Mike Fox

Haha @ dark side Alan! You've been there, and I bet you loved it! I do think am sorted this time Alan, but another time you would be more than welcome. Mike

Sounds fun - as discussed, that's a goer! Mike

Right - here is the forecast: Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis Inshore waters forecast 24 hour forecast: 1200 Fri 12 Oct 1200 Sat 13 Oct Wind Variable becoming southeast 2 or 3, occasionally 4 later. Sea state Slight. Weather Fog patches and occasional drizzle later. Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally poor or very poor. Outlook: 0600 Sat 13 Oct 0600 Sun 14 Oct Wind Variable 3 or less becoming southeast 3 or 4. Sea state Slight. Weather Mainly fair. Visibility Moderate or good. Checking the Atlantic Chart, there's a weak occluded, slow moving front right over us on Sunday, and slack isobars, suggesting grey/overcast/drizzly at times with high humidity, with possible early morning fog. Nothing dangerous - but SE4 does kick it up a bit off Poole, and it might be uncomfortable any distance out. The comp is ON, and as this hasn't changed much for the last couple of days, I do not anticipate changing this tomorrow. As usual, it's up to each skipper to decide on the day! Good luck all! Mike Safety Officer

I'm keen on having a session on Saturday, when it looks like being good weather, but Carol and George are less interested. Happy to crew for someone sallying forth, with a view to flatty/ray mark searching - or having a crack at those mythical codling. Failing that, I might take Frisky out for a few hours to some of the inshore marks, in which case I would have space for a spare rod or two. Is anyone interested in a 6 knot (max) boating trip with a bit of fishing thrown in? Mike

Names confirmed so far: Gordon Holt on Fugazi (crew?) Martin Burt and Alun Jones on AWOL Duncan and Dave on Phaeton Mark Winfield and Zed (Paul) on Chancer Rob Francis and Paul Rowcliffe on Jo-Jo Coddy (Dave Samuel) and Ferret (Bill Smith) on Sammy Carol, George and I will fish on Frisky Fox Any updates on the above? Hints but no confirmations yet for: - Adam Franklin on Out Of The Blue? - Paul Frey on Imagine? - Any others? Mike PS Let's hope the Safety Officer remains happy when he checks the weather this evening!

I'm certain that the fish pictured (your goby?) is actually a Butterfly Blenny: http://www.glaucus.org.uk/blennies.htm See the bottom of the page. British record 1oz 2 dramms (32g). You might have put a British Record fish back unweighed!!!! Beautiful little fish - and probably one of the few ever caught on rod and line!!!! Mike

What incredible diversity! Shows the fish ARE still here if you know where and how to look. And catching more plaice in a day than I've probably had in the last 20 years! Well done all! Mike

Hi Lee, You've joined a good club. I joined a couple of years ago, and there's a wealth of information on the Forum about boats and fishing, and everyone does seem to learn and share a lot. I personally think there is more relevant information here than in most magazines and books put together. Poole has got some good generic marks - and if you search on the Club Only section, there is a list of local marks (with Lat/Longs) that will get you fish. Some of the chaps have small marks that can easily be fished out, so not all are shared freely, as you might imagine. A lot of members use Poole as their base, as it can give wider options than Christchurch at times - especially in onshore winds at low tide, but there's some good marks in the harbour as well for flounder, bass, and many other species. Hope to see you at the meetings, come along and introduce yourself! The meetings are a good chance to meet others, discuss meeting up on the water, crewing, sharing marks as "buddy boats" and uplifting your fishing safety, as well as improving catches etc. Mike Safety Officer

Awesome! Perseverance pays off - well done for sticking with it. Who else is thinking "I'm going to need a bigger boat" ? Mike

Sounds a good trip Rob - and I think you're going to get some good photos with that setup! Mike PS None of the new cuddy?

Just wondered if any club members are taxi drivers? Carol's parents are flying back into Heathrow shortly - but we're both working, so we're considering an airport car or similar to get them back here. Also, what sort of price should we be paying? Mike

Gordon kindly invited me out on Enticer on Sunday, planning an early morning assault from Kimmeridge. Loaded up at 6.30 a.m., arriving just after 7, but the gate was locked- and stayed locked until the key keeper arrived just before 8. We were first on the slipway, and trundled out gently to see what the wind and sea state were really doing. After a mile or so, it was clear that the E-NE4 and residual swell meant it was going to be very lumpy out, so we fished an inshore rocky patch on the drift with jelly worms - Gordon providing expert instruction. After striking (on instinct) a couple of times, and missing, I got the hang of it, and we had an hour or so of fun with the inshore pollack, getting around 5 apiece to about 2lb, and a solitary schoolie to me. The wind seemed to reduce a bit, as per forecast, so we nudged out further and fished an offshore reef which had previously produced some better quality pollack, but none were found, and none showing on the fishfinder (unlike earlier). We then moved to a nearby wreck, where we both left stacks of tackle, and I had my best pollack for over 30 years - of a shade over 4 and half pounds, on my trusty Ugly Stik spin, as usual. We both had better fish on and lost them, but the swell, roll and drifts of 3knots (even with a drogue) meant that was the best one here. Precision drifts over different parts of the wreck resulted in tackle loss almost every drift, and the motion made it very hard to tackle up again. The wind was dying off all of the time, and we steamed East a while to try an offshore bank that Gordon reckoned held blonde ray. Well, he was right. He hauled out a couple of about 6lb (both returned) to mackerel and sandeel. Both had spots to the margins of the wings, pale creamy patches, and a slightly different outline to the spotted rays I was more familiar with. I had a great bite, and leaned into it, setting the hook, then when trying to get it clear of the seabed, my 25lb leader parted. I was gutted! We had a few doggies as well, Gordon took a lone strap conger - again about 6lb he thought, and we trundled back in, clipping the edge of the race off St.Aldheim's Head that was ermmm interesting, and recovered at Kimmeridge about 5 p.m. What a great trip - thanks again Gordon! I didn't get my first blonde, but broke my pollack drought! Am really looking forward to another crack at them! Mike

Dan - nice idea - or if a new species to the club record list, then maybe 100%? Tony - the 50% minimum, as in many club comps, takes too much of the fun out of it for me, and is one of the reasons I'm not fond of specimen comps, and don't fish too many. I wonder how many other anglers in the club think the same, and just say nothing? The reasons for me are simple - I probably haven't had a 50% mackerel all season, and I've not had a 50% pollack or smoothound in my life for example. It still takes skill and perseverence to catch a pollack or smoothhound to order, but if this rule applied in a fun species comp I wouldn't bother going for those - a bit of a shame maybe? I think the 50% minimum is sensible for comps with formal weigh-ins, to prevent undersized fish coming to the scales and to aid conservation, but for a club "fun" comp where most fish are returned, then maybe not....what do others think? Oh, and George came up with a better name for this - "Multi-Specimen". Keep the comments coming in folks, and remember this is just a suggestion to find another way to put some fun back into things. Mike

We stuck our noses out of Poole Harbour on Frisky Fox about 11 a.m. this morning, and was greeted by an Easterly 3-4, and a couple of knots of ebb tide. The Haven looked a bit bumpy, but we were soon through it, and wondered if the short chop and swell would settle. After some debate, we continued, and went round Old Harry Rocks, where the race had kicked up 4' waves and dragged the pot buoy markers under - we luckily missed a couple of submerged ones! Once approaching Swanage, the waves had settled into a more regular pattern of wind across tide, and it looked like it might be fishable. Dropped the hook on a spot we have off Ballard Down, and dragged it 100' or so before it settled, and we deployed the rods, getting doggies from the off. We tried with squid, rag, and mackerel chunks on 1/0 hooks to 20lb trace, trying for the rays we know are there. Unfortunately, 9 doggies later, and a bonus starry smoothhound on rag, we still had no evidence of ray, the wind had freshened to a steady F4 E-SE and white tops threatened a bumpy ride back after the tide turned to the flood, so we returned to Poole Harbour. What a contrast! Mirror like conditions, and the early flood bringing clean water into the harbour. Had a few small bass on rag (fishfinder showed them about 10' up - 5 winds and into fish!), a rattling bite that turned into a fin-perfect 4oz gilthead bream, a clonking wrasse that went 2lb 12oz that looked bigger, and a solitary Pollack of 12oz. We tried drifting for plaice and gurnard at a couple of our other marks in the harbour, but the lifting of the speed restrictions might have spooked them! Having had a powerboat hammer past us at over 40knots, I can say I certainly was shaken! A great day to be out, shame about the Easterlies and the swell, and the lack of something for the dinner table (not even any mackerel). Still, there's always tomorrow. Mike

Well, we gave it a go on Frisky. In hindsight I think I'd prefer to add a couple of additional rules: - All fish on the NFSA list to be over minimum sizes; - Any fish NOT on the NFSA list to be automatically awarded a set percentage - say 25% (rarity value alone, and low enough to put people off blenny bashing) On that basis, my catch today was: Bass 1lb v 9.5lb = 0% Undersized Dogfish - Lesser Spotted 2lb 0oz v 3.0lb = 66.67% Smoothound - Starry 2lb 3oz v 15.0lb = 13.33% Wrasse - Ballan 2lb 12oz v 5.0lb = 55.00% Other: Bream - Gilhead 4oz v n/a = 25.00% Not listed Total 160.00% Not sure if that's a great example (and the formatting got altered), but what do people think? Mike

That's huge!!!! Mike

I happen to enjoy species comps. Strange I know, but there we have it. I like deliberately seeking different species, and trying different marks and tactics in a day to get an interesting mixed bag. It probably comes from not being very good at the specimens comps, I guess. I did like last years' species comps, but noted that attendance wasn't good, and the format this year was modified to try to accommodate the majority, but I suspect that numbers fishing haven't actually been that much better. Could I suggest a different format comp as a trial? This is a combined species/specimen percentage that goes like this: - One one fish of each species to be weighed in per angler; - The specimen percentage is recorded for that fish; - The total percentage for all registered fish for that angler to be added up; - Rankings as at present, with 20 points for first place etc. That's it. Simple. It stops the lucky chance fish from over the horizon from dominating, and it stops the tiddler snatcher bagging up and accumulating stacks of points. It might even be a bit of fun, and aids conservation as no one species will get hammered! If we get out this weekend on Frisky as planned, we'll try it, and see how we get on between us all. Anyone else want to play? Mike

Heard your spot on Radio Solent (via the internet) at 6.45 Paul. Well done for waving the club flag, and mentioning the Open (and the odd conger!) Mike

Nice fish Paul and returned too! Had a dreadful day at work, with really bad traffic. Feel even better now? Mike

Happy Birthday Paul, Had a weekend away so no chance of boating or forum earlier today. Hope you had a great one! Mike

Hi Zed, It might be worth having a chat with a few on here before deciding what line to buy. I used monofilament on light tackle for many years as it was cheap and did the job. Great from shore, or drifting in shallow water, but not best for deeper water. One of the big lessons I learned from the club members who took me out was about braid. It's incredibly thin, and much stronger for the diameter than mono. I use 30lb braid that's only 0.1mm thick. The advantages of braid are almost zero stretch - so you stay in touch with the fish, and reduced tide drag - which allows you to fish with lighter leads in any condition. Many of the chaps with braid fish with 1-2lb of lead in the deeper water marks at mid-tide, when mono just wouldn't let them reach bottom. Disadvantages? - It will cut your hand like cheese wire if you wrap it round your hand if snagged. You either need a glove to break out, or wrap it around something else. - It's expensive. With a 6500 you can get more than 300m on easily, and this amount of braid will be something like

Congrats really to Dave who raised this debate, and Paul who provided the definitive answer. Mike

Advice for those using marine diesel, especially in large, vented metal tanks is to fill the tanks up as far as possible. The reason is that air will get in, and damp air will condense inside the tank on the cold metal walls. The drips will work down to the bottom of the tank, and will be sucked into filters etc. I have a fuel/water separator fitted with the primary filter for this very reason, and can drain any water off. When I changed to a plastic fuel tank, the problem was much reduced, but not completely eliminated. Mike

I recorded the capture of an utterly maginificent 13oz Gilthead the week before, as in my post...but didn't pop it into the catch reports, fearing the wrath of the mini-fish ruling. Fortunately it was witnessed by Carol and George, but no piccie taken. I know Neal has had a few on Court Jester too - but no weights seen from him. Mike

I'll pass this tip on to the RNLI SEA Check community Rich. Thanks, Mike