duncan

what ingenuity............... I have to say this appears to be a hugely complicated approach to a very simple problem so maybe looking at the problem in more detail will help. The generally accepted problem is in maintaining good bait presentation whilst avoiding the possibility of the hooks getting masked. To this end the fixed or floating pennel was developed. The lower hook is there as the primary hooking one and the upper is there to do the presentation job - it is sometimes smaller. At it's simplest this enables the lower bait to be threaded along the shank of the lower hook but held clear of sliding back down and filling the bend by judicious use of the upper hook. In the quest for a bigger bait people have then added 2 additional squid hung by their mantles on the bend of both hooks and providing they are at 180 degrees to each other there is little risk of these masking the hooks - they may get sucked off quickly but the integrity of the main bait remains and when that's taken in a hook up should occur. Personally I believe that once further squid are added beyond the above the hooking potential of each hook is compromised and you would be better (1) using a sausage of squid made with netting or (2) using a bigger hook and hanging the squid from their mantles like a fan on the bend. I am a great admirer of PJs engineering feats but I have also seen the baits after 15 minutes in the tide looking like a ball on the lower hook. Back to the original 'solution' - on 100lb line the basic floating pennel will do everything this does with no fundamental weakness (providing the top hook has an angled clean eye and you put one large bead between the two hooks) and you only loose the ability to feed 2/3 squid up the top hook........which is a recipe for a fully masked top hook anyway! It will work fine as a floating pennel without doing this. Oh...and I know you are only joking about the stop knot holding any fish...........

very nice indeed - good looking fish. squid? slack water or mid tide?

interesting differences in the forecasts at the moment Metcheck has N Sat going NE Sunday ugrib has East in the wind all Sat and pure East on Sunday will be interesting to see which proves correct

I suspect the shingle did arrive on a single tide cycle with appropriate wind conditions - certainly happens as Rockley that way rather than a gradual build up.

speed isn't everything, as Mike Fox keeps saying.......... can you rig a sail on it easily enough?

if you have to ask it will be too early!

Just for the record.... WOT will be 160 per hour, but at a more sedate cruising speed you'll be closer to 70 per hour at somewhat over 30 knots.... wow - that (WOT) represents a 42% improvement on the 'old' fuel injected or carbed 2 stoke consumption from only 10 years ago. I knew things were moving on and they had gone through 25 past 30 but that's excellent.

thanks for that Neal ironically that probably makes it less attractive as, for me, heading back into Lymington before running back to Poole that evening (and then driving 150 miles) will make a long old day! entering on the back of possibly being one of a handfull of cod is a different kettle of fish....so to speak! anyway I will see what the weather brings

too early on the forecast (other than it doesn't look a complete no brainer to sit in by the fire) to make firm plans but anyone else looking to get out of Poole? if it starts to look a little settled I may run out Sat and stay over in Lymington with a view to fishing their cod comp on the Sunday - if I don't catch a cod I won't have to go back in to Lymington on the way home company is always good on such adventures!

lol I know you do MArtin but was citing that time as a great example of how 2 boats can be 4 times better at finding fish - we split up and ran over to other banks to look for fish; found none but you on the other hand had them jumping on and off the hooks as the tides changed but couldn't call us. You would have called wouldn't you! It's a lot of fun (even when you do a crossing at 8 knots as you did returning and we had to once going out because of the conditions!)

no great skill (ask PaulJ.......... ) it's all down to the skipper more seriously (1) suspect you will get experienced volouenteers very quickly if not already.......... (2) one of the key elements in going in company is the fact that you can share experiences (once you have a decent radio AWOL) and either match drifts with someone who is catching or take solace that no one is. worst case you share drifts and someone else keeps catching - but the good news is they are normally happy to buyin the bar later!

Alan Great write up and great trip to start with obviously. Some people have similarily uneventfully trips all their lives - for others every one is a book! The configuration of those boats is excellent for those sort of conditions (relative etc etc) and you should have a whole load of confidence behind you now. Fuel consumption looks excellent as well for bashing your way through a head sea - the engine is pushing the boat through the water very efficiently for those sort of numbers at that speed. Very usefull because I suspect you will have pretty even mpg over the whole range between 6 and 18 knots which helps with planning etc and creates less pressure to try and hold on the plane as conditions deteriote and you are a long way from home! Water and mars bars are of course as much a part of the boats emergency equipement as flares. I presume we add you to the list of guys to be contacted when we are running over to the CIs to fish now? Finally a niggle - I cannot believe you had that key fob bouncing around in front of your eyes the whole trip! I am sure you will have a whole lot of fun with the boat - personally I find this size capable of anything I would wish to undertake - comfort is a very personal thing but cramped and damp as it can get it beats the hell out of camping! Duncan

thanks Andy might just tootal over and tie up on the Quay Say night with a view to fishing it on the Sunday if the weather shows promise then. never fished anything other than Poole Bay or the Poole Cod Comp before so it would make a change I guess!

are the fish still flapping?

Paul - have you any details / contacts as I may well be interested in that too (assuming Phaeton has a drive and is in the water then!) Duncan

"Would I like to pay the fuel bills on something that could drink 2 litres per hour?" ooooh yes please! however I estimate that wide open this puppy would be drinking around 180 litres an hour. this is not of course to suggest that it couldn't be considered economical - even Phaeton can be pursuaded to swallow 46 lph WOT; but I only use that when there's a danger the bar will be closed whan we get there...

I cruise a bit faster and at about 20 knots it's an hour from Poole Harbour entrance to the Shambles banks. From this you can see the faster you cruise the more relevant your travel time through the harbour........... Finally if you are on your trailer anyway then if their's West in the wind trailing must make sense as having launched at Weymouth you have shelter available that you would otherwise be bashing through. Finally you can relax a little earlier when trailing - launching at Poole and running all the way back in in the evening before then recovering makes a long old day!

my seaweed gives 4.6 to 5.2 knots of wind between 0600 and 1800h on the 21st in Poole Bay. Between 175 and 195 degrees T. not much more further out either horrible day to be out fishing in my opinion - I'll be at home.......

np Dave not a whole lot in there despite 61 pages but I learnt a few interesting lessons 1. a 600 person petition counts 1 in the high level % assesments whilst each and every post card response ochastrated by certain groups counted as 1........... 2. this is a huge ticket issue - the interested parties are many and huge 3. it's hugely political at every level

link is a bust Dave try this

certainly a masterful feat of engineering! whilst we seem to be sharing collective wisdom ( ) on bait boards I would suggest that a centre section be added, about the size of a mackerel, that is flush height with the edging. this makes it much easier to fillet bait (and possibly smaller catch like whiting) cleanly. we have a raised edge board and it's a right pain to get your wrist down to the level of the cut. our current practical solution is to fill the board with removable cutting boards to the height of the surround but if I was starting from scratch I would permenantly fix one in the middle of the arrangement flush with the edging. do others see it the same way?

vouched - although once I relised I could measure bearings with my calipers and order for pennies from eng suppliers I now look to Rich only for the occasssional pot of honey..........

hmmmm - didn't touch sat or colours at all m8.......his thumb's pink in the original! ah well

Paul - isn't the plaice 1st flatfish rather than 6th Ray?

as said - great picture (but you do look a bit serious Mike!) with a little magic...........