Adam F

Al, I reckon you are correct - I think the smart tabs are rates up to 2 ton (ish) and 25' - your Ok there.... Bennet Trim Tabs are the way to go IMHO for an Aquafish. Hydraulic and adjustable they would make a big difference - speak to Tom, Im sure he has just had a set fitted to his 25' Jenneau. Must admit was so tempted by an Aquafish or similar this year - in the end just couldnt make my mind up and justify it - so am sticking with what I have - main reason is to be mobile and fish different ports. Would love a trip out sometime though....(subtle hint!!)

Weather is looking good for Friday and Sat at the moment. Tides big this w/e - whos planning what? Im thinking of another foray to Weymouth? Anyone fancy joining the convoy? Sun and Mon looking a little windy - may try for an early bass on the fly on Mon early morn? Adam

Nice one Al - how is the boat - pleased with it?

This is the chap who was angling to tag along with you to Alderney this year Tom?? From Worldseafishing by any chance?

By the look of it I reckon it is a skin fitting with the main body of the unit outside of the barrel - if so I would be very interested in one.

Billy - your right. The launce were huge - a good 8" plus, the pollock takes were very plucky, requiring several hits before they found the hook. The smaller 4" Storm lures did the business every time - I was a bit reluctant last year abiut these - but an 100% convinced now. No, you would know as much as me then! Adam

Alan, Mine ended up this way as I am a victim of the measure it once, cut it once and then regret it! I didnt really think, it was only afterwards I thought that the inlet should have gone low. In hindsight it was the correct choice. The 360 isnt powerful enough to bottom feed a 60l head of water - In the top it creates a nice load of areating bubbles and flows srtongly. All of the charter and commercial models I have seen are also rigged this way. As Tom says a few have a ring of hose, with holes around the rim, but Im not too sure this makes alot of difference. I am 100% happy with mine and would do it exactly the same if I did it again. Let me know if you want anymore advice. Adam

and mine...

Gordons plaice...

First trip of the year today for James, Gordon and I. Forecast was good, so off to the Shambles it was. A nice early launch at 7am and soon zipping across to the bank. Noticable today was the trim tabs - much better test conditions than last week - bascially they do what they say on the tin. We had over 25 knots on the way out today - faster than usual by about 1/2 knots. The ride was so much better and we cruised at 18 knots all the way out, despite it kicking up a little offshore. Chatting to Chris on the quay before we left it appreared the bank has not been fishing - it looked perfect - water was amazingly clear - we could clearly see the bottom on the shallow areas of the bank under 30' - water temp was also near the magic number - 7.8 degs. Our perfectly presented baits remain untouched all morning, the radio was deathly silent and we tried all areas - nothing. We feather up a few fat launce on the morning slack so decided to mouch off about 11am to get a bend in the rod. 1st drift on the mark and BANG! a crash diving beauty hit hard - this is how it continued for about an hour with a pollock take evry cast - great fun....the best went 6lb 8oz. Fish came to live launce, but the storm sandeels out perfomed even the live bait! 10 turns slowly off the bottom on a 6' trace. We lost count in the end of how many! We headed back over to the bank to try and catch the target species - ol' red spots. A bacon butty and tea later and Gordon bags the first of the day - at just under 1lb - followed by me next cast with a similar sized fish. Dawn Raider then added another to the tally and things looked to be improving - short lived Im afriad - that was it for the day. Weather was superb until abotu 4pm when a few sqaulls moevd in so back in and home for 6pm. A good start to the season - roll on easter! Adam

Trev, Their is a set-up procedure - you need to tell the GPS to talk to the VHF. Their is usually a menu section on the GPS that lets you select the NMEA output from the GPS to the VHF. Have a look at this - failing that - Bob 'mr electronics' Fuller will be long shortly. Adam

Yeah....see the catch reports section from last weekend '1st trip for 2 months' I have done a pretty detailed report on them - but ask away if any Q's.

Alan, Try Pete Trew at Quay West Chandlers down at Mitchells - he is a supporter of the club and will usuall give you a bit if discount. Adam

Andy, I have a 14 on at the moment - prior to fitting the tabs the max WOT i could get was 5200 rpm - now with the tabs fitted - I can get 5800-5900 so I reckon that is about optimum. Adam

....Or read this forum!!

It is unlikey that the weather is too bad to retreave - if it was that bad then you would never get back in the run - Wick is very sheltered. Adam

Reg, I didnt bother - I have a SS transom step on the boat and that hasnt been effected in 5 years... Adam

Showing 2 transducers and my livebait pump.

Full transom view

Yes, they did help - hard to tell when such aweful conditions, but their was a definate effect. I think youre right - they do have a similar effect to the doelfins, but they leave the engine unhindered as the tabs are independant - they also dont detract from the top speed as they dont create drag.

Launched from a very windy baiter at 10.00am this morning - reckon it was gusting F7/8!! We forget to get bait was too busy chatting on the way down, but as it was so windy it was probably for the best. The plan was to try the trim tabs, check the windows for leaks, make sure the new keel band wasnt going to fall off and generally check A.OK for the season ahead. First off the windows are GREAT!! Off the slip into very steep 4/5' waves which almost came over the top, the windows 1.) didnt leak (always a bonus!) and 2.) they clear SO fast - just like glass - its a real pleaure to have crystal clear vision again. Now to the trim tabs. Running over to the back of Brownsea for sheltered water the ride seemed smoother - it was as rough as I have ever been out in Poole harbour but we still managed 14 knots into the teeth of it - yeah it was bumpy, but she didnt slam like usual - basically the tabs were keeping the noise down which meant the pointy bit of the keel was working more efficiantly - usually the bow rises and becomes less effective - top speed was effected though - with 18 knots (usually 24 flat out). We found a lovely sheltered beach off Brownsea and beached her to make ammendments. The two varibles are 1.) Trim tab angle in relation to the hull (20-30 degs) and acctuator pressure adjustment. In hindsight we should have been more scientific and recorded the settings and timings / speed. We tried all extremes - 1.) Tabs low and pressure low 2.) Tabs low and pressure high 3.) Tabs High and pressure low 4.) Tabs high and pressure high. The best setting seemed to be tabs low (30 degs) and pressure low - it was hard to judge but it felt the best - we planned quicker even with Gordon sat on the transom - and top speed was uneffected - the ride was also better and smoother. The most noticable effect though was how much futher I could trim the engine out - christ, it almost felt like it was going to leave the water - this was a big benefit and enabled me to use the engine trim alot more to alter the speed and ride of the boat - the tabs did all the lifting. It needs a little further fine tuning, but I wouls say that it was

Cheers Al - quite helpful. They have been very low (high?) this winter - begs the question - what where you doing at 7.30 this morning - out on the boat??

There is also a link somewhere (Mars?) where you can search for your boat and mmsi and it gives all the details. Someone else will post it as Im in a hurry - but check here - it that draws a blank youll have to contact OFCOM who will arrange for a new one to be set up. Adam

Im out tomorrw in the harbour for a little play - work is v.busy this week though...

Thanks guys - very touching. Ive had a great day thanks - shame about the weather - was looking forward to a trip out tomorrow. Got a fly rod from Rach to add to the collection - just need to christen it now. ....and not one April fools joke - which is a first!