Hooky

Lures work on bigger fish too, especially for girls. That's all folks

Phew, now Mullet, the pain in my large behind. We have all seen them, the fly -guys seem to get them, first choice would be a grenade or similar. How many years have I been trying to catch these ? Still a lure I suppose, these tiny little worms come over from Japan Once again its time for the kiddie special, use a little bubble float , use a long leader of light line to a tiny 2.0 hook and away you go If this fails go back and use the bloody grenade!

Trolling, not my thing , use old school eddy stone eels in lighter colours with no weights over the training bank at high water, worms work for smaller bass here in the summer

Old school , Toby's , Mepps, and of course Dexters, These are as relevant today as they have always been, I class all of these as diamonds. I love Mackerel fishing, I really hope that the stupidity of fishing sees this wonderful species abused and go the same way as Bass, Tuna etc (it is in fact a little tuna) Method as follows ! Reach into your tackle box for those strings of feathers and throw them into,the bin. Bring out your £ 9.99 kiddies special and tie your Dexter on to the 4lb line Fanning is a method of throwing a lure around starting in the 12' 00 and keep going til you get dizzy Sit down and tie on a little Mepps , same method , repeat as required . You may even pick up a terrific Gar fish by doing this without creating the damage that a nasty old blunt feather makes. Scad, Smelt, Thwaite Shads , Bass, Launce, Sprats, Herring, all have been caught on metals in the local areas, not too bad for a quid as I'm sure you will all agree. I have NEVER caught a sea trout, it's on my target list using a simple Mepps spinner, a few have !

The weather is poor and you only have a Dinghy with a little outboard, you have just as much chance of wining the competition than spending hours burning up fuel in the bay - blanking This was done last year. Some nice Pollack? Nice noisy spinning lead head jigs with attached jelly worms. Try the deep marks in Poole , opposite the ferry terminal works for me and loads of others. Yet another diamond lurks, it's blue, pink and tiny. Red & Grey Gurnard love them, Flounders, try drifting around the old fuel barge and Aunt Bettie. Fish these on a little ball weight on a simple running ledger. During a special time in the year you will also find the Gilt Head Bream , same lure , similar mark . You may also find it's the killer method for Black Bream at sea. So on to the old school, what's old that worked years ago still works today

That's a biggie! It's the large rattle shad, big tides, big depths , wrecks. Conger, Cod, Pollack etc etc, sometimes fished on a Pike wire with a large barrel swivel Smaller rattle shads for general rough ground drifting, your not going to,cry to much when you loose them. So that's enough for one day out in the deep, let's head for home , there's still,a few hours left in the harbour .

Car boot sales. My type of hang out, hundreds of odd and ends that can cost a few pence, you may end up finding a diamond. When I bought the Hobit it included a few genuine diamonds among the layers of decay and mould, some will be kept in the box of shame, a couple are in these pictures are from that box of shame, they must have cost more than a few pounds, Rob was correct, many lures are designed for the man, if fish had a sence of humour I'm sure they would be curled up in laughter at some of crap that get thrown out on a line. This is not the case with these, Savage gear Sandeel, it's a jig head with a soft body, all these do not need to be used on a flying collar or Clements type boom Try these on the Shambles, Brill, Rays, big Plaice , big Bass. HOW ? Up and down , try to keep within a foot or so of the bottom. You may notice a diamond, it's called a black minnow, it's got the weedless hook, if you ever need convincing that jelllys work just get this one, trust me on this chaps. Cod love all of the above, give it a try on your next winter trip round the Needles, you can of course use them all on a Clements type boom in strong tides. So the tide is now running hard, put away the lure rod, they are far to stiff for all this and will snap like a brittle twig, time to get down and deep for those Conger and huge Pollock.

Today I should be out fishing, tides are good, boat is sat in the driveway all ready to go, time off was all arranged. Shame my poor old back has screamed enough , I can click buttons fine, shame I can't even manage to put my shoes on without help . So on to some more plastics , shallow, deep, pencils, poppers, they have all caught at some time, from Bass to Wrasse, s All the above are still attached direct to braid. You still should work these, you don't need to walk the dog like the surface baits, I have managed to take more than a few wrasse on the little jerk solids, the little pencil popper seems to get lots of attention, the deep diver greens will even pick up a flounder in holes bay in the winter on a dark night Third down from top, the little white and black, Gar fish love it, the end treble is tiny. Big issue is weed, that nasty red crap, you will not catch anything on lures of any time if you don't clear it. If the weed of doom get bad, it's time to clip on 6 ft of 12lb mono , attach it with a simple barrel swivel to your main line( the weed will then reduce a little ) Still lots of weed??? Time to give up and swifts over to the jelllys and softs , many can be used using weedless hooks .

WHEN ? Most of my best days on the lures have been a couple of days either side of the flood on spring tides, I don't often use any surface plastics on slack water. Any time between May til November seems best, bass move up,the water table with light and tide, ( does,not apply to,those old Lunkers that hang around deep,water wrecks. First light only, a slight westerly breeze, you won' blank , have confidence in your lures. Nothing will beat a nice live sandeel or Joey under these conditions, that is for certain , it's Sod's law that when you want them they all have strangely gone shy, I think they are all in terror of the shoals of Bass that are on the feed! Top Tip ! Keep your engine off, keep quiet, this I have learnt from years of Kayak fishing. Keep you eye on the Kayak lads, the yakking lure fanatic will always be at the top of the species and specimen list, the only thing that will reduce this is poor weather, my best day ever in fishing was on a yak from Kimmeridge, 18 species within 6 hours all from lures.

Luck craft Gunfish 115 in blue/ silver around £15.00 this is your NO1 look after it, it can be a pig to find. Some lure guys can be as stuffy as those carp boys, they will,hide them from their catch report piccies, they will also call GIinies, GUnnys, etc it's because they are brilliant,,they cast like a bullet and have combined action of a popper and shallow slider, I think it's a pike lure ! ? These will catch Bass, The fish I target average between 3-7lb, I have never caught a lunker on a surface lure of any kind. You can use these in dusk or dawn , shallow water or deep,,they are used around rocky ledges, bully's and boulders, think about the marks Dancing Ledge, Hengistbury jetty, they also work in estuaries and harbours. Clip straight to braid, no swivel, make sure to set the drag on the reel. 'Walk the dog' you can check out utube , a few are correct, some a very poor. Slowly does it, cast and leave for at least a minute, let it drift past or side of your target, look for Eddys and whirlpools and gullys keep the tip of the rod level with your waist line and turn your ass @ 90* to the lure! as you slowly wind in flick your wrist so the tip of the rod heads down then up around a couple of inches for every turn of the reel handle. Stop after every 10 turns of the handle, leave for 30 seconds plus and go again. The action you are attempting is this lure will pop, turn from one side to the other In a steady motion. WHY !, I have tried this lure on a floppy rod, it goes all wrong, the braid loops around in coils. We tried this side by side, the correct method and timing caught seven Bass to the floppy rods 1 . The next lure is a Savage gear pencil prey 23g in bone, same as above except it dint work in the harbour, the Gunfish did the job again !

So on to reels, line, leaders, it's going to get a little bit detailed, solid lures are presented in a different way to softs, they in turn and different to metals , It's going to get worse , ! So pay attention and to those on the back row stop sniggering ! Shimano, try the brilliant little nexus along with the good old Baitrunner, WHY ? They last for ages and are cheap to buy, they are also light, your arm will ache after 200 plus casts in a few hours . Braid only for me, I never use leaders for solid surface plastics, no swivels just line direct to the lure. Some softs and shads I have are fitted with a black pike wire, these also clip direct to the braid. Other softs ( including lead heads) need 6ft of stiff mono with barrel swivels !!!!!!! BRAID---- some of the thin 6 and 8 strand braids will enable you to cast further , I don't get on with them , they will keep catching in the hooks and rod eyes, useless in windy conditions, they will also destroy your rod rings in a short time, it's expensive, £ 35.00 + ? I use Berkley Whiplash as a all rounder, boat ,shore, pier, the diameter is dependant on your spool, don't over fill the spool. Next will be lures, one buy one( who said at bloody last!!!)?

My first rod is a Savage Gear Bushwaker XLNT mines rated to cast upto 40g it's 8ft long You can also get them in different lengths and sizes This rod is suitable for every situation from lures to plastics and jelllys. I have used it from the boat, shore, pier and even pike fishing on the local river. It is has a fantastic build quality which is far better than other rods I've used costing three times the price. You can get these for around £60.00 please don't think you need to spend one penny more than this, it's a cracker ! WHY ??? You need to feel the lure, you need the correct action to present some lures which make them act like a dying prey, you need a stiff action, the Buswaker is a VERY stiff rod. You will need to be able to cast a lure around 50 ft in ideal conditions , sometimes FAR further but most of all you need to be accurate , this is called 'fanning ' Lure fishing is hunting, no different to fly casting, the best lure men are fly guys, these chaps have skill far beyond my attempts . When fishing for Bass on surface lures you are aiming at targets, these are around rocks , reefs and obstructions, after all you don't want to be chucking a £ 15.00 lure away every poor cast! Next post will be Reels, braid, and surface lures including the best lure I have ever used, it's called a Gunfish ! You will love it, it Works !

Will do, I'm going to start with rods and reels the reason is some of the most effective lures I use will,only be effective if presented correctly Last season we tried out this theory, the method for presenting the best surface lure is 'walking the dog' ok plenty of anglers try it with some limited success, without sounding like some 'know all ' I believe by learning a very simple few tricks using the correct tried and tested method can & will more than double your catch rate( I doubted all this until I tried it myself) I have done years of trying things out, hours and hours of seeing why some anglers achieve while the majority seem to fail and give -up while lure fishing. Since joining this club I have had learnt far more about boating and fishing than it would have taken in years by trial and error , this is entirely down to the members that have been more than willing to share not only there time but have always offered help and knowledge. I suppose this is my way of contributing and putting something back in , isn't that what a decent club deserves?

I still enjoy using bait , it really doesn't matter wether I'm spending a few hours off the shore or a day on the old boat. It's not really about how many fish I can catch, it's never been about the size (oo er misses ) I do on occasion get 'bored' with bait fishing, however some days it's nice to sit back and relax. So fishing can be described as a relaxing hobby it can also be described as Britains no1participant sport. So to the addiction of lures,feathers, softs, hard plastics, metals, I've got a small selection of what I believe is all you will ever need to buy , how to use them, where to use them along with my failures and experience spanning 35 years of addiction. This post is generally for members who have used the same methods and rigs for years and would like to increase the huge variety of species available in the club waters. I would also like to add that you can spend a small fortune on new rods, reels, and most importantly lures, if you have the cash , go for it, you won't catch any more fish but I can guarantee it's far more about the method than the money. WHY ? Lure fishing is more than a challenge than bait, its a bit of a science, I strongly suggest you will get far more satisfaction from reeling in a 7lb bass from a surface lure on a light rod than you can have from ANY other method ! Please post away with your own thoughts,methods etc, I personally would love to try fly fishing for bass, another must do ( any invites and lessons would be more than welcome) WHERE ? I'm not going to share this info with the world, members can of course give me a pm ( it will cost you a pint on club night) WHEN ? Just as important as where , I've caught virtually every fish I've seen in the catch reports section all on lures or softs, this includes Sole on Isome false jelllys as well as a Turbot in 8 inches of water on a surface 'Gunfish' This thread may turn out to be a long one, I will try to add lots of pictures and explain why I'm a addict, my enthusiasm for this subject is not shared by many but may be of some help to others

I fully recommend you get down the local tackle shop and buy one of those £12.99 telescopic rods that come in a plastic packet along with a ' Durco' reel. I always find it works best when it get used by a child ( around the age of 12 seems preferable ) as this combination WILL out fish anything else you decide to spend your cash on (Yes I got totally out fished by my daughter ) My personal recommendation is a bushwaker xltn , it has got to be the best lure/ general rod I have ever used bar none, I have no idea how they can produce a rod of this quality for £60.00 ish

Would have to agree with this in general, I think that we found more than usual in a few well known hotspots .

Best I can come up with is 1983 , ( pretty sure it's correct) Try http://www.stolenboats.org.uk/search.php3?q=Yamaha+50&catagory=outboard I can't find very much else on this one

I've spent more time on other members boats than my own since joining , it could be just my good looks and huge wallet, it could be my huge fishing ability along with tremendous skippering skills ! It (possibly ) could be that there is lads on here that are always more than willing to lead the newbies in the right direction. Not a bad wee club IMHO !

Thanks all, I had more than a fantastic day. Soppy as it sounds I have not spent a full day with the wife for a very, very long time. No kids, no work, just at home . The wife made me a full English followed by fresh coffee. She also remembered that I tried to get a book that I wanted last year (Rick Stein / under a mackerel sky) but gave up trying to find it, she found it ! A fantastic steak , skinny chips with mushrooms with English mustard followed with Ben & Jerry's phish food oh yeah ! Drink?? Of course their is only one good enough, Fursty Ferret, nothing comes close ( the wife usually likes wine or pear cider but agrees this is nectar ) I love my wife , she looks after me even though I have had a very difficult past year. I hate getting older, it seems that every year that passes beyond 40 another part of you anatomy seems to give up/ falls off! Bit like my boat !

1. Kingfisher 2. Fisheagle 3. Slice of Life 4. Awol 5. Reflections 2 6. The Grinch 7.Wishin Too 8 Freeboys 9. Yelo 10. Tiddler 11. Mistress 12. JoJo 13. MegaByte 14. Wight Magic 15. Sweet Pea 16. Tigerfish 17. Alfresco 18 Court Jester 19. Serenity 20. Star Turn 21. Just Chillin 22. Fillet up 23. Hobbit

6oz whiting !!! In the harbour , the best thing was the new engine was fantastic , very good on fuel ( 16 lt all day The other lads I met at baiter had all had a terrible day , 1 small gurnard and a couple of tiny flounders It all went wrong on the way home, trailer arm sheared,, bit of a disaster after such a brilliant day out.

Hobit plus 1 non member ( staying in the harbour as first time out with new engine ! ) My first ever comp ! Launching baiter 8.30 ish

You have all probably seen Totally Awsome fishing on YouTube , very nice thresher just off the island. I have no idea how long they hang around but I have seen a couple on the surface just off the pier, (1986)not that un-common Can anyone put the YouTube link please.

My excitement is the new (old) outboard finally got mounted this afternoon ! It's only taken a year of scrimping to get it ! Now then, just all the cables etc to sort out and I 'should' have a reliable, economical sledge to get out there on a piggie hunt Just checked the forecast as I've got a couple of days off next week !!! Once again perfect timing / force 9-10 gales, thunderstorms, tornado, , etc etc !

Guilty !,,, I afraid I have little idea about the correct method, All I do know is that the chain is attached to the anchor at the front, the other part of the chain is attached at the rear by two cable ties, I did see Wedger doing the uplift with a lifting buoy but as usual I was far to busy eating pies to pay attention !!!!!!! Thanks for the offers on how to do it, getting a couple of hours off can be a litte awkward in my present employment so IF you goiing out PLEASE give me a text 07976844546 I will supply the pies.