if i have sorted out my JPEG from my HEIF!!!!

.

Well what a great fishing day that was. I was the only person fishing as Brad was doing the go pro and Carol was taking the still photos and galley maid!! (With regards to the photos seems like I was the only one to get the memo!!!) Brad will be compiling a You Tube of the day which will be uploaded to the club's website when done (hopefully) I caught a total of 38 fish on the day (Carol was also fish recorder!!!) However, I only had a total of 8 species. If the day was about catching fish for the table then I would of had a bumper feast. Bass of 3 lbs 46 cm long, 2lb Black Bream and a plump plaice which I did not weigh approx 2 lb ish. However, in the spirit of the day I put all the fish back (including the plaice). (Oh except for the mackerel which were lethal for Tope Bait) Species Caught: Dogfish Black Bream Mackerel Tope Ballan Wrasse Pout Bass Plaice The highlight of the day had to be the Tope out on the Spoil. We were inundated by the Tope probably because of the abundance of Mackerel. Mackerel were caught on every drop. Even my 3 hook feathers were full on one drop. Same with the Tope, they would not leave us alone as I was trying for a Conger and Undulate. I was even catching them on squid. They were feisty buggers but really great sport.

My first Triggerfish

With the weather not looking too bad Chris invited me out,tides weren’t right for the sharks but we would still give them a go. Out we went to the same bank with bottom baits for rays and whiting,it was slow going and not one doggy all day……that’s a plus. Usual replacement for doggies plenty of strap congers and blonde rays but the whiting were slow to show.When the whiting did they were all of a good stamp and ended up with more than enough to take home. On my toothy critter rod with a whole Mac the ratchet had a brief bite and a cleanly bitten bait…..our closest encounter. We had quite a few blonde rays to keep us busy and my largest one kept us guessing until it came into sight with an unusual fight,great fish at 23lb12oz Thanks Chris for yet another cracking day with awesome grub and lots of brews Until the next time when the right tide and weather let us hunt the Poole Bay monsters Nigel

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My Jack is fishing obsessed( not a surprise really) but has never had the confidence to hold fish. Today out of the blue he decided to hold everything he caught and below is two of the best. Now I can't stop him chasing his brother with the left over mackeral Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk

Wendy's new PB 37lb and a bit heavy for her to lift for picture

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

Chris in Kingfisher enjoying a bit of wakeboarding behind Madness

Quick trip to finish off the worms from Wednesday. Bobi managed this nice fish 3lb 4oz. Great to see you again Charlie !!

This guy popped up and had a good look into the cabin. Bobi managed to snap him as he went back down. Who needs to go to Florida.

Slightly over eagar start to get out this morning, took one look at the breakers at the end of the channel and went back into the Harbour for an hour. Even after the wait there was only 2 foot 6 inches outside the last channel markers, had to quickly lift the engine more and coast over the realy shallow bit. No fun at all, on the way in the breakers were quiet lively and still only 3 foot 6 inches at the end channel and no end markers have been positioned. Went down to Milford to try for a plaice or two, no luck with the plaice but I did manage 4 nice thorneys in 40mins, tons of baby dogs and a pout. Moved back to Christchurch and had 3 small eyed rays in 20 minutes and then the dogs moved in. Back home for for 3.30pm and a wash down, first trip without any hiccups always a good start to the season.

Out on Friday and Saturday in Poole area with the two Trevor's. Both days went well with plenty of fish, Tope to 30lb, Smooth Hound 11lb, Congers, Bass, Bream. The weather good both days with some intervals when it got a little bumpy. Both Trev's are good company and a very sociable enjoyable weekend. Plenty of laughs and a bit of banter and a few dodgy knots to laugh about. 1 mackerel over two trips and 4 lazy lines out most of the time. Martin was along side on Saturday. (They get up late in Poole). We had been on anchor for a couple of hours😄. In good club spirit, we delivered some bait over as we past by. On Friday TT and I spotted a Sib by Hengistbury going back to Christchurch and we both said ‘sod that for a game of soldiers’. Today, at the boat show, I spoke to a couple and … guess what? ….it was them. What are the chances of that? TW done a great job on the wash down and left me with little to do. I was pretty exhausted after two days, definitely feeling my age, but still had a blast, thanks guys for a lovely weekend.

Saturday 27/03/21 Dean and I were up early doors . Got to the boat at around 8:45am and were the only boat going out through the 9:30 bridge lift. Pulled into Poole Quay opposite one of the Squeeker factories to collect our bait. Armed with worms and raw prawns off we set. Went past a visiting super yacht called Elandess, Dean took a photo of our boat passing her Headed outside the harbour and had a few drifts along the beaches with 1 plaice being the reward for our effort there. Twas windy and cold so bacon and sausage sandwiches were made and consumed, this turned out to be the highlight of the day Moved to fish the swash hoping for less wind and more action but weed was a problem here so yet another move to inside the harbour. Our chosen mark was almost unfishable with so much weed being dragged out the harbour by the super strong ebb. We decided to call it a day and head back to our berth through the 14:30 bridge lift, wash the boat down and home by 15:30 On our way out the guys that did gel repairs and polishing of Madness phoned saying they were at work on one of the Sunseeker boats and offered to take a few shots of Madness on the water which was really nice of them as it is really difficult getting shots of your own boat on the water. All in all an enjoyable 5 hours on the water after nearly 4 months of inactivity due to weather and boat out for annual repairs etc. Looking forward to our next foray hopefully with a few more fish thrown in

Well, as a few Members already know, Mike Hall and Myself will be continuing the work of Dave Lyne's Reel Service under a new name, M.A.R.S. Mike and Allan's Reel Services. Due to the current Covid situation, the service will operate mainly at a local level. There will initially be drop off and collection points in Poole, Ashley Road/Sea View Area and Moordown. Please feel free to contact us on 07587411313 or email M.A.ReelServices@gmail.com further more detailled information will soon be available in the Member's Trade Zone.

Dave was never happier than when he was catching fish, here are some memorable fish from his timeline

Watch out Triggers about!!!

Turbot of 6lb and 7lb caught on the Shambles bank.

Isla’s first proper day’s fishing and a double header of bream for tea.