TomBettle

He'll be fine. What he needs to do is team up with "Legless" and the two of them will have one pair between them. What more do they need? Only joking, bad luck James

I may speak the lingo Martin, but I can't for the life of me catch them in any quantity...

Charlie I for one fish for enjoyment and do not base my fishing diary around club competitions, more around when I have time off. The only competition I will actively try and keep my diary open for is the Club Open other than that it is just for fun. If a competition was so relaxed that you could fish on any day between X date and Y date, within club waters and call in your catch then I may well be tempted into doing more. Tom

Our resident Bass God's will give the correct version soon, but the set-up is something like as follows and there is a very valid reason for each part: 1) 12lb flurocarbon hook length of about 3 or 4 feet 2) Swivel, bead, lead link and 3oz lead, float, bead, power gum stop knot 3) A long 25lbish mono leader of about 15 to 25 yards depending on depth to be fished 4) 30lb braid mainline The light hook length in flourocarbon serves two purposes: a: The Bass is less spooked by a heavier line b: If it get's snagged it is the weakest link and all you lose is the hook length The float rig is set up exactly as any normal sliding float however the Bass God's use a lead link instead of a drilled bullet, I guess to help cange leads if required A mono leader is used and is slightly deeper than the depth to be fished, this allows the stop knot to be adjusted under, over and just on bottom depth Again the leader is slightly lighter than the mainline with the theory that if it is the lead that snags then you don't lose a long length of braid and also the stop knot slides more easily, whilst gripping better (contradiction, but true) on mono. The heavy (relatively speaking) braid mainline still allows ultimate feel (even with a long mono leader). This is iportant remembering that the technique is a cross between touch ledgering and standard float fishing.... You feel for bites rather than watch the float.

Charlie On a completely different subject, your transducer need fitting about where the orange mark is on the hull in the picture! ....was that helpful? PS: Do you have a bigger picture showing the transom and engine leg in the down position? It may be a dodgy camera angle, but the outboard leg looks too long for the transom in the picture....

....personally I think the other way of writing it would have been a more accurate statement.... "I prefer the Ugly Sticks like Rich"

Blimey Paul From tat description (Backing up single handed) I reckon you can be nicknamed, "The Old Man of The Sea" and that you had actually hooked a Grander Marlin.

Well said Steve. Well worded report on your site and at least you have been able to put the facts forward. It's a shame that it erupted before you had a chance to do so. Maybe we can all learn not to judge someone until we have heard the full story. Tom

Charlie You can always reposition the t'duer in the future.

A reply from Steve Porter: Since meeting Steve properly for the first time over in Alderney in May I have found his tips and advice invaluable, not to mention his courtesy and helpful manner refreshing. Since getting interested in having a go at Sharking this Summer and knowing that Steve had been trying for many years I have been picking his brains over recent months as to techniques. Steve has sent me the email below and reads a little oddly at the start as he is actually replying to a question I posed him first, but then he explains about the shark that has caused such a stir. After reading it, you can then be the judge yourself as you now have his own response. Personally I believe what Steve has written to me, knowing his personality. In addition, I believe that he is more than a tad embarrassed by the whole situation as it has got way out of hand, by a bunch of anglers wanting nothing more than their pictures in the paper. I think we have all carried a lot of respect for him in the past and I know he respects us as small boat anglers and keeps half an eye out for us when he is at sea so maybe we can now put the story to rest as "the one that didn't get away". Steve's email: Hi Tom Thanks for email. I tend to have four rods over when shark fishing. Our one took the high bait, just 20 foot below the surface. On the subject of killing the shark, it was never my intention to land one. I don't even carry a gaff or any equipment suitable to do the job. It is true that this particular charter did want to keep their first one as they had all eaten shark before and praised the quality of the meat. I advised against killing one but at the end of the day, any shark caught would be theirs having paid me good money. In the end though, circumstances dictated what happened. Having battled for an hour, once alongside the shark just gave in and died. I have never seen it happen before but in the time it took to handline the trace in, the fish appeared to die and began to sink to the bottom, just the trace keeping the head up. Only seconds earlier we had seen the shark for the first time as it swam past the boat. It was very strange, almost as if it had suffered some sort of heart attack, if sharks have them. Anyway, the bottom line is that this shark could not have been released. I now have the death of this great creature on my conscience and it keeps occupying my thoughts. We have just one more shark outing this year, which is later in August. We are going to downsize our hooks and future shark bookings will be accepted only if the anglers agree to release all sharks where possible. A further complication and embarrassment to me is that the shark appeared in the Echo last night, strung up outside United Fish Wholesalers who claimed that they were looking forward to distributing the delicacy to local restaurants. The paper didn't report the story correctly but the picture and article should never have been in the paper. I now have an issue with my anglers. Most people know that I am the biggest campaigner against black fish sales and I am hoping the Southern Sea Fisheries will investigate the story since "Amateur fishermen" and distribution by a fish wholesaler were written in the same newspaper article and should never go together. Bye for now Steve

Nice editing Adam

Caught onboard a Southsea Angling Club, boat. One of their old 15 foot Width's I believe. Between the Nab and St Catherines?

You will get shark right the way through the bay, but they will "concentrate" or "pack" up as much as they do (?) on the contour lines and shelves around any of the headlands, tide rips and features such as wrecks etc. Pretty mcuh anywhere that the food chain is in abundance. I would hazard a guess that Steve Porter's was well in what we would descibe as club waters. He rarely goeas outside club waters and in addition to that he was describing getting caught around a pot buff which suggests he wasn't a million miles off shore..... Tom

I may be a bit thick, but not that thick. What I meant was that on reading the report I was spurred into action to go and have a go in Salterns (where I work!)

I don't know Steve well, but well enough to be very surprised that he allowed the fish aboard. Real shame. Oh well, hopefully that will be the one and only one killed by his crew. Tom

Shame it had to die. I'd be surprised that Steve had killed it, maybe it didn't recover? I think it is the first shark to the boat for Steve. Tom

That's it, off to get a loaf of bread for my first foray this year at the Salterns Mullet. May be persuaded to stand on the back of a boat and get it in the book

To put you all out of your misery and only becasue Alan only pops on te forum from time to time. The boat he has is an Orkney Longliner. I would have to agree that stating performance in KPH would be most odd. owever MPH is often used by American manufacturers.

Did you know that yours was a male and Scott's was a small female?

Isn't this world wide interweb thingy great? Welcome Frank

Well done boys. You guys certianly are getting amongst the species. I here these were sportingly taken on 12lb class? Nice one

Rup, Al Simply Stunning!

He is now stood on the back of the nice boat trying to drink a cup of coffee

Nice one Gordon. I have known for a week or so, because I also know what Mark wants next!!!! But, I am not telling any of you, I have been sworn to secrecy and it isn't one of my boats... Well done Gordon & Good luck in your search for "Enticer II" Mark. Tom

Tommy Lap Dance, Newboy Alan (from WSF) and myself headed out of Weymouth on Quest II yesterday morning. Our intended quarry were the Porgies, Threshers and possibly even a Mako, all of which are kown to frequent the waters off Portland Bill and around the miriad of wrecks sunk well this side of the channel. Quest II looked akin to something out of jaws. A bemused yacht crew watched as we loaded up huge sacks of frozen, secrect formula Sea Magnet, rods and reels, heavier than anything I usually use in this country, SERIOUS traces with enormous Seamaster Hooks, oh, and a packet of balloons. As we left Weymouth the sound of Alan whistling that tune from Jaws, something about "Fair Spanish Ladies" echoed under the lifting bridge and Quest II headed South. We stopped at the Bill for just a few minutes to get some fresh bait and the mackerel seemed only too pleased to oblidge, so again South was our direction and an hour on I cut the engine over an interesting looking contour line that runs directly from Start Point in the West right the way to St Catherine's point in the East. Our drift line would take us over or very close to a number of wrecks and the sea depth was between 160 and 180 feet. First job was to get the rubby dubby over and so out of my enormous cool box came the first frozen block of Wedger's secret formula "Sea Magnet". Into the sack she went and over the side, instantly setting up a good slick of fishy oils on the surface and juicy smelly bits drifting off in the small tide. It could have been no more than a minute or two before the Sea Magnet drew in what seemed like an endless shoal of mackerel. Skitting about on the surface as far as you could sea and peering into the crystal clear depths they were darting around, barracking each other and eating their fill of the secret formula. Alan watched as Tommy Lap Dance and I got the first couple of sets of gear out. The first out at about 150 feet from the boat and set at about 80 feet deep, four more at slightly shallow intervals culminating in a sixth rod with a freelined live mackerel tethered to the closest rod with just 5 feet of line in the water in addition to the 20 foot trace length. After inspecting and watching the first set-ups, Alan got the idea very quickly and could soon set up his own equipment and new exactly how to "thread" the deadbaits from the cut tail end up towards the gills. Everything was perfect, the sea was calm, perhaps too calm, as the oily slick could be clearly seen and the seagulls squabbled all around us waiting expectantly. The hours ticked away, but certainly not silently. Tommy Lap Dance, who is 73 coming on 23, kept us amused and enthrawled with his tales of huge Marlin, Tuna and Shark from trips and mult million pound competitions around the world. This guys has been around a bit, he knows many a famous angler and even knows Joyce Yallop the famous Mako shark record holder of decades gone by. When not keeping us amused with fishy tales, he discussed his still current antics with the ladies and how he was "unsure whether to go fishing tomorrow or not as he had a lady friend coming round at 6". I soon started to understand why his nickname involves "Lap Dance". To top up the Sea Magnet, Alan and I caught a string of mackerel every now and then. Now this wasn't complicated, we ended up playing a a game of dropping your feathers down to a depth of 20 feet and watching them whilst trying not to let mackerel get on your hooks. It was nye on impossible and usualy a full house of five would come up. Every now and then the humming and whistling of "Fair Spanish Ladies" would be heard from one of us around the boat... the odd freighter or tanker would steam by and so did the hours... The tide took and age to turn, but by mid afternoon we were heading in the general direction from whence we had come. At five we pulled in a couple of strings of fresh mackerel to take home and at six, reluctantly and a little bit jaded we pulled in the lines.... slowly, one by one, "just in case". Quest II's virgin sharking trip may not have caught one, or even seen one, but it was a gorgeous day on the water. You couldn't have asked for more peaceful conditions and excellent company. Wedger's "Sea Magnet" seems to be a fantastic mackerel attractant, but first impressions suggest it may be shark repellent... maybe we need to give it another try? .... Sometime soon I hope. On steaming in, when I got a phone signal, I caled our resident diesel man and asked what time he was serving to... "What you been doing today Tom?" "Where you been?" "Should have gone east you pillock! A huge Porgie has been hanging around the XXXX Bouy for the last four days. Came right alongside Colin Penny's boat and they were only breaming!" You live and learn. Tom __________________