Sinbad

Hi I'm looking for another lightish boat rod, 12-20lb, but something cheap and longer than 7ft. It seems there's some stonking deals at the moment ( gerrys of morecambe etc) on Penn. I've checked these out at the local shops, and they seem well put together with good strong double leg guides. Perhaps only downside - no flourescent tip section. Anyone got any views ? Most of my fishing is in <20m of water with max 4-6oz of lead, and I've had alot of cracking fish on my trusty 12lb short arsed rod. A double dogfish combo, tends to give me a bit of a run-arround, but I'm prepared to live with the light tackle, for the sport it gives. Paul

Hi Paul We bought our Orkney strikeliner (older version of 520) for about that budget, but spent alot more on turning it into a decent and useable fishing boat. Good Luck! I'm struggling to fit it into my garage, it may only be 5.30m long from stem to O/board, but the drawbar on the trailer adds another metre etc etc. and the cuddy fits under the door with 100mm to spare just ! I reckon an 8m garage would be plenty. Hope yours is big enough. Now a little 440, that would be a different matter, and light enough for one to self launch. I find the strikeliner a bit of a brute to recover unless you can use the car to retrieve it from the water. Hope this helps Paul

Alun A small window of opportunity next week, on Thursday perhaps, but sorry you've got to work ! We must have had similar thoughts re the bar, I towed over to the key, all set for an early start on Monday morning, but with rapidly flooding tide (LW+1.5 hours) and strong f4 Westerley, I just couldnt believe my eyes! The sea state as predicted looked fishable, with a depressed swell/ chop due to the flood and wind direction, however.... The run was looking very lively, with a huge set of standing waves, and breaking all across the shingle bank / bar. Seem to remember the last two yellow bouys were in a different position last time we fished they were much more over to the SW. Anyway, I just couldnt see any way through, and with little water under the hull, decided against it. Still a pleasant and sheltered day spent in the Garden, had me wondering if I should have gone out after all. Always next time. Better safe than sorry. Paul

Rich Would fishers require an EA Rod licence - or being a private stretch, is this exempt? would the plan be to buy a day licence ? Used to fish a stretch downstream of severals, and occaisionally bisterne - cracking barbel and chub. Where approximately on the avon ? - North or South of Ringwood ? if anyone has a few joeys left in the freezer, good for a Pike deadbait. Paul

Is the Cod saying "shall I puff my stomach out a bit for the photo - like this - if you can just hold my mouth shut" Sinbad

As I said at the time, that fish was so round in the stomach - it looked like a carp to me ! Another cracking day - thanks Alun - we had the whole bay to ourselves - not another boat out at all. The conditions were much better than expected, Although we could easily make out some hefty 'growlers' on the horizon. Who needs the Needles with these fat old boys swimming about ? Paul

I was interested in the difference between some suits which are claiming to be breathable - and the IMAX which in common with alot of others isnt. The sailing world, has gone the breathable fabric route, it does make a real difference to comfort. What do people think - worth the extra price or not ? Paul

Just a baby by all accounts.... but it still served 6 good helpings ! Going back for another - whilst this weather holds!

Some more details of saturdays trip hopefully with an uploaded picture if I can make it work ! Surprised expression no doubt due to internal wind. Just cooked and eaten a marvelous tea... Home cooked garlic, onion, mushroom and tomato sauce with basil, simmered to a thick puree..then spooned over a nice fillet and in the oven for 20 mins. I cant remember seeing such cooked white fish for a long while, far better than the battered grey dogs you get in our chip shop. (no offence to darryl's !) Anyway, after cooking and clearing up, I've saved the Penn rebuild for an alcohol free day, and the wilderness of dry land for the next few weeks. A few fishy details, of the day, again amazed by the still and calm conditions. We fished cleanish ground, a few stones perhaps.. on Aluns side... in about 28m But hooked a total of 3 Conger, one took my trace after a few minutes fight - and what was left came up with orange braid wrapped round it - obviously someone elses fish. So cant have been completely clean/ sandy area. Interesting both us and Charlie& Co on GW caught plenty of whiting on Pout fillets - a first for me. The Cod was taken on a short 12lb class rod, ageing Penn, and a paternoster baited with a small piece of squid on a size 2/0. (my whiting rig). I've read somewhere he who fishes with a small bait gets what he deserves! I wouldnt recommend these tactics necessarily, but just shows you can have alot of fun on light gear when tide and conditions are good. Tight lines Sinbad

Alun Just to say thankyou - what a great day! was a bit concerned about freezing solid onto my rod, but shoudnt have worried as we soon had the steam pouring out of our layers of clothing such was the pace on the six rods. I'll post that picture later tonight, as you will see, fully togged up, so must have been early on in the day. After that, we were back into late summer gear, I think the two most memorable sayings of the day, which seemed to have an instant effect were Alun: " When did you last see a Cod" ....Could be one coming up.. Sinbad: " We havent had a dogfish for ages, have we ?" - Alun achieving a 'double header doggie' almost instantly. Postscript to a fine day: Thinking I had achieved something on my 12lb rod, I promptly took apart the ageing penn, for a clean up / stripdown at 10.30pm - needless to say a bad mistake....no bits left over on the table, but the number of times that little bit of spring wire went flying past my ear, or dissapeared into the internal workings I almost gave up the will to live. Reminder for tonight : have another go at making it revolve when you turn handle. Paul

Hi Ho Just got back from a wonderful winter whiting wednesday, without waves. Or for that matter any swell, or the 10mph forecast for the bay. Fished out of Christchurch, just off 1st HW, trouble free launch at the mudeford slip ( good news - all day parking only 2 quid) and my mate paid, so even better !!! Steamed straight to 2m SSW of hengistbury and anchored the mark. Didnt have to wait long - the whiting were already there and pretty hungry. So by 0930 had half a box full of decent fish, no dogfish, no pout, no rays, or anything else. Interestingly, most were going for the squid, and on boarding, unceremoniously coughing up bait fish some 4" long. Even had a fish on the coughed up meal - waste not want not eh? pretty much the whole morning was spent hauling, the fish staying arround all through the ebb. Was just amazed to connect so many so close in, what with reports lately of having to fish SSW of the needles - quite a steam for a small boat - and not great fun with big leads and smallish non-fighting fish. max lead all day was 5oz. Best rig was a downtide running rig, with a one up boom paternoster. Just enough tide to straighten everything out perfectly later moved near another solitary boat fishing the ledge - spent an hour or two in 'Dogfish heaven' some giving a good scrap on our light rods, then headed home. Got out slightly sooner than expected though, due to a lack of water under the hull, right in the middle of the run. Not very professional, but glad some found it funny on the shore There's a very slim 1-2m deep channel close to the sandbar, marked by new yellow bouys. Its less than a foot deep elsewhere - trust me. Also encountered a nice stony mudbank just off the Haven. 1.5m deep under the fish finder, and 0m at the bow, just after my mate advised me of a rock somewhere in the vicinity! What ro...greeeaunnnchhhh. Oh F....... Recovery at the slip was also fun, using warp and VW welly, but at least I know you can just about scrape in (scrape being the keyword) at LW. Sinbad.

Also..... Hythe Marina ? easy / sheltered slip - downside is the parking charge (

Dan Some good safe advice being given - for a 12ft dinghy, although the forecast looks pretty good - light winds is the main thing to avoid being rolled arround by the surf. In Poole, could try hamworthy park slipway/ lake road (its free - park in the gravel area above the watermark! ) , as its a short steam or row, much closer to the wareham channel end than baiter park - fish at the top of the channel or where the channel forks into rockley park (tie up to the posts) - but the putty is oozy and deep, so dont expect to go too far from the marked posts. As far as the Christchurch area goes, I think you've picked the right place to moor. I keep my boat there, and you are only 20 minutes from decent fishing all along the ledge, or inshore reefs, or going further out (2-6 miles) to some of the wrecks marked on the charts. However, all that said, no description of where to fish ever beats being shown by someone in the know ! Good luck Sinbad

Bob - well done , at last ! these seem reasonable - a physical check with the handheld GPS paces out approx 2m for every 0.001 of a minute decimal. For my small boat, the position is a bit academic, and as for my fishing technique and boat handling to put me in the right spot also least said the better. However, an underwater view of the ledge end would be fascinating - never been down there myself, so dont know really what it looks like. I've heard of gaps or gullies through the ledge front through which the shoals of bait fish are chased - but never located any to fish. Also personal survey using a diving suit wouldnt help either as a diving mate of mine used to get all excited when he could see his dive buddie only 2 metres away - that was his definition of good visability !!! The admiralty surveys are also so ancient and lack sufficient detail for boat anglers, its a wonder we can find any feature by the chart. So Duncan, Sonar Map - yes please to the ledge !! Paul

Bob coincidently, its one nautical mile. N50.40 - N50.39 Trouble is by GPS, I work out 1 min of lat. ie. W001.54.000 - W001.53.000 is also 1180metres, which is a bit more than 400ft! - so if I've got this wrong then no wonder I cant find any marks. There's a right answer somewhere Regards Paul

Alun I see you have achieved 'Cod Hauler' status, a worthy promotion from 'Dogfish specialist' - congratulations.. though judging from your repo, maybe 'Dog Hauler' could be an intermediate rank. same as any promotion, you just end up doing the same as you used to... or am I being cynical. Was becalmed inland on Sunday -meant to be sailing a competition, but all I could think about was fishing..... especially as one of the lake boat fishermen trolling gently up and down, hooked a sizable pike, then his friend struggled to put the landing net together whilst the fish fought a battle at the side of the boat on a short line - Bl"%$y amateurs, I thought. Been there, done that, and lost the fish! Roll on the weekend, I'll do my best for a begged brownie point, and see if I cant get the boat in the water (I'll make up some story about the antifouling drying out too much).. we can venture out a bit further if the swell allows, and may catch something decent to cook later! Cheers. Sinbad

Hey now everyone, stop messing about ! have I started something .....? are all you guys ripping off your rusty old Tbars or cleaning out the garage, and offering them up for sale. ...or is this just a sideways tactic to de -value my advert.. or even make me paranoid.... Tell you what - I'll even throw in the wheelie TDI tow thingy to go with the Tbar - for a small cash adjustment - now top that !! Funny thing with towbars, when you need one... can you find any ?? Then three come along all at once....

Good home wanted for One lightly used towbar (boat normally on mooring !), manufactured by York - single electrics, ball hitch and fixing bolts included. About 1 year old - easy to fit in one hour, with ring spanners and allen keys - just bolts on in place of rear bumper beam. Location : Ringwood Price:

Hi Alun Made your filetting knife blunt yet ? What a superb day's fishing (just to make all those who washed up, cooked and cleaned the house instead feel green) At one stage, stripped down to T shirt, sweating away on the rods, it was better than a summers day.... Just looked at the GPS position, Alun, and we were well west of the intended Xmark, by about 0.6km. But just goes to show that the fish were everywhere. Lets hope the Whiting pile on the bulk in the next month or so. It was strange that it was almost a brace of fish a chuck,with whiting on the top, and pout on the bottom, and sometimes.... one whiting having scoffed both hooks. Also in terms of the species tally, forgot to mention that Conger (10ish lb?) from the ledge, released at the boat side, a wee thornback, and a scad. Just goes to show, you never know what will turn up - never ceases to amaze me. I'll be 'grounded' for a few weeks after today, so will just have to read all the reports from the others from now on as well. Thanks for all the help with the boat recovery back on land, and thanks for a brilliant trip. Paul

Decided Wednesday was the right time for a days fishathon, followed by a few hours kip, then pick up AlunJ for a night fish for some Soles. How many of you have left home and halfway to the mooring, had to go back for the boat keys ? I wasnt laughing much either.. Apart from that, everything went perfectly... a flat and smooth sea (now there's a change) , flooding spring tide to 1st HW and the ledge to myself. Found a few mackerel close in, then motored out to half way along the ledge, and fished no particular mark, just looked.... nice drop off.. and 15m of water. After a couple of hours, loads of dogfish, and a few sizeable bream, one fat mackerel, just on the HW turn, and using my last chunk of mackerel (frozen and not particularly the best) the rod just went into a savage hoop and I was into quite an express train. This I realised after a few minutes, wasnt going to pull up at the usual stop, and on a fixed spool reel telescopic spinning rod and size 1/0 hooks, I wasnt in the driving seat either! Eventually, and typically for a bass, it started to suface a long way off from the boat, and after some careful recovery of line , came surfing to the net looking really pi**%d off. It was really nicely hooked in the sissors and fortunately the small hook was secure. In the bottom of the boat, it looked amazing,a magnificently powerful and silver flanked predator, definitely a PB (Since recovering it from the fridge, it went 8lb 6oz), and only the second bass for me this season. Whats more, it was absolutely superb tasting. The best way to reflect on a PB, and a perfect late season day, I think. Sinbad

Hi Alun Was certainly a brilliant evening - as usual. Pity the moon didnt show quite enough.( thursday N was moonlit and surreal ). Trouble free steam out to the mark, and those double anchors seemed to stop us dragging this time ! I was more amazed we had zero tangles and a wide species variety, even if every time you said 'its slow isnt it' there was a bang...screeeeeee.... from the reel! Also trouble free recovery back at the mooring, and back in bed by 1230. Must admit, I was a tad bleary eyed come work time the following morning - but the session just had to be done! Soles are skinned and on the slab for tea Monday N....thank you. havent heard whether that other boat which steamed up to us from Hurst faired ? Paul.

have to agree how easy it is to launch and recover at Mudeford slip - only as a part time user, I dont fancy the car par charge very much (

Hey now, Following up a missed thread about PBSBAC membership and club records - Dont you get too worried, maybe you wouldnt want another in the club anyway - Alun's the jammiest fisher I know - never comes back without a fishbox full ! I'm just worried everytime Aluns been out on the ledge, that there's nothing left for me! I always enjoy hearing about whats been caught on the forum, member or not, as you say, it helps to influence trip planning, and what to target. Regards Paul

Thanks for all your offers- any other forecast and it would have been perfect. I'm sure the company of another boat would be good - we were struggling to make a decision between the two of us whether to move, must be awful when there's more than one boat ! I've got the rest of the week off, to sail Poole Week regatta - and guess what... blowing old boots....I was also planning a trip out, but just looked at metcheck - what a shower of sh**e that website is ! the good old BBC reckn its sunny and force 2 for wednesday, metcheck says its 18mph and pi**%&g down ! So I'll wait till the morning and stick my head out of the window - shold be more realistic !!!! On a serrious note, does anyone care enough to think about contacting the EA, this was a weekend, so may have been non-locals doing a bit of extra income moonlighting (without the moonlight) but you get my point. Paul

Hi Alun Hope the Plaice was tasty! I also enjoyed getting out - the early start to pull the boat off the mooring was a bit over the top, and then the night session following - to say I was a bit sleepy would be the understatement - however a very enjoyable, and interesting session it was. Both from the somewhat surreal experience of navigating by torchlight, and landmarks, to the unexpected weather conditions..... I'm surprised we managed any fish at all.... Anyway I was chuffed the steaming light didnt pack up, after all the 'maintenance' I gave it earlier, and everything seemed to work well on the boat. I'll remember to bring some starlights next time ! I was also amazed by the amount of boat activity at 2am in the morning, and those three blokes piling into that dodgy looking transit van after jumping off that boat ! You're most welcome anytime to try another session. We'll get those soles eventually ! Anyone else had much luck towards southbourne ? Regards Paul