alun j.

Anyone out today ?? Looks lovely out there, doesn't it [NOT] ??? Alun.

Good luck to anyone planning on going out this weekend. It now looks like strong winds will soon be back........ first from the North, then back to the West in the week. I hope they are wrong.....as they have often been.....this forecast is quite different to what it was yesterday afternoon! Alun.

Not big!!........but six in the coolbox made it pretty full! ....and Paul almost looks happy! Alun.

Frey shows the way !! Today was Paul's day on Gastronaut; after I had first [and second] blood with cod of 5 and 6 pounds, Paul took over the cod-hauling and pulled up 4 slightly better fish close to 8 lbs. each. Much bigger tide today than on Weds, with only a short slack to pick up a couple of whiting. Many more dogs and pout just as abundant!. The ebb was running hard, and not being a fan of fishing 2 lbs of lead, so we called it a day early and got back in the Run with plenty of water and home to clean down in the daylight! Alun

Good luck James.......I'll give you a call during the day and compare notes!. Alun.

Looking ahead..........there seems to be a run of calmer days coming up. Don't feel too sick...... you should be able to get out soon....... and join us on the water ....unless you have chores \ shopping \ Christmas parties etc. to attend to first!! ? Alun.

From here, there looks to be a nice little lull on Weds., with light Northerlies. Anyone else looking to go out then?? Whiting or cod ?? Tides getting a bit bigger by then.....and tricky times for me; it's either back in by 1 or have to stay out till 5 [dark]. Alun.

Charlie, .......the usual......big baits on the bottom.........squid and\or cuttle. I stuck a small muppet on my trace yesterday after seeing a few good whiting come to baited muppets over slack water.... ....but I don't think it matters; if you have an appropriate, anchored bait on the bottom in front of the 'dustbin''s nose, you're in with a chance. Interesting to see three distinct year classes of fish.....in decreasing nos.; most common are the 7lbers [having put on a bit since the summer on the 'star grounds], then the 12 lbers [a year older], then those close to 20 lb. I'll try somewhere different next week.......see if they are on marks I found last year. Alun.

Hot off the press......... PBSBAC... team of three.....got into the prizes....just!! Yesterday was a lovely day for it.....mild, sunny, gentle tides and W. breeze between force 3 and 4. We were together on Vernon Everett's boat 'South Today'... and were last to get to the cod park area due to a few hiccups in Neal's morning routine [esp. alarm clock ..... sleeping through!!]. Dean was first into a fish...... but a small thornie was not the target species; neither were the pout, whiting, and conger that came in. Some jumbo pout and nice whiting found their way into my coolbox, but by 4.00pm, only one cod of about 6 lbs came up, to one of the others ...... disappointing.... esp as some boats had had up to 7 ...... and a couple of fish went into the 20 + lbs. Day 2...... had a poor forecast for later on, but at 8, it was calmer than yesterday, so everyone went back out to 'The Area' ... moving closer to where the fish were caught yesterday. We arrived at slack water and bites were slower to start; but within an hour......it was Dean, again, into the first fish.....not too sure what to call from this feisty fish, giving him a good tussle on light gear... up comes first cod for PBSBAC ... 7 lbs 9 oz. Sport gradually improves with the tide and in the next hour or so 6 more cod come on board, with two of them to me..one just under and one over the same 7 lbs. size. Next to me was a chap recovering from a bout of gastric flu [ he'd missed yesterday!] and was not well.....even pulling in two 12 lbers. didn't cheer him!! He went on to get 2nd AND 3rd for the day [ and 5th or 6th overall]. As sport was improving, the weather was doing its best to go in the other direction....fast!! Gust were soon topping 7, and waves crashing over. Several boats were dragging their anchors, so , whilst we could have sat\fished it out, the decision was made for all boats to retreat to the Solent. After a very wet and rock and rolling trip in, we settled around the Sowly area.........and lost interest!! A few boats had some tiddler cod up there, but we hardly had a bite for the rest of the day. Truely a day of two halves......and we all wished we could have stuck it out, out there. My two gave me 10th overall [ and a lovely light action Penn rod that will vie for attention in bass fishing next year!] Dean's fish got 33rd [ and a rod holdall in the prizes]. I was disappointed for Neal, who had organised our participation, and blanked again! If others are in a position next year to be able to fish the two days, it is an interesting experience.......and as frustrating as cod fishing out there often is!! My experience enabled me to improve significantly on last year's and got me in the top end of the prizes. I'll be aiming higher next year!!! Alun.

Ditto with Dan and others.............but it has to be really rough ground. Alternative......... use a paternoster rig on the end of the braid when in the rough stuff.... eg. on the Ledge or over the Patch. Alun.

Sounds like one of yours Terry!!

I went 'Solo' on Sunday.....as it seemed touch and go as forecasts kept changing; I was quite prepared to turn around, put squid and mackerel back in the freezer and go back to bed if it looked yucky on the slip. All calm at home at 6.30........perfectly still as I drove down just after 7; motionless flags in Mudeford........ but on the quay the sailing club's was flapping in a fresh W breeze !!......the Run and the Bay looked calm, so off I went. Fine and smooth until I reached the Ledge and a slightly lumpy sea lay ahead... which got bigger the further out I went. In for a penny, no rush needed.... speed down to 8 Knts for comfort and drier ride... seemed to take ages to get out to the Dolphins. Wind with tide so, when at anchor, all was much calmer.......and you were straight away aware of the tide ripping through. Well over a pound of lead needed at first and few bites......but as tide eased, whiting showed in number for a hectic hour or so.....until tide died and so did the action!! A few calls from club boats out nearby and shortly joined by Whistler...... who needed to catch more than a few doggies. Peter settled nearby and caught some similar whiting but neither of us got any cod or bass [as last Fri]. Some cod were caught by other boats closer in [but fewer whiting]. As soon as tide turned, I upped anchor and got in before wind over water kicked up too much. Even so, the ride back over the Ledge was hairy enough!! In hindsight, would have been better to go inshore first and then close in around the Groyne [ memo to self for next time!!]. Lovely whiting fillet for supper! Alun.

Hi Gordon, How big a pout is a 'monster'?? Mr. Moore had one over 3 lbs on Fri. Alun.

Good luck in getting past the ol' charter skippers that monopolise Ch. 6 with their inane and constant chatter....all day; they seem to think it's their own ... CB style! Alun. Ps .... I bet you'll soon be reaching for the 'Off' button and your mob.

Friday update....... with the big tides this weekend, give yourselves plenty of time and water to get back in. The ebb in the afternoon will run away very quickly and leave you in the breaking surf if you leave it any later than 2hr 30 min before LW to come over the Bar. When going out......keep close to most of the yellow buoys.......but watch the last one !!!; it lies just before a shallow bar. As you come near it turn sharp left [EAST] and go at least 50 m. before heading out. On return..... follow your track ........or go way East and come up to the Outer yellow from the East; don't cut in too soon, get near the outer buoy before heading in to the next. Hope this helps you avoid the banks and bars which are changing all the time?? Alun.

Calm enough today to venture out to the Dolphin Sands area. Got there just as the tide was easing, so was able to quickly scale down from 12oz leads to 6 or less. Dogfish action from the off, quickly followed by small whiting...then gradually bigger....then something that was much bigger; slow thumps quickly reminded me how mrs. cod feels.... and up comes a plump 6 lber for the box. Action with the whiting was pretty much non-stop.....interspersed with a few more doggies, a single bass [about 3 lb.] and a couple of angry congers in the 15 - 20 category. Sport died with the tide....save for a few pout. Re-anchoring for the ebb didn't improve sport much and soon the ebb was hammering through and kicking up a bit into the breeze......so an early finish ......and good thing too. [see 'Christchurch' updated post] A good morning's sport.....tempted to get back there on the next quiet[ish] day. Alun.

Happy Birthday Terry, The sun is shining........ leave the chores..... hope you can get out and have a great day!! Shame Dilys is at work!! Many happy returns, Alun.

I'm tied up with other things on Weds. and Thurs. but hoping to get out Fri. Some variation in the forecasts..... but seems to be getting a bit better as we get closer. Might go out looking for whiting.....or might get confined to harbour looking for flounder. Call or post if interested.....it will be early finish due to tide. Alun.

........and Science went much the same way!! Alun.

Nice photos. Paul! You can just make out the red\green buoys in the breaking surf in one of them.........see what I mean? Alun.

Update.......went for a look\see this pm.... about 3 hours into the flood tide. The outer red\green buoys are still there .... but I'm not sure about a 'channel' as they seemed to be sitting in breaking surf !! ....and out there was the shallowest bit of our path out on Thurs. As I was looking a sailing boat was coming down the Run....so I stayed and watched its path out [wondering how much of a keel it had!!].....swiftly past the yellow buoys [in the deeper part], they then saw the surf, slowed and turned to the red\green buoys. Realising it was not best to go between them, they crept up but went E. of the green one . Looking for the least swell , they went slowly towards the outermost buoys, but took several breakers over the bow before clearing the Bar and into the relatively quieter [ and deeper] water. Take care and watch the waves as you go out.......it seems to be changing shape and flattening on the outer edge. Alun.

Following Wedger's thread.......it is worth noting changes if you plan to go out of Christchurch Harbour. We came in on Thurs to find the inner sets of buoys had gone and replaced with a couple of yellow ones. Les had called me up earlier to warn me of this and about the ground swell breaking on the Bar. The swell had been noticeable throughout the day.....and really eerie on a flat calm sea. Earlier, around LW [and it wasn't low with such a tiny tide], there were great big 'rollers' breaking on the Beerpans ......very impressive! We came in at 3.30 [ between the two HWs] and wondered what the fuss was, with only a little of wave action on the shallowest water. Following my track on the plotter, coming back in, the yellow buoys seemed to be right in the 'channel'........so pass close to these...or slightly to the N or E of them [on the landward side]; these inshore markers are not the most critical for depth and there's still plenty of water in the channel here. The shallowest area is out between the last two sets of buoys [apparently it was too rough here on THurs to get these up.....I expect they've gone now as it was calm yesterday morning.... must go check over this w.end] I might be guessing here, but I think it is change here, at the end of the Bar, that starts the process of channel change that seems to happen every year... with the sand\gravel movement deflecting the river water coming down. When the next calm comes, I'll update any changes noticed and position of buoys \ channel. Alun.

Well done Trev., it was a hard call yesterday.......with bass action still going inshore or further out for cod \ whiting. Luckily [ skillfully??], we both chose different targets and both succeeded!! Now the weather mucks things up.....next time, you've tempted me to go look-see! Alun.

Happy Birthday Duncan ! Did you have a celebratory drink at the meeting last night? Sorry I didn't get a chance to say 'Hi' ! Cheers, Alun.

Well done Dan!....on the cod; it's encouraging to hear there are a few about. It makes it a hard call to choose, when there are bass about too! Perhaps the abundance of whiting will tip the balance?? Did you get many; any decent size?? Last week, we could find any on last winter's productive area! Now, it looks like the weather takes over and it will be floundering only for foreseeable week? Alun.