Coddy

Taken from the guru of Common Skate fishing Davy Holt ........................... Tackle When angling for Skate use appropriate tackle IGFA 30lb Class gear should be regarded as the absolute minimum to use. Ideally 50-80lb Class should be used. This is as much to combat the 'inhospitable' conditions in the areas where skate are targeted. i.e. deep water, strong tides. The use of heavier gear allows the skate to be landed more quickly, i.e. not exhausted, allowing it to be released in better condition. You can land Skate on lighter gear but you are not doing yourself or more importantly the fish any favours. Personally when Skate fishing I don't use anything less than 50lb class, with 80lb being the norm. This way when I hook a fish I know the odds are on my side and the fish will be boated with the minimal chance of a hook being left in the fish Terminal tackle needs to be strong and is best kept simple. A single 12/0 bronzed hook (e.g. Mustad 3406), preferably with the barb crushed down is best. Never use stainless or plated hooks, as these will not biodegrade if they have to be left in a skate. Keep hook links short (maximum of 24"/60cm). Short hook links are necessary to minimise the chances of deep hooking your skate. These should be made up of 150lb (minimum) breaking strain monofilament, (there is absolutely no need for wire) crimped to a quality 200lb rated swivel. This hook link should then be attached to an 8' (2.4m) rubbing leader or 'wind on leader' made of 150lb b.s. monofilament. This is to protect the mainline from the sharp thorns on the skate's tail. This leader also helps when bringing the skate to the side of the boat. The weight boom runs on the heavy mono of the rubbing leader / wind on leader, the main reason for this is to avoid it damaging the mainline and also to assist in keeping the mainline well away from the Skate's sharp tail thorns. Bait Common Skate are not fussy eaters and have a very varied menu; this covers most shellfish and fish species. As an apex predator, Common Skate are deceivably agile when it comes to hunting and can easily catch fast swimming species like Herring & Mackerel. More common fodder fish species are Spurdog, Rays, Dogfish and Whiting with Edible Crabs, Prawns, Squat Lobsters and Scallops making up the bulk of the shellfish fodder species. The most commonly used baits are Mackerel and Coalfish around the 1lb to 1.5lb mark Striking a take Always 'hit' a take as quickly as possible - never wait for a run to develop as this will almost always result in a deep-hooked fish. Don't worry about missing a bite; Skate can and do, swallow very big baits in seconds and if you do miss one, they almost always come back for a second, third or even fourth attempt at a bait. A lot has been said about the “lack of” fight from Common Skate, this usually comes from people that have either never caught one or have been using mono rather than braid as a the main line. With mono the stretch takes most of the fight out of the encounter, giving the angler very little “feel” as to what is happening at the other end of his line. However with braid you are in full contact with the fish at all times, making the fight rather more interesting. Handling When a Skate is brought to the side of the boat, it can be held quite easily by holding the trace and then getting a firm handhold at the cheek area of the skate. Large specimens may require to be gaffed to aid holding the fish. This needs to be done with great care. The gaff should be used only in the area outside the halfway point of the leading edge of the wing and no more than 3" from the leading edge. This gives a secure hold and poses no danger to internal organs. If and when you bring a Skate into the boat, due to their size and shape they can be very difficult to move about : mother nature forgot to fit a set of handles to them. The easiest solution I have found is lump of old trawler netting, simply manoeuvre the fish over the net then you can use it to easily lift the fish back over the side. keep the amount of time you have the fish out the water to a bare minimum, Skate show stress by taking on a pink tinge around the wing edges and tail. Providing the fish is returned before it gets any worse then it should recover OK. However the worse the pink tinge gets the less chance of survival the fish has so it is worth making sure you have everything ready before you take the fish out the water. When taking photographs keep the fish as low as you can, holding the fish almost vertical with all it's weight on the tail does it no good at all and probably does internal damage to the root of the tail. Probably the best pose for the skates benefit and to show off the size of the fish is to hold the nose whilst its flat on the floor. While on the subject of handling the Skate, be very wary of the tail. The large thorns on the tail are razor sharp and the Skate have a habit of putting the tail where you don't want it to be. Another danger area is only found on male Skate, it's a rough patch or razor sharp thorns on the leading outer edge of the wings. Lastly is the mouth, a Common can easily crush a wayward hand to a pulp, so it pays to be very careful when unhooking the fish. If the fish is deep hooked, DO NOT attempt to remove the bronzed hook. Simply cut the hook link as near to the hook as possible and release the fish. You can do more damage by trying to retrieve the hook and a living Skate returned is worth more than the cost of a hook! Deep hooking can and does cause fatal injuries to skate. TRY TO AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS! If you can, try to avoid bringing the skate into the boat, they can be measured and the tag (if any) checked at the side of the boat. If the skate has to be brought on board, for whatever reason, have everything to hand before doing so in order to release the fish back into the water as quickly as possible. Measure the wingspan and the length, check the sex and then obtain the weight from charts available from Glasgow Museum. If the fish is tagged, note the tag number before releasing the Skate DO NOT REMOVE THE TAG. First catch your bait!!!!!!!! :o

Now that's one job I wouldn't mind, just need a good floating mechanic and a good craft :D

Allan invited me out for a trip on Fisheagle to see if we could find any new marks and try ones we have seen previously. A leisurely start to catch the 9.30 bridges, we had decided to give Ballards a miss as we suspected there would be a number of boats there and with it almost being slack tide the bites would dry up quite a bit so we headed for Poole rocks. Dropped the pick at a likely looking spot and waited for the bites to begin, we were soon joined by a number of other boats so we thought must have got the position right. However the fish thought otherwise and after an hour of nothing we upped and moved offshore a bit but as we arrived at one of Allan's marks we found a number of charter boats all had the same idea but the sea state was quite rough and being beam on and an increasing wind which would go wind over tide we thought better of it and headed inshore again. A few drifts between the piers produced nothing and by this time the wind had increased quite considerably, so we thought a quick couple of drifts down the swash to see if we could pick up a red spotty. We found another club boat near the training bank and they had a few fish so hopes were high. I had a nice bite and thought I had missed it but as I wound in I could feel the fish still there and up came a nice 2lb ballan wrasse, Allan found the kennels but the weed coming out of the harbour was horrendous and it was only a few seconds before the bait was covered in weed. We decide to have yet another move inside the harbour when we got a call from Happy Hooker asking if we could give them a tow back in as their battery had gone flat. I quickly made up a bridle and cleared the back of the boat ready for the tow, the sea was quite sloppy by now and getting close enough to pass a rope was not easy but managed it first time. We then started in at about 4kts but it quickly became apparent that we needed to increase speed as Happy Hooker was surfing down the waves and turning in every direction, so we increased the speed a little to try to keep a bit above the wave period. A quick radio call t the harbour control to advise them that we had a boat in tow and our speed was slow, we timed the chain ferry just right but I think they might have held back a bit for us but we informed harbour control when we had passed the chains. Frank, the skipper/owner of Happy Hooker suggested we go into Fishermans Dock as Allan's boat would not get into Baiter as it was low tide, so when we reached Poole Yacht station we stopped and tied Happy Hooker alongside to make the manoeuvrings of both boats easier in a confined area. I have to admit that every boat kept a wide birth of us and kept their speed down, I was most impressed by their courtesy Having managed the tight turns in Quay Haven we were struggling with the slow speed and windage but unfortunately we got caught out and went aground! Fortunately we were along side the channel marker pole and managed to tie Happy Hooker onto it, the tide had just turned and we were soon afloat again but it was touch and go to stop going aground again as the wind tried to push us into the shallows. We managed to tie up alongside another craft and the others on Happy Hooker paddled the boat ashore. I have to admit by this time I was getting quite exhausted and was glad when we made it back into the main Quay area and under the bridges Not a super successful day fish wise but glad we could help out a friend, but it was surprising haw the wind on a boat can effect steerage. I think I will be making up a Bridle ready for future events as we seem to get involved in recuing other quite often. Thanks for an interesting day Allan

Hi Hooky Bought one of those for my craft, just need to get the boat into the water. Don't forget to register it to obtain your MMSI number and to add it to your CG66 coastguard listing Hope all goes well Dave

Allan invited Mick, and myself out for the club bream comp, we did think about Andy's comp but as the weather forecast was a bit iffy we thought we would give it a miss this year. Anyway we thought we made the right decision as we headed up the swash slowly due to the very short sea chop which had spray going everywhere if you tried to go too fast. We headed to Ballards as we thought we might get a bit of shelter from the land. As we turned up it was obvious that many people had the same idea. We found our chosen mark and down went the hook. Mick had the first bite but missed hooking it so spirits we high for a hectic time, unfortunately this was not the case whilst we had a good few fish there were long periods of nothing despite ground baiting now and again. In the end we had some reasonable fish with the biggest going to Allan at 3lb 6ozs Allan also managed some Undulate rays and a nice Small eyed ray with Mick producing the lone mackerel of about 1lb Thanks for the trip Allan and Mick, as always the banter was good humoured Dave

Just found out about a web site that you can see how your new MP votes on all subjects http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ It shows if they vote against the party line, what questions they raise etc.etc. For those who want to ensure their MP knows about RSA fishing, how they react to conservation measures this give you the ammunition to contact them and ask why they voted the way they did especially if it is not how you would like! Well worth a look You can also see how your old MP, if they have changed, had voted previously. In fact there is loads of info to look at including expenses! Makes you wonder if you chose the right person if they have been in parliament before!! Dave

When I had my boat brought down from Scarborough I used Boat Loads Ltd West Quay Road Southampton tel: 02380 331100 Mob 07748 323711 email nigelklitz@aol.com www.boat-loads.com Found them very helpful and a good price Dave

That's the problem when you get married!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

Thanks for the birthday wishes Had a nice meal last night and some real ale :) Happy Birthday Charlie - all the best people were born in May

That will be 5 years then, not long to go I believe everything I read to do with politics ........................................................... NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just got to find a lamp on the beach now :o

Here are some of the rays The many species of ray which are found in UK waters the vast majority are on the IUCN Threatened Species Scale: Blonde ray – Near Threatened Bottle nosed ray – Endangered Sandy ray – Vulnerable Small eyed ray – Near Threatened Starry ray – Vulnerable Thornback ray – Near Threatened Undulate ray – Endangered

I have a Shetland 535 and I think it is a little too big as it may foul the outboard on full lock. Also it would need bolting onto the transom quite low down and I don't like making holes close to the water line. More than welcome to have a look see if you wish Dave

Belated birthday wishes Jim Hope you had a great day with the grandkids

10 4 Good Buddy!!

No records Rob as they are not on the club's or Wessex AT species listing for 2015! Need the AGM to alter things Perhaps they are a mini species!!

Barrel sold. Will put up a picture of the platform later. Stuck as poole bridge broken down.

As it was not a day to go fishing I thought I better tidy the shed up. Out comes everything spread over the garden grass, why is it we accumulate so much stuff? Anyway found a few bits I no longer need/want and thought they may help others I will put up pictures if anyone is interested. 1/ Untouched blue barrel that is normally used as a live bait tank, has a lid but it is not the screw top sort. - SOLD 2/ Wooden cabin mast ideal for older type craft - 3/ New Dogbone anode for Volvo outdrive 4/ New 2 x smaller round anodes ideal for trim tabs 5/ Bolt on small bathing platform with built in folding step 6/ Crotch strap for life jacket If anyone is interested PM me and I will send more details to come round to view. Dave

Hate to say it, but be prepared to loose your pot as I am sure the unscrupulous commercial will lift your pot and keep anything inside and maybe your pot. Make sure you ID the marker buoy well so you can see it again!

Might want to think about one-way window film on the toilet window. Rach might complain otherwise

Fixed Engines 1. The placing and use of fixed engines, other than Fyke nets, for the taking of seafish is prohibited during the period from 1 April to 30 September(both days inclusive) in any year in the following areas:- (a) Poole Harbour. All parts of Poole Harbour to the West of the line of the Chain Ferry between South Haven Point and Sandbanks and all parts of any river or stream flowing into Poole Harbour which fall within the Southern Sea Fisheries District. ( Keyhaven. The area enclosed by Hurst Beach and Hurst Point to the South and West, by a line drawn true North from the Northern tip of North Point to Keyhaven Marshes to the East and extending North to the ordinary limit of High Water. © Lymington. All parts of the Lymington River which lie to the North West of a line drawn true South West from the Seaward end of the Rail Ferry Terminal Jetty and within the Southern Sea Fisheries District. (d) Test and Itchen. All parts of the Rivers Test and Itchen upstream of a line drawn due East and West from the Southern end of the Port of Southampton Dockhead and within the Southern Sea Fisheries District. (e) River Meon. The area within 800 metres of the River Meon sluice gate at Hillhead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The fisheries officers are out and about doing checks

Hope you have a great day and manage to get a few things as pressys for the boat

Wessex Angling Trust will be having a stand, like they do at all South Coast Boat Jumbles, pop over and say hi