Speciman

I rose before sunrise and headed down to Southbourne Beach for a morning yak fishing session. There was a stiff breeze in the air but still headed out as the sea 'didn't look that bad'. I didn't paddle out far and fished just out of long range casting distance from the shore. Turns out it was a bit too choppy for my liking. I stuck it out for a good hour before the sea sickness got too much - whilst turning green I headed back in. For what its worth I was fishing two rods : one with ragworm/tipped with mussel and the other frozen sandeel. The fish may or may not have been there ..I don't plan to go and find out till its flat again. Will skip breakfast this morning and perhaps have a brunch or lunch later

Thanks for the anchor tip -- I'll keep an eye out for a suitable rod to make a grapnel with. I'm pleased to hear those marks teem with fish during the summer. The way Zzippys fishfinder was beeping over HMS Hood suggests that there are quite a few down there now! The middle entrance whilst a reasonable paddle from the launch point, seemed quite a safe venue to fish from the kayak. I'm sure we'll go there again. Can squid be caught there during the autumn months?

Zzippy and I launched our kayaks from Castletown slipway, Portland at first light this morning to fish the breakwater area. We headed to the southern entrance first and fished over the wreck, HMS Hood, for a good hour. We only had a few bites despite lots of fish showing on the finder. A ballan wrasse of no great size was all we caught - if we had given it more time perhaps it would have been a different story but the wind had picked up and we decided to try another mark. When we went to up anchor we found they were both stuck. After a lot of pulling and getting no where fast we cut our anchor lines. We then headed off towards the middle entrance of the harbour letting the W/NW wind take us in roughly that direction. We drifted past most of the small wrecks by the breakwater with no noticeable bites. When we arrived at the middle entrance we hooked up to a buoy near there and fished a sheltered spot out of the wind. We caught several dogfish on mackeral strips and ragworm. Three times Zzippy got hooked onto something which gave a decent bend in his rod and each time the line was bit through (this was on one of his rods setup for smaller species - hook baited with ragworm). Our big bait rods remained untouched except for one dogfish deciding it liked Zzippys triple squid offering. Early afternoon we paddled/tootled back to near our launch point and fished by the 'stone block' there for a short while. We caught one goby on ragworm & called it a day

Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Hi Brian Good luck for this evening. I was fishing the Wareham Channel and also near the small islands by Holton Heath with Zzippy today. Only managed one flounder but a nice day out nonetheless. Hope to be up there again on the next set of springs.

Zzippy and I launched the kayaks this morning from Lulworth Cove and trolled our way along to Durdle Door. It was the first time we have launched from here so it was more of a recce. The Lulworth firing range was closed to the public but as we were heading west the boat patrol allowed us to fish on*. We caught pollack and wrasse to no great size. We were able to get the kayaks into some nice looking kelp beds & the water was very clear in places. Next time we may head out towards inner Lulworth Banks on a neap tide or if the range is open fish up near Mupe rocks. *note - was interesting that around Lulworth I couldn't get a fix on any satellites using my GPS but near Durdle Door I could.

Thanks for that Newboy. Whilst you were there did you notice many fishfinders on display at keen prices?!

Is it this site: Kayak Sport Fishing? They have some great pics in their gallery

Keeping it light I picked up a pair of Maxximus 555 reels from the Lymington market seller at

Thanks for the tip Newboy. Its not too big a deal for me if I don't have a valve although it would reduce the number of times I have to turn round to reprime the pump or lower the hose each time I start it. The blue hose in the pic will be bent round to either the left or right to fit through a scupper hole.

The bottom right hand hole is for the water butt tap so I can quickly empty the tank before heading back in through the surf.

Bath test.

To add to this thread, I've recently been working on my livewell for the kayak. Using a Rule 360 aerator pump it wasn't 'silent running' as advertised. I want to keep my kayak stealthy so fit a voltage regulator to reduce flow and also fit the pump inside the tank. After hearing back from Rule the aerator pumps can be submerged like their bilge pumps. Its very quiet now. A couple of pics including my bath test. Does anyone know where I can buy a garden hose anti-syphon valve? I've tried a plumbers merchant off Holdenhurst Road (Plumb Base), In Excess, B&Q and Homebase.

The Hobie kayaks seem quite popular in the US and their pedal system allows for hands free fishing whilst trolling. I don't think I'd buy a pedal powered kayak but would love to try one out to see how efficient they are. The Quest model is a paddle version & looks well laid out for fishing.

Fishing from a kayak I can't see myself using 2lb leads! Out of curiosity what situations would warrant such weight -how fast are the tides and does depth play a part?

Cheers Wedger. I really enjoy being out on the water. Our fishing was interrupted with a little play over hook sand today when wash from the big ships formed small waves over there Great fun.

Zzippy and I launched near the Royal Yacht Club at 7:30am. It was perfect morning, the sun was out and the sea was like a mirror. We drifted and trolled our way out of the harbour, past the training bank and up past Buoy 3. We then made many drifts down and across the channel in a zig zag fashion spending time near Buoy 10 at one stage . Fishing was slow but picked up on the flood with a good run for each of us; we like to think they were plaice. Although no plaice were caught we had bass, wrasse, bream, wrasse, garfish and weever fish (ouch). Called it a day at 17:00. We will have to give it another shot soon.

Thanks for all the help. Zzippy and I will be out there tomorrow after the plaice.

Going light does make sense especially if I'm fishing from a kayak and with a 'dainty rod'. I'll pop back to Lymington market on Saturday and check out the Fladen Maxximus reels - which according to seller both the rods and reels have recently been used by the England team and the reels components are ABU. I would have thought the rods and reels were made for each other. Thanks for the offer Alun.

Thanks for that Duncan. I will take a look at the models you have suggested.

I'm thinking about buying a pair of SL20SH to go with my 10-20lb Fladen solid C rods. Given that when I rig up a finder a lot of my fishing will be over the Purbecks (with occassional trips to Lulworth banks) would the SL20SH be too small? Planning on using 18lb -20lb line. For those who have had multipliers with and without level wind do you miss not having one?

I picked up pair of Maxximus Solid Carbon rods (10-20lb) from the seller at Lymington market today at

Looking at my old sea fishing books turns out I was in the wrong area. Pout Hole lies "on a line with Beacon Lodge near Highcliffe and the cage-beacon at the end of Hengistbury Head groyne and about halfway between the groyne and the Coastguard Look-out on Hengistbury Head"

Hi Everyone. I was wondering if anyone had the GPS numbers for Pout Hole? I was fishing that way on Sunday from the kayak but as I don't yet have a fish finder I couldn't locate Pout Hole. I headed about 400 yards out from the look out tower at Hengistbury Head and paddled around with a mini shrimp rig catching pollack.

4 of us fished from our kayaks today near the channel by Salterns Marina from 8am till 4pm. Caught bass, gurnard, mackeral, gilthead bream, and one red mullet between us. Nothing of any great size. There were plenty of spider crabs out there today. The harbour seemed quiet what with the summer holidays being over for most.