Duncan F (bathclaret)

Thanks Martin, unfortunately no fishing for me today. Spent the day earning fishing points with the missus. Double points for shopping on your birthday! Duncan

Sticking to slices of sausage Jim, cake's so sickly :-) Thanks... Duncan

A step in the right direction anyway. My one word of caution from Lyme Bay, where we've had a trawling ban in force for a couple of years now, is that the quality of the fishing doesn't automatically improve. Corals and seagrass may benefit, and with them very slowly I guess the small-scale ecosystem starts to replenish, but don't expect the commercial fleet to simply go away. They've replaced their trawls and dredges with static nets - mile upon mile of them - with a much bigger impact on angling target species than ever before. I've pretty much stopped fishing in the protected area (previously my regular reef marks) and moved to an unregulated area where, although trawlers still operate, bigger tides mean less nets and definitely more fish. Duncan

Just to show there are good companies out there, recently my Icom VHF set (fitted OEM to my 175 by Warrior 5yrs ago) developed a fault. I could transmit ok, but not receive. I thought it was an antenna problem, so I fitted a new one, but over a couple of months things gradually got worse. I removed the set last Monday and sent it off to Icom for repair. An email arrived back from them this afternoon saying they have replaced the Rx ceramic filter, tested all ok and shipped it FedEx next day, all without charge under warranty! Superb service on a 5y/o radio and without doubt secures me as an Icom customer for many years to come. Duncan

Certainly the Council-run slips out West require proof of 3rd party liability cover as a condition of use. Their reasoning is if you caused injury and weren't insured, liability for damages may quickly move back up the food chain to the Local Authority.

One of the problems with running a campsite is that we're completely grounded for the school holiday weeks, just when others are enjoying the summer bass season. Now that the kids are all back to school I got my fishing permit stamped for a day out yesterday, before the weather deteriorates at the weekend. Trouble is, everybody else is back at work! I tried to post a buddy request the day before, but sadly picked the one time when the PBSBAC forum was down :-( Definite plan - catch bass. TIming, tide and weather all spot on. A mate of mine ha reported good bass coming off the Lyme Bay wrecks, so the objective was to try to improve my 4lb PB with a decent fish and, who knows, maybe a double. Off on my own then. Early start and down to West Bay - too early in fact (still pitch black. Launched OK about 05:45, lifejacket and kill-cord fastened and on the first wreck by 06:30. Sonar looks promising. Feathers down while checking the drift pattern and had a couple of nice mackerel for livelies in no time. Lined-up for the first drift - OK here we go... Half way over the rod tip goes down, felt the weight, checked - no not the wreck - fish on! 5 minutes later I see a huge great silver shape emerging- BASS! Grabbed the net and then the leader - looks too big to fit in! Heart pumping as all the stories about double figure bass being lost at the side of the boat flash through my mind... I needn't have worried. One deft scoop and my silver quarry was in the boat. Nicely hooked in the scissors with a 4/0 circle hook. Quick tap on the head and on to the scales at 12lb 4oz. Mission accomplished first drop! Within 1/2hr I had company from a commercial bass boat (Cheetah cat) so I knew I'd chosen the wreck well, but perhaps the additional engine noise spooked our quarry - they had 2 smaller fish, but no more for me. Did a tour of another 1/2 doz wrecks without much success over the slack, just one dropped fish, but when the tide picked up again I hit another beauty - much more fight - charging all over the place and taking line every time it did. Massive excitement - how big can this be? Eventually it broke surface and was also safely scooped into the net. A lovely fat fish weighing just over 7lb. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest by that, it just shows that individual fish have different fighting qualities -the bigger one obviously just swam up towards the boat. That was all for the silver bars, but I finished off with a couple of nice reef pollack and bream on the way home. A good day out then (quite cold in the morning mist) and a specimen bass after many years trying. Inspired by Rob's exploits, sharking the target for next year then?? Seriously if anybody does fancy trips out West (usually at short notice!) mid-week, please PM me. Duncan

Fantastic Rob - nice report and pics. Well done. "We decided to pack up and have an hour on the blondes before home" .... is that the pink house with the light in the window ? Duncan

Just an advert for Harry May's trips obviously. But after Harry's sad involvement in the electric wheelchair fatality on the Cobb last year he needs a bit of good news. I didn't realise that the mackerel we were catching there in January should have been given to the Mayor!

Peter there's a lot of information on sea sickness prevention on the web, much of it rubbish, but the following link is one of the most useful I think. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/diving/upload/Seasickness-Information-and-Treatment.pdf I'm particularly interested in the cocktail of Ephedrine and Promethazine, which I've seen documented in lots of places as having amazing results and endorsed by the US military. In the real world that's a tablet each of Phenergan and Sudafed, both of which are available over the counter. Phenergan is an antihistamine that prevents the motion sickness, and pseudoephedrine acts as a stimulant that counteracts the side effect of drowsiness. Thankfully I haven't been seasick for many years (as Martin says it gets better with practice!) but the cocktail seems to work for my wife, who can normally get sick in the bath! Best of luck Duncan

Gary, The export has exactly the same self-draining floor as my 175, so that's not an issue. As for the under floor storage compartment I sometimes think is more bother than it's worth, since that isn't drained so needs to be manually emptied (Yes I know a skin fitting drain can be fitted, but it's a big job). The only thing you do miss out on with an Export, apart from the cosmetic lining, is the built-in fuel tank. Best of luck finding something suitable, Duncan

'nuff said

Looks to be a nice nearly new 175 Export for sale on the Warrior Boats facebook group. Not sure if you can access the group directly or will need to join... https://www.facebook.com/groups/22879051992 Duncan

Interesting Rob, I hadn't come across the blob knot before, always use an Albright with the braid doubled. Had a look at your link and, if I read correctly, it says the blob knot is only for mono lines. Clearly the leader blob needs to be mono, but have you used this ok with a braid running line? Duncan

Thankfully I've not needed to claim Jim, but Warrior rated them the best company to deal with on claims. Actually I reckon that's fair enough. They were happy to extend the cruising range and didn't charge any extra, so stipulating a proper means of communication and backup propulsion seems common sense. Can't see me disappearing over the horizon without those basics...

Just one further thought - insurance - when I asked Porthcawl to extend my cruising range last year to 25m they were happy to do so, but stipulated an auxiliary as a condition (plus a DSC VHF), both of which I carry. They're obviously working on a plan that my policy will expire before I get 25 miles back with my little 5hp Duncan

No Nick. Martin has moved it to the Club Members section. I will PM you the reason. Duncan

I bought a Lidl one a couple of years back and have really tried with it, including buying several rolls of the special polythene required. But unfortunately I wouldn't recommend buying one of these at all. The vacuum suction is weak, unless your fish/fillets are completely dry it sucks liquid gunge into the mechanism (which is hard to remove) and the sealing process isn't that reliable either. Very often a sealed bag unseals itself by the next day. Overall you can do better buying zip bags and manually excluding the air before closing them.... or spend a few quid more and get a "proper one". Duncan

Pmsl

AKA "getting your priorities right" !! Duncan

Jim, Like Charlie I may be able to help out with a potential buyer. I spoke to my neighbour today (who's also in the market) and he is interested too, so please PM me the details when you've got them together. Duncan

Oh no! Well she's a major asset if you can't get out to play. Sorry to hear you'll be leaving the "Warrior club", for the time being at least. ... but it sounds like you won't struggle for some fishing anyhow. Duncan

... and in ll seriousness one of my spare rods still carries a Woolies "International Levelwind" multiplier that's about 35yrs old and still in perfect working order, with no corrosion to any of the chrome. I have reels 3yrs old in worse nick... Duncan

It's the 3800m of braid you'll need that bothers me. Might be a bit much for my Winfield spinning reel

So here it is - the ultimate wreck trip - and a snip at under $60,000 per person. 2012 is *so* the year to do this too.... http://www.thebluefish.com/visit-the-titanic

Well if it's anything like the Dorset list on the same site Dom it's a pretty shabby, incomplete and inaccurate data set. Best to leave the divers to it... Duncan