TomBettle

More East in it than West Charlie.

Spoke to Mark at AA yesterday and he says the Tope should now be on the usual marks and the Turbot fishing is picking up with some alternative marks also proving worthwhile to visit. Launce should be easily available on any of the banks and the mackerel are just starting to show, but should also be catchable on the wrecks on the way over.

Hi Guys Does anyone have a 2.4 to 2.7m ish tender they would be happy to lend me for the coming Alderney trip. I was going to be sleeping ashore, but money being tight means I'm staying on the boat and in the event we miss the taxi or are simply to tight to pay for it, it would be great to have something to just about accomodate three adults at a squeeze. Not essential, but an outboard would be great too, Hp unimportant. If anyone can help it would be hugely appreciated. Many thanks Tom

It seems that the Weymouth boats had a tough weekend too. I heard of at least two charter boats from there that blanked on Sunday's wrecking forays. Quest II and her new engine? We are struggling a little to find the most economic running speed. It certainly isn't 12 or 13 knots! We ran most places at about 2800rpm and ended up using about 140 litres of fuel. I suspect that we'll find either on the plane "proper" at about 15 knots or right down at 8 knots will be the most economical speeds. Time and practise will tell. Tom

Decided to give the boat a really good run in anticipation of the CI's next month and still only having 5 hours on the new engine. It was to be a day of tuition for one of our owners who rarely gets to come out, but everyone was desparate to go fishing due to the cabin fever that had built up over the last few months. Arrived very early at the boat and in the first glow of dawn it was soon apparent that whilst the main engine battery was fine, the domestics battery had keeled over and died through the cold of the winter. Cannabalising my car for the battery on it we soon had GPS, VHF, Lights and all other gizmos working and were in a position to untie lines and head off. We knew the big tides wouldn't help the fishing and would lead to inevitable heavy tackle losses, but nobody seemed to care so the first stop was the usual Summer Cod banks to see if any early fish were showing. We arrived just as the flood tide started and half an hour later and only about half a mile into the drift a big fat zero and despondency was already setting in. A change of rigs to flying collars and a short move to an area of turbulent water and steep rises and drop offs saw us blanking once again and what appeared to be a lost net more or less covering the main target zone meaning tackle losses almost every drift. We fired up the engine and headed further south just as two charter boats arrived at the mark one coming from the Poole direction and the other Lymington. We were of a mind to tell them that the mark was fishless, but thought that they would know better and drift different sections of the mark. Seven or eight miles further south and we stopped over a wreck mark that I have never fished before. A fellow club member had kindly swapped some numbers with me and it seems the ones he had given me were a little test of my wreck finding ability. Half a mile east of our numbers was a charter already working one wreck, but we tried to find ours by following a grid patttern. Just as I was giving up and about to gun the engines to join the charter boat the wreck loomed up on the sounder some 250 metres from the numbers I had. A couple more passes gave us a good idea of how she lay and we set up for the first drift. Instantly three of us hooked fish and minutes later the best of the day (to me!) at almost exactly 10lb lay in the cool box along with two of about 7lb. The next few drifts produced more or less the same and then just as the tied peaked the fishing dropped off to nothing. During the time we were on the wreck the charter boats we had seen over at our previous mark had joined the one to our East. A short while later another two turned up and soon five charters were drifting the one wreck leaving us all to ourselves. It seems they weren't doing so well either as one by one they all headed off in different directions. Anyway, as the fishing dropped off we used the slowing tide to head back towards some wrecks some 9 miles further inshore. It seems that was pretty much it for our day. We carried on catching, but it was a fish here and a fish there. By the end of the day, the four of us had each caught some three or four fish each. Not an awful lot when you consider the 85 nautical miles we had covered, but it was good to be out on a stunning day with warm sun and flate seas. Tom

...that and calling Adam a "Top Angler"

That might be the one!

Thought some of you may find this useful. It's certainly something to chew the cud on whilst waiting for the trip over. To the seasoned Turbot anglers it is not likely to be of any use, but to those who are still learning the ropes I hope you can get a snippet of information that stands you in good stead. http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/photoalbum/albums/...ight%5B1%5D.pdf Anyone who looks closely. Spot the "deliberate" mistake to do with one of the pictures.

Steve They love a following sea if you are brave enough to work the throttle quite hard. If you have tabs, lift them out of the way in a following sea and try to run faster than the waves. Power up the face of a wave (you'll sometimes feel like you've almost stopped) at the top ease back on the power so you don't get airbourne and surf down the other side, just faster than the wave. It's hard to describe, but when you get it right it will just feel right. There will be a sweet spot where she'll feel like she is on a cushion of air. If you are getting 4200rpm she is certainly revving too high. Check the prop which is fitted as you may need to drop 2" on pitch (certainly 1") although how heavily the boat is loaded will have something to do with this too. I used to work on about 3850 to 3900 as WOT on the 805 with the Volvo. At that, with a clean bum and sensible load she would be doing +/- 21.5 knots. She'll cruise at up to 18 with the right conditions and load, but do expect fuel consumption to take that next jump up at much over 16 knots. Try it and see and let us know the results. It's been a couple of years since I was on an 805 properly and a couple before that since it was one with a Volvo. Good luck and enjoy and, by the way, welcome to PBSBAC. Tom

Yep The numbers are spot on. It won't rise to much more if you pop her up to about 14 to 16 knots, but you'll get that feeling of getting somewhere. It's the hull shape. It's built for very good sea keeping in hard weather rather than it's slender looks! The rather chubby shape results in a solid boat in the water, but one that pushes a lot of water and hence uses energy (fuel) trying to shove it out of the way. A more planing profile will use less fuel for a higher speed, but this will be at the compromise of the real solid in the water feeling you get from a semi d. It's all about compromise. I've got the 695 and sure, I'd love another 10 knots on the top speed and 6 or 7 more cruising, but I'd lose all that is superb about the boat. At full displacement speed (6 to 8 knots) your boat will barely sniff the fuel. Anywhere between that and 14 knots the fuel consumption will rise an awful lot as you are pushing a big wall of water. From about 14 knots it will go up, but not the same way it escalated before. Oh, avoid the last 10% of the rev range as it will jump enormously again for only a gain of about 2 knots. Food for thought taught to me by a Weymouth charter skipper. "A wet boat isn't a bad boat". In fact often it means the opposite. It's right in the water and so it's good and solid. The 805 can be very wet. Expect all semi d's to suffer from weed and slime build up reducing performance during the season. Watch your anodes. Our South Coast marinas eat them up for breakfast. In my opinion you have bought the best brand of the Pilot House style fisher / cruisers in the sensibly priced bracket. Any questions at all, just ask as I do know them fairly well. Tom

I'm fishing the Shambles for flatties tomorrow. Why not try for them in the Bay?

I use a Jabsco Water Puppy and have it rigged so I can unclip the hose and plug on a spray nozzle and it makes a fabulous deck wash too. If it si just for a livewell it may be overkill though. Even a rule bilge pump will be more than man enough to circulate enough oygenated water round a tank.

Well said Martin, Well said!

Not a million miles out. Cruising speed is objective, but at 30 knots in fair weather she'll use +/- 16 gallons to 18 gallons per hour and at WOT she'll chew through about 27.

Certainly no more than the buy it now price he mentions. Very cool boat, but an absolute gas guzzler and almost zero practicality. The point of a centre console is to be sea worthy, nimble and able to sneak in anywhere. Sure it's fast, but hardly nimble and go anywhere. At that size you would expect a flybridge and comfy saloon!

Welcome to the club Dave. I echo the other guys in that it is a great place to learn, share and take the mickey out of each other. I know you are a fair distance away, but you may want to consider coming to tomorrow's AGM. You'll meet a lot of the guys. It's an excuse for a pint and a get together. The meeting, to be fair, isn't usually the most rivetting thing in the world, but it's worth being part of it. OR If there is space and I suspect there is, we have out biggest social gathering of the year on Saturday evening. The annual dinner and dance is an excuse for us all to applaud Alun Jones lots and lots for all the trophies he has won again. And of course, have a drink, share fishey tales. There is a pretty good meal put on by the Yacht Club where we hold the event and a bit of a boogie if you are drunk enough to want to dance really badly infront of your fishing mates.

Sorry it's late: Hope you had a good day Tony!

Great job Alun. Jack and his team couldn't have worked with a better person than you. The film was brilliantly put together and had perfect direction on why you love your fishing. Well done Tom

Oooo The "memorable" bit sounds a bit worrying

Danny Just checked the post you mentioned about GG Mullet. Yep I did "think" that Mike's was a TL, but also "thought" that yours was a GG and a HUGE one if it was. Interestingly, I think less of us will have confused it if we had seen them in the flesh? Food for thought. The very worst ever misidentification I have genuinely been involved in was when fishing for Conger with Gordon Moore that he had a Smoothound that had teeth so we called Tope only to realise on looking at the pictures it was actually a Spurdog! My own point of view is that yes, we do have club records and they are a good guide as to how the anglers are and how the fishing is in our waters, but we are a fun club, run on trust and with no big prizes on offer if I get a club record all I really get is a sense of achievment. I am not overly fussed who is the holder of what record. As said before, it's all a bit of fun! Tom

....I am sure I put them down as thick lips????? Remember the post, can't fully remember the outcome. Anyway, it's only a bit of fun and in jest, but the point of my very first post is that I suspect the Bream are welcomed new member has caught may well have been Black Bream rather than Giltheads. Gilts grow remarkably big and they are caught in this area (within club waters) at up to double figures, but the locations for these bigger fish are fairly closely guarded secrets by many. It would be great if a member did catch a "proper" one. Tom

The Mackerel (Scad) was caught between the piers Nige.

For the benefit of Gnasher, here is my recent Silver Eel record Claim. My claim for a 343lb Mackerel was considered dubious by the committee until they saw the photo. It was a little large for a livebait and was caught before I had the common sense to take part in much catch and release. And my 2008 record garfish doing their usual acrobatics ....this one IS an Undulate Obviously, most of us can ID the fish we catch as my pictures clearly prove.

charlie i would love to bring the mrs Sea down to the west and across, might even be able to offer some fishing space if anyone is mad enough to want to come? greg Hi Greg Welcome to PBSBAC. Nice to see you on the forum. I am sure the club members will make you most welcome during your forays West of your home port. Tom

A few small Giltheads seem to show up in Poole Harbour most years and the very occasional surprise one comes up elsewhere. We do catch some stonking Black Bream each year with one or two members really knowing how to weedle the specimens out. Yep, May is Black Bream time. I really must get stuck in this year as I have been too lazy the last couple.