alun j.

Dan, Being at the eastern end of our patch, I dip into Solent-Guide and post a few catches. My advice is to post and chat.........there are some friendly fishy friends over there too!! [but not as keen and vocal as us!!] Offer to join in a trip or two and several will volunteer help and\or offer a space. Alun.

Rob, Even if\when you can go fishing two or three times a week..... ....SHE thinks you go every day!

Picking up from the end of the 'Burnham Tralaway' thread.... Do you enjoy fishing more on Sat or Sun .....in relation to the standard Mon - Fri working week? In the recent [working] past, I used to wonder why comps were always on Sundays .... and reckoned it was part historical [ when many people worked Sat., or part of it] and part to do with fitting into trad. family lives. My experiences came to these conclusions..... ......I preferred fishing Sat , as that gave Sun to recover [ as mentioned in Burnham thread] ......the reality was my fishing Sun was often a better day; I realised that Sat. allowed me to recover from the exhaustion of the working week and I enjoyed the day out more on Sun. .....Mon is never a very good day at work. Perhaps , with other lines of work, other peoples expeiences are different. Alun. PS.......can highly recommend my current line of 'work' and appreciate [hugely] the ability to go out whenever I want .........now just get mad at the weather!!!

Well done Gordon on the best bream of the day.......and for 'scraping-in' over the Bar just after LW. With no demands from home [ FPO away!], I had no rush to get back in in shallow water........so we stayed an extra hour ... and got our best fish of the day. Rich pulled up a bream , smaller than yours, but a PB for him. I blanked again with the bream but had a few decent sized wrasse and one table - size pollack [ about to be turned into fish supper for one!] The wind went back into the East and eased a bit on the way in..... but there was still plenty of rolling around. Hoping for some warmer weather soon, Alun.

Would love to go.....but have family commitments; if it was 'blown off' to another date, I'd be there [to improve on my first trip last year!]...[Great Day out; excellent and very different experience from our fishing!] A few years ago it was an earlier date..... and in the middle of our slack spell; perhaps the prospect of the bream here is a disincentive to travel [??] Whatever happens this year........please don't scrub the fixture for following years; I'll be there next time........but how about a March date? Alun.

" Feeling a bit off-colour , today!"

Paul, It's easy to get a replacement end plate, that comes with those three screw heads and the lever arm.......

I suspect he might be chasing the sharks ?? ......on Shogun??

Looks like Dom's getting out more often after becoming a dad [???] Hope the forecast holds true ...... and lasts into [part of] Weds. If you stop off on the Ledge........let me know if my planned early start there on Weds will be worth the effort.....it hasn't been too encouraging so far! Good luck wherever you get to. Alun.

I can't catch the weather window tomorrow as boat is booked in for service and so are my teeth! But.....weds. morning should hang on to the calm. Tide will dictate coming back in at about 12 [or stay out till 5] ... so anyone fancy a dawn start , find some bream and back for lunch?? Alun.

Enticer fared a bit better than Court Jester....... but still a disappointing day fishing\points - wise and the wind made a bumpy day out on the Ledge. Complete No-Show with the bream [ and didn't see any on the other 6 or 7 boats out there]. Despite fixed concentration, first class baits and no time wasted with cooking and phoning.....all we scratch between the doggies were a few bullhuss, pout, wrasse and one lonely pollack..... but not all for each of us! My total was a measly 47 points! Alun.

What's a ' Mistro ' ?? I once had a rubbishy car called a Maestro. Hoping 'Enticer' lives up to its name. Alun.

Nice pics Andy .; that 's us in the the last one , on the left, enjoying the beams........what a great day to be out, today!! Well done on your 3 lber.....much better than our little one. Best fish on Gastronaught today was a bullhuss, about 4. ....couldn't find the pollack ! Bream ............still not arrived in numbers yet!! Alun.

Craig, Go for the Bruce type anchor........about 5 Kg s fine and a s.steel ring about 15 cms. or more. Alun.

Weather forecasts for Sunday are not consistent !! ...could be anything this far out. If wind drops..........I might persuade Gordon onto Gastronaught for a bit of stealth - boating in our hunt for extra species....... but I don't see many mullet yet! Good luck to all........t'will be interesting to see which wnd of the Bay does better. Out to practice tomorrow!! Alun.

Hi Richard, If you decide to come East, I'll be on the Ledge looking for bream. You'll have to look hard though, Gastronaught is one of the smallest boats in the club [ an open 520 Okney ], we'll be there from about 9 ... call on Ch. 6. Cheers, Alun.

Mark. The channel in the Run moves about every year as the weather and tides push the sand and gravel about..... the buoys get laid where there's most water. Having pushed right down to Avon Beach last year, it's now cut back through the Bar opposite the Quay making a much shorter passage out.... ......but beware at the end of the buoyed section.......it shallows up on the sand if the tide is getting down to LW. If you see 'waves' standing up here, go EAST at the yellow buoy at the end, then SE to go over the Bar in the deepest water. Alun.

and you could add......... .......join PBSBAC for lots of friendly advice!! Have a good holiday Duncan........you'll want to be taking future holidays down here [ guaranteed !!]. Alun.

Hi Duncan, One little tip\hint to pass on if you've got a new boat and new trailer.......particularly the trailer....is to get a nice big tub of grease. .......and first trip out, go to a slip like Wick, where you can slip the boat off into the river [no salt], tie her up and then spend 30 mins. greasing up all the 'vunerable ' bits of the trailer; all the nuts\bolts, sliders, brackets etc. that you might not want to seize up in yuears to come!! I did above on my current trailer [coming up to 2 years] and see the huge difference to the previous one that wasn't! What a great time to get a new boat.....just as the 'season' gets going and the learning curve goes into 'exponential'. Good luck and if looking for any help\tips on this [Christchurch] side of our patch, give me a call. ATB., Alun.

Folding grapnel, I presume.

Next year...when I'm 10, I'll catch one that's sooooooo big.....

" See this ?? You can make a great meal..........just......"

Busy couple of days enjoying this [longed for] weather window.... Yesterday , out on Gastronaught........ with fellow gastronaut Adam...... had a busy day day in breezy, grey but mild conditions. Loads of fish [ yes, OK, mostly pout and dogs] , lots of species and a few pollack and a nice bream to come back with. Today........so different!! Calm, sunny [but cool breeze from S popped up mid-day]., but where were the fish?? Great day out on Illusion, but little but dogs. Several more boats there today and few did any better.......one charter sat still and had one [??] good bream; another moved about and got one [??] Obviously.....we are still too early......... I'll be looking for more action next[?] week .....or the week after!! Alun.

....Well, he is 101 ....apparently!!

Happy Birthday Adam ........have a good day [ at work!] Still can't believe how one so young can have so much experience and knowledge of our favourite sport . By this time next year, there'll be boat building to add to the repertoire ! Have a great day today..... and good luck for the coming year and all the coming projects. Will you be able to fit in some bream fishing soon?? ATB., Alun.