Greg

Yes Mick, it was a bit lumpy going down to Dancing Ledge but we were going with the tide and wind. It would have been a different story if we were heading East 😬

Stuie an I headed for Dancing Ledge after getting the 07.30 Bridges from Cobbs. Once we had arrived we had a look around and struggled to find fish after a couple of anchor drops. The going was quite tough with a stiff easterly wind. We then motored out to past just JV and saw some fish on the echo sounder. Stuie and I were both in straight away and constantly catching fish. This is where I caught our best fish weighed in dead on 2lb. At 1.00PM we headed back to Ballard Down to avoid any possible worsening of the wind and sea state. We settled down at Ballard Down and both Stuie and I were straight back in catching fish again. This time smaller fish but still some kept for the pot. It was a great Day and the bonus being taught a couple of things by the Master.

Marlin - Greg and Stuie out on Sunday

Happy Birthday Guys.

The issue you may have Neil, is a lot of big game fishing seasons are out of school holiday terms. For instance, in the Caribbean the season for big game fishing is December, January and February. This is also the most expensive time to go. Unfortunately, you will need to do your research on this one!!

Well Jim, You have lost that steady income from attending the club nights and winning on the raffle. Just goes to show how much you were winning 🤣🤣 Don't worry as soon as the club nights resume you will feel a lot more flushed 👍

Belated Birthday wishes Chris. Great to hear you had a nice surprise party. Here's to the next 60 years 😁 Greg

Okay, Enough is enough. Can we all stop selling our boats please. There won't be a boat club left soon ☹️

Happy belated Birthday Wishes Tony

Working from Home now Jim as there is a power cut up at the office too. I think I will just throw the towel in today!!!!!

Thank you Guys for your kind wishes. Had all the family round last night for a slap up Indian takeaway. Now attending to my Unit with the slate tiles flapping and likely to blow off at any minute. Had one casualty smashed to the ground!! Can anyone recommend a Roofer who replaces slate tiles? Cheers, Greg

I am considering it Charlie as Marlin comes out at the beginning of February til the end of March for it's annual maintenance. The weather looks to good to give a miss !! It will be good to give the boat another blast, plus the unlikely chance of getting a Cod 🤣🤣

She's looking at a Pint of Guinness with a big head on it !!!!

And when was the last time someone from the Solent won it then Nige??????

Marlin hopes to take part, the date depends on what the weather does.

Thanks Steve It's always that dilemma (especially if you do not have a livewell) Do I keep or do I not keep and what would others think is a keeper size especially in the interest of conservation?

I generally judge a Whiting keeper on it's size and what fillet size I would get out of it. The fish I caught illustrated above was just shy of 450mm. I got two reasonable size fillets off of it. Out of curiosity I searched the Southern IFCA minimum conservation reference size for a Whiting and it is 270mm. I think this is quite small and I, personally, would not go for anything less than 380mm. Just my opinion !!

Ditto. I only use frozen Mackerel when fishing for Whiting. Whiting will take squid, but if Mackerel is on offer I believe it is their preferred bait. However, when fishing for Cod, then I have only caught Cod on Squid. I even caught a Cod on an actual frozen whole squid once!!!

Well I finally managed to get out on a beautiful calm sea. I got the 07.30 bridges and managed to arrive at the Spoil ground at around 08.30. The slack water was just ending and it was action from the off. Congers, doggies, pout and small whiting. But, the strong tide soon ended that and I made a hasty retreat to the Sadler Banks. it looked liked everybody else did too. It was then very slow with only doggies for the next 4 hours !!!! I went in further to a slower tide, but that did not show anything either. At 13.30pm I made a last minute decision to go back out the the outer Sadler Banks as the tide slackened. Got the rods back down at 14.00 and then all hell let loose. Once the whiting had got the sent, then bites were coming thick and thin along with the whiting on board. Only a couple were keepers so I have posted a photo of it's size. Being on my own I did not want to stay out too long so I lifted the hook at 14.45 and headed back to Cobbs. As I was on my own I called up the Hengisbury Head NCI and they plotted my positions every time when I called them. Very reassuring. Note to Self, do a bit of homework on the tides before planning a trip. However, it was a great day to be out.

The answer Jim is to jump onto Dave's boat next time Kev ain't stupid 🤣🤣

Ah yes Mick, but just think of all the fines you could hand out. 🤣🤣 Sounds a brilliant job to me !!!

Probably Nige 😒

Great decision Jerry. We stand more of a chance at catching a Cod down at this end in December/January. Greg

We are also on standby for the comp. Marlin - Greg and Rob Samways

Joking aside, I have had a Trigger on the boat caught by Bournemouth Pier. Like all Triggers, they feed mainly in one small area and at a certain time of the tide running. The skill is knowing where and when to fish for them!!!!! To prove this, when I was snorkelling in Barbados, there was a small concrete jetty by the hotel. At the end of the jetty was about 10 feet of water. Amongst other fish there was a Trigger that would visit at certain times of the day and at exactly the same spot. So the answer to all of this is to get your Budgie smugglers on and go hunting, that is if you are that desperate to catch one !!!!!