reg

I live just outside newcastle upon tyne so it takes us about seven/seven and a half hours if your from the poole area it would take you another eight hrs. The three skate that where cought was between five boats. normally each boat would have at the min two to three skate a day as we have been going up there for years so we know the deep holes they are in. roughly between 320 to 400ft but the last two or three years they seem to be in decline . the females tend to stop in one spot and the male's go roaming.but if anyone fancys coming up I can get them safe storage near washington for the night free. I towed my boat down to poole afew years ago with two stops it took 8 hrs but it was all m/way and dual carrageway. but going up to the mull the most is two lane and once you are off the ferry it is 30 odd mile of single track with sheep and deer jumping out onto the rd quite hairy at times reg

Having missed out on last years trip I made this years The weather was great we were out every day we trailed five boats up. the fishing was to say the least poor over six days only three skate were cought 209 lb 196 194 A few years ago we would have had this amount on every boat in a day. even the doggy's were short on the ground a few congers up to 25lb were cought but it was one of the most dire years that anybody can remember. even the maccys were short on the groud you had to seek them out. a disapointing week fish wise but a good time was had. I would advise anybody coming up from the south to look on the wsf site to see if the fishing has improved any.

we did see one in the mull a couple of years ago reg

thanks lads. Im feeling my age this morning after last night. Reg

Do you have a phone number for ram reman as I am thinking it's down the south somwhere and i am in the north east thanks reg

Just as an afterthought anybody know were we can get a recon one reg

Thanks chaps for your input We did not realy want to go down the road to the usa but Coddys idea sounds great so will look into that or it's the usa. reg

I am doing this for a friend of mine who has a suzuki df 40 bought in 02 and the trim and tilt has packed in. It will lift the engine but wont drop it on stripping it down it was found that the ram was rusted and would not drop. doe's anybody know where he can get a refurbished trim and tilt as replacing it new is going to be costly thanks reg ; ;:s

I have for sale a cannon uni troll hp downrigger. Just been respooled with 365 stainless steel line.and comes with a 3lb weight mould. Which would cost you

Have a good one tight lines Reg

WOOPS. also would share expenses petrol/bait Reg

HI ALL. As I dont have a boat to trail anymore would be interested in coming down for the weymouth day/weekend/week as crew/dogsbody/whatever if anybody needs the afore mentioned. well versed in the art of beach/slipway launching. Had a great time last time I was down Martin and dean looked after us very well. But would have to know the dates asap so I can arrange b&b for me and the other half who will be doing the shopping side of the trip cheers Reg

I dont think we will use that charter again. we are compiling a list of charter boats that take you out in any conditions so long as they get the cash and to hell with the anglers. They are giving the decent charters a bad name. Once we have a list we will publish them on the net and send copys to the charter boat operaters board this is not sour grapes on our part. anybody can get cought out at sea its a known fact. but taking anglers out knowing the conditions and fishing will be a waste of time for the paying anglers seems to becoming a regular habit with some we have four boats on the list at the moment. as it was 2lb lead would not hold bottom in 30ft of water. reg

I have nothing but high praise for RNLI as last saterday they took eight of us off a charter at st abbs in a force eight. there were two lifeboats and a rib that had come searching for us. we had asked the skipper before we steamed out if the weather was safe enough to fish out in as we had been following the weather pattern all week and it did not look promising It will be flat sea when we get into the bay's he said. So much for local knowledge. glad to be safe Reg

Thanks Tom we did have a few marks but had to fish the place at the top of the tide.As that seemed to be the time. but as you know it ain't no fun getting thrown about in a small boat.we did stick it out as much as we could but we was out 17-18 hrs a day and covered a fair amount of ground the petrol bill for the two boat's came to just under

just back from a week in north norway. five of us went hired a 18 and 19ft alloy boats and had a good week nothing spectactackler biggest 26lb cod loads of 5lb to 17lb on spinning gear. red fish wolf fish pollack haddock and a 3lb halibut. but finding the marks took up most of the time getting the tide run right and keeping out of the the squalls. but when we go again at least we will be able to save time and go stright to the marks. a word of warning to anybody thinking of going take your own life jacket as what were on the boat was a life preserver the one that looks like a flack jacket and did not look upto the job. also I took my HH vhf to keep in touch with the other boat. did pick up the local cg and some weather information as the boats we hired only had a gps/ff. going round the islands the vhf might not have worked.{ line of sight } but three chaps from london based at skervoy their boat broke down drifted for five hours and was drifting on to a cliff face which would have smashed the boat up. they were lucky that a passing boat had seen there plight and put out a mayday they were plucked out by a helecopter Im not saying that a hh vhf would have worked for them but it would have maybe given them a better chance. anyone flying from gatwick to oslo beware of the dutyfree you buy at gatwick if it is not in a sealed bag you will have it taken off you in oslo as you have to go through customs again the lads had 10 bottles taken off them. before we flew onto skervoy Reg

cheers mate Reg

Thanks Duncan have downloaded the program.will give it a try.

Help Is there a formula for turning decca coordirnates into gps numbers Reg

Thanks lads I have sent away for one of the gaelforce unit's. but since then we have found out that the feed pipe from the tank to the engine had also been interfered with they had took the clamp off by the bulb and syphoned the petrol off that way so it looks like a change to the way the feed pipe is routed. oh the joy's of fishing Reg

Thanks will try gale force marine. Reg

where can I get a resonable priced petrol antisyphon device as some light fingered gitt has drained my tank of quite a considrable quantity of petrol. the price's I have seen have been from 60-90 pounds/ the other choice is to take out the original filler pipe and put a new one in. a locking cap will not fit the filler as they do not make them for this boat. the tank is to big to take out every time you tie up so any help or advice will go down well cheers Reg

This is the reply I recieved from the guy in Norway who runs a charter boat thanks to Tom.B who put me in touch with him. That's a good question. We have built a big net for this season we will see if it works It depends also a little bit on the size of the halibut. Smaller one's I take up with a grip on the gills but you have to get it first try and needs practise. Some people use a sling around the tail. That works very well. when they get over60-70kg it is difficult to take them into the boat without harpoon or gaff/flying gaff Halibut is not the easiest fish to C & R. But I think our idea with the net should work. The Halibut is a powerful fish he is difficult to weigh and get into the boat alive. as I say the smaller one up to 15-20kg is easy. But the bigger one's are a problem. I recommend taking a picture by the side of the boat taking the hook out and letting it go. Don't bring him into the boat when it is a big fish.[by the way I have seen small boats nearly destroyed after a bigger halibut has cleaned up] If you want to keep him use equipment you are used to like gaff/flying gaff or harpoon {and remember .44 magnum is forbidden in Norway }And put him up white side then he is much more quite in the boat than with the dark side up. Hopefully I could help you a little bit but if you ask 10 persons you get 15 differnt versions how to do it.

After having a word with Tom B. he has put me in touch with a guy in Norway who i have e-mailed to ask him how they deal with these fish. I will let you know the outcome in case anybody else has a holiday over there Reg

I'm sorry if I have offended anybody but was going by what the article said. having not fished for halibut before just going by what the auther said as we are going with the same company. I have had skate up to two hundred pounds into a 16.6 boat no problem as they are usally tired out. Maybe it's somthing to catch the angler rather than the fish. Reg