Mal Thomas

It is with a heavy heart both Jerry and myself feel the coming weekend forecast is not favourable for small boats exiting the swash, Chris has been out today on a smaller wind forecast and said it was very lumpy. Watch for a new date asap.

Small offset circles for me.

Reminds me of Medusa.

The consultation was released today and I have filled it in, doesn't take long. You can find it on the Sifca website under "Live Consultation" The consultation paper is asking for participation, Voluntary code and some questions on bag limits and sizes. Please take the time to read and fill in, if your happy to participate.

I have two you can have

Biggest fish Dale, photo of the fish and weight.

Here is a recent communication from Sifca regarding a drop in Surgery at Swanage AC and a Bass FMP.

Planning started on Friday, bait, invites and scheduling. Purchased bait now I must keep it alive, set fridge to 10 degrees, that should do it. A push off at 6.30am was planned due to a Springs and boy did it come in quickly. A Cuckoo decided he was going to make himself known at 6.30 am, it was beautiful listening for 15 minutes at very close quarters. The Plan was a trip across the Bay for some Plaice. Easy trip across the bay, nice a smooth. Then I saw a bank of fog coming over Old Harry, at it's worst 100 yards visibility, time to engage the radar and it worked well and I could understand what was being plotted, bonus. On our first drift we heard amongst fog horns a channel 6 call from John on Kelly's Heroes, he had made a similar plan and had some early success, nice to hear a call out on Channel 6 for PBSBAC on the VHF. We had a few plaice and gave it a few hours till the weed got underway. Then I moved off and noticed my engine note changed and I hoped I was being a DQ. Dropped the Anchor on the secret ray mark, that had actually turned into a Secret Bream mark, no rays. We had a busy time with double shots of Bream. Then lifted the Anchor for a slow trip back, good job we did because the engine started to run on 3 cylinders and vibrating. Not good and would we get home, the power dropped off and we were limping home with a developing problem. Managed to find a sweet spot in the miss firing mode to get us home. A Long wormy wash down and a look to see if we had a loose spark plug lead, nothing spotted, however the engine did seem to run better at the end, so I am hoping it was fuel contamination. The engine has just had a big service, so I am hoping for a good outcome. I will call the engineers Monday for a diagnostic check. Btw my radio issues did not repeat, so SS on Tiger fish you may have an issue, please check your radio. It was a good weather day at Sea and sharing another day on board with my Bro and bestie doing the same drifts. Thanks Chris for all your support today and I hope you found a few more. A day with a bit of everything.

Just Called Trevor skipper of Rocket, his Calendar has a space for Friday 9th May. This could be a bream comp opportunity for those who don't own or who would like a trip carefree. Drop your name here if it suits you and I await Trevor's response.

Welcome back Mike, I hope your lines are tight and you enjoy our Annual Comps. Enter all fish on the fish recorder and Chris does the rest. If you pop down to our next meeting we can show you around the website.

Christchurch Angling have new stock in the window, lightweight pole and nets

Thornback caught yesterday, say 5-6lb

Tried my rubber net but found it caught a lot of tide, open knotted nets flow through the tide better.

I am having a few issues on the boat, Tiger fish could not hear me transmitting on CH 6, tried it later on 65 and I was loud and clear, tried it with a local boat and they heard me loud and clear. What's going on !!! East winds seemed to be causing me anchoring issues on the flood, just keep tumbling the anchor. Wasted quite a bit of time on a very slow slip, not happy. Re anchored 3 times and kept dragging, then moved and the Ebb was easier. I could see the target but could not anchor accurately. Moved to a softer bottom for an easier anchor grip, caught another 35 dogfish, 1 Thornback ray and 10 bream to 1.5lb and 6 straps Exhausted after a day of managing 4 rods.

Auto pilot fixed using the Wizard, the wrong direction answer was selected by the engineer when resetting it up after upgrades.

BTW it is mostly shingle and a prop eater

First trip out over the sand bar, well I got over it ok. It would have been better to travel a bit further beyond the last yellow marker on Starboard side. say 80-100mtrs past and then head straight at the Needles. The Harbour is very shallow at the moment, I only had 2.4ft in places, we need some cruisers drawing 1 mtr to stir it up. This was a shakedown trip out at Sea and the Auto Pilot is not playing ball, "go to Sea they said and it will reset after a couple of turns" oh no it didn't. You sure miss auto pilot when it is not working. I gave the Rays a good go and managed 1 spotted, to catch that I had to wade through 30 plus doggies, they are really wide spread out there, on every bait as soon as it hits bottom. Managed a few whiting that I could see on the sounder, then back in over the bar. I had to jump out of the cabin whilst on the way in by the first yellow and stop an idiot steering directly over the sand bar, just saved him by 50 yards otherwise he would still be there. Auto pilot a bit disappointing means more effort to get it sorted. Then the marina wanted me to go on another berth while they work on mine, what a pain setting up all new ropes on a fixed pontoon. Big wash down and home absolutely shattered.

Come and support your club AGM tomorrow, meet you fellow members and watch the Trophy presentation. Grab a raffle ticket and have a drink. We would like to see you.

Chris and I went out 7.00am Sunday on a very low Spring, no problems with air draft. The boat needed defrosting and so did we, the Flood was fast and furious and mainly after we had passed through the swash, on the return in that was a different matter very little wind but 2mtr waves standing up. We tucked round the corner in Swanage hoping the fish had done the same, they had but they were all LSD variety. As the speed of tide eased we moved out on some banks along with a couple of Charters, still very slow we even had to wait for a doggie to bite. By the time it sped up we decided to give Swanage ago on the Ebb when the tide has less swirling, just LSD. So another move saw us drifting for a flattie, no bites at all. We crossed the Swash and got caught up in the 2mtr waves and that was enough, the final whistle, we had had enough, hopefully a cold Guinness was available, even that was not definite due to a bar refurb. thankfully they were open. Water temp measured at 10 degrees, I wonder if things will switch on when it reaches the magical 12 degrees. We still had a great day out in the sunshine around our beautiful coastline, a few fish other than doggies would have brightened up the day. A fuel up, a wash down and a Guinness saw the end to another 13 hour day. No rocking required when we got home.

Have a word with Jim he is a better photographer than this, a shade line right through your spectacles.🤣

AT Wessex Specimen sizes Zone D Spur dog 8.0kg 16lb

Lets get our photo of the month going.

Three visits to the boat over the last few days with Mould spray and lots of kitchen roll in hand, the black mould this year in the cabin was very ugly. Re sorted all life jackets, Dan buoy, throw ropes, fire extinguisher, fire blanket, flooring and mats all had mould on them. I can report HG mould spray is better than bleach. It was a bit of a grind, but gradually I enjoyed the process, looking forward to the season. Then it was the turn of the tackle box, oh no! Note to self, don't but any more hooks, sidewinders, slow jigs, line, swivels, clips or any terminal tackle and I think six pairs of scissors is perhaps excessive. The tackle shop is off limits. How many of you are agreeing? Engine serviced, diesel tank for the heater filled, radio checked, knives sharpened, decks scrubbed and now I am ready to be dropped back in. Are you all ready for the new season and the February meeting, I am looking forward to seeing you all and serving another year as your chairman.

Let loose the spell checkers, there must be a couple!! 🤣

A belated report as it has taken me this long to recover, on Sunday after a Saturday visit to an adult panto, we ventured out on Kingfisher Martin, Mal and Chris. Certainly one of us rusty from lack of use, similar to a reel handle of mine. We had plans to go far off, however the weather and sea state put pay to that. We stopped short on 6mile banks as did a few others. With great expectations, a breakfast roll inside us from the cafe on the quay and wearing most of a cup of coffee, the first lines were over, we waited and waited. Then a rod bender, it fought like a cod, it couldn't be could it, no of course not it was a Conger. Followed by a few more and a few Whiting in between, a couple over 2 pounds. We had a grumpy commercial doing a ridiculously close drive by to his buoys for a net he had laid, later he must have taken some happy pills as he was waving like a close friend, funny bunch the commercials. We did not see much in his very long net. The weather was windier than forecast all day with one small lull, there was a few rogue waves amongst them that made me over balance at least once. We did try hard to find something other than above, with a few drop backs on anchor and a couple of moves, just not a lot out there it would seem. A good wash down and a visit to the bar for a quick Guinness and home, a fourteen hour day and a couple of Whiting for the table. Great day out, memories made with some great friends what more do you want out of life.😊