lofty

Recently I've travelled to Wales, looking for Tope, only to miss my target. Last weekend was the Solent Smut meet, and everyone caught them all around me, I blanked. The forecast was for heavenly conditions today and I have a few days off. Well time to head to my local patch , Southbourne. 6.30 am on Southbourne beach and I'm ready to launch Wanted to try this mark for bass. Looked Bassy . Caught a bass . Also had pack Tope and a starry . The maccys where thin on the ground and the Tope made short work of my live baits. Time to head to my ray mark. Feathers over the side and paddled back to double dykes, dropping the anchor directly between the two yellow markers. Dozens of maccys here, ignoring the daylight feathers and hammering the tinsels. Within half an hour I had my first of 7 undulates today, a right scruffy round the edges one They got prettier and bigger as the afternoon went on, best going 13-7 on my digis Had a great fun with a cuttle fish. Squirted water right in my face. Had him on the chopping board but decided he could go back as its cheap as chips to buy. First time I've landed one but not sure if its a species for the comp? Not a fish is it? Had this rod of a club member( can't remember who) and it loved a bit of ray action Also had dogs, black bream and of course maccys. Dinner was 48 cm and with the maccys fed 3 with salad lovely job Tomorrow I think I'll pay a visit to Kimmeridge for a bit of a sight seeing paddle . Who needs to leave Dorset?

What a cracker

Happy birthday Dave Have a good one

I have a new favourite rod Okuma Octana spinning rod It is a cracking rod worth double the 55 quid for the quality of the fittings. Easily handled 11lb Huss last week. http://www.fishingmegastore.com/okuma-octana-spin-rods~10053.html Love it.

My Spanish friend Emma and her husband Fran are staying with us for a week and he is always commenting when I put up a kayak fishing photo on Facebook , that he would love to do that in England, as they can't catch any fish in Spain ( no comment) Well my boss said " why don't you take Fran out fishing?" In a cartoon flash I was gone and loading up my car. Well I only own one fishing kayak ,and a two man perception, but gathering cobwebs on my rack is Simons Skua that he loaned Barry. Would be a shame not to try it while I've got it( I'm sure its legally mine now anyway ) So off to branksome with feathers and squid. Arrived at 7.30 to an overcast morning with a herd of paddle boarders having a race up and down the beach. They were being filmed by a drone. Amazing bit of kit. The pilot had a vr headset so could see what he was filming. This drone was incredibly stable. I'd imagined fixing a reel to it and feathering for maccys and lifting them clean out of the sea and on to the Dorados rear helipad. Met up with a new chum,Gary , and we swapped ideas for marks etc. Rigged up and ready to launch. Fran sat on my D2 and I pulled him out into the small surf. He was wobbling like a newborn lamb when a bigger than average wave took him in the face "CABRON" Back to the beach,drain away, and a second more successful launch. Now I'd given Fran my summer kit as we are both over 6 feet tall I knew it would be ok. Myself though was left with a choice. Drysuit or wetsuit shorts. You can't wear kolas in a skua so I didn't want to walk on my drysuit socks, so I chose the shorts. It's still too cold to wear shorts. I shivered for three hours and drifted feathers with the rod beneath my ballbag. A phot of my hairy toes and fungal big toe nail Fran was now quickly used to the dorado2 and loving it. Fish on. Pout. Fran hasn't blanked. We decide to try a pot buoy. I set up my rope for him and he's soon catching Species 2. Pollock. Species 3. Tub Gurnard Species 4. Starry smoothound pup Species 5. LSD Species 6. Scad A kiss goodbye All in three hours. We had to move as the potter came to lift his pot . I saw him talking to Fran who couldn't understand a word. I got there as quick as I could but he was nice as pie and said we could tie on again in 20 minutes. I also met another AA / Solent member, Graham, who had a nice 4.3 ,fishing really well. Good to meet you and Gary. I tell you no one has ever been happier catching a dogfish, and isn't that what makes kayak fishing great? "Like Sea Angler Magazine Fran" And that was it. We came in after 3.5 hrs and although the fishing was small it was constant and Fran had a "fantastico" time afloat 2 more for my species hunt, pollock and horse Mackeral, although actual maccys still allude me. Roll on Tywyn thurs and fri.

95 fished, 70 caught. Results are on quantity and time logged in

A new venue for me, Lepe, and a new chum,Digger, and off in search of some smuts and stingrays. Arrived at 7.30 as the carpark was opening , to an overcast day with forecasts of rain. Quickly rigged up and we were soon on the beach. I've had a few marks recommended to try, but this was also about getting a feel for a new venue , following on from tanners being a crime spot. Digger was looking shiny in all his new gear, thanks to the Navy and Bournemouth canoes . He was hoping for a bass and within three minutes of launching he was smiling as an 8 inch schoolie took a savage gear eel not much smaller than the fish. I made my way to a mark and fished at anchor with one peeler rig and one king rag rig. In the meantime James had been catching bass after bass. He only needed two for his barbie this weekend , and even though he went on to catch better sized ones, around 3lb the biggest, he fished c and r, and took home his first in sized bass from his new revo. Good effort mate. I was having no luck on the targets, but had bass as a by catch.Biggest was around 2 lb but I had 5 around this size and one tiny one. I didn't want any as I've dinner plans so mine can get bigger. Around lunchtime a squall came in and we pushed back to the launch with a few standing waves around shoulder height with the wind in every direction. I was happy to hit the beach and we dragged the yaks up as a storm rolled in Diggers Dinner And then the heavens opened and it all kicked off over on the island I can't remember such heavy rain, at first we hid behind a coach but common sense saw us soon in the cafe with lattes and cheesy chips I finished the day fishing the river mouth in the sun but it was only bass today A good venue , good parking , good cafe and good fishing. Shame about the target but I'm sure they will be there soon An hour after the storm Diggermobile

So the sun shone, the wind was settled, and the turnout for the Ocean Kayak Classic was at record numbers. All manner of rigs were tied and baits bought for the 5 hour species competition in Swanage bay. A safety briefing took place on the morning on the green and everyone signed in . David Morris, aka Starvin marvin, who owns Anglers Afloat has been organising this event for years, and it has grown year on year. Two years ago the company who organised a support rib were going to charge close to £1000 for there services. This is where PBSBAC came to the rescue, and by providing support vessels ,indirectly put that expense straight into the charity coffers, in this case Swanage RNLI. HOW were also on the green selling raffle tickets, and had two injured servicemen participating in the event, using Drysuits supplied by PBSBAC. The safety brief and gathering A round of applause in remembrance of Cam Clearie followed a touching tribute speech. At 10 am, with AWOL and Court Jester on station, the competitors took to the bay It's quite a site to see and soon the bay was full of kayakers at anchor I was one of the " naughty" boys that fished the boundary but was advised to go haul and go inside the fishing area , a line between the end of the pier and Ballard. Not a problem. It was well policed and I was very impressed by Neals stern talking toos that he gave some reckless gin palace drivers. I'm sure if he had canon he would have fired across the now. Good man On a personal note I had, dogs, black bream , corkwing, and my best fish was a beautiful undulate , around 10-12lb. I should have changed tactics but after the ray I kept ray fishing until it was time to head in. Back on the green for the presentation and the sun was out. The results were in The Mayor presented the winners and our own Brian Chapman( Geordie ) won a rod/ reel combo for best photo. A conger. The organisers The winners and the mayor The results from the day The final results for the day are: OK Classic 2014 - Final Results Competitor and Number of Species 1 William Chellingworth 8 - Winner of Ocean Kayak Big Game II 2 Mark Radcliffe 7 - Winner of Garmin Virb Action Cam 3 Raymond Cole 7 - Winner of Humminbird Fish Finder 4 Ryan Turner 6 5 Andrew Tracy 6 6 Michael Harpur 5 7 Amos Mak 5 8 Jonathon Large 5 9 John Gilling 5 10 Richard Cooper 5 11 Mark Crame 5 12 Mark Leake 5 13 Bill Scott 5 14 Douglas Lea Hamlen 5 15 Martin Colison 5 16 Steven Tibbenham 4 17 Keith Ward 4 18 Richard Chapman 4 19 Clive Joyner 4 20 Martin Payne 4 21 Stephen Hill 4 22 Steve Loftus 4 23 Colin Smith 4 24 Terry Tucker 4 25 David Harrison 4 26 Cormac Meeneham 4 27 Patrick Banks 4 28 Philip Green 3 29 Alistair Cole 3 30 Christopher James 3 31 Rosa Tuffney 3 32 Ian Harris 3 33 Brian Chapman 3 34 Simon Adams 3 35 Dane Wood 3 36 Jason Stanbridge 3 37 Gavin Deegan 2 38 Michael Horton 2 39 Mike Roberts 2 40 James Gammon 2 41 Andrew Kelly 2 42 Julian Byait 2 43 Marcus Ward 2 44 Dan Richards 2 45 Ben Welfare 2 46 Adrian Saunders 2 47 Charles Tones 2 48 Thomas Probyn 2 49 David Anstey 2 50 Ian Brown 2 51 Andrew Parry 2 52 Kev Lewis 2 53 Terry Wright 2 54 Paul Newman 2 55 Leon Evans 1 56 Arthur Whiting 1 57 Colin Chick 1 58 Dean Collier 1 59 Grant Spencer 1 60 Christopher Arnell 1 61 Wayne Shipp 1 62 Steven Heath 1 63 Andrew Board 1 64 Richard Bateman 1 65 Ian Pickering 1 66 John Elsdon 1 67 Matthew Torington 1 68 Stephen Crook 1 69 Tom Wilson 1 70 David Neil 1 First Junior (Sponsored by Mike and Gill at Swanage Angling Centre) - Matthew Torrington Best Fish (Sponsored by SPRO Performance Professionals) - Brian Chapman Thanks for reading Lofty

It tastes shite

Add one nearest your kitchen sink as possible

Try to make sure you're garden tap is fresh water. The only problem I've ever had with one was funny. The customer had a new immersion tank. The salt in the softener leeched into the new copper and the Verdi Gris contaminated the hot water, dying her peroxide blonde hair a visible green. Oh how we laughed......... It diluted down over time

Swanage fished its socks off this weekend apparently. Lots of bream( lots) between 3- 4 lb. A few dustbin lids dropped too. Centre of the bay

I've fitted a lot of water softeners. They are the only thing that works in this area.

Just 2 more minutes!

Cheers for coming down Neal. Was a great turn out

We all arrived at Southbourne around 7 and unloaded and trolleyed down to the beach. Everyone signed my sheet , donated a fiver, and then took to the water. I contacted Portland Coastguard and informed them of our plans, around the same time as Chris arrived on Kingfisher as a support boat. Xc had forecast 10 gusting 15 but it was a constant 20. 30 guys took part and although lots of species were caught, only 7 brought a fish to the measure station. I only needed 1to be caught for the day to be a Plaice Chase. Chris was pro active visiting the competitors and dishing out warm food( sossie sarnie mmmm) The weather saw myself landing around 12 and slowly and surely the Yakkers called it a day. All boats were off the water by 1.30 Paul from How Martin from How( client) The fish were measured on the Acme flatty ruler The winner was Jason Stanbridge from Portsmouth Last years winner Cam Clearie awarding the trophy And Paul from How with the plaice chase tankard A very happy winner with a very happy organiser Thanks all who took part We raised £187.50

I will do a report but the day was a great success, with a special thanks to Kingfisher as support boat.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0WbBuHsQh80

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0WbBuHsQh80

Take a look at this video on YouTube:

Take a look at this video on YouTube:

Ever wondered what's tugging your string?

These posts have been really interesting and encouraging Cheers

The Poole Bay Plaice Chase is on this Saturday. The Longest fish will win The winner will receive this trophy to keep, presented by last years winner , Cam Clearie, in front of the cafe on Southbourne Beach , at 2.30 and their name will be engraved onto this shield. You will be in good company The prizes are funded by Pbsbac, and the winner will be able to be presented with the trophy at the annual dinner dance on Saturday 26 th April at Parkstone Yacht Club. Tight lines all

Sounds good Chris The launch is from 8-2. We will be on channel 6, listening 16