duncan

Matt, There's one here on the well hidden club records page, which should be the same as the published one as part of the competition pack linked to the home page which you can find here be comp rules and specimen data ......ahhhh Never actually thougt of targetting fish - I just head out acording to conditions as I would any weekend and hope a good'un hooks him/herself. I think I am record as having made some comment to the effect that if I ever weighed in a dog or a pout.......... I'm still trying to work out what the hell you would do with 40lb of dead conger as well! All the best

thanks for that Peter - however I am looking for an easy solution and am actually 'as happy as Jack' if I get anything in the net and use such agricultural hooks etc that they aren't going to snag easily. I don't think I have ever used a 3 hook rig either!

a few hours ago. Now recovered but wet and a bit the worse for wear no doubt! Anyone out floundering?????

simply rewarding your commitment m8..........the sort of action that gets you invited back again and again (whether you want to or not!) and also prompts me to get a longer, bigger, net!

Adam, Yes please - I may be down in Poole Thursday/Friday evenings and will bring cash - pm me how much. Can you post the ring diameter for Coddy to see? Failing that how long are you there Coddy? Finally wasn't Bob bringing some back from the states anyway - thought I asked for one? Still confused but making progress! All this will make PaulJ happier too as we nearly lost him overboard in last years Poole Cod Comp when he was 'making sure' of getting a cod in the short handled net............. as he always wears a lifejacket aboard we were able to grab him by the waiststrap as he hung out over the side!

At various times on here over the last couple of years I have said yes to a large stainless one and a fantastic US sourced net......but never actually got any further! On both the last couple of trips out I actually forgot to take my existing one with us at all, much to my crews disgust, and had plenty of fun with an industrial glove and large rays...........(btw do not believe that these will protect you from a large ray's mouth which can give a serious 'nip' - I was careless and lucky at the same time and it nearly removed the thumb tip completely!) Back to the nets.......... as Phaeton has a large freeboard I would like to sort out a reasonably long, and therefore strong, handled net to handle our usual fayre of fish to around 45lb - ideally before the open comp. Haven't seen anything in any tackle shop that look half decent strength wise - suggestions etc etc appreciated.

8 fence pannels fitted, - productive yes - difficult to define as a good day though.....

Wedger, Kam wasn't suggesting braid for sharking at all...........and neither was I ! Sharks came into it as a possible way to loose all your expensie braid - BFM this month makes reference to a couple of people being 'spooled' by porgies grabbing their hooked fish, and I am aware of at least 2 others this year who suffered a similar fate! all in club waters of course........

Come on Charlie - just take a tip from Dave. He used to watch everyone upgrading their boats to bigger faster etc with the associated costs........his answer, then and now, was to leave earlier and get back later! Appparantly he still got more time in the bar than them as they ran out of money 'cos of the fuel bills........

Rich's point is another good reason to use about 200m lengths although to be perfectly honest 100m lengths to backing reversed each season has to be the most efficent and cost effective solution in our waters. Kam - I would point to this months BFM. More than once and in club waters - with Jack's luck you just know it's going to happen!

he would be doing amazingly well Charlie! average 12 ltr / hour overall I could believe but he will be burning around 34ltr an hour at 24knots give or take about 10% for conditions. 1.2nm/litre would be condidered really good for a planning hull and would be limited to smaller hulls and smaller diesels. At the 25ft / 240 hp range 1nm/l needs the boat to be relatively light, hull to be efficient and you to be operating at optimum speed - Botnia Targa 25 does around 0.95 with 230. Offshore 25 is a great hull form but seriously seriously heavy !

still enough there to be all braid at 250m a load. that length of that size of braid should be enough for most medium sized reels. however, stcik the whole lot on a reel and you will guarantee a porgy appearing next time you hook anything........and you will then loose the lot in about 2 minutes from the stories I have heard!

good point about the rings Steve however re quality control I am sure that a lot of the lighter weaves and finer braids also get nicks easily from many sources when fishing and end up seriously weakened as a result - also of course coming into contact with another line under tension can do the damage! I concluded early on that the slightly thicker fused and coated braids would pay dividends here and so far, touch wood, that's been the case.

and very sensible too - however as the knot strength is going to be slightly lower somewhere (evevn the fancy ones honest!) you can get a bit closer to the braid nominal - which is of value below about 30lb. above that you aren't going to use the line strength really - I believe estimates suggest that most people can just about manage a 25lb load briefly- and that assumes the rod will cope of course! with drag settings around 25% of nominal for braid this should of course never really happen anyway!

At the risk of being pedantic I believe Dyneema is a brand name for the underlying material but what the hell! Suspect it's Dynon or similar with a slightly open weave and as such it will suffer from abrasion in many circumstances, as is also quick to weaken from nicks etc so a leader is a good idea. It is thin though! At 43lb you have a fair buffer in terms of it's strength over the pull you are likely to be able to exert in normal use so a good quality nylon leader of around the same strength should do nicely and, if you do manage to put 35lbs of pull or more into something it will fail at either the braid to nylon or nylon to swivel join - and you won't loose your expensive braid (unless of course you are part of the Christchurch we only use 18lb snoods for conger and rays club of course in which case you only loose the hook!).

unless the engine is signifiacntly heavier or a different technology a diesel will 'drink fuel' according to the HP being required of it. As this is a product of hull speed and weight it follows that the same economy should be available from the larger engine at the same speed. If you use the extra power, critically the top 20 percent, then you will pay a price of course. FWIW I also average around 1nm/l over the last 600 hours in my 25ft boat with a 240hp engine.............but I don't blat around at 35knots very often.

Great topic Jack, like anchoring it should run and run! In my opinion (and of course all posts are of course opinion) you need to define more clearly the circumstances to arrive at an understanding - if I take BBD's post fishing an 8ft rod downtide on the patches could result in him effectively fishing with mono! So, why even consider a mono leader? Basically it's all down to abraison as you suggest, but you have lighter (lever) drag settings and soft tip braid rods so the introduction of stretch is not the issue (if you want to go the whole hog really sharp circle pattern hooks avoid any strike and possible hook pulls too - but they don't suit all baits). Abrasion/wear is going to come from 3 areas - sliding boom on line end of boom on bead/knot contact with the seabed based on this I use around 6-8 foot except where uptiding where I increase this to 20ft (and use stronger line so that it doubles as a shock leader on casting too). Double uni knot (back to back knots) work really well to connect. As I only use 20lb braid mainlines with most of my rods I use 25/30lb mono leaders to maintain the integrety of the gear. Where I am fishing fairly light and shallow I use braid straight through - to attach to swivel I double over the last 6 inches before tying the uni knot, snug a rubber bead over the knot and use small smooth boom/lead links to minimise abrasion. I also have one reel loaded with 50 fireline XDS and I fish this straight through as it's coating stands up to abrasion really well. Hope this helps? What braid (make strength) have you got and what type of fishing are you planning?

Dan, would simple add that if they worked for every set up the engine manufacturers would fit them as standard. most hulls are designed to operate best at a particular speed or speeds, and at a particular attitude - if you want to operate at different ones they (fins) can be a great help. with regards to Steve's porpoising there was a long thread on that subject here about 2 years ago - as it normally only occurs at the upper end of the boats speed and trim (out) fins are rarely the answer (because of the drag) ; trim and weight distribution everytime. try it with and without - for general pick up, ride and handling not top speed.

Is this what constitutes a catch report now Jack?

me too .............

Sean - you shouldn't be sorry it's me that picked up and ran with the red herring of Smartabs! I have never seen the Menthe ACS on any boat I have been on but will ask around in wider powerboating forums for you to see if anyone has. My gut reaction is that few will have done because whilst the technology sounds wonderfull in real life with small boats if the conditions change sufficiently to affect the attitude of the boat significantly then it is usual to adjust speed - a variable not under the units control! Will ask anyhow. Web wise as you have no doubt found there is very little apart from a few scandanavian reports. Best overall resource is Fours Seasons Marine in NZ link here Have had the following response for you - Re: attitude control systems - and their place in small boats [Re: duncan] #850048 - 20:10 14/10/2005 Edit Reply Quote Quick Reply I installed the Mente marine ACS A+ product on our S23 as the trim needed constant adjustment. Works a treat. We've got Eltrim tabs(electric) on the S23 and I also wired in the outdrive trim. Only issue was that the Eltrim's need to be positioned mid-position before you calibrate the unit. I ordered direct from Mente's web site and I got the impression I was first customer in UK. You may be number 2? (no connection to Mente etc etc)

40knots........... that's faster than me.............. wonder what lures he trolls at that speed though?

sorry to push it Sean but........... Smartabs work of water pressure related to hull speed - ie they are designed to deal with issues 2 & 3 of my earlier post cheaply and automatically. you have already stated that you have to constantly adjust the tabs on your boat when going along - I assume you mean whilst cruising rather than starting off. Smarttabs will not be active at all above about 14 knots so whatever it is you think you need to adjust your tabs for just wont happen. Additionally the option to use your tabs in difficult conditions or leveling the boat side to side will be lost.

ah well - something up there then surely? Phaeton is a stern drive too but I can get all the control I want out of the leg trim, and certainly don't go adjusting it much - maybe a touch here and a touch there as conditons change , but I am as likely to change the speed for that too. You shouldn't need any tab's other than (1) in extremes of conditions (2) when starting off to assist the boat to fully planning (3) if travelling at a speed between 'hull speed' and fully planning. (4) light use of one or other to level the boat side to side.

Jack - you know I am happy to put you right on the fish anytime you wish. In a month's time they will be more reliable, and I should be able to get out when the weather permits! Determined to get to grips with these flounder things this year too - can't keep driving down only when the weather forecast says it's going to be good enough to get out side in some comfort - even fitting a heater soon to make bobbing around in the harbour in the wind and rain more enjoyable!