Adam F

Yep, but Im off fishing tomorrow at about 6 - will be home about 4 ish, give me a call. Cheers

That about covers it Kam. Although in 20 years of fishing I have NEVER had a swivel break and being a tight wad only buy basic cheap swivels. I just make sure I use the right size for the job in hand.

As I mentioned I have hundreds, but the only problem is my CD writer is up the creek at the moment... Paul D - If you could pop in one night on the way home and have a look it would be appreciated??

Did we? I dont remember???

Loyal Royal has gone. I think Mark may post the details, but it has been sold to a chap from Burnham. Adam

Sam, I have sent a few photos to your Dad's (your home?) email address from Alderney and a few of BW. I have about 500 club photos on my system from all the srticles if you need something specific let me know, chances are Ill have it. Adam

Will, Head for Sowley Boom for smoothies to squid and peeler and small bream to worms. Rays to mackerel and the odd bass thrown in. Smaller tides are better as less weed = more fishing time. It is marked on the charts and clearly visable. Look for the stakes in the water stretching towards the IOW, fishing about 1/4 mile off the end of them in about 25-30'. Launch at Lymington. If you want marks for Chritchurch, send me a PM and Ill dig a few out for you. Adam

Two methods for tope (big or small) make sure you have the deck clear as they are capable of breaking rods and legs with their powerful tail! Either - take hold of the tail root with one hand and the dorsal with the other and 'absorb' the bucks and kicks, or lay them on the deck and sit astride the fish BUT NOT ON IT to subdue it. Better still, T Bar them off at the edge, the barbless hooks you have been using will slip straight out.....!

One for me please Bob. Ta Adam

Blimey! New boats everyday at PBSBAC!! She's lovely Mike - Im sure youll have many happy hours in her, and if I might say, a cracking choice of hull! We came 22 miles back in from the rips yesterday in BW, a SE 3/4 and she sat at 18-20 knots all the way back to the chain ferry. As she is similar to BW let me know if you have any questions re. the fit out and/or the little mods we all like to make. Adam

He's and old hand at all of this now - he already has one and has perfected the perfect set-up....baby starts crying at 4am, james is already up, feeds the baby changes nappy - now 5am, sun is up, james is in the car boat in tow....spends all day fishing while 'the other half' does baby duties than comes home to join the other 2 for feeds and sleeps!!.....

Having got the taste for fishing mid-channel last week, Martin and I decided to have a crack again yesterday as the forecast looked reasonable. Bob F was on Maverick and I had Gordon with me. A late start as the flood wasnt until the afternoon saw us wizzing across the bay towards France at 20 knots - it was so smooth Gordon drove and I cooked the breakfast - like a sheet of silk it was! Record time to the mark, and quickly down on a differnet spot rekoned to be good for a cod - hit the bottom,1 jig - nothing, 2nd jig - Bang, cod on! About 7/8lb it was the best of the day and I foolishly said to Gordon that after that we would stuggle - how right I was!! We ended up with 5 cod and 6 pollock for the day, with the best 2 pollock going about 9lb. The wind picked up in the afternoon to about a 3/4 but again it was still smoother way out than around the headlands on the way back in. Another good day - would just be nice to locate a few of the bigger cod that we read about so frequently, are they really that uncommon or are we just fishing the wrong parts?? Anyway off to Majorca for a week now, maybe another trip when I get back!! Adam

Didnt have time to post this yesterday - but had a call from James on Friday night at 1.30am....he must be out congering I thought...he wasnt....but he sure enough he had one to book in: A baby girl born at 12.30am Saturday morning - 10lbs... Sophie Anna Parker (I think) He sounded over the moon, but Im not sure if this was the new family member or the fact he now has 2 week paternity leave to go fishing!!

Many happy returns of the day to Bob F - Alun J and Alan Lake (Domino) I think you are all fishing today - what a birthday! Lets just hope we find a few cod! Strange that we have 3 birthdays together - what happned so special 9 months ago????

Wedger, Nice Boat!!! Im impressed! I also have been considering an MI21, so would love to pinch a trip out one day if I may?? They have a great reputation for speed and seaworthyness...what engine does she have?? Adam

I agree with Mike that Baiter is a bad slipway, bit is is quite sound and in good condition unlike other slips and its shallow nature makes it a little less prone to some of the errors than can happen on steep slips. It can be a pig to launch, but I find it OK - at the recent burnham comp we launched over 20 boats in an hour up to 22' in length without too much hastle. Adam

Charlie - Good question.... Basically they are fished the same as Redgills. A 'flying collar' rig is used - which consists of a long boom (tube, french etc) about 12" long - this keeps the long trace from tangling with the main line. The trace length does vary though. For the leadhead shads (Stormies etc) fished traditioanlly, a 8-15' trace is used and they are fish like a gill. Drop down to the bottom and retreave at a medium slow pace about 20-40 turns depending on the depth of water. This method is generally used for Pollock as they swim higher in the water than the cod. Twin Tails and the other rubbers (inc shads as well) for cod are fished hopper style. A very short - 2-4' trace is used and the rig is literally 'hopped' across the bottom. I.e - tap down and then lift and bounce, maintaining contact each 2/3 strokes with the wreck or seabed - this tends to bring the cod. Hope this helps.

Mine on the blue/clear 4" shad.

It is amazing how fuel is affected. On the way out revs were lower as was speed but due to having to constantly use the throttle in the swell I used 25 ltrs. On the way back we cruised at 18-20 knots at 4800 rpm and used 20 ltrs - flatter sea.

I wouldnt mind - this will be my last weekend for 3 weeks as Im off on holiday. The wind is looking a little fresh at the moment though?? What are the tides? The fuel I used aint actually that bad. Split between 2 if us it is only

We fished a slightly shallower mark in the Hurd Deeps last year. At slack tide it was crawling with conger and ling - but after winding 2 or 3 fish in most of us sat down to have some lunch - winding 30-40lb of fish 370ft is hard work!! Kam - you wont fancy the Deeps, if you thought the Rips were a long way! They are just North of the Channel Islands.

Can I up my order? The Rips took their toll on my Stormy supply! New order: 4 packs of 4" Shads (2 x Blue mackerel ones and 2x Green and Orange 'perch' ones) 1 pack of Sandeels. Ta Adam

You kept that one a bit quite Martin!!! It is a tricky one and I now find myself physically checking whenever I fill Rach's car or the boat with fuel - driving a diesel it is easy done!! Didi you extract the fuel yourself or was it a mechanics job??

Well, I found the trip on Saturday a real experiance. Previously I didnt think that it was possible for a 16' boat to fish 20-25 miles offshore near the middle of the English Channel! It showed that a bit of planning to cover the risks invloved (a number of boats, a good forecast and plenty of saftey gear) could make this possible. Whilst this is on the very upper limit of operating range for me and BW, I would certianly like to repeat the trip this year whilst the Cod are still around. When do they go? Is anyone else up for making another voyage out there in the next few months??

Please find the following link to the write-up on the clubs 48hr Specimen Hunt this weekend. Paul D - Can you put this on the main page? I have emailed it to you with a few photos. Adam