ChrisE

Let me think, missus away with daughter no 1 for a girly weekend, weather looking good, nothing else planned, erm decisions, decisions... Thinking about a bit of cod and a bit of bass over the two days, as usual somewhere near the Needles. Currently will be out on my own, so if any fancies a trip out let me know. Chris

I'm going to add one last point then bow out as I can see that we don't all agree on this and I don't want to start a fight especially with our goodselves. It is too easy to blame the commercials for the overall decline and expect them to give up their livelihoods so that we can benefit from their actions. This is an issue that affects both them and us and I'd expect that any solution is forged to benefit both sides. I'm off fishing

Thanks for the link to Defra which relates, I believe, to a study that was carried out by the previous government with a plan to promote angling, beleive it or not. This has probably fallen by the wayside with change of government. Appreciate that politics is not your cup of tea, nor many others, wouldn't it be nice just to go fishing? ho-hum...

I'd like to add a bit to my earlier posting, more food for thought than proposals. Viewed from a commercial's perpsective we are doing this for fun and they are doing it for a living and can fully understand why if someone's livelihood is threatened they are going to fight hard. We need to understand their concerns as well as our own if we are to engage successfully here otherwise this exercise will end up as us v them contest with the fish being the loser. As others have said we need to get the message across that whilst fishing is a reacreational activity it is also a large business that keeps people in work. I'd guess that recreational anglers are a larger part of the economy than the commercials, when you take into account boat sales, marina and boatyard costs let alone tackle, etc. Does anybody know of any figures on this? Yotties have very successfully organised themselves via the RYA and other bodies to make their views known in the right places. Traditionally, as anglers have rightfully been proud to be independant however the issues of fish stocks, MCZs and conservation are bigger issues that have the general public engaged and our voice has to be heard and I'd suggest that joining up with and supporting ATs activities is our best and probably only bet.

You can tell the last time I bought a T&S licence! I believe that you still need to record the number you catch tho'

The system currently in place for seatrout and salmon seems to me to be perfectly sensible and practically achievable. The tiny problem which some may have is that the system relies upon the angler having a licence and it is issued and renewed on the understanding that the angler keeps to the limits (from memory it is something like no more than one fish per trip and a limit on the year). Personally, I have no problems with a licence provided that it can be shown to provide value for those that pay the fees. Like most I'm buggered if I'm providing an extra revenue stream for the government.

I go along with Duncan on this one and like him, I'd prefer to have debate at a monthly meeting but working in Wales M-F means I can't attend so here's my tuppenceworth. Whilst I understand Martin's concerns regarding legislating angling I'm not convinced that we as recreational anglers know what impact we are having on fish stocks. Clearly, on the larger scene we take a minuscule amount relative to the commercials but locally I'm not so sure. A couple of examples, there are two bass spots very close to where I live that now no longer produce fish in the numbers or size that was the norm until a couple of years ago. Both have been subjected to charter skippers drifting livebaits repeatedly over the spots and taking mature fish. OK each trip may take no more than half a dozen fish but play this day in and day out with multiple charters and they are impacting the spot more than a local commercial fisher. The second relates to bream fishing on the ledge where it not unusual to find 30 or more boats. If each takes half a dozen, which is not unreasonable you'd say, over the course of the season we're talking about thousands of fish. Now, I don't know whether either of these types of fishing are sustainable and I'd rather that we engaged with this survey to find out than wait until the last bass and bream has been extracted. The last point I'd make is that Florida has some tight, regulated fishing rules on both commercials (net fishing is banned) and recreationals (you have to buy a licence and there are bag limits on some fish) that don't seem to make any impact on the angler but have resulted in a vast increase in fish to catch. Yes, they pay a licence fee but I for one would haply shell out if it meant that we had more, quality fish to target. We have all witnessed the degradation of fishing over the years and we can either wait until the last fish has gone or do something else.

Thanks for your thoughts, I'm lucky in Lymington in that we have most dealers and servicers locally. I'm guessing that in terms of litres per hour they are all much the same....

Just lately we've noticed that the fuel consumption of the yam 115 on the back of Hilda Maud has crept up from about 12l per hour to nearer 20 l added to the fact the engine is getting on for 20 years old and not pushing us along as fast as she used to we are beginning to think about a new engine. My current list is Honda or Yam, any thoughts team? TIA Chris

You're a very naughty boy, Nigel. Scared the wossits off me.

"I was just a gurnard until I discovered PBSBAC now look what's happened to me" or "Just how much unwashed squid do you need Nigel?"

Managed 4 bass to 2lb on lures but to be honest the fishing was slow and the sea a bit snotty. Still managed a couple of bass using drop shotting for the first time.

I'll be out trying to convince a few bass that my bits of plastic really are food. Will be somewhere near the Needles and the Shingle Bank. Listening out on ch 6.

I loved the judge's summary, God knows what he sounds like when he has a serious case to deal with!

Nice story. I don't know if it is a micro environment or something but we reckon to see a sunfish or two most years, funnily enough off Sun Corner about a mile east of the Needles.

I'll be out from about 8. Catching mackerel for BBQ for six, no pressure, then... Hope to catch a spikey or two as well. Chris

It's not just the increased numbers we're catching in The Channel a new report suggests that cod are on the up on The Grand Banks as well. There's an article about it on the BBC website. If I was using my PC rather than this crappy iPhone I'd post the link. The gist of the story is that because the prey fish has increased the cod, haddock and pollock have also increased. I'm sure that this is not the total picture but a bit of good cod news for a change. Chris

Strangely, I did just that across Lyme Bay en route to Dartmouth on the yacht about ten years ago. For all kinds of reasons I wasn't paying too much attention to the gear but when I did I found that I'd lost the plug plus about 100m of line. Up until now I'd assumed that I'd hooked a pot line but now I'm not so sure........

I've had quite a few at that size when sailing in foreign parts. I've caught all of mine on 20lb line and 20lb rods, the fish are dogged but relative to wahoo and dorado are not quite so fast. I'd be confident of landing fish of that size if I had at least 200m of line. Now all we've got to do is find the shoal.....

We are in St Vaast on the east side of the Cherbourg peninsula on the yacht. This place has the most amazing tackle shop, full of the latest bass lures and associated fishing tackle. MrsE bless her has promised to give me a couple of free hours in the shop later this week. Fishing heaven! I've never seen so many soft plastics plus light spinning rods in the same place, expecting to come home with a bit of budget deficit/tackle surplus. Chris

Two quiet days forecast for next weekend's weather. The boat is bound to break down....

Tom. Thanks for your swift reply, I'm a bit slower as work is getting in the way... Very happy yo have mine reviewed, I don't think that a huge number of Orcadian 23s were built but it might be interesting as it is the forerunner of the Orkey Day Angler series. Let me know if you want to proceed. Chris

Tom, Sounds like a great idea but why do the boats have to be in production? The yotting mags make a good job of reviewing no-longer-in-production boats as people don't necessarily have the dosh for a new boat and are happy to buy an older model to get more bangs for their buck. Just a thought Chris ownerofanoutofproductionbutfabulousboat

Mike, Sounds as though you had a similar day to us. The mackerel which were abundant a couple of weeks ago were thin on the ground. We eventually anchored to the west of The Shingles with the intention of fishing the ebb. After a hour of small bream, dogs and the odd mackerel the weed became no fun so called it a day and headed off to the pub. We seem to be in between the end of bream and the start of the bass (we gave it a go with lures with no joy). Still we have another bank holiday coming up... although the weather currently doesn't look too promising. Chris

Judging by a trip last week they've already taken up residence in their summer habitats just w of the Shingles Bank....