Death Trap II

then you can start trying to put them in your mouth. the investigative process that has played out through the ages

looks like i wont need to go to the dentist any more. will just use that stuff

one benefit of a smaller boat, i can fish from the same seat i drive in! i think this year i am going to make use of the navionics app on my phone as well to get a better view of the bottom features while using the sonar on my fixed screen.

you could get a gorilla pod and attach the smartphone/tablet to your rod, right in front of your face 😁 or even some of those google glasses!

i dont know if other units have it, but a raymarine dragonfly i had a few years ago had the option to wifi to a smartphone or tablet. so if you need to use the sonar while drifting, this might be an option.

i read somewhere (cant remember where) that the agreements only cover boats over 10 meters. So while the agreements covering the larger boats will be phased over 5 years, sub 10 meter boats saw their change as of 1st Jan. So those that used to fish outside of UK waters are already locked out.

wow, i dont know how to laugh at my wife's mistakes, because she never makes any. Apparently.

i wouldnt be so quick to get a flush mounted version. they look really nice but are really annoying when you get the sun reflecting on them as you cant change the angle. But if you are dead set on it, i think rob has the right idea, just remember to make it so that you can get it out of the mould!

if it provides and comfort, my last boat had a 1992 Mariner 2 stroke. the power trim worked like a treat up until the day i sold it. Was a bit slow to start up from cold, but once it was warm it never missed a beat, or let me down. But maybe that was the prayers working their magic.

last year was my first 'new engine' boat. i very quickly got used to the fact that the engine would turn on when i wanted it to. no more prayers uttered every time i turn the key

agreed, that is what i want. But all the evidence leads me to the conclusion that that is not what is going to happen.

If the UK government does take back full control of fishing in UK territorial waters, i wouldnt count on them lowering quotas to allow fish stocks to recover. If we have a 'no deal' situation, you can expect more giant freezer ships (as we wont be able to sell as much fresh fish) and far fewer smaller boats. All evidence in the agriculture sector is that we should expect a period of deregulation. Pesticides that are currently banned being re-introduced. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/12/uk-accused-silently-eroding-eu-pesticide-rules-brexit-laws https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/11/bee-killing-pesticide-row-farmers-union-accused-secretly-campaigning/ And here is the head of the environment agency taking about repealing the Water Framework Directive. Basically there are currently 4 measures used to assess the health of lakes, rivers and estuaries. He is openly talking about reducing the standards by which the cleanliness of waterways are measured. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/in-praise-of-red-tape-getting-regulation-right I know i am reading between the lines, but i base these views on available evidence. And in my view, none of this is good for people that enjoy the environment and want to see it protected.

they bought a quota, which was a right to catch a given weight of fish in certain locations, an income producing asset. It is not property as such, but an asset yes. And by the way, the UK was the only country in the EU that allowed quotas to be sold outside of their own country. But in regard to the boats, it is a lose lose. They can either stay flagged as a UK vessel, keep catching in UK waters but face lower margins (because they have to pay traiffs), or reflag, lose the right to fish in the UK waters (but retain right to fish in other European waters), land catch outside UK, and maintain margins (but this destroys UK shore processing and maintenance jobs). i think 75% of the fish landed in the UK is sold into Europe, because they value it more than we do, and that is the most profitable market. People in the UK just dont want to eat herring and mackerel. And i think the proportion of fresh shellfish exported is even higher. But that market has already been destroyed by the introduction of customs checks, unless they can find a way to get it through without being held up. But also, lets be clear, these are not issues affecting small boats, these are quotas owned by the worlds wealthiest families. If the UK quotas are taken back, i am 99% certain about what will happen to them. They will be handed back to those that sold them off in the 80's, and overfishing will run rampant again.

If we dont have a deal in place, the common fisheries policy (with quotas) can end too and the UK can determine who can fish in our territorial waters. But the problem is that a lot of the british owned quotas we sold in the 1980's (after north sea cod was declared economically extinct) to European based companies (that is why 85% of the channel cod quota is landed in france), and essentially the UK government would be seizing a legitimately owned asset by a foreign entity. Doesn't exactly make for a constructive environment. That boat mentioned above in the BBC story is UK flagged, but the quota is owned by a Dutch company. SO it would be able to remain fishing in UK waters, but would have to land its catch in the UK. However, in retaliation for the seizure of legitimate fishing rights, in retaliation, the EU will block the UK companies from selling fish landed in the UK to the EU (with high tariffs). And of course, UK flagged boats are blocked from fishing in the waters of EU states, where we do most of our fishing. The UK position is untenable. But the fishing is just a red herring by the UK government. They though it is such an economically insignificant industry, that the EU would let them have a win. But they wont. If the UK government was serious about this, they would have offered to buy back the quotas, and work in the way the Norwegians do, but they didnt, they just used it as an emotive issue to whip up public anger. If there is a deal, there is likley to be little change in the fishing industry, and if there is no deal, the fishing industry will be decimated as it will be no longer economically viable. Rock and a hard place

sorry, wasn't trying to tar anyone, with any brushes! I started going fishing with my dad when i was 5, and i really value access to a protected natural world. I find it frustrating to see the increasing de-regulation of rivers and marine environment and cuts to the national bodies tasked with monitoring and policing them. It shouldn't be this way.

Confirmed. My wife isnt a conveyancer, but she asked the team, and they said that there is no significant change they are aware of. But liability of failure to identify money laundering falls on the solicitor, so maybe they are being monitored for another infringement and are trying to make sure they appear squeaky clean. Or perhaps some of the involved parties have triggered scrutiny because they have a similar name to someone of interest!

but note, they have been discontinued

i really liked my last gps/sonar - raymarine dragonfly. I have a garmin now, and i am not a fan. really good if fish finding is the primary use, downvision multiphase provided really fast and detailed picture. GPS wasnt as good as other units i have tried thought. but i had a pre-touchscreen version, so they might have improved it now.

my wife is a solicitor and just asked her, benefits of working from home, and she doesn't think so. But she said she will check.

yes sorry, you are right. My family live near truro (apart from falmouth), and that is a sea of blue. Had always presumed the rest was blue too, given the way cornwal votes for its mps. But looking it up now, it seems that there is no overall control for any party. But it does seem that the majority of the south coast is blue, so i am sure that represents the majority of the fishing fleets.

thanks Stuie, sorry to be political, but this is what happens when you cut public departments to the bone. If they lose the budget to even count what is happening, how can they manage the stocks. And the excuses part comes form the fact that they are predominantly conservative councils in Cornwall, so to admit that they dont have the budget to do their jobs properly is to admit conservative policy has failed. I have been fishing the Fal for about 10 years, and i took the boat down there for a week this August, I caught 1 schoolie. Normally you cant keep them off your lure when you are after mackerel, never seen it like that.

this isn't a new thing. boats have been sunk by killer whales. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200108-how-to-survive-being-shipwrecked-by-whales i would suggest carrying depth charges. Because if nature documentaries have taught me one thing, its that killer whales are dicks.

i think dogs, huss and wrays are great eating. i just prefer it when someone else does the preparation! All members of the shark family need to sit for at least a couple of days in the fridge on a plate to let the ammonia drop out. you need to rinse it off periodically for the best results. (for flavour and texture) but dogs are better suited to deep frying. For such hardy little buggers, they do mush up if you mess with them while cooking.

i was out from Ilfracombe. normally it is a battle to keep the dogfish of your line long enough to catch something else

i went out on a charter in the bristol channel a few years ago. First fish up was a monster conger, the captain went "wow, they are really rare now, lets release it without landing in the boat to ensure it survives". Well that was the worst kiss of death i have ever heard because we ended up catching 20 more, and nothing for the table.