Mike Fox

Hi Simon, You'd be welcome on "Frisky" if you can handle life in the slow lane! Like Gordon, I think this weekend will be blown/rained off, but there will be other weekends. This time of year I'm constrained by both daylight and Poole Bridge lift times, but am hoping for a few 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. trips before the year is out. Am conscious of your distance to travel, and unless fishing picks up close to Poole, am afraid this might not give you the best chance of a great session! I'll give you a call if I have notice of a suitable weather window, just in case you fancy it! Mike

Thanks chaps but that might not help....as it doesn't have a memory card or stick. Installed memory is good for 20 or so pics of up to 3M pixels, so never did put a card in. Any more suggestions? Mike

Have been unable to get my camera working again after the trip on AWOL, and can't download the picture of George and his PB blonde ray. Anyone know anyone who can fix digital cameras? Thanks, Mike

Haha ! I meant 2 litres per mile! Maybe Duncan's figure is closer. The good ship Frisky Fox does 2 litres per hour under power, or 3 miles per litre. Let's just hope the red diesel tax relief stays! Mike

George and I fished on AWOL with Dean Burt and Paul Dore. Am sure they'll provide a full catch report in due course. George had his personal best Blonde Ray of 10lb 8oz (lowest steady weight), as his only fish of the day. 5 points, but what a fish, and returned to grow bigger. I had two blonde ray to my personal best of 14lb 8oz (lowest steady weight), both returned, plus 2 mackerel, 2 dogfish and 2 black bream. Total score believed to be 42 points, using the official scoring spreadsheet. Cracking boat, great skipper (cheers Dean!!!), who put us straight on the fish. Good sea keeping, stunning performance, and a nice stable fishing platform. George wants one, and I can see why!!! Got to dash - need to be in Milton Keynes (of all places) by 10 p.m. Mike PS Paul - will send in the form later in the week if that's ok.

Also: Chancer: Mark Winfield and crew registered with me at Rockley. Mike

Some good, considered views here chaps, and some very impressive releases, much more than I ever suspected! I feel much better now I know I can take another 7 bass for the table in 2007 without feeling guilty (or could that be 27? ). If I add up all of my fish in the last 20 years in the 4-5lb category I had a grand total of three. Sounds like the bass stocks are actually much safer from me than most imagined! Mike

Twelve so far: AWOL: Dean Burt, Paul Dore, Mike and George Fox Fugazi: Gordon Holt and crew Imagine: Paul Frey and Alun Jones Sammy: Dave Samuels and Bill Smith Reflections 2: Pete Gasson and Charlie Annear Court Jester: Neal Sturt and crew Good luck all! Mike

I found this report browsing one of my saved links. 10 August 2007 Mark Guppy clearly spotted a Broad-billed Swordfish, Xiphias gladius*, that jumped out of the water about 800 metres from the Condor ferry beyond Old Harry Rocks about five miles off Poole Harbour, Dorset, in the English Channel. (*Species assumed without precise identification.) For link, and reference, see: http://www.glaucus.org.uk/News2007Summer.htm Anyone else hear about this? Mike

Am afraid not. Didn't like the state of the Swash in the SE chop at slack water and one drift was enough. Stuck to fishing the harbour today, and it was grim. A few small wrasse off the Castle, one tiny gurnard, and a few worm tails chewed. Very disappointing. Saw one boat have a pollack, and another claimed a small plaice. Loads fishing in the harbour as was lumpy out. Even the charter boats stayed inside. Let's hope the wind is lighter tomorrow! Mike

I attended the recent BASS presentation in Broadstone, hosted by Paul Jennings, where the conservation messages of this group were clearly explained. Very few members from PBSBAC attended unfortunately. They confirmed that bass are not sexually mature until 40-45cm in length, and wanted the minimum landing size to be increased from the current 36cm to allow them time to spawn at least once. They also pointed out that with such slow growing fish, any fish over 10lb would have spawned many times, and contributed well to the future gene pool of the species, and above this size their fertility starts to decline. There was a lot of discussion about the best size to keep for the table (because bass is a superb eating fish - and happens to be my personal favourite), and the comment was that keeping one or two "trophy" fish per year did much less damage to the future fish stocks than keeping a large number of medium-sized fish, due to the relatively higher fertility of the smaller specimens and much wider genetic diversity of a larger number of fish. What a logical argument! I've returned a large number of pan-sized bass this year already, as have many members of this club, and I hope to have the opportunity to do so many times in the future. However, I reserve my right to make an informed judgement call with each and every fish, and I intend to continue taking a limited number for the table. We never waste any fish we keep. Similarly, I would applaud anyone who decides to return their fish to preserve future stocks. What I would ask, is that club members do not criticise others, in public or in private, who keep the odd fish for themselves. We all have different views, and we are all entitled to them. Should anyone want to persuade me otherwise, I think the best way is over a friendly pint (mine's a Stella), not via written comments. Apologies to any club member who criticises this stance. All I would say to them is, "I hope you catch a 30lb cod". Similar arguments apply, and commercial pressures are even tougher! Would you put a 30lb cod back ? Mike

I popped into Southern Motorboats for a chat with Tom on Thursday, and he was expecting a boat to be delivered back from Weymouth. We strolled round to fuel jetty to have a look. I hadn't seen one quite like this before: 31 foot long, stunning blue hull, with a central console and tan-coloured bimini. Down below there were several berths, a small galley and separate loo, providing good weekending creature comforts. Power supplied by twin 250 HP outboards. I thought "overgrown dory" when I first saw it, but that didn't do it justice, as it was dripping with teak, and was beautifully fitted out. It had to be moved to it's berth at Salterns, so Tom asked if I'd like to join him in a quick spin. Tom grabbed a couple of lifejackets and his trusty grab bag, and we cast off, trundling gently out of the marina. Tom found a straight bit of the channel, yelled "Hang on!" and then wound it up. Over 40 knots in 100m or so, with absolute control and power, and about 25% in reserve. A couple of high speed turns in the main channel, and my eyes were watering with the wind coming over the short screen. Had to take my glasses off to see again! I declined the offer of a "go" and Tom popped it back into the marina, berthing this perfectly with absolute control in tickover ahead/astern. What a blast! I'd never been on anything quite like it. Awesome power, a superb fishing platform (it it had less teak to ruin), and the capability to go pretty well anywhere in some pretty lumpy conditions. Would I like one? Would I enjoy getting to France in 2 hours instead of 10? Would I like to pay the fuel bills on something that could drink 2 litres per hour? I do over 1,000 miles per year - at an average of around 5 knots - so, let's see - 200 hours of travelling time at 30 knots instead would give me 6,000 miles instead ....ermmm that's

Inshore Forecast Outlook for Sunday is currently recorded as: Wind East veering southeast 3 or 4. Sea state Slight. Weather Mainly fair. Visibility Mainly good. Looking good for Sunday! I do not anticipate updating this, as the conditions are so stable. Possibly a bit choppy in the SE winds! Best of luck all, Mike Safety Officer

OK - so who forgot this was on? Am keen to get a variety of fish this Sunday, and the weather is looking good. The Inshore forecast has NOT yet been updated by the Met Office to extend to sunday, but with high pressure firmly in charge, I reckon we're going to have: S-SE3-4, reducing through the day Clear skies through the day, peaking around 13 degreeS C Cold at first with risk of early morning mist patches or fog Weather Fair Sea state smooth, occasionally slight in wind over tide. Will update later this evening. First comp of the year to feature cod and whiting maybe? REGISTER HERE, PLEASE Mike

Not a problem Dean, we'll both back out leaving you with the option of a spare place or not. Best of luck with the trip! Mike PS Congrats Adam - and good luck!

Hi Dean, Do you have room on Saturday for George and his Dad, please? Mike

I can see an "Ultimate Baitboard" competition coming here...with Rob in the lead at the moment....! I like Charlie's idea of a knife retainer much better than mine! Mindy ou, instead of blood draining over the side - why not have an optional draining tube, so that groundbait enhancing liquid flavouring can be drained into a convenient bucket? Mike

Duncan - that's stunning! Thanks again! Mike

That looks brilliant Rob, really well thought out, and I bet there's quite a demand for them! Carol bought a plastic tray for my chopping, but while it does what's needed, it's nowhere near as elegant! Suggestion - a vertical slit or three in the edging would be a way of storing a filleting knife without it rolling off in a choppy sea? Mike

Chris Corkhill took this excellent picture of my bass on Saturday, and mailed it to me. Thanks Chris! Mike

Let's rephrase the question.... What better reel can you get for

An interesting topic, and one warranting a careful response. We use a large net for 99% of all of our sizeable fish, but do have a gaff for emergencies. Have had to use it three times this year: - 13lb thornback would NOT go into the net in strong tides, needed gaffing in the wing, and this was quickly despatched for the pot; - 24lb tope didn't want to come anywhere near the boat, and a gaff in the chin was the only way to get it onboard. It was returned and swam off strongly; - 30lb+ conger, backing away from the boat at 6' plus, was much too long to control or net, tried to gaff it in the chin from underneath, but snagged and snapped the trace. In general, the big net approach is the one I would advocate, but we carry the largest net we can store onboard. I'm think about changing the netting to something much deeper, to produce a net with a volume (not mouth size) capable of handling conger (chandlers sell suitable netting, I noted recently). On charter boats wrecking in 200'+ most fish with swim bladders are dead or dying when brought to the surface, and I have used the gaff on these to get on board. I have also had nice fish on other boats in shallow water that have been too big for the net on board, and had to be gaffed. I find this a little a bit distressing, and I prefer to despatch the fish quickly if at all possible, as returning them then is not always viable. I'd recommend all boats to net rather than gaff wherever possible, and to carry the biggest net practical to help with this. Mike

Frisky Fox fished the comp on a small bank a few miles South of Poole/Bournemouth, specifically targeting small-eyed rays. We have never had any before, but every other deliberate ray session this year has drawn a blank. We had read up on the techniques, and arrived with plenty of bait. We first anchored up in 60' of water, but it was like Crufts down there! Doggie after doggie (Corky would have loved it!). Eventually, we decided to move, and found a shallow part of the same bank in 50' of water, where the tackle could slide down the bank with tide into the gully if needed. We had a few more dogs, George had two lovely bass on mackerel chuunk and whole squid, of 2lb and 2.5lb, which were both gently returned. Eventually, just after the ebb got going properly, George got into a proper fish, and boated a beautifully marked 3lb 11oz small-eyed ray - the first any of us had ever seen, and this was slipped back gently as well. Definitely George's day! No more ray to report, and no flatties in the harbour later. chatted with Sammy and a few other boats on Ch6 through the day - but sounds like ray were elusive for many. Mike

Sheila Marie and crew checked in with me via VHF this morning. Mike

The Forecast has changed for Sunday. Still ON, at this stage, but could all skippers check carefully before the comp, and make their own judgements: Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis Inshore waters forecast 24 hour forecast: 0600 Sat 13 Oct 0600 Sun 14 Oct Wind Variable 3 or less, becoming southeast 3 or 4 for a time. Sea state Slight. Weather Mainly fair, occasional fog patches later. Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first and very poor later. Outlook: 0600 Sun 14 Oct 0600 Mon 15 Oct Wind Variable 3 or less becoming southwest 4 or 5. Sea state Slight. Weather Mainly fair, occasional fog patches at first. Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally very poor at first. Note: now SW and up a notch, and the Fog makes an appearance as suspected. Mike