BigMac

Tough to put an estimate on the one that got away but definately one of the strongest I've ever hooked

I'm sure I can speak for Rupe as well, you would be welcome anytime Paul

"Aquafresh" was still sitting on mud at the mooring when we arrived at 7.30 but by the time we had fuelled her up and waved good morning to PJ, we were afloat and set off down the harbour. Our first foray in a club match and we planned to fish our first mark till the top of the tide and then move closer inshore for the ebb. First stop for mackerel and we put 40 in the tank in no time at all, first time this year we've had strings of mackerel instead of single fish!! "Neo" was there when we arrived and we set up for our 1st drift at 8.35. As we get to the end of the drift I feel my lively get livelier before the rod tip pulls over, "Fish on", a fish of about 4lb is soon swung into the boat, unhooked and returned. Good start Same place on the next drift and another rod wrenching take on my bait results in a fish of about 3 1/2 lb. A couple of quiet drifts and then Rupe hooks a proper 'un. Only half way through the drift and the fish stays deep for 3 or 4 minutes, it makes 4 or 5 short runs before appearing on the surface 15 metres off the stern. Without too many dramas I slide the net under the bass and its a good one!! Into the sling and on the scales she goes 10lb 8ozs!! Ace!! Half a dozen drifts later a 5lber falls to my rod and then on the next run through I hook a much better fish. The head shakes from the fish stop me from gaining any line for at least 2 minutes, then I start to gain line slowly. The fish comes to the surface and thrashes the water to a foam with angry head shakes and Rupe takes advantage of the fishes anger and slides the net under another good bass. Into the sling and she goes 10lb 14ozs!! What a result!! Hooked in the front of the top lip she's fighting fit as I let her go back to wreak havoc with the mackerel shoals again. As I let go of her Rupe shouts "photo!!" but its too late she's gone The tide dies and so does the fishing although I manage to sneak out another 4lber on the last livebait. Head inshore and stop for bait in the same place as this morning before motoring over to our second mark. First drift and I get hit by a strong 3lber. Rupe has one of about 4lb on the next drift and then I hook a bass that feels like a bull terrier on the other end of my line. "Big Fish" I say to Rupe. It slowly moves uptide shaking its head from side to side and I can feel every movement through the braid. It turns and starts to move away from us, still with violent head shakes but now with power and weight as well. Two really hard shakes and my hooklink parts 6" from the hook Absolutely gutted A very big fish I'm sure Half an hour later Rupe has another about 4lb before we call a halt and head for home. I think we both fished well today, ending the day with 9 bass between us including the 2 10lbers, the bass weren't feeding heavily and most of the takes were very subtle. I suspect that as the mackerel seem to have arrived in numbers that they have been gorging themselves. All of the fish we had today were in lovely condition and fat as butter!! So a 10lb 8oz bass for Rupe and a 10lb 14oz (no photo) catch and release for me Look forward to seeing how the rest of you chaps got on, Al

Allan and Rupert on "Aquafresh"

We ended with 9 for the day Trev. Must of packed up the round about the same time, saw you with "Otter" on the way home. The biggest of ours, to Rupe, went just over 8lb but really should have been a double. It was very lean indeed!! Did you notice the dip in action as soon as others turned up? Al

I'll be out as well

We had 8 of our fish before you arrived Paul

It was chilly to say the least as we headed down the harbour and out to the ledge. I had a couple of non boat fishing friends on board as crew, but they were looking forward to it as much as I was. A couple of boats already on the grounds as we arrive (OotB and a charter) almost smack on where we had 18 on friday and 14 aboard Shogun yesterday. First drop of the pick I get it all wrong and end up 50 yards up tide of Osprey . Pull it up and go south of Adam, about a 100 yards to his port side. The rods are baited and dropped, closely followed by a few droppers of groundbait. 20 minutes later Daves rod registers the first bite of the day and his first ever brem goes 4-12 on the scales. They came steadily through the morning, with a definite lull for an hour and a half when the tide pulled hardest. The incredible thing was the average size of the fish we caught. We pulled the pick just after 2 and ended with 9 fish landed only one under 3lb. Daves one and only fish was the best of the day but I was jammy enough to break my Pb (4lb) with 3 different fish of 4-2, 4-3 and 4-8 Another ace day!!! Al Pb 4-8

Bob, Groundbait was finely chopped squid with additives, introduced with a large freshwater baitdropper. Dan, any time you fancy, might as well wait a few weeks and come shadding for cod, mid channel, or the good old silvers when the mackies arrive in numbers, Al

Excitement was such that we were both at the boat an hour before we had any chance of getting out of the run, but it did give us the chance to rig the rods ready for the off. Two friends that had launched from Lymington were already there and had already had a bream on their first drop!! At nine we slipped the mooring and headed down the river. For once the forecasters had got it right and the sea was smooth and it took us 4 or 5 minutes to get to our chosen spot on the ledge. Our chosen spot was as close as we could get to our mates (Coastal Commander) without them starting to throw things at us The groundbait was deployed and rods baited we sat back and waited. It didn't take long before the barbel rod showed signs of interest. The tell tale rattling bite saw me strike into the first bream of the year, its easy to forget how hard they fight but careful coaxing brought it to the net. We stuck her on the scales and she went 3lb 4oz, not a bad start! Rupe's rod nearly gets pulled over the side and a couple of minutes later I'm netting a double header of 3lb 6oz and 3lb 2oz for him. Its noticable that we seem to get 2 or 3 chances in quick succession after dropping groundbait to the bottom but we stick to the little and often theory and it brings us a steady rate of fish. As the flood tide slows I have one of 3lb 15oz and follow that 10 minutes later with one of exactly 4lb Slack water is slow and its half an hour into the ebb before we get any more bites. Rupe lands a bass of 3lb and then hooks a good fish. As it get to the boat it just keeps on trying to get under us and Rupe has to concede line 4 or 5 times before I can get the net under it. Easily the biggest fish of the day that on the scales goes 5lb on the nose An excellent day that produced A total of 1 bass, 3 pollack, numerous dogs but best of all 18 bream, 9 over 3lb including that fantastic PB fish to Rupe of 5lb. Brilliant!!!!!! Happy Easter bunny Al

Soory to hear about your mid channel trip being blown off on friday, but I can report that "Shogun" is looking really good after her 2 month refit. A light blue hull repaint, a new bait station, 2 new livebait wells (see through), a stainless and teak table and benches, an indoor toilet, berth refit............the list goes on. Rob and the guys at Berthons have been busy and the boat is fantastic. The boats owner, Andy, asked Rupe and myself, along with Rob if we fancied a day trying for a plaice. Having been land bound for 3 months it didn't take long to accept the invitation!!! We met at the boat for 7.30 and were under way east along the Solent by 8.00. A cold northeasterly was blowing about a 5 and it was chilly to say the least Less than an hour put us where we wanted to be, the anchor was dropped and it was time to fish. Low water had just passed, the tide just starting to move but the wind was keeping us at 45 degrees to the flow. Plaice aren't a fish that me and Rupe target very often so Rupe had tapped up friend Eddie (local plaice catching guru) as to rigs and tactics. The fact that he had spent far too long not fishing become evident when he proceeded to pull out his pre-tied rigs. More beads than a Morrocan market, spreader booms, blades, sequins aplenty . Me thinks Eddie's having a laugh with Rupe Short 12lb fluro traces for me, 10 green and black beads finished off with a, 2 worm baited, 1/0 hook, 15lb braid on 3000 stradic fixed spools fished on the trusty Fox barbel rods with 3 ounces of lead completes the set up. The first bite came after 15 minutes and I'm attached to a good fish that falls off at the back of the boat Didn' get a look at it but it felt like a plaice. A dab follows 10 minutes later. All quiet for an hour before the rods start to show tentative bites. Rupe winds in a pollack of about a pound quickly followed by the first plaice of the day of about a pound and a half. Andy and Rob both have a couple more around the same size then Rupe has 2 in quick succession on the spreader boom and sequin/ bead combo. Loads of worms tipped off with cuttle fish or squid strip. I miss a couple of bites and then hook one at last, an excellent scrap on the light tackle eventually see's what turns out to be the best fish if the day in the net. 2lb 12 oz. The tide turns and its a trickle of fish rather than a flood that keep us amused. The wind gets up and at times its blowing a 7 so with the worm supply exhausted at 3.30 we pull the pick and head for Lymington. The final tally is 14 plaice between us up to 2lb 12oz, an great day in good company, so thanks fellas Al

No worries Tom, tell as many as you like!! He just needs wants to sell it

I used to dream of living in a shoe box....................

Has the last 10 posts box disappeared for a particular reason?

And another of her starting to wake ride us at 30+ knots. If you fancy a sea trial, give me a PM and I@ll put you in contact with him. He's going to advertise it in 2 weeks, so if it floats your boat move quickly, its a fantastic boat!!!!!!!!!!

A good friend of mine bought an Aquafish last year and now finds himself in the position of having to sell it to finance the purchase of a new house for his ever expanding family. The hull is not quite 2 years old and was built by designer as a demonstrator and was run out of Essex somewhere purely as a sea trial vessel. When Eddie bought it it had a V8 Chevvy petrol engine in it but last June he had it fitted with a 165hp Mercruiser sterndrive. This engine has no more than 30 hours on it!!!! He's fitted a Navman plotter and fishfinder (still needs a DSC), anchor and warp, livebait well and loads of bits and pieces. It is a marvellous boat and he's offering it at a very reasonable price. The engine, sterndrive and counter rotating prop cost him 15 grand on its own,without the boat. It also comes with twin wheeled, self braking trailer. Its a very clean boat and looks like it just came out of the mould. Hopefully here's a pic of it sat at rest

Gizza go She looks awesome mate!!!!!!

Thats a hell of a chub Dan, Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! Having spent more time in the pursuit of large freshwater fish than I'm willing to admit to, I know how hard some of those fish can be to catch. Once again mate, well done Al

Nice one Adam Off to Boots to get some white toothpaste as all of mine has blue and red stripes Cheers mate!!!

Looking good Fred!!!! Awesome

Especially liked the woman at the end

Our main GPS/plotter on the boat is a Raytheon RC530 that is linked to a Raytheon RL70 radar. The problem I have is that the protective front screens on both units are slightly damaged and I would like to replace them. The plotter has lost some of its "sunproof" screen coating and the radar protective screen is a bit scratched. I've tried Raymarine, but their web site is almost unusable I reckon that you must be able to re-coat the plotter screen as you would a pair of glasses but dont know where, and really, I need a new protective screen for the radar. Anyone suggest anything? Al

Top notch

done

Jas, his name is Dave Harris at Shell Bay Watersports on 07831258823. I've done my VHF/DSC, Level 2 Powerboat and Shore Based Coastal Skipper/ Offshore Yachtmaster with Dave in the last 4 months and cant recommend him highly enough. An excellent instructor!!! Al