Paul D

Nice one James. Presume they were to live joeys and did you find the joeys hard to find ? ( We only caught three mackeral and they were all too large ).

Duncan, We were fishing the stormies just off the bottom but you have to be careful to keep the weight just off the bottom as it is well snaggy. I used the technique that Martin ( Maverick ) showed me, where drop to bottom and then wind up a turn or so. Used a long leader but kept failing to hook fish so shortened the leader to around 4ft. I fished mine using a slow lift and then a slow drop etc. The bass hit the lure hard when they decide to take it. I was using a simple sliding ledger ( flying collar would be better I think ) and my friend was using a Portland rig ( I tied a Portland rig and then promptly lost it first drift ! ) The white stormy my forend was fishing seemed effective when it was brighter but as it got cloudier my white and black striped stormy seemed more effective ( cant say how the mackeral/bluish stormy owuld have faired as it was lost first drift !) Good fun however and good to actually succeed using lures - bring on the next big tides

Very possible I will be out from Christchurch on Sunday - all depends on the weather.

Count me in - will probably be in need of crew.

Took a day off work to see what all this talk of bass was all about Bought some fluorocarbon line, plenty of weights and swivels and booms then proceeded to leave them in the car at the slipway Steamed out of Wick to catch Adam and Bob up - we were doing 13-14 knots out which is not bad for Neo. Tried for some mackeral off the end of the ledge - nothing apart from a large horse mackeral. Decided to steam over to the bridge and drift around there for some mackeral - at last.... we found mackeral but supersized ones ! Tried some drifts using one of the large mackeral whilst Steve ( my crew ) was fishing using a white storm shad. After 5 or so drifts, Steve hooked into a bass but lost it as I was messing around getting the net Next drift and Steve caught another bass and this time netted it and we at last knew the stormies would actually work ( as Shytalk mentioned in an earlier post ) I decided that the mackeral I had was far too big and now as we know stormies were catching, switched to fishing a stormy. Straight into the ledge and lost it Tackled up again ( whilst steaming the boat inbetween for another drift to keep Steve fishing ). This time it was my turn and a bass of around 2-3 lbs took the stormy ( This was after having around 3 fish take the lure and swim upwards at a rate of knots so that by the time I reeled in the fish had spat the lure out ). Another few drifts and I was in again. This time a bigger fish of 4 lb 2 oz ( weighed on dry land ) - my best of the day. A few more drifts and the last bass of the day hit the lure like an express train ( I was convinced it was a bigger fish - but still a reasonable 2-3 lbs again ). Wind was picking up again by now, so we tried a quick fish in Totland but the weed was horrendous, so steamed back to Christchurch. Overall a great day and hopefully next time will be able to find some joeys, but stormies were pretty effective. Oh and I forgot the fluororcarbon but amnesia did the trick

Rich, You shouldn't get spam from being on this forum. Reason is because people's e-mail address is not divulged ( unless you are an admin ). To get Spam the senders have to get hold of your e-mail address. Tip - DO NOT try to unsubscribe from the spam list - all this does is tell them they have a valid e-mail address and they will bombard you with more spam.

re: weighbridge, I would be most interested in weighing my trailer + boat, since I would be interested if it really falls within 750 KG limit for unbraked.

Mike, Found this on the net re: hitch weight :- It is recommended by Caravanning organisations for maximum towing stability the noseweight be about 7% of the MAM of the caravan, subject to this not exceeding the towbar maximum noseweight....... This information will be on a plate attached to the towbar and will vary from vehicle type to vehicle type. For older Series vehicles the generally accepted safe nose weight is 75kg although this is not defined in any manufacturer

Ditto re: Tuesday ! - maybe get away from work early and find some crew. Busy doing the garden this morning. Popped down to Wick in the afternoon and saw Dawn Raider returning with a bass onboard.

Beaten to it Lets hope his wheels dont work loose like mine did though

Sheddy, As a guide The South Coast and English Channel map ( which I think stops at the thames estuary so no good for you ) cost

I have the same wish re: suncream. Got pretty burnt and now half my skin is peeling off

Oops

I won't begin to tell you what coloured shock leader I had on my rod when I caught the bass last week !

If you are talking sleeping in a Caravan / Mobile Home it is easy in Christchurch...... Just tow it with a transit van, write "Roma" on the side of it and ensure you park it across about 4 spaces in Wick Car Park. The council won't bother you even if you fail to buy a ticket and you should get at least 4 days free parking

Welcome to the PBSBAC forum - Enjoy ! Paul.

aerial view

Caught this one during sunday's competition. ( Took a while for the ray to recover but swam off OK in the end ). 8lb 4oz Small Eyed Ray I think. ( Cue the ray ID posts

Nice one Paul - that is one impressive tope and beats my PB 5 lb one ! All I need now is some tope marks within steaming distance of Christchurch. Anybody help ?

120 points for me. ( If only I could have found one of those Gurnards as well ). PS: Forgot the 4 doggies in message above. 7 species.

No problem Dave, I am, arguably, a walking advert for the benefits of the fishing club. If I went back two years I would never dream I would be helping others to get into fish !! Glad it all worked out and the fishing wasn;t too bad in the end on what was a pretty hard fishing day I thought. Now I need to find out where James's secret huss mark is cheers Paul

Launched from Wick around 9AM ( having driven back home to collect the worms I forgot to bring ). Sammy and Stingray were also launching at the same time for their first Wick trip. Drifted in the harbour for mullet and managed to catch four each after around 45 mins ( shockingly slow ! ). Then tried further out in the harbour for some schoolies but to no avail. Off to X-Ray where we feathered up some nice Joeys ( now accompanied by Stingray and Sammy ). Anchored close to X-Ray and fishing was slow at first. Gordon caught his usual Gurnard ( two again ) and I was struggling for a bite. As the tide started to turn had a "mad half hour". Had bream after bream and then a tope followed by an 8 lb 4oz ( or was it 8lb 14oz ? - Gordon ? ) Spotted Ray ( picture for ID coming up when I get home from work ) and the usual doggies. Then over to the ledge for four wrasse. So my total was :- 4 Wrasse 4 Mullet 4 Mackeral 4 Bream 1 Ray 1 Tope ( Must find out where the Pollack hang out ). I will leave Gordon to report on how he tested the strength of the boat floor after losing a good Bass

Useful tips on Sole fishing here :- Sole Tactics Small hooks, flowing trace, ragworm - but I am hardly an expert not having caught one ever

Could be interested. Depends on work. ( I will know on Monday ).

Taking off the GPS/Plotter, fishfinder and radio - putting them on the boat seat and then forgetting they were there drove from Weymouth to Christchurch...... Sick feeling when I thought what I had done. Pleased to find they were still sitting on the seat ( minor miracle ).