Mike Y

I think BFM has really gone down hill. IMHO that Peruvian article was the lowest point - freshwater foreign shore fishing has no place in what I thought was a predominantly a UK saltwater boat fishing mag. Mind you I am only halfway through a 2 year subscription so am locked in - I just hope it changes direction. Incidentally I noticed Dave Barham has left Total Sea Fishing (I think it is called).

Well done guys - throughly deserved too. Only 11 more sleeps until Alderney!!

Went out of Weymouth on Sunday with my father and two brothers in Blue Boy our Warrior 195 - force 4 Westerly was forecast and we were unsure how lumpy it would be when we hit the Shambles. In fact the sea was not too bad although fairly nasty over the overflows. We drifted the bank for about 45 minutes before a bite to me turned out to be a small plaice about 1.5 pounds which was returned. Half an hour later and a cracking bite on my brother Dave's plaice gear led to quite a fight which turned out to be a turbot of about 5-6 pounds - a beautiful fish which was very thick across the middle. As you can imagine he was over the moon - lucky ******! Anyway as the tide slackened we fished for another hour or so on the bank without a bite and decided to move off to try a bit of wrecking. On arrival we found the wreck straight away - which is quite a feat for us - and with the last of the ebb trickling through my brother sat us on top of the wreck and ordered lines down. I dropped my storm sandeel straight on the ironwork and five slow turns up it was met with an enquiry - I resisted the urge to strike and carried on winding until the line tightened up - a few powerful runs and a bit of head-shaking and then there was a bit of colour - white! A lovely plump spring codling of knocking on for 5 pounds - get in! The The next hour saw a pollack a drift to one of our rods as we must have landed 15 or more crash-diving pollack - all bar 3 of which were returned to fight another day and also our first mackerel of the season which took my storm sandeel on the drop. As the flood started to move the fish seemed to go off the feed and we returned to Weymouth through some pretty loppy water until we got in under the lee of Portland - a really enjoyable day out. I am now even more excited about the Alderney trip!!

The Youngs will be out in force on Sunday out of Weymouth weather permitting - will probably hit the Shambles for a couple of the slacker hours and then head off or down to Lulworth banks Mike

Really looking forward to the Alderney trip - just assembling a few bits of tackle and servicing the reels etc. Anybody who has been before got any special tips? Killer shad colours for the pollack etc., tips for winkling out the brill??

Adam Dave and I would be interested Mike

My brother and I would be interested Tom Mike

We hope to be there Adam Mike

Had a great day at the Boat Show yesterday. A fantastic array of boats and equipment although not a great amount of fishing tackle - apparently there is a 4 day fishing special later this week. I met Tom briefly on the Jeanneau stand - good to meet you Tom and looking forward to fishing with you soon. As regards conclusions on the boat front we came away thinking that for our own type of boat usage we already have the ideal boat - Warrior 195. We really look forward to the new 20 foot Warrior coming out later this year. Having said that, I loved the Arvor 230 and 250 - just fantastic boats. Mike

Tom What number stand will Southern Motor Boats be on at the boat show so that we can come up and say "hello". Mike

Thanks guys - I really do apprcaite your help - I'll report back as to how I get on.

I am thinking of going fishing on 27th December from Weymouth weather permitting. I thought it might be worth trying the Adamant Shoal for a few whiting - does anyone know at what state of the tide the Adamant fishes best? Are there any particular features/marks or is it just a question of anchoring up somewhere on the bank? Any help would be gratefully received as I would quite like to make it a short sharp trip at the best state of the tide if at all possible. Thanks Mike

definitely a small eyed

Great to have you out with us Adam and thanks for showing us the ropes again. I will send you some photos later if the camera doesn't play up. Glad you managed to work out why you were catching and we were not!! Fluorocarbon it is!!! The bass you left in the boat were cooked for us by the local pub at lunch - cooked whole with pepper butter - just beautiful - thanks Look forward to fishing with you again soon. I'll bring some fluorcarbon but I am sure you will still catch much more than us!

I'd go for a small eyed.

Have a great birthday chap Mike Y

After Adam F had shown us the ropes last week, we (me, my dad and my two brothers) went out to the Shambles on Friday afternoon to catch the last two hours before slack water and the first hour after. It was nice to have some visibility this time particularly with so many boats out there. When we arrived the drift was a bit quick (2 knots+) so we put a weight down. 9 kg of rolled roofing lead tied to the anchor warp worked perfectly. After a while though the weight wasn't necessary and we were drifiting nice and slowly. We caught 4 plaice of which I was lucky enough to get 3 - the best weighing 4 pound 2oz when we got home. A cracking fish. We were really chuffed to catch a few especially as there did not seem to be much action on the other boats - including the charter boys. Thanks again Adam for showing us how. Mike

Thanks Maverick We just love the 195 - it has been perfect for us although to be honest we have probably not used her to her full potential despite doing loads of hours in her. Mostly we troll inshore reefs for bass or anchor up on marks on Kimmeridge Ledge or Lulworth Banks. We aim to do some offshore fishing/wrecking this year but have 100% confidence in the boat - just wish we could get the live bait tanks to work better. How is yours? Mike

Thanks Guys for being so welcoming - look forward to fishing with you all in flat seas with the fish biting some time soon. Kind regards Mike

I'll see what I can do tomorrow as regards the photos - they are all on memorystick and I don't have a reader at work. All the best Mike

Adam - I'll give some photos to Dave - you can just about make out your and Paul's boats in the fog! Paul thanks for your kind welcome - really enjoyed fisahing with you guys. Sorry about your glasses! All the best Mike

Thanks Adam for all your help and guidance - really enjoyed it and can't wait until next time All the best Mike