Paul D

Slightly better trip report than my initial effort ! A few points missing form Gordon's report...... I learnt plenty on how to catch the mullet using a spinner. I have tried on and off using this method to no avail for the past 5 years ! - 30 minutes and we have caught 8 mullet and that was sharing the same rod ! I shall dfinitely be doing that again - thanks for the teaching Gordon. Best part was catching my first on my first cast just as Gordon was saying "You will probably be better off over there ...." Then "Off to the ledge" but not before drifting out of the channel and running aground in Christchurch where the tide was incredibly low ( I think the wind was holding back the tide ). I should have twigged it was rough out as I received a radio call from Dawn Raider stating that it was rough on the ledge and they were moving. ( If James says it is rough then it MUST BE ). Reaching the ledge and I was feeling a bit sick ( late night before watching Coldplay not helping ). Got 2 wrasse and Gordon had one wrasse. I was ahead so we moved ( only kidding ! ). It was rough and we could do with something different so headed for Southbourne Rough. Oberon was sitting on "my" mark so went to one close by that Charlie had given me. Got mackeral and some small bream then decided to move to X-Ray. No James and apparently he had not much luck there, so decided to drop anchor in line with two other charter boats. ( As Gordon says, why faf around when the bottom is pretty flat anyhow ! ). Good choice as we hit a purple patch. Went from having 3 species to 7 species on the one mark. Caught a nice ray ( spotted ? ) on first drop, then had a tope but no doggies ( yet ). Was wondering if we would ever get a doggie - please I want a dogfish and after what seemed an eternity they came along. Meanwhile Gordon caught a HUGE Gurnard ( well seemed huge to me. ) I was watching it come up, net in hand and when I saw it I was so impressed I put the net away and then remembered it would be a good idea to net it for Gordon ! Saw 2 landing craft heading for Poole and a tornado circling the Isle of Wight and then headed back to Wick, stopping at the ledge for one last attempt at the wrasse, but the ledge was full of weed. Stopped with marineboy for one loast crack at the mullet but there was too much boat traffic and the tide was all wrong, so headed back to Wick. Retrieval was non-eventful. Saw another fishing boat there and gave them a club card and if you are reading this your box load of bream were all way too small to keep ...... ! Good day and good company. Oh and Gordon caught a lovely Edible crab.

Simon, I would have thought that once the crew member had hold of the trace line then you could have counted them. I stand to be corrected however !

When we fished the solent last week the weed was horrendous. Hopefully, this shan't be as bad next week as I think the tide is smaller. Not sure on bream marks in the Solent. ( apart from marks where you can catch REALLY small bream ! ). Christchurch Ledge is the place I would go for the for larger ones but this is not in the Solent of course.

Fished with Gordon out of Christchurch and we did pretty well. 7 species and 105 points for me. I will let Gordon report his scores ( not sure if he beat me yet ! ).;

The web site provider does backups but just in case I take a backup of the forum wevry so often ( You remind me I must do one soon ( as in now !!).

Lightning - boats - facts Mike, I doubt there would have been any damage if it had been a direct hit. The boat would have acted as a Faraday cage and surely is well protected...... Agree that there is plenty of tosh and urban myth surrounding lightning strikes - like the one that you are safe wearing rubber boots. However, it would be a foolish decision to set off out / stay out in a small fiberglass boat in the storms last night - your chances would have not been as random I would suggest and I dispute the "no direct earth link" - in the case of lightning it will conduct straight down the fiberglass and take the easiest route to earth ( ie. sea ). That's not to mention the swell due to the uplift of air....

and why not to go out in a boat ..... Channel Ferry

I knew I had seen that somewhere before ( Typing quickly as another one is approaching ! )

Pipex ( who host this website ) are closing their Nottingham Datacentre and moving the servers ( which includes ours ) to their Derby Data Centre This move is taking place on Tues 5th July between 9PM and 6AM. Obviously the web site will be unavailable between these times as the server will be sitting on a lorry Once moved we will benefit from increased availability ( already good IMHO ) and faster speed ( more bandwidth )

BTW: Metcheck site is currently unavailable - presumably due to the high volume of traffic. Their lightning chart looked impressive this morning.

Anybody watch the thunderstorms last night. They looked awesome from Highcliffe and I hear they were over Weymouth/Portland. What amazed me was there were 3 boats out fishing on Christchurch Ledge ! - I was thinking it wasn't wise to stand outside, let alone sit in a boat

Caught the gurnard whilst drifting Hampstead ledge on the flood using a stormy on about a 3 foot trace fished "hopper" style . I was hoping for bass ( still working out where to get em ! ) but it was a pleasant surprise.

See you out there Sunday

Kam, Fished the Solent yesterday and it is full of weed. Awful. Mind you still had one smoothie, one bass ( small ), numerous small bream and a red gurnard, so not bad species wise.

Alun, We had trouble finding them on Sunday but Elaine started catching just west of Southbourne rough. They seemed to be right at the bottom but very sporadic finding any.

Mike, On the Orkney there is an access hole ( not sure of the proper technical term ! ) with a plastic lid - screws on - allowing access to the bilge ( ie. outer skin ). I presume your boat must have the same ( how else will you pump water from the bilge otherwise ? ) - why not try the transducer in a position accessible from the bilge hole ( or whatever it is called ) and then drill hole through the floor/outer skin to access the outer skin ? I use the transom mounted bracket - save drilling all them holes through your lovely new floor

Bob, Yes please, please, please. I am still after a net for my ring !

Very nice boat. I was considering a Day Angler 19+ but looking at the Souter that is tempting as well. Decisions, decisions ! If you are after a cheap VHF ( second hand ) then I have a Silstar VHF radio which hasn't got a bracket but is in working order ( at least was when I took it out the boat ) - they go for around

Bob, Did he catch them all on the feathers again ?

Alun, You can buy my 520 and I can get the Orkney 19+ Day Angler which I fancy next ( Retrieval single handed is possible with the 520 but in a side current/wind it is really hard, since you have to get the boat abouta quarter way along teh trailer before it starts self centering - and even then I always get it slightly crooked ! ). The 520 is slower than a Warrior 165. Single handed mine now does 19 knots flat out. 2 or 3 up it will do 10-12 knots. Weight wise it is lighter than a Warrior - to the extent that I can tow it on an unbraked trailer ( big advantage in my books ). RE: Rips - I would be tempted to go out there but would take me 2 hours to get there ( as opposed to 1 to 1 1/2 hours on a Warrior ). Not a huge difference really and the Orkney IMHO is as seaworthy as a Warrior. Also, I suspect it will use less fuel than is suspected as I find mine VERY economical. eg. 3 up we went from Wick to end of the ledge and then along Dolphin sands and over to Old Harry then back to Southbourne Rough over to X-Ray then back to the ledge. Ledge to Wick and towed a speedboat halfway through the harbour. Total fuel used = 16 to 18 litres. Not bad eh ? re: Duncan's suggestion - 40 HP engine is actually 5 HP more than the max rating by Orkney ( 35 HP ) - have to say I was tempted myself to get a 40 HP engine and have seen 520s sporting such engines.

Paul, Didn't get any messages - interestingly was trying to get the same working with Adam. We could send position req/ack messages back and forth but I couldnt get a call to work. We will have to have a play with the radio next time I am out. Sam, It would have been tempting to eat it but it was big enough to think it should be returned and I think I would have returned it. Still, like you say, saved me the job I am happy though as I know I have the technique right for catching them !

Mike, Boat looks good. As for Paul J, if you need a hand with anything then give me a call anytime. Paul

Congratulations James and Chris one if each now

Alun, The bass are out there for sure. Found mackeral on the flood just to the west of Southbourne rough ( and then lost a good bass ).

Went out all day Saturday with Helen and Elaine on Neo . Steamed out of Christchurch and went over to the Dolphin bank. Tried for some mackeral and found none. Then steamed along the Dolphin Bank to a "Good Ray Mark" that Charlie kindly gave me. ( In quotes as all we had was Doggies ). Then headed back towards Southbourne Rough and tried for bream there ( plenty of them all small though. Found some mackeral whilst drifting near there so put one on for bass....... Decided to check the mackeral and as I was reeling it in got a take from a bass which after around 10 mins was on the surface. Got the bass to the edge of the landing net and then the hook came out - gutted or what ! ( It was a good size as well around 6-7lb ish ) Then off to the ledge to drift for some wrasse and then back to Wick. On way back helped a small dinghy that had run out of fuel and saw MarineBoy in the harbour. Summer is here at last