Adam F

Returned alive;

Best of the year for me: 10lb 14oz

With things so busy both with work and social calander I had consigned myself to the fact that my next trip would be mid october for the whiting etc... Then I took a call from a client who cancelled a meeting in London this morning - so what did I do? Go to the office for paperwork, or take a few hours off and squeeze in a last gasp bass trip - in hope of the ellusive double that have evaded me all year.... Needed to get back early as had afternoon appointments, so with Gordon in tow we launched BW in the dark at 5.00am into a rapidly emptying Christchurch harbour. We knew it would be tight to get out as it is still big springs this week, but wernt prepared for the mere 12" that greeted up in the pitch black at the bar.....we were doing 6 knots in neutral, so when we hit the gravel we hopped out expecting to be able to just pull BW over the gravel - we didint expect the tide to still push the boat though - so with both of us hanging ontot he boat we were swept along for 20 yards before it deepened off - sounds more dramatic than it was, but the hull took a few scrapes again! Out at sea the mackerel were proving hard as others had said, then Gordon hooked a full string that was taking line! Up pops a nice 4lb bass! We then moved out to the mark, were thankfully the tide had begun to flood and the mackerel were on the feed, a mixture of joeys and jumbos. It all looked perfect - the tide was big, the drift speed over 2 knots (3.2 max actually) and the wind just a gentle F1 S in the morning air - surely the bass would be crawling up the line?....Nope! After about a dozen drifts without a take and a dozen lost leads and tackle later I contacted a fish....no the bottom....no - a fish!! This felt like a real beast and fought deep and hard from the outset - several times I got the leader to the tip only for it to drive back to the bottom - we drifted 1/4 mile whilst I played her - finally the lead appeared alongside the boat - the fish underneath, and we both peared under to catch the first glimpse of the fish - then out she popped and into the net 1st time - a real beast of a silver bar! I wanted to return her so we took a few snaps then weighed her taking the bottom weight - before slipping her back, where she swam off powerfully. She went 10lb 14oz! Unfortunatly that was it for the morning and that mark - we finished off on another new mark and I took a 2lber on a Wildeye Eel - a 1st for me, then back on the slip for 10am, and back at work by 12! A great morning, well worth missing a meeting for! Adam

I would have to agree with you Duncan - although I did have a similar initial thought to Dan when I first saw the picture. In general I am not a fan of a group of anglers holding masses of fish - far better, a decent framed, good quality picture of an angler holding a fresh, clean fish straight from the sea - bloody, faded fish esp. in numbers do not give the sport a good impression to non anglers. It seems some skippers, sites, anglers, mags etc have caught onto this, and I think decent pictures promoting the sport are more commonplace. Adam

Seems a fair price for a cracking boat - a little out of my league until next year...but Im sure someone will snap it up at that price. AF

Seen them Steve - I like you like tinkering and was trying to think of a way to make my own - the frame looks easy enough it was just the ramps / entry holes I was considering. I have read that the season has pretty much ended on the South coast though and potters dont bother during the winter as the weather is too unpredictable and a ground swell can easily loose your pots... Adam

Went to the Boat Show yesterday with Gordon for a look around. Pretty much same as every other year to be honest, but we had free tickets so it was worth a few hours. Good things: Cheetah Catamarans, had a good 30 mins chat to the guys and were really helpful. A little out of my next price range and slightly more expensive length of length than the usual angling boats, but what a piece of kit. They had the 6.2m std wheelhouse at the show, and the deck was HUGE! With relitively small engines (2x 40hp Suzuki's) he said it still pushed 28 knots! They were also very flexible to build whatever the client wanted. I then spent another half hour on the Pirate stand looking at the Pirate 21 - a cracking boat, again the same willingness to build for the client, and loads of nice touches. Again a little out of my budget, especially as he wouldnt do a part build for home completion - but we will see how things lie next year.... Bad things: Warrior again didnt have the promised wheelhouse boat - it looks as though this will not be coming?.... Osprey Boats (redfinn) as last year were very unhelpful - the two chaps just sat in the wheelhouses of the two boats one reading the paper the other on the phone - great customer attention - not. Adam

Just been browsing the net and found this: http://www.qsl.net/m0pmb/potting/shellfishing.html Been meaning to try it for a few years now - may just get a pot over the winter ready for the spring? Adam

Too busy at the moment to get BW out so she's having a well earned rest, but had a corporate day out on Thurs... With our regular beat of the Test now belonging to the National Trust we have had to look at other venues, so this time it was nice and close to home for me - Rockbourne Trout Fishery. A good start in the immaculate barn Jeff has created with bot tea and bacon rolls! The complex has 6 lakes and about 1/4 mile of chalk stream with wild browns. The who complex is lovely and secluded and very picturesque. To sum up it rained most of the day, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and more importantly so did my clients. Total catch for me was 4 lovely 3lb plus rainbows all taken on a 8' 4 weight rod, 3lb tippet and damsels nympths. One was eaten that night pan fried with Garlic and bacon - a classic recipie. Two were given away to friends and family and the other is sitting in the fridge for a week as Gravad Lax! Mmmmmmm!!!! Adam

Well done guys! It was Rachaels and James birthday this weekend so no fishing for me - sat in the garden doing family stuff today watching my 'wind tree' not moving at all whilst the sun beat down! Martin - welcome to the fun of retreaving at LW at Wick! Its a great slip at HW but anything lower than 1hr plus it is a real sod - thats with BW, I imagine you had real fun with Maverick! AF

Trev, I know a good home from them if you ever have a glut on your hands! in a white wine and cream sauce tossed in pasta, or cooked with garlic and chilli! Almost as good as lobster or big fat prawns! Mmmmm!

Happy Birthday mate - have a good-un', shame we arent out fishing!

I dont bother heating the moulds - I just cast away - the first one may come out a little misformed but generally once one has been done it will be warm enough. I use a thick pair of quality welding gloves to handle the moulds - this means I can empty the mould whilst still hot ready for another shot. The coleman stove is ace, and much cheaper and more pwerful than gas - it takes 20p of unleaded to fill the small tank and will run for way over an hour - once hot and depending on the sixe of the melting pit only takes abou 2 mins to melt 6oz of lead. It is a Coleman Sportster Stove. I have a teaspoon bolted to a length of alu. tube and bent at 90 degs to remove the dross from the pan.

Drop nose pin should do it - most chandlers do them. http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/ProductDeta...ategoryID/54/v/ Thread here: http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?sh...=15entry12579 AF

I have a Charter Special 1000 and love it to pieces - a little 'rougher' than the silky Abus but tough as they come. I have a TLD15 which I think is my best all round reel - drifting live eels for bass or fishing several squid on 2lb of lead it is equally happy - no level wind though, but as D says you learnt to live without. Finally I have the TLD20 which is the latest aquisition. Yes it is a big reel, but solid, doesnt get used much - only deep water rays tope and conger - but when you need a tool for this job it is the nuts. In comparison I have the Titus TG30(50?) which is a lovelly looking reel and works well, but the alloy frame doesnt like salt water dispite washing and WD40 every trip - 6 months after having it I had to DRILL the retaining screws out to service it - not nice on a

A topic which I guess we all had to consider when we fished for rays last weekend - and hopefully one that will spur a decent and interesting thread. My take on it is thus (mainly based upon watercraft gained freshwater fishing) and is not meant to be a right or wrong way, but just a base to begin from. Take a big bank like the dozens of offshore banks we have around Poole/Christchurch and Weymouth. It comes from 110' up to 80' and then back down to 100' within 500-1000 yards. Where are the fish/rays likely to be? Will they be at the front of the bank (many fish like a bit of tide - bass for example) will they bit at the top of the bank catching food as it reaches the highest point of the bank, or will they sit in the slacker deeper water at the back intercepting food as it is washed over and sitting in the slacker water expending less energy? Over the years I have taken fish from all parts of banks / reefs and therefore havent really come to a conclusion - what do others think? Discuss....

Duncan, Suits me - it is just too big for BW. Let me know what you have and when you want to change them. AF

Admittedly we didnt get the chance to test it out on such a fine Ray as Alun's but we were armed with 30-50lb class rods, 30lb braided mainline and 150lb traces to Varivas barbless 7/0 hooks. We were in 110' with a fair tide and 1-1.5lb of lead - Im sure we would have needed this gear of we hooked anything near 20lb - the heavy traceline was to safeguard against Tope - which Im glad we did! The heavy line didnt seem to put off the rays and made sure we saftely landed and returned these magnificent fish. Thats it for me now until Oct! next trip will proably be for cod!!

BW and Dawn Raider started whilst it was dark this morning and launched from Weymouth at 6.30am. The wind was much more than we expected and the slate grey skies made me think that a lumpy bumpy day was in store - but once at anchor it didnt seen too bad. My mark produced from the off - target species as well - Blondes, Undulates and Spotted rays all came to the net within the first 2 hours - in total we had 4 on BW (making 8 rays in total for the two boats) best on BW went 12lb 14oz Undulate to Gordon who also had a 3lb 12oz Spotted. My best was a 10lb 8oz Undulate - all lovely fish. The tope then arrived, and dispite not being target fish provided Gordon and I some electric sport for well over an hour - four fish on at once - screaming takes - searing runs - two tope on the deck and playing another......we had about 20 fish between us best going 20lb. The tide then swang to ebb and dispite trying a few other marks they didnt produce so we called it a day at 3pm and headed home. Nice to do something different - but the big blonde still eludes me!! AF

Glad you had a safe and enjoyable experiance Terry. You were right to anchor. The sole are around for at least another month or so - the best months I feel. As we had a very early start this morning I lay awake at 3.00am listening to the wind growing - but assumed you would be home by then! Next time maybe we will go congering - and we can buddy our two boats up? Adam

You now have the numbers. The spotlight you have on the top of the cuddy will probably be more of a hendernace then a help - the beam has a tendancy to reflect off the white cuddy roof, blind you and ruin your night vision. We steam back to the entrance using night sight only - its surprising what you can see at night when your eyes become adjusted. When in the harbour I get the crew to use the spot, but either held very high out og sight line or around the side of the cuddy.

Terry, You have a PM. As for night fishing from Wick and in general, tell me if im teaching egg sucking, but here are my tips from experiance. Have plenty of light - a headtorch is a must as it helps baiting up etc. A camping lantern or similar is also good - I have 2 x 12" flouro tubes in the cuddy of BW - whatever you do dont use a petrol or parrafin lamp - dangerous on a small boat at night. The sole grounds are OK with regards to pot buoys but as you know Xchurch harbour is very shallow and at night the buoys are almost impossible to spot - we take a 1,000,000 candle power search lamp - using this in conjunction with the plotter ensures you stay in the channel. It is worth radioing Solent CG on 73 to advise him of your passage plan - at least then if anything happens he knows you are out there - not essential during the day when other boats are around and you can be seen, but a different ball game at night. But in general night fishing can be exceptional and pretty good fun too - be safe and let us know what you caught! Adam

I have a 24" blue and white fender for sale, I think they are about

Correct

Im not jealous! ...much!!