Sinbad

Now I'm currious - where do you BUY 700 worms for 25 quid - from the bait suppliers ??? I usually dig them, at a rate of 1.5 worms per minute, but last week i bought 37 for a fiver, or 13.5 pence per worm. To dig that lot would take me nearly 7 3/4 hours, by which time I'd be underwater. On Paul

fantastic - at last. Well done Alun ! Last time i went there it was also wierd - no bream bites at all - and no soles either. i sat there biteless apart from the spiders, but kept moving arround as well. Also on my run into the spot, ran parrallel with the shore west by a few groynes of the mark - also v.interesting ground, worth a try, perhaps. next opportunity for me is this friday - its a bigger tide, and flooding all evening. Regards Paul

Hi Coddy I've PM'd you a reply to last weeks post - sounds like you had a good try. next time try anchoring up on the deep part of the ledge - slopes are good and get those mackerel cut up on pennels - the bream find them irresistable (or so I've been told!) Paul

Nice report Jimbob Its a pain when you have to take out all the people you've promised - sometimes they dont understand last min cancellations because of the weather or a change of plan results in a crap day. Anyway sounds like you had a brilliant session with the bass -were you fishing livebait on special rig ,or did you try stormys / jellyworms. I've got an 'important' client to take out next week - hope he'll be satisfied with a few old dogs and pout !!! Paul

Rich et al last season we didnt target the sole until end of august thru september - when Alun J had 12 over 2lb in one session! - wasnt a member of the club then!!! so plenty of time for some balmy evenings afloat at the end of the summer. I think its the first smoothie I've had down here - the list of species is impressive from this area, only the size of most isnt overwhelming. Paul

having been 'shopping' for ages for a suitable cheap form of lights to fish by for the occaisional night time or dusk /dawn raid, I've finally cracked it!! incidently these comments are related to my unsophisticated orkney strikeliner, with cuddy ! i've tried handheld lanterns - 20,000 candel power - great but... destroys night vison, and only lasts a few hours Head lamps - krypton beam - very good and i still use one of these, until it makes my head hurt. tend to be very 'directonal' you see only what you look at. Flourescent lantern 360 degree - also very good, but shines in your face, and always adjusting the position. propane gas lantern - very hot and dangerous - but nice 'warming' feeling - no where to support it in a rocking boat. 55w halogen 'deck light' draws too much current (yes i've got twin batteries) Main problem was anything I could mount on the bulkhead - not having any antenna rail or superstructure above head hight, would put me infront of any light, and hence I'd be blocking the beam at key moments of panic on the rods. Anything placed nearer the rod tips would shine back at me and destroy my vision. My solution was to use a portable 12V fluorescent lamp - obtainable from camping shops (made by labtec). it draws arround 1 amp /10W and it comes with two plastic pipe clips which allow you to clip it straight onto your tent poles inside your tent - or in my case straight onto my pole light fitting. This has an added advantage in that the pole light tube is angled backwards hence projecting the beam down to the boat deck and the rod tips over the back of the boat. its above head height and behind me, so I cant get in the way of the beam, even when standing. i chose the 2ft long one, which is easily bright enough for my boat, and because its so lightweight (fairly non-marine looking ) it doesnt place any load onto the pole light fitting which is fragile to say the least. Also I can take it off the boat when I'm finished, so it wont get nicked. Paul - now a happy insomniac.

Had the Friday off work and was down to dig for rag / lug in Poole at 0530hrs LWS. Spread them nicely between two newspapers with a bit of seaweed ontop to toughen them up, then spent the day on light duties - waiting for the breeze to drop. plan was to lauch before LW at mudeford, avoiding launching problems of last week, and head down to barton for some night fishing. Got down to the slip approx 18.00hrs , launched singlehanded with no bother and headed straight out for the ledge. then the fun began trawling up a few mackerel over the ledge. Didnt go further west of the ledge, as there was a large beam trawler doing nicely with all the seagulls in the bay over the back of his nets. Anyone else see this guy ?? I suspect the fishing over the weekend arround Xray would be pants for a while. as I was struggling to catch a few fish, I was wondering whether the trawlers catch was destined for our home market ?? i've no objection to supplying the UK fishmongers, but where does most of the local produce go ? Anyway, after a few hours of repeated trolling, until the GPS tracks were so black on the screen I couldnt see where i'd been, i had a dozen or so fish, and headed down to the mark. Suffice to say, not a single flatfish was boated through the night, despite moving arround to a number of different spots. Had a blond ray almost straight off, then a smooth hound (on ragworm!) followed by a few schoolies and plague of the spider crabs, boating a dozen or more of the criters. Every spot tried resulted in the spiders, and not a single bream. So different to the masses of small fish last week. So Jimbobs Sole record lives on.... at least for a while. Paul.

Hi Coddy, Thanks for the tip, presumably they're incompressible, so the keel doesnt mould itself into the rubber. Anyway, I've heard they are pretty slippery, so it would be worth a try on the rear and middle keel rollers. Cheers Paul

Dan Yes it probably was me... many thanks again for the launch - its a heavy brute when its shallow !!! Have to try to either grow a bit stronger, or play around with the rollers /load to get the weight more over the back. As you were only testing, I'm glad you achieved what you set out to do. Hope you werent too far down the run!! Was really shallow in the run, but having walked home on another occaision, know its deepest at the gravel bank, and I used my auxilliary on tilt - so would have grounded the skeg before hitting the Outboard. Even though, no way of slowing down from the 3-4 knots of tide, so would have hit pretty hard. Cheers Paul

Nice report! Sounds like you faired better than us - We (Alun J) and I went out Friday N as well - only saw the fireworks in the distance! Alun launched early arround 1600 at Mudeford, and I took my chances and launched Sinbad at 1830hrs -just about low low water - met a load of disgruntled blokes in a RIB muttering about having a square prop after beating it up in the run, but at least they gave me a hand to launch. After that, a fair bit of walking the boat along before the run and following as close to the shingle bank as would allow - trouble free luckily. Met Alun down at Barton, he was already doing well with a good 4lb bass and loads of bream, plus a few small eyed rays. Loads of weed though - and big tides. We were kept too busy baiting and re-baiting rods for the swarms of small bream down at Barton to even stop for a break. Unfortunately no signs of any flatties, with the bream action non stop through the night until 12 ish. Fishing on a light spinning rod, fantastic fun! Returned 12.30 on a flat sea, full throttle, racing boat for boat - just for a bit of extra excitement . Will definitely be going back for more when the weather holds. Paul

Saw the forecast for Friday, and having been told in no uncertain terms to get the boat off the drive by my wife... took the day off and was down by the harbour by 0730hrs, water lapping at my feet, ready for a bit of marine agriculture. got a good supply of fat king rag before returning for breakfast. The day had already started as a good un. Spent the rest of the day on final preps to the boat, then launched at Parkstone arround 1530. Plan was to drift the swash for a plaice and then head over to the patch for the run off. tried a number of drifts, some rattling bites but couldnt connect any - after some time the mist started to roll down - and I didnt fancy being in the swash with the Condor, so headed for the outer patch. lots of action almost straight away - wrasse - ballan and cookoo ( fantastic orange and turquoise ) to ragworm - then a small smoothhound to whole squid - nice little scrapper, then loads of bream, best to 2lb 3oz on rag tipped with squid. a few pout also turned up. Was kept busy until 20.00hrs when my bait supply ran out, then realised I couldnt actually see anything - no shore, no other fishing boat - only 100m away! coming back in took a bit of getting used to - very disorienting - at one stage lost my sense of direction and started to doubt the GPS. in the end best method was to switch to the track view, and followed this all the way in - absolutely perfect and it picked up the north channel very easily. A Raider 18 went past me down the main channel and a few minutes later I nearly jumped out the boat, when the steamer let off its fog horn, very close, could hear the engines but saw nothing!!! .....Those guys must have had alot of laundry to do. So although a short session - for me the first of the season - everything worked on the boat, surprisingly. And a fantastic start to the weekend - nevermind summertime - roll on next time!! Paul ps - Charlie, sorry didnt contact you on 06 - Glad you made it out in the fog anyway.

or try selling it - should go faster on the back of someones Mondeo !!! "caveat emptor" or words to that effect. 70mph ( Alun) - full of gear. Paul

Hi Paul hasnt your 520 got the mounting bracket with the holes in it to manually adjust the trim - admittedly its a bit coarse - but it does the job. Then its fixed as you know. I managed to break the manual handle off my Yamaha a few years back - seems to be a potential weak area, which doesnt see much grease ! my strikeliner is a bit different hull shape to yours, but its v sensitive to too much weight aft (fueltank being the max you can place back here). perhaps for a demo on trimming outboards, you should ask Charlie to whizz you arround Poole harbour on one of the Club Ribs. trim settings do make a big difference to out and out planing hulls, but these have less than 50% of the hull actually in the water at full chat. Your 520, is semi planing and pushes a big bow wave of water infront of it, so it needs to climb the hill first. I doubt if the trim is the solution - sounds like a lack of power or torque. have you tried A YAM dealer. you can buy an awful lot of investigative servicing for part of the price of an upgrade. Just to make you sick, was doing 18-20 kts last season, flat water, one up with 25HP - as a guide. Paul

Thanks for the tip, Coddy. I was thinking the same, boat full of kids and people, not the place for whizzing out a 6oz grip lead and a lump of fish on a pennel. Will see what swims by!!! paul

Going off from Brighton marina next weekend - this time on friends yacht - just for a bit of socialising and who knows may get the rods outs. Dont supose we'll go far offshore at all. Should I leave the rods at home ? Paul

Rich Do you know the difference between the M and the F's - also being conservation minded - I dont fish that often to make any real impact on the stocks, but its a state of mind to only take what you need, and is it worth discriminating between male and female fish, i.e the ones full of roe should go back. I thought they were the brightly coloured ones. But couldnt remember. I've a feeling the colour dissapears after spawning. Cheers Paul

OK, So i've been dreaming of breaming lately......and for the last few years noticed the patches seem to produce early on , then die off really quickly. last May, as soon as the patches started to produce, they were swamped with charters and anything that floats - giving the early bream a right hammering. did this have any effect ? So, if faced with the decision over which ones to keep for the table, should it be the females or males. were the males the silvery coloured ones, with the females having the fantastic irredescent blue markings - is this the right way round? And do they arrive ready to spawn, dump their load and up swims any old mate, or is there some paring up beforehand and are we doing them any favours taking the males away. I suppose there are more males than females, so are there enough to go round ? I'm sure someone will enlighten me. Paul

thanks for testing the water temperature Alun! I'll carry on fiddling in the drive, second coat of deck paint coming up for Sinbad. We were on the beach - me scanning the horizon for boats - wishing I was one of them or perhaps not, reading your report. Plenty of boats trying along the Southborne shoreline, drifting. Didnt see anything landed either. Looks like beurre noir sans de ray for dinner, then. pardon my french. Paul

Bob I suppose the patches are above the water line - i.e. the nice and easily accessible bits where you can really get going with some pressure!!! I wouldnt hesitate to paint perfection 709, sprayed on, or with a roller - can produce a finish like glass, and can also change the colour of your beloved from off white to shiny blue. Also, its alot easier to clean, and burnish. Its also one of the few ways to prevent osmosis, I believe. Ive used it on fibreglass racing dinghys and epoxy wood, and always managed a good extremely high gloss finish. Worth a thought..... Paul

paul picking up on an earlier thread.... Wots this... whinging about an Orkney handling ? i've had plenty of un-expected manoevers trying to bring alongside against the tide.... and talk about reversing out. they dont seem to go backwards, more like a prop drive with stern walk. Nowdays, i just fender up, and keep the power on idle until the last. its probably the worst aspect of these boats, really sensitive to weight distribution, and any more than one up, performance suffers. Good points... its good to own something, and generally quality built, holds its resale value. Mines got the 25HP, wondered if the 30 really made much difference when two up ? Paul

Hi Adam All that hard elbow grease has inspired me to remove some A/F as well - and to use machines to polish my topsides, as it really takes too long by hand. My galvanised keelband is looking pretty horrible as well, but thats pointing to Australia and not easily accessible. I can get my hands on a friend's angle polisher, but what and where is G3 ?? Regards Paul

Re - Yacht attempted rescue I was keen to assist the stranded yacht - if we could. He was aground on the mud, and wasnt going anywhere until after dark - but with a southerly breeze and flooding tide - we thought he'd end up on the beach. I think I got the easy bit, just to bring the boat alongside... whilst Alun was handed the yachts anchor... then motored upwind and tried to drop the hook in the deeper water. Just remember looking back to see Alun puffing away holding this whopping lump of iron connected to 20m of chain directly over all our fishing rods !!! I suppose we could have been a bit more prepared, and hung the anchor over the transom, and tidied up the back of the boat a bit etc etc.... but its often not the case when motoring in after a day on the water. Anyway, the soft ground in the run wouldnt hold the anchor. Still our futile efforts managed to grab the other boats attention, and he came over with a tow and managed to ease the yacht free. Not a life saving experience, but I wouldnt have liked to have been out there much longer stuck on a bank. Otherwise, a great day and good to be out once again. Thanks for all your help Alun. Paul

Hi Alun Pity you didnt go for the Cod - there didnt seem to be much swell out - as viewed enviously from Friars Cliff. Shortly after that I was deep into DIY jobs, so forgot all about fishing. Thanks for the invite anyway. I shall be gagging to get the boat in the water next weekend - one last chance at the needles perhaps?. Ebb + northerly or could fish the favourite mark then steam over at LW. Whats my chances do you think of using the 'birthday - I'm not getting any younger blackmail' ? Well done for a very productive flattie session - did you use any rig foam on the ledgers to beat the crabs ? Paul

A very different day - Great Opportunity for a day off on Thursday, the promise of a perfect weather window, big tides, and lightish westerley breezes. Well that much was true... Decided to avoid the Needles due to the big tides and potential for rollers left over from the rough weather, and headed straight out to general Xray area. Fished from 10.00hrs to 14.30 on a flooding tide - I was amazed that it didnt change direction until well after 2nd HW, and then took ages to really get going! Fishing however was v slow. So after 4 hours I'd had over 20 fish, but only 3 sizable whiting in the bucket - all the rest returned. Even moved and re-anchored twice to try further west to no avail. By the time the ebb started and the promise of better fishing, I had two hours of water left and added four more fish. Nothing spectacular, no Cod or Rays. The larger whiting were really full of Roe - maybe a sign of imminent departure, what with the warm water. Whilst fishing I was 'visited' by no less than 3 trawlers, starting well inshore -presumably using 'purse nets' - one came close enough just before I headed back to have me packing up smartish and retrieving my anchor ! I heard over the radio they werent doing very well, and also heard the Needles boats were doing OK but no Cod. Anyone else get out or hear of any reports ? Otherwise it was good to be out in the sunshine, messing about in boats, a peaceful and relaxing day. Lets hope a few fish stay arround, or the bream arrive early. Cheers Paul

Many thanks for all the comments - Think I'll try a few out at the tackle dealers, and then look for the price bargains on www. - interesting thoughts from a number of you about going lighter end of the range. Just shows most of us are using quite different gear and all rating it. cant go wrong with carbon fibre these days. keep the comments coming !!! thanks again Paul