Gruffy

Someone mentioned earlier about garfish....not normally considered a common catch in November admittedly, but in that barmy weather last sundy I managed to snag one whilst lure fishing and I saw a couple of others following lures during the afternoon, so they are still around. There were also plenty of bass, so I'm looking forward to seeing who will take the C&R trophy. By the way, I received the rod and reel combo from Penn yesterday and the reel is not the model listed in the initial draft of the comp notice - it's actually a Penn 310GTI, and there's a spool of braid and bulk spool of mono as well - I reckon this is about

Gulp

Duncan, If it happens it happens....this is a scenario that was considered by BASS but hey, at the end of the day, the award is for the largest returned bass, full stop. If offering this award means that a 12lb bass goes back then fantastic, this is a great result. The intention is for this award to be piloted at this open comp with a view to it being expanded next year, so we'll just have to suck it and see. I hope a few bass are caught and released, and I hope the winner is 9lb 15oz, because I've commited to pay for the drinks if it's over 10lb!

How about a double figure bass on a couple of squid intended for a cod....oooh now there would be a dilema. It would be nice to receive the first ever BASS trophy (ordered it today) for a catch and release fish, along with all the publicity that will go with it....not to mention a round of drinks for all the anglers on the boat. And a new Penn rod and reel. And a years mebership of BASS. And just think, you don't even have to win the comp proper for all this glory, just catch and release a double figure bass, how difficult can that be . You could always go on to win both if you caught the cod you were fishing for as well. I'll get my coat. Good luck all.

Nice one Rich You've made me smile this morning... Good to see you are as keen as mustard to break out the scale sampling tools to demonstrate how to safely remove them from the fish though, top marks to you! I'd love to talk to you soon about an idea we (BASS) have for promoting an increased effort next year in compiling scale data from many more fish - I'm sure you'll be keen. Regards, Allan

Rich, Some great comments and thoughts back there....I suspect much of what you say is correct. This sort of behavior by bass is not uncommon or indeed a recent revelation - some bass anglers, recreational divers and spearfishermen have known about and reported for years the habitual movements of bass in and out of "territories". Each has also exploited this knowledge as well of course. For us anglers it's very important information, for even if only a proportion of bass display this "homing" tendency it could and should mean that we have the opportunity to influence the abundance of fish in our own area, and the joy we get from catching them, simply by releasing some and making the effort to support others to do the same. As far as a tagging program goes, whilst I applaud your desire to take part in a new program, I'd ask you to reflect on what it is you would be trying to achieve from the exercise? It is really fun to tag a fish, release it, and then discover that it has been recaptured...why does this appeal? CEFAS have been the sponsors of previous tagging campaigns, and they were sponsored to do the tagging by the Government. The tags themselves are quite sophisticated, and CEFAS provided training on how to insert them into bass. BASS were very active in supporting the last campaign and many hundreds of fish all around the UK were tagged by BASS members. Tagged fish that were recaptured (including by the commercial offshore fllet, including French and other boats) were recorded by CEFAS who offered a financial reward to the person returning the tag from the carcass of the dead bass, but most importantly the location of the recapture and in many cases the carcass itself provided important information that has helped unraval the mysterious life of this great fish. Interestingly, quite a few tagged bass were recaptured over a number of years either by the person who tagged it or another member of BASS, usually in or near the same location as it was tagged. These fish were not killed or the tags removed, instead the number on the tag was recorded, the fish weighed and measured, and the fish subsequently released again...sentimental or what? The bass I mentioned being captured by the same guy three times actually had a name, it became quite famous in the local area. Billy, in case you were wondering. Anyone interested in learning more about what the tagging program involved, and what the results were, go here and take a look: Bass tagging This link takes you to a page on the BASS website. At the bottom of the article there is another link to a page on the CEFAS site, this is the most up to date imformation you will find. Be warned though, it's likely to get you hooked! If the motive is to do something that supports a wider effort to understand more about growth rates, the impact of commercial fishing, the effect on fish behaviour of climate change and rising sea water temperatures, and to provide statistical data that can be used to support ongoing efforts to increase the MLS of bass and protect inshore fish from over exploitation by gill netters and black market bass sellers, then there is something you can do to help. In fact it's something you are already doing, the bass scale sampling. The key thing needed right now is lots and lots of scale reading data, belive it or not on the smaller fish as much (if not more) than on the large fish. Regards, Al

I think this is one of the reasons the Ministry decided to leave a three year gap between now and the next (proposed) increase...the life of the nets is such that they would probably need replacing after three years anyway (?). I also picked up the comment that the 105mm mesh net, which would be the one needed for fishing against a 45cm MLS, is not a size currently available off the shelf. Seems a pity to me as a single move up to a 45cm MLS makes a bunch of sense for all the reasons promoted by many stakeholders who input comments to the consultation. One crucial point is that those interested in promoting a 45cm MLS should be thinking about exerting pressure on the powers that be to make this decision at the start of 2010 and not the end! The lifetime of this gevernment may be up before the end of 2010. Al

Hey Newboy, I had a very similar problem last week when I downloaded the upgrade for my Norton Internet Security 2005 to the 2006 version. All looked to go well, then things started going very wrong....similar diagnosis as you. It took me ages to suss out that the problem originated from me not fully uninstalling the 2005 version before installing the 2006 version. I ended up going through to the Symantec technical help desk, and I insisted they walk me through the whole uninstall and reinstall process. Fair play to them, they did a great job guiding me through it, including sending me four different links that enabled me to complete the task myself once I'd lost their on line support through having to restart the pc. I was surprised how many packages were downloaded onto the hard drive that need to be uninstalled, and even more surprised that none of the upgrade instructions initially asked me to uninstall anything. It now works ok. My tip for what it's worth is make doubley sure you fully uninstall every Symantec file before you install 2006. Regards, Allan

Well done boys, nice fish Gordon. You did well to catch today, it seems your decision to fish the Ledge was a good one. I had a run out to the chalk today to try fishing with the livelies, had a couple of mates down from Wales for the weekend. I had my first bass on a live macky yesterday in very shallow water, an 8lb fish which was a nice way to start....it was duly weighed, measured and a scale sample taken before being released. Today we bumped our way through the easterly from Poole and took a few mackerel from the water just west of the point, then had about a dozen drifts through the race without having a sniff. Must be doing it wrong.... this was the first time I've ventured to this place specifically to fish with livebaits, it was more of a recce than anything which was just as well I guess. We float fished the baits at about 20 foot depth, and the third bait was freelined....same result for all. We did manage to find a few bass tucked in one of the gaps between the chalk, all under 3lb but still good fun on plugs and spinning gear. The tide was topping when we arrived so we fished the last hour of the flood and a couple of hours back, then did a bit more exploring around the area for future reference. The run home was a little more comfy than the run out, but the water was very coloured with the easterly so we called it quits before low water. Allan

Jo and Petunia....nice one Simon, well found. http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.h...astguard1968.rm

I've come to the conclusion that most people, like suggested by Martin and Tom, were probably oblivious to the plight of the people in the boat rather than them deliberately turning a blind eye. I say most of them, because I'm still sure some people simply chose to look the other way....but it's more comforting to think this way. Newboy, I don't know how old you are, but I bet most people remember the cartoon adverts on the tv in the 70's promoting the coastguard, with George and Mildred having a picnic on the cliff top and seeing a man in distress waving from a boat out at sea. I think the general rule when at sea is if you see somebody waving at you from a boat, especially if they are not under way, then you should investigate further....either by using bino's, calling up on the radio, or like I did, making your way over to within ear shot. It's like divers in the water, a wave is always a call for help. Duncan, I concur with you entirely mate....I only hope that if ever I need help out there, it's someone like you and any of the other guys on this forum who come within sight and not somebody who's too busy to help.

Left Poole harbour this afternoon planning to enjoy a couple of hours fishing with a mate who'd travelled all the way down from Brum, but ended up spending the first hour retrieving a 12 foot boat with a failed engine out of the race at Old Harry. On board were two adults, one clutching a small baby, and two Rottweillers! What I couldn't believe was the number of boats, most much larger than my own, that simply ignored the waving from the people on the 12 foot vessel. A commercial ferry boat carrying about a dozen passengers heading towards Swanage passed within 100 feet and still ignored the waving of the woman as the man tried desperately to start the engine. It turns out they had run into trouble around Evans Rock and had drifted perhaps two miles without anyone coming to their aid. Of course the occupants, out for the first time in their new boat, had no radio, no phone, no oars, no flares, no anchor.....but at least all three people on board had buoyancy aids on. We came alongside and my initial intention was to transfer the people onto my vessel, but in the end I opted to inform the coastguard of the situation and our position first in case things got a little tricky. I was nervous of transferring the woman and baby in particular, especially as we bobbed through the waves off Old Harry, and I thought the two Rotty's might react unpredictably and turn a bad situation into a disasterous one. The boat was tiny and very low in the water but whilst it was tethered to my own I felt the occupants were in no immediate danger. Portland called out for any large vessel that was heading in to Swanage to lend a hand with a tow but when nobody offered they eventually decided to launch the Swanage offshore lifeboat to retrieve the stricken boat. By the time they arrived we had beaten a course into the lee of the cliffs 1/4 mile west of Old Harry, but I was still happy to have the big orange boat take control of the situation and haul the man, woman, baby and two dogs onto their boat. A few boats stood by and even offered assistance once it became apparent what was happening, but I was still amazed how many vessels passed this problem by without lending a hand to the small boat that was obviously in trouble....and with a small baby on board for heavens sake? As it turned out, this was our best catch for the rest of the evening - we did find a few inshore bass in the end though nothing over 3 1/2 pounds, all returned to grow into bigger fish we hope. A big pat on the back to my mate Julian Fox (another forum member) as well for not flinching at the prospect of losing the fishing to carry out a more important job in the end...if only everyone was so strong eh?

It's great to hear how well you guys are doing with livelies, especially so as most of the big fish appear to be going back alive. For those who fish inshore either from small boats or even from the shore, a double figure bass can represent a fish of a lifetime.....there really aren't that many fish of this size within range of a lot of dedicated bass fisherman, many that I know in fact, and all of them will be cheered to know that these big lunkers are being returned. A bass that has survived to reach 10lb is a lucky fish already, and one caught and released is even luckier. I thought I'd post a picy of one of my regular fishing buddies who joined me earlier this week for a couple of hours plug and fly fishing - we had a few bass, plus a handful of other bits and pieces, best two fish were 5lb and 5 1/2lb both to the fly. Nice fish....with luck they too will reach 10lb in weight, and if they do I hope you guys manage to catch them again

Cheers Brian, I'll use Salterns instead..sod the price! Good shout mate.

Can anyone tell me the contact details for the fuel barge in Poole harbour...failing this, does anyone know what time they open from and to, and what the additional cost over garage prices is for unleaded? Thanks, Gruffy

Thanks for the warm welcome guys... What channel do you guys strike up comms on? Gruffy

Hello everyone, Another newbie joining the forum here...I've looked into the forum for the last month or two and have been very impressed with what I've seen, so thought it was about time I said hello. By way of introduction, I've had boats for the last 12 or so years and currently run a Karnic 2051 out of Poole named Kirsty Lou. I fish prety much exclusively for bass, all bar a couple of which I return. I fish about 60% with the fly rod, the rest is with lures, plugs and various other artificials. I'm also one of the fish recorders for BASS, so have been interested to read about the club's involvement in scale recording. It's good to read about so many members having a great time fishing afloat, I've particularly enjoyed reading the crac in the catch report threads...I'll look forward to picking up on who runs what boat, and will hopefully have a chance to shout a few hello's across the water when I see you out fishing. Best Regards, Allan.