Adam F

60 ltr - a 120 is an over kill, the 60 will hold 200 eels or about 30 macky.

Good work Trev - never considered using trout, didnt think the sea water would do any good! May be tapping you up for a few as the macky dissapear!

Rough guess - about the same - 2 speeds (decent) are a fortune, buying two reels also gives you more flexibility and you can have different braids on each on - a big 2 speed will be too big for drifting and light lining on a wreck.

I think the rules have changed in the past few weeks Duncan to allow members a greater window of oppertunity. Yes, it is the 7 hour window - but now between 6am and 6pm I think?

What type of wrecking Kam? I assume that if you want a fast retreave wrecking reel then you are talking about using it for working gills or shads over a wreck on the drift? If so then the Abu 7000 series take some beating for both speed and strength. If you want a beast of a reel for hauling big leads and fish in big tides then you wont want speed but low strong gears - a 2 speed reel is nice to have, but ask your self how often you will use this reel, how often youll need the 2 speeds and balance this against the high cost of one. I would recommend the Shimano TLD20 for this usage - reasonably priced and built like an outhouse, Penn do a similar jobbie.

Good question Kam. Generally reels with fast gear ratios tend to be used for lighter uses. Beach casting, or light boat work. Its a bit like a bike really. The high gears retreve line quickly but when pushed to retreave a heavy weight and quickly they cane easily give up - unless you have a very, very good quality reel. The lower/smaller geared reels are mainly used for boat fishing where heavyish leads are the norm. They retreave slightly slower but the low gearing means heavy weights and loads are not an issue.

Kod, When I re-engined my 165 last year and was shopping for engines all of the places I looked (new engines) were offering free fitting in an attempt to get me to buy. I went to Select Marine in Poole who sold me the engine for about the best rate I could find anywhere give or take a few quid, fitted it for free, are local if anything goes wrong in the future and threw in the first 60 hour service for nothing....downside is that they didnt replace the throttle box or any of the cables which I thought came with new engines - they just used the exisiting ones. Anyway - cant add much to the above. What engine will you go for? If its any help I went for a 60hp 4 stoke EFI Mariner. I am pleased with it but after having it for a year I think there are better on the market - if I did it again it would be either the 60/70hp Suzuki (mega quiet, soooo responsive and loads of low down torque) or the Etec - 75hp - as small as a 40hp Mariner and Paul at Warrior claims that these will push the 165 to 40 knots! Adam

Happy Birthday Mike - (Afishonado) you mad old dog you!!

Here we go - do your worst! - For those of you who dont know, its Bob F taking a dip on Sunday.

Finally downloaded a few piccies from Sunday, heres a stern view - us lot of motley so and so's amongst the shiney Fairlines!!

What length and guage chain are you using Steve? As Im sure you are aware it is not the anchor its self that actually has the majority of the holding power - you could have a 10kg anchor but if you didtn have any chain this would break free - the chain holds the flukes parallel to the sea bed and creates the holding power. I often anchor is rough conditions in deep water and big tides and have never had the anchor slip more than a few feet when it settles? There must be a reason considering the matched set-ups we both have??

Try this: http://www.grogono.com/knot/bowlineboating/indexL.php

Friday: Had a corporate day booked with Chris Caines from Weymouth. Plan was to go bassing, but the wrong tides and lack of sandeels put the stops on this. Instead we had a good day on the black bream, the clients had a good day and I bagged a 7lb Bull Huss. Sat: Tired from the day before, but still on the hunt for this years double figure bass. Gordon and I left Wick early en-route to the island. A fresh F4 Easterly wind against tide meant a slow bumpy ride and a lost rod and hat for Gordon Struggled to find joeys, all big fish. Drift speed was a little too slow and wind pushed us across the tide and wind was in the dreaded east - thats my excuse anyway! Apart from the bacon and egg baps we had in Alum Bay the day was useless no takes at all! Sunday: As you have read we had the family day out behind Brownsea - great fun! Out again Weds to try again! Adam

Rach and I had a cracking time and as all above had said we really must do it more - a cruise around to the West would be nice next time? Bob had his collar felt for a second time on the way back towing the ringo across the harbour - the Harbour Patrol on Jetski caught up with him!! I took a few good piccies which Ill post later when I get home. Adam

Steve, I have seen you comments on the 7.5kg before - As I mentioned I have never had an issue with my 5kg. Considering the exact matching of our set-up I wonder whether the polyprop rope is a factor? Many of our 20' plus boats in the club run a 7.5kg - the 165's are only 16' so a 5kg should be ample. We regulary fish south of the island and over to the west in 3/4 knot tides and provided enough warp is let out then it holds fine. Adam

Islander - I have a 165, and would recommend a 5kg Bruce, 16' of chain and at least 300' of 12mm qoctoplat rope. Their are several very long threads on this forum re. anchor warps, use the search engine on the top toolbar. In 2 years of owning the boat I have never had the 5kg Bruce slip and it recovers everytime - it also stores neatly in the front anchor hatch. Adam

Poppers; The bass wouldnt count then - they are a banned substance!!! You would also have to question the sexuality of the bass!!

Rach and I are planning to come along. We will launch from Baiter and call you up when we are out - where are you planning to go?

If you loose a bit more weight - you might get 20 knots!!!! Well done on the bass - Im up at the ungodly hour to try a again - report later.

Just heard the first report of the first whiting of the year caught in the Eastern Solent!! - Whats going on, I had only just started the summer species! Cod in a few weeks? Last year it was second week in October.

Same here - nothing heard from there website - trying ringing them it provokes a better response!

Just underneath the mouth there is a thinnish membrane with no muscle, here is the safest place - but if youre not confident then go for the net everytime.

Kam, Most skippers these days carry a big net for eels - yes they make the net a little slimey, but if the fish is half decent ask the skipper - it would be unusual for any of them to refuse you a photo. They used to gaff them, but unless you are proficiant with a gaff (i.e able to neatly gaff it under the chin causing the fish little damage) then they are beastly tools which can easily kill an eel. The reason most are T-barred off if that it is the kindest to the fish causing it least stress. On BW - we T-bar most of them off at the side. If they are a decent size up to 40lb we net them, if they are over this then they are gaffed very carefully. Adam

HMmmm - this happned last year....about the time of the Ray comp if I remember correctly - bit fuzzy, but didnt a few boats get caught out at Kimmeridge when the back end of the storm reached UK shores??>...... Ill be staying home that weekend!

Mike is right - keeping th cost down is tricky for this type of item. Flexicovers in Poole are worth a try. www.flexicovers.co.uk AF