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TomBettle

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Everything posted by TomBettle

  1. www.theultimatefishingshow.com Has anyone been watching The Ultimate Fishing Show on Freeview / Sky etc. It's shown on the channel called Quest and really is a good fun half hour watch. Matt Watson is the main presenter. He is the nutcase that tries daft ways to catch huge fish and many of us have seen his stuff on Youtube and the like. Do you remember Marlin from a surf board, Marlin by diving out of a helicopter etc etc. Matt and his team are genuine fanatical anglers who simply go and have an absolute ball. The show includes the highs and lows, but usually ends on a high of some sort. It is based in the Southern Hemisphere and so some of the fishing is pretty alien, but the show is an exciting breath of fresh air and is now on series link on Sky. Well worth a watch Tom
  2. Don't get me wrong. The charter skippers love the big tides for an Alderney trip. It means they have a chance to seriously have a crack at Bass and Tubs on the same day. ie: Fish the first and last of a tide for Tubs and the main run for Bass. The downside to big tides is not the rise and fall it is simply that drifitng a wreck at high drift speeds inevitably leads to massive tackle loses as you cannot plan to hop over the iron work and end up stuck right in it. We've all heard of these mythical moster Pollack that have taken 20lb class gear on unstoppable runs that end up back in the wreck... Half the time they have been in the wreck all the time and it's the 5 knot drift speed which is doing it. Likewise, BIG tides make some of the other forms of fishing over at Alderney impractical. Those eddys can become rather elusive or instead of being eddys they become washing machines. A nice in between tide that sees drifts speeds mid channel sticking to well under 3 knots during the main run and Turbot bank drift speeds of 2 knots or less are my favourites. For anchoring mid channel, the smaller the tide the better. We will always have a crack at the Turbot. Like I said, they are delicious, but the sport fish are more of an appeal, that and the lure of a lovely, alternative venue and a break from the FPO for a couple of days!
  3. I think what I am saying Nige is that the only dates that don't appeal particularly to me are BIG tides or the very beginning of the month.
  4. There won't be many Bream to catch in Alderney then. Doesn't normally get going for them until August through October. I may well go over on the original dates we suggested anyway (12th to 15th). The extra couple of weeks will (hopefully) see more settled weather and another degree or two on air and water temperature which will make things a little more pleasant. Should be plenty of Turbot there for the early bank holiday weekend, but they aren't my bag (I prefer something to fight back) for more than one tide, not to mention I often struggle with getting bank hols off. Just a thought as an alternative, but why not a happy medium. That being Alderney from Sunday 8th to Wednesday 11th. Mixture of medium to small tides (great Conger tide on the way home Charlie). Mid channel drifting will be a bit hit and miss and it may be worth considering Sunday 22nd to Wednesday 25th which mirrors those tides. We should be seeing some Cod over the wrecks and possibly banks by then...? Oh I don't know. I just know I am not a fan of going to Alderney too early as it seriously cuts down on the additional species beyond Turbot. Nothing against Turbot, I love eating them, but they are so boring to fish for and catch.
  5. does that mean there's a spare pink tent Tom? Charlie - thanks for the clarification on dates. Yes, unless my crew want to borrow it. I'll be sleeping in the double berth!
  6. Some onboard some in B&B. On our little boats, B&B's are defiitely a better option, but there is something fun about sleeping onboard. BUT, I am not sleeping on the deck in a pink pop up tent next year!!!
  7. Graham Rarely does the crew let us down, more often the weather and that always scuppers a few individuals / boat plans. I suggest we go with 4 days from 12th May with a back up date of four days from 1st June??? Tom
  8. 1. Mrs Sea Greg + Crew TBC 2. Alfresco, Charlie Sam and Dan + crew TBC 3. Quest II Tom, Chris + 1 0r 2 TBC For me the dates Charlie mention look nice although I am less bothered than before over having really small tides. We personally only fish for the Tubs briefly and we can do that at the start or end of a tide if drifting too quick. I think that some of the other species may get more turned on by a bit more water flow and the Tope eddies will probably be more defined too (?). The downside to the bigger tides would be the wrecking can be hard work and the fuel burn high with all the punching back up for new drifts. The next set of tides that look lovely are from Wednesday 1st June until Saturday 4th. Real mid sized "please everyone" tides.
  9. It was a good day Greg. Hard work with the tides being so big, but I seem to remember we had a relatively good day, at least those of us that stayed near the bottom did (Pedro and his flying collar). Mrs Sea is a lovely boat. It's always good to drive something different and whilst no boat is perfect, for her size she must rate as one of the best planing hulled angling boats out there. I'd be very proud to own one. I'd always jump at another opportunity to step aboard and likewise, you'll always be welcome aboard Quest II, another excellent, but very different beast. Tom PS: In my gallery there are several pics of our day on the banks. I think I saved them in amongst the ones of Henry Gilbeys day aboard my boat.
  10. I've signed up
  11. Let's just say it was a little choppy and I wanted to give the Osprey a proper sea trial! And yes Greg, it left an impression, a bolt shaped one!
  12. TomBettle

    Birthday

    Have a great day Terry!
  13. I can testify to her being a very fine vessel to travel on and fish from too. Just watch your head on that bolt if you decide to take the helm and go wave jumping!!!
  14. Never knew you came in to ours Greg? When was that, I must have been away otherwise I would have come and helped out? Out of all the suggestions, look into Charlies. The yacht club is superb. Excellent moorings. excellent facilities, great club house, very secure (unlike some of the other locations) and it sounds like Charlie may wangle you a rather good deal. I think it's where I would choose to stop off if I ever needed to (come to think of it, we did "park" Troms Explorer there for a few days enroute to Norway). Tom
  15. 7lb to 10lb of drag on 30lb class is typical for Blues. More is ott. You expect a fish like that to run well and at 7lb to 10lb you tire the fish and not yourself. Even Big Game "proper" only sees 12lb to 20lb of drag duringt the fight cranked up to 30lb to 60lb once the fish has been "leadered" (caught) and you need to bully it boatside.
  16. Not my call as I have nothing to do with the marina side of things, but we will undoubtedly have swinging moorings available a few minutes from the harbour entrance, great cafe, short stroll in to town, very close to the station... Would be good to have you here Greg. Alternatively, Dolphin Quay (Town Quay Marina) is actually set up specifically for visiting boats and is THE recommended marina for visitors, right in the centre of Poole. Good berth holder facilities and very close to Poole rail station.
  17. Wayne is the Dad of one of my daughters best friends. I didn't know this until I was dropping her back after coming round for tea and she announced "My Dad has just caught the record Blue White Shark". Good on him! I don't actually know Wayne at all. I know his daughters Mum well, but any guy who releases a fish like that is a good bloke in my books. With a bit of luck we may be able to persuade him to join the club as he only lives just down the road from me. It was inevitable that Wayne caught his fish aboard White Water with skipper Andrew Alsop. Andrew is without a doubt the finest shark skipper in the UK. A day or so later he was out again with his regular crew and they hooked an even larger fish. They did actually have this fish on the leader and it pulled the hooks. World wide, Blues can get as large as 400lb+ with some of the largest being found the other side of the pond off Montauk. They are not known as the hardest figting shark in the water, but they are definitely stunning looking. Is it possible, just possible that in the next few years the UK an angler may hook (and hopefully release) a 300lb fish. What's the betting this fish will come off the Irish Atlantic Coast or from the Irish Sea? Here is a video of Wayne Little's fish. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player...id=648117290001 Tom
  18. TomBettle

    New Boat

    The guy that did the test is a good mate and phoned for a chat about her and other Jeanneaus he previously tested with me. He pretty much always writes a favouravble review (some would say pandering to the advertisers), but he genuinely felt she was a good boat with some nice features. All the best with her. Tom PS: Will you be on next years Alderney list???
  19. TomBettle

    New Boat

    Best of luck with the new girl Peter. I know Sea Angler have a review coming out on her in a coming issue. Not sure, but it may have actually been on your boat as it was done at Cambrian. I have no doubt that the hull will be absolutely first class and once you learn her nuances you will eally enjoy her. Tight Lines Tom
  20. Tiger Fish I believe there are two variants and they can be found across much of central Africa. Plenty on the Nile and through Lake Victoria where they have some great Tiger Fish competitions (caught using similar techniques to Pike fishing). Typical size is a little shy of 10lb with good ones going 15lb+ The second variant is the one that is allegedly in certain parts of the Congo and may go as big as 50lb+ but I don't think there is much real evidence of them getting this big.
  21. Hi All I cannot go as I simply don't have the cash, but I have been trying to organise a trip out for a friend of mine. He has subsequently gone quiet on me, but Neil from Bournemouth Fishing Lodge is totally hooked on going and now needs one or possibly two fishing partners to join him. Please note that I am getting nothing from this, just trying to find a fishing partner for Neil. The dates were available when checked with Zak the other day, but they will fill up so alternatives may need to be sorted. I've helped out by negotiating terms with Zak Conde aboard Amelia which is the same boat I had 27 Blue Marlin in 5 days and the same week in 2008. http://www.marlincapeverde.com Dates: Fly out Monday 25th from Gatwick to Sal island with Thomson and then an internal flight with TACV to Sao Vincente. Fishing from 26th April to 1st May 6 days fishing (pay for 5 with 6th day free) Return flights on 2nd May. Return flights including the internal flights will be IRO
  22. TomBettle

    Boat Graphix

    Here is a nother vote for Elite Signs. Give Russell a call there. Tell him the Name, the font, the colour and the size of the capitals and lower case letters and he will produce exactly what you want. For not much more, his team will fit them too.
  23. Errr no one got killed and no one was a double agent and there wasn't any nerve gas or other biological weapons involved at all. You could have watched 'Sgota at 8.25 or at least Sky Plussed it. You would have seen them catch a load of different species and also a 156lb Common Skate. Bugger, done it again.
  24. Tomorrows episode is Common Skate fishing with Irish lady skipper Mary Gavin Hughes. I do know that the guys really struggle, but literally as the light is failing on the last day they hook into a nice fish. For anyone who may be wondering where they have seen Jules before... If you watched Spooks the other night (Monday 9 on BBC1), Jules was the Russian double agent that copped it after murdering the mad scientists daughter in the bath - Viktor Barenshik I think his name was. I guess he won't be in Spooks again, but he has been in quite a few shows you will know and I believe he is currently filming for The Tudors. The only truly big role he has had to date was in the recent Clint Eastwood directed film, "Invictus" where he plays the chief security guy to Nelson Mandella (Morgan Freeman). If you ever join me Blue Shark fishing aboard White Water in Wales then you are more than likely to fish with Jules as he is Andrew Alsopps regular crew man. Tom
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