duncan

I find the committment that most people have to the equipement they have invested hard earned cash in interesting!

It is of course difficult to keep everything in context but many of the points being made here as 'huge' don't stack across the range of the debate.

most inboard engined boats have a fairly consistent COG when fueled up regardless of where the engine is - and although the actual drive will be a litle further back it's also even lower down. proably a neutral score.

legs increased efficiency makes for excellent economy for planning boats

some outdrive boats are just as good as shaft driven planning hull equivelents for generally handling conditions but once you get to a more SD hull the shafts will win hands down and are less prone to catestrophic failure!

getting net out of an outdrive in a seaway isn't that much fun either - and can require getting in the water! - although it's a touch easier than being under the water I wouldn't do it in rough conditions as it's too dangerous.

on most of the boats Tom is talking about it's the hull shape more than the shaft that contributes to the ride.

I have an outdrive but would be equally happy with a shaft............

have your numbers on the phone Rich

forecasts getting worse not better - as in there is some nasty stuff around!

however I think I will come down for a few beers Friday and Sat nights at the club anyway!

well I know it's still very early and anything can happen in teh next day or so but does the panel think it might just be worth me coming down this weekend with the expectation of getting out fishing?

yesterday Saturday was looking good and Sunday poor; today Sat's down to OK but Sunday is putting on a brave (improving) face! A late Sat session might be really nice

it must have been pretty stirred up out there and the water well coloured so anything's possible - seem to remember a really good session last year in similar circumstances with the congers and rays all active through the tide.

excellent - had me solidly until the cod bottomed out the scales, and a good read from there still anyway.

what's going on here - you start a thread with a plee and get the net pinched out from under your nose!..............

now I am going to sulk

Would a jakuzzi be over the top?

Re flotation suits etc, as already mentioned the water temperature through to early Jan isn't that much colder than July so by that argument you should wear one year round!

Generally a good number of layers as designed to keep you warm out of the water will act well as an insulation in the water too - a good high vis lifejacket that keeps the head clear as much as possible being the real lifesaver in our usual conditions.

That said I usually wear a 2 piece Sundridge in late Dec/Jan because I have one.

Food wise pot noodles have a lot going for them in a small boat - can even be made up from a flask of hot water effectively.

thinking in a similar vein a few weeks ago...........so I have fitted a heater!

Dave used to get such cold hands - now he can warm them by a nice warm vent in the cockpit of go below in the warm to make the tea

hadn't thought of that - do cat's like conger?

I have 5 (well I have a boat and she has 5 cats actually - and buys fish for them all the time!)

How the hell do you cook a conger?

Jack - it's rare in life that anything can be guaranteed but I will guarantee you there are bigger ones out there (in club waters) swiming around............

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.

Hope others had as good a day as I did

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.