BigMac

No, I'm not positive about the colour. It was the flank on the shadow side of the fish (not the flank facing the sun) and could really have been any colour I suppose. I'm leaning towards a thresher the more I think about it and rationalise it, but having not seen one in the flesh (yet) its difficult to be sure. There was one seen in the solent about 4 weeks ago. The commercial boys out of east devon have been catching quite a few tuna for a fair number of years though, so there is reason to keep our hopes up Allan

Tom, The first sight of it "tuna" went through my mind, Second decent view "wahoo" Last decent view I said "tarpon" I still had that jump in my mind when I realised that it was only two weeks ago that I saw virtually the same thing, but that was 6000 miles from here in Thailand!!!! The bass theory doesn't work, this fish was big! 5 or 6 foot long! Rob Thompson first thoughts were salmon or seatrout as he has seen them in the area free jumping before. We can discount these as the fish we saw was too large to be either. He reckons that it was a small thresher that didn't give us a good enough view of it to see its tail and positively identify it. Me...... I'm torn between a thresher as Rob says but my gut instinct is Tuna.... I've seen them busting out of the water in a few places around the world and that fish last night, looked just like one Allan

Tom, It was Mr Roche, he actually spoke to you on the phone about the fuel data thing just as we started fishing, Al

While we were fishing this evening, about half a mile to the south of us something jumped out of the water and created a huge splash. We all saw it at the same time and all said "what the *&%$ was that" . Over the course of the next 6 or 7 minutes it jumped out a further 5 times and we saw it a well as you can from that distance. The second jump was belly on to us and it was 5-6 feet long and showed no horizontal tail to say it was a dolphin or porpoise. The third jump was just a big splash. The forth jump was more side on and revealed, we think, a vertical tail(indicating a fish) but a long slender body (could have been thick set but it was hard to tell from where we were), silver flanked and a white belly. The tail was not long enough to be a jumping thresher. We just caught a splash of the fifth jump and a fleeting glimpse of the sixth that in my excitement I let out the word "Tarpon" before realising where I was. I know what I think it was (or they were, maybe), what do you think? Allan

Her she is...................

Well we arranged to meet at "Aquafresh" at 3.00 pm to refuel so that we were ready for the weekend. Rupert rang 10 minutes later and suggested we take the bass rods with us and nip out for a couple of hours and see if the bass are here in any numbers yet. By the time we filled her with diesel, we left the mooring at 3.30 with Rupe at the helm and me and Rupes mate Adam as crew and headed out of the run and over to the end of the ledge to snare some live bait. Not as easy as we expected and it took a good hour to put 20 mackerel in the tank. "Lets go fishing!" We're drifting in 18m of water with the hot spot at 10m and fishing live mackerel on 20lb braid on barbel rods. The first drift produces what I think is a take but could just have been the bottom. Rupe sets the boat up for the next drift and just as we pass the hotspot Adams rod bends like he's stuck in the bottom but Rupe points out that being stuck in the bottom dont make your rod tip buck like that!! 5 minutes later and the first purpose caught bass of the year is in the boat at around 4lb. Slaps on backs all round and we're buzzing A couple of drifts later and I get one in the same place. 5lb, ace!! A fruitless drift and Rupe taks us a bit further to the east on the same mark and sets us up to go over an 8m ledge. As we reach the feature I feel a bite, give it 6ft of line and tighten into another one. It feels like a small one at first and I get it halfway back to the boat when it wakes up and screams off taking more than 20 yards of line (more than a bass has ever taken off me before), it turns and I'm gettting it back slowly by applying as much pressure as my Fox 1.75lb Barbel rod will allow and the bass just swims straight past the boat on the starboard side and heads uptide taking line. It then goes under the boat and I have to dip the rod and pass it round the transom and back up on the port side. No more drama and 2 minutes later and Rupe sweeps it up in the net. What a fish The Steady scales settle at 12-12 and a new pb by 4 oz!!!! Handshakes this time and back up for some more a couple of drifts later and I have another of 4lb before we decide to head for home at 8.15 after our first successful bass trip of the year. Thanks to Rupe for his expertise at the helm and Adam for his great company. Cant really think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a tuesday evening. Tied her up and home at 9.00pm Allan

The turbot and brill

"Aquafresh" left the mooring at 6.00am, Rob Thompson (Electric Blue) at the helm and both Rup and myself as crew. The plan was to get out on the rips and see if the cod are there yet. We also intended to look at a bank 18 miles from the needles that we had passed over on the way to Alderney 2 years ago but still hadn't been back to, which we all reckoned looked good for a turbot or 2. Conditions were perfect as we headed out from Mudeford adn we're soon eating up the miles at 30mph. We arrive on our first mark of the day in an hour and twenty minutes and the shads are lowered to the bottom as we fish out the remainder of the ebb. 3 drifts and absolutely nothing!! Our drift speed has dropped below 1mph and its time to move. The bank is some 5 miles distant and we want to fish the remaining ebb and then move to the pinnacle as soon as the tide starts to push us the other way. On goes the long hooklink and thin mackerel strip. The bank is surrounded by 65m of water and rises to 53m. First drift produces nothing, second drift I get a bite just as my bait hits the top of the bank, feed it line and bingo, I,m in A turbot of 3.5lbs. Handshakes all round and back up for another drift. Same spot again and I get another bite, 5 minutes later and a 4lb brill is in the net. Rob misses a bite and the tide starts to flood and we need to move to the pinnacle and see if those cod are here. Shads back on and first drift and I have a cod about 6lb. things look good. More boats arrive and soon there are 10 boats on the same drift. 8 drifts later and its still just the one cod and a pollack about 7lb that took Rupes twintail on the retrieve. A move of 10 miles will put us on some ground that we did well on 2 years ago, so off we go again. This mark allows a drift of about 1.5-2 miles, so its nice easy fishing. Within 5 minutes of starting Rupe's in, we're in 70m of water so there's plenty of time, he gets his halfway up and I have one hang itself and its a double header!!! Rob reaches for the net and his rod bends over so now its a triple header!!! 3 cod between 6 and 10lb. Further down the drift and me and Rupe are in again and another 2 cod are in the coolbox. Rob loses one at the end of the drift and we motor up for another. We didn't repeat the success of the first drift but when we decide to call it a day we have 9 cod between 6 and 12lb, Rupe had 4 including the biggest, I had four and Rob had one cod and a pollack. He would of caught more but spent most of his time in the wheelhouse just soaking up the atmosphere (he's missed it, bless him) and eating Rupes food but most pleasing of all was the turbot and brill from the bank we had never fished before A great day in great company and great weather. Allan

Well I'm home and back in the world of reality When I arrived in Karon, I immediately phoned Micheal, the guide on my boat of choice "M/V Reel Thing", a 21ft walkaround centre console boat capable of 40knts. There was a typhoon heading from south to north up the east coast of China that was having a serious effect on the weather in Thailand and the last time out (the 17th) they had to endure 4m swells and a severely reduced area to fish in due to the 29 commercial boats taking shelter in the lee of the 2 islands, Racha Yai and Racha Noi. On the plus side they had seen 6 or 7 sailfish free jumping in the afternoon. The wind when we arrived was blowing south west 5 or 6 and there was a huge swell hitting the beach. Phone again in a couple of days to see if the weather is going to allow a window to get out. Thursday was the last available day as we were due to leave at 5.30am on friday morning. A phone call to Micheal on tuesday evening and it was looking like the winds were going to pass on wednesday and the conditions looked perfect for thursday. He was to pick me up at the hotel at 7.00am and we should be on the water by 7.30. Micheal picked me and the missus up prompt at 7.00 and we chatted al the way to the pier that the boat left from. A very knowledgable guy originally from Denmark who had been living in Phuket for 8 years and had been involved with the fishing industry since moving there. He asked what I wanted to fish for and, being a billfish virgin, I said I would love to catch a sailfish. He promised to do his best. I also explained that I really didn't just want to reel them in, but also wanted to be involved in all aspects of the fishing including running the lures, cutting the belly strips etc. "No problem" When we arrive at the pier Micheal says " I have a suprise for you. Instead of going out on "Reel Thing" ( a 21ft T-top speed boat) the owner has upgraded you to "M/V Gecko" (a 40 ft, air conditioned big game boat, usually in use for liveaboard fishing safari's to the Andaman Islands)" What a result We set out on Gecko with Teo at the helm, Toy as deckie and Micheal as guide. We run a pattern of 7 lures on flatlines and outriggers within 10 minutes of leaving the pier, with the intention of securing enough skipjack, kawa-kawa and longfinned tuna to use in the afternoon as belly strips for the sails. We ran 4x8" kona head types lures on the outriggers and far left and right flatlines attached to 30lb class gear and 3 chrome head jigs on the centre 3 rods attached to 20lb class spinning tackle, each jig trailing 3 muppets in the wake of the boat. Troll speed is 7.5 to 8knts. The first of a dozen or more small tuna hit the lues and provided excellent sport on the light spinning rods provided. They run you ragged for a couple of minutes on 30lb braid and a 20lb class spinning rod and when you get em to the side of the boat they're about 3 or 4 lb. Amazing fish We change a couple of the lures and run some chrome bubblers behind a bird teaser on the two centre rods. Second pass between the islands and its away I pick up the rod, set the lever to strike and wait for the line to tighten. as it pulls tight I hit it and in the blink of an eye 100 yards of line is gone and the line falls slack "Marlin" Micheal says quietly as I dejectedly reel in the lure for inspection. The hook is almost straight and I know that I'm to blame for the lost fish for not striking the hook home properly. All too soon its lunch time and Toy the deckie brings out enough food to feed to feed the 5000!!!! We eat on deck whilst trolling, an turn down the opportunity of snorkelling for an hour, so as not to stop fishing. The prime time for the sails is 3.00 till 6.00pm so at 2.00 we change the rods over to belly strips of tuna The hot time for sails is 3.00-6.00pm so at 2.00pm we take all the rods in and then put out 4 rods baited with panama belly strips, 2 on outriggers and 2 on flat lines. The troll speed is now only 4knts. At 3.30 one of the flatlines is away and a dorado about 20lb jumps 6ft in the air 6 or 7 times and then spits the hook!! We fish until 5.45 and only a couple of tuna disturb us. No sails seen or hooked As we are on our way back to Chalong pier Micheal gets a call saying that the commercial boats that were sheltering in the lee of the islands had weighed in 21tonnes of sailfish 1 day and then 14tonnes of sails on the next. Obviously Micheal wasn't the only one that saw them onthe 17th!!!! All in all a great days fishing and I will land that elusive billfish one day. Allan

Bangkok is rubbish The fishing at Bung Sang Lam (or something along those lines) is much better however. There are so many fish in there that they all have to swim round in the same direction as there isn't enough room for them to turn around. Its almost a coconut every throw on method feeder and bread hookbaits with fish ranging from 10kg to 120kg. Dont know how you would land the bigger fish as all of them seem to know where all the snags are and head straight for them.Spent a day there on thursday and landed 10 mekong catfish to over 50 lbs in weight. Also saw some Aripima to about 600lb!!!!!!!!!! Probably the most artificial fishing I have ever done, but still recommend it as its probably the best thing about Bangkok Ratther be at home after some early bass, but hoipefully Ruperts attending to them as I write. Trying to book a trip out of Phuket at the moment for sails and GT's and will report back. Allan

Steve, Males are much more colourful than females and display iridescent blue stripes on their head and shoulders. You can see the difference in colour between the two sexes if you compare the two photos above. The groundbait we have been using is as simple as liquidised squid mixed with bran. To deposit the groundbait in the "spot" take a 20 pound class rod and attach a link swivel to the end of the leader, fix a pound and a half or a two pound lead to the link swivel. Get an ordinairy plastic carrier bag and drop the lead into bottom of the bag. Grab the two handles and make sure yhe lead is in the middle of the bottom of the bag and bunch the bag directly above the lead, take an elastic band and wrap it tightly around the top of the lead, around the outside of the bag. Holding the two bag handles, insert groundbait so that it sits on top of the lead inside the bag, put reel in free spool, whilst holding the handles and lower over the side. When it hits bottom put the reel in gear and lift sharply, so that the lead inverts the bag and deposits the groundbait. You can effect how far the groundbait dissperses by the amount you lift the bag off the sea bed, obviously the higher you lift the bag the further it will spread Allan

Are the industrial shark sized "Sea Magnet" blocks going to be available later in the year? Al

James, you have a pm. sorry didn't notice yesterday Allan

Above is Paul with 3lb 14oz male and here's me with 4lb female. Both new pbs and all fish returned

Left the mooring at 8.30 this morning and headed for the ledge, to see if we could repeat sundays success. The sea is oily smooth and we steam to the ledge at 34mph. Paul, a long time friend, is crewing for the first time on "Aquafresh" We arrived on the mark in double quick time and the flood was just starting to die. Rather than have to set the anchor twice, I decided to drift around the mark for an hour to see if anything was about and wait for the start of the ebb. 2 small wrasse was all we could summon up in that hour. The tide started to ebb and we set the pick in 34ft of water. Bag and lead method sent the groundbait to the bottom and we both waited for it to do its magic. 15 minutes later and its first bite to me resulting in a lovely female of exactly 4 lb 5 minutes later and Pauls in, eventually bringing to the boat a beautiful male of 3lb 14oz!!!!! Another bag of groundbait and within 30 seconds Pauls got another of 3lb 8oz while I'm playing one that goes 3lb 10oz. All goes quiet until I drop another bag of groundbait and it takes 15 minutes this time before I have 3 dogfish on the trot followed by a small pollack then a pout, While Paul has another bream of about a pound and follows it up with of knocking 3lb. We've got to leave at 12.15 and put the last bag of bait down. 15 minutes and I have one of a pound followed by another of 3lb 4oz. Paul has one of 2lb 8oz and loses one on the last drop and I manage a last drop fish of 2lb 12oz. So in total 10 bream to 4lb, 2 wrasse, 3 dogfish, 1 pout and a pollack in 4 hrs fishing. Excellent!!! Allan

Found it thanks ,Tom. Waiting for one of the guys to ring me back, chers Al

Do you have a number for them, please Tom?

Is anyone familiar with a JRC FF30 colour fishfinder? Last night, when putting the electronics on the boat, I inadvertantly unscrewed the locking knob too far out and the nut on the inside of the finder (on the other end of the locking knob) has dropped off and I can hear it rolling around inside the casing I thought it would be as easy as dropping off the front screen and tipping the nut out. When I undid the four screws, that appeared to hold the front panel to the casing, the front doesn't want to come off and I don't really want to apply force. The back of the unit looks like it needs to be removed through the front of the unit, so thats not an option. Anyone know what to do? Anyone that can put me in touch with someone more competent than myself (not hard) that could sort it for me? HELP!!!!!!! Cheers Al

Duncan, printed off and stuck to the computer desk. Thanks very much Al

How did you do that????

Martin, as you can see I messed that up. See boarfish at Branksome!!!! When you get the second message board come up asking for web page title, what do you type in there? Is the web page title not included in the http:// thing? Sorry to appear thick Al

Just been looking at this link http://www.glaucus.org.uk/News2006.htm on another web site showing a boar fish washed up on the beach at Branksome. It was returned to the sea, cant imagine a marauding bass would be able to resist it!! It also shows a pug nosed bass caught of the channel islands. Hope the link works Al

Oh......as easy as that

Hi All, Could someone please tell me (in words of three syllables or less) how to put a live link from another web site onto a reply in the forum? Thanks in advance, Al

Tom, I haven't sussed out how to put a live link up yet, but try looking at http://www.boat-angling.co.uk/ Its a web site for eastern solent boat anglers and shows most of the marks on that side of the island, Utopia, Pullar bank etc. These are areas rather than specific spots, Hope that helps Al