Mike Fox

Planning to be out this Saturday to fish the edge of the Spoil Grounds for blonde ray, or the outer edge of the Slate Beds for conger. As before, if any club members fancies taking their own boat out in the area for the first time, or needs a buddy boat, then happy to help, on here or on Channel 6. If conditions don't look great, might do Southbourne Rough or x-ray instead, where you might see the odd aircraft... Mike

The reason I asked was that Marine Discovery Cornwall did not seem specific, When bass had no quota, the stocks were not regulated in British waters, and hence hammered .If the UK has no quota for bluefin, then perhaps there is no legally enforced limit. The commercial quotas also referred to commercial fisherman, and it's not clear when this does or does not apply to Recreational Anglers in the Southern IFCA. I'd love to try eating a steak from 20lb bigeye tuna (or other legal species) but if I could catch and identify an endangered bluefin, I'd personally try to return it. Mike

Perhaps our Conservation Officer can help here. Can a recreational sea angler keep tuna, and if not, which species are banned? Oh, and is there an easy way of telling them apart! I might start trolling plugs at 6 knots!!! Thanks, Mike

Excellent - more please! Loved the red mullet, and what looked like an Undulate Ray! Mike

Great report Dave. Would echo remarks about the Sadler Buoy for mackerel. Had a quick haul ourselves on Saturday, when four charter boats were doing half day trips there mackereling. Judging by the whoops, they were getting plenty. Never been sure why there, and never had much there at anchor, but some find other species too. Mike

Good spot Lofty. With that tackle and skillset it discounts a few species. Wonder if the halibut anglers could comment? Mike

Free to a good home in the club - an A-Flag, suitable for any divers. Found in boat archives, never used. September meet?

The Frisky crew will be re-familiarising ourselves with inshore marks off Bournemouth on the big tides on Saturday. If any new or existing club members would like to tag along in their own boats, and maybe try a bit of drifting and anchoring. and make a bit of a session of it, we'll be on Ch 6. Nothing too adventurous planned

I should have said no Googling....sighhhhhhh This means that the stunning prize of a brand new self-tuning air guitar in a colour of your choice should really have gone to Rob, but now the competition is null and void. Saw it in Carteret. The sandy bottomed river bed there often has the side opposite the town covered in weed, which rots and attracts flies, and smells like rotten eggs at low tide. Not great for a seasidey town. The device was being used to rake the weed up, and transport it back across the river bed for disposal ashore.

Found this little gadget in France, having previously seen it being repaired when one of the tracks had come off. I know what it is, but I'd love to hear what others think

Open a box of wine, invite everyone passing to stand on the sharp end with a plastic cup full, and have a peep under the stern while lying in a dinghy? Has been known to lift the stern enough to see.... Mike

Just was going to warn...the boats are three abreast on buoys at Alderney, and the anchorage is allegedly busy. If anyone is coming over this weekend, suggest you prepare to anchor, with allowance for a 6-7m tide, with all of the best spots potentially taken. If you get a chance to share a buoy, remember to bring enough rope to attach to the buoy itself, plus bow and stern lines to your neighbour, plus spring lines to prevent surging, and enough fenders for both sides. Good luck all those that partake Mike

Well done on a job well jobbed! Mike

wot no dabs? Mike

I was told the other week that one boat in Poole lands a tonne of whelks a day, worth about £600. I thought it sounded good until I dscovered it covered 3 crew, plus gear, plus boat running costs, and realised with weather implications plus the persistent smell, it might not be THAT high a quality of life. Mike

I mentioned on another thread.....a few crushed cars dropped at random on the Shambles would destroy nets, and would soon stop them. Mike

Charlie, we use Whiplash too, and find 30lb suitable for most uses from "snaddler twitching" to ray/conger. I have 50lb on my "Beast of Poole Bay" gear, but haven't deployed it yet, and am saving it for the next confirmed "sighting"..... I have 20lb on a baitcaster used with my Ugly Stik spin light rod which is great for bream/smoothound etc, and I find it a bit fragile, but the "cascade" of breaking strains for leader and trace etc might not be quite in balance. Overall, I'd go for the 30lb. Mike

Good to see you out there Oli, you did better than we did, plagued by smaller wrasse. Nice thornback too. Mike

Welcome back Rich!!!! Mike

What a cracking day Lofty! A couple looked close to potential club records - what size did they go? Mike

Well the day arrived, and it was park at the Thistle Hotel, register at Weatherspoon's with coffee, then on board Pescary for 7.30 to 8.00 where places were drawn. I was drawn in position 1, starboard side, up forward by the side of the cabin, with 2 anglers per side, and 3 across the back. We left at 8, and we were then given individual bait packs of 3 frozen mackerel, 1lb of squid, a pack of rag, and 10 medium frozen sandeels. My Kraken 4.2m heavy match rod with quiver tips was choice of the day, capable of handling 2lb of lead, and the bigger fish species needed for the most points. My spare lighter Artico was out, and accessible, but not rigged up. As soon as we left, I started doing bait prep, the way George had taught me following the World Championships, processing one mackerel into about 40 baits, keeping bits for more baits if I ran out later. I processed half of the squid as well, and got my bait box organised with individual pots. We went down harbour with white water and breaking waves, and about 20 knots of wind. The skipper explained half the battle would be staying on station, avoiding the worst of the weed, and detecting the bites, and gave us target species for each mark we fished. First drop was drifting by Brownsea Castle. Home territory advantage, and I started quickly on the Ballan Wrasse, catching 5 for the full scoring marks before switching tactics for pollack (catching 2), plus 2 bream. By now I was winning the boat, with others catching corkwings, baillons and goldsinny which didn't count. I also had a couple of gobies, which rattled the sensitive tip clearly. We moved back into the harbour for a drift for plaice, but after 2 drifts I had a dab and one more small bream, and the rest of the boat blanked, so we had a couple of more drifts at the Castle. I had 4 more wrasse (1 point after the scoring 5) another pollack (which didn't appear to be registered - losing me 4 points), and one chap at the stern had the full 10 wrasse permitted, bagging up totally. We had over 30 wrasse, with one angler blanking. We moved to a mark beyond the Swash, where an astonishing total of 21 rays came in at anchor. I had a good start with 3 of them including an undulate of about 10lb, plus two small-eyed and a doggy, but as the tide slackened and wind freshened, I found myself fishing under the boat, and all of the fish coming downtide. Uptiding just got the line and gear festooned with weed, so I had no choice but to try to trot downtide and try my best. I had another bream, but one chap Gill on the port side had 6 rays (at 10 points each), including a double shot of 15lb undulate plus a nice small-eyed about 7-8lb. The last hour there I couldn't buy a bite, and Gill had a high-scoring smoothound (15 points, plus 5 for an extra species) which I had been targeting. The tide slackened, the bites for all anglers stopped, and we moved into the lee of Old Harry, hoping for gurnard, smoothound and other species. Again I ended up fishing around the corner of the hull based on zone rules, and weed prevented effective uptiding. I had another hour without a fish, but only 2 or 3 came in - one small bream, and two doggies. The 6 hours permitted fishing time was suddenly over at 2.30, and while we were all keen to continue, the comp was done. I finally had time for a proper coffee and a bite to eat. Scores were totted up as we steamed back in, and Gill beat me by 10 points, with his 130 to my 120. That smoothound clinched it. I was comfortably 2nd on the boat, and had I continued my earlier pace I would have squeaked it. Boat winners all had 100%, and other anglers on the boat got a percentage of that, based on their points scored. When we reassembled in the car park, it was quite clear Gill had done well, and the other boat wins were allegedly between 124 and 129 points as well. He won it overall with 130 points, World No 1 Colin Searles and No 2 Ray Barron were 3rd and 4th. I came 5th with 120 points - with just one fish between the top 5 scores. Overall, watching George had taught me a huge amount. The kit, organisation, preparation, and techniques all played a part, but I can't help but think if George had been able to fish, he'd have had something (anything!) in those last 2 hours, and clinched it overall. Mike

Would the white vinegar trick work for diesels too? Mike