great white

Cool mate CU out there

Hi Mike not sure why you are not launching from Weymouth, its a much nicer/calmer slip with better access etc etc But you probably have good reasons Hope you get crew and have a good one Charlie

Hi Nige Have a good one mate it looks like good weather early in teh meeting. I wish I had been able to sort out the time off, but Alderney took priority. I hope you get some fish and have as much fun as we did Tight lines Charlie

Good luck Colin and Bobbi You certainly have a good day for the maiden voyage Charlie

Hi Ben I will reply shortly Adam please tell Ian to give me a call on 6, then we can offer cover for each other just in case, No Pass then mate? Keeping her sweet for another trip to the islands Charlie

We like the look of the small tides and weather forecast [so far] looks good for Sat The boys and I may well pop out to see if the toothy boys have arrived on our side of the channel yet , other plans may also develope further offshore Is anyone else going out? I need to be back very early evening so it will be early start I expect At the moment I have space for one more, you know the drill, if you fancy it just get in touch and I will get back to you. Charlie

Not sure about this, it may have more about it than we think initialy . But after the recent Alderney trip I have given it some thought and already discussed it with others. when on the wrecks we had several occasions when the fishing started well then every drift got worse. On one mark the first drift all four rods were in, then on subsequant drifts zero. an adjacent boat also reported that his fishfinder was being blanked with interferance from mine every time we got close. There may be more to this than we think, I will see if the sounder can be turned off next time, although on a combi unit I will have to look into that. I could drift with plotter alone but not without both. Charlie

Hi Tom sending the emails really slowed the PC , but I thought yours and Terry's went eventually Never mind I will put them on my memory stick and Dan or I will pop them in to you Charlie

Hi Tom Did you get the ones I sent yoiu of your boat? I will copy mine from the trip to a memory stick and pop over with it, there are a couple that may be of interest. We had the same last year, I sent the pictures to the sea fishing paper and let them choose, I think that they chose a lot of mine to be polite, where I would have picked a better selection. My advice would be be a bit selective in what you send them. All good PR though Charlie

Happy birthday Sam To the pub ??

YOU ARE BOTH GROUNDED

This trick was shown to us by the man himself, when he came with us in 2008. used again in 2009 and recently, it also added a few fish to our net. Nice one and thanks for sharing Charlie

Do we Fancy it? YES YES YES is it the best way to fish the 48hr comp? MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM not sure Can I get a pass, organise crew and afford it? is my bigest doubt Charlie

Great report mate What a way to pick up a few tips and get your first channel crossing in. Happy to be there when you needed us, which was not much. As Dave was taking good care of you. Top man. Is Jackie fed up of hearing about it yet? Charlie

I have an old but very good Raymarine pathfinder set. But I believe Adam is very pleased with his more modern Lowrance set. I am sure that has a more streamline display. I know those of us that had them were using them last weekend, and I for one was very pleased to have it. It may be down to matching it to other things on the boat so they can talk to each other. Charlie

Just been through that album in slideshow Truely excellent shots mate, of the boats and the fishing on various boats I will take you up on the offer of full def shots, do you want to transfer them to a memory stick? I will return the favour if anyone wants any of the ones I have Charlie

I could not get all the pictures I wanted too on one report so I have added a few more, that I put on the gallery last night. I hope I left room for others to add some bits of their own memories of the trip [Happy Hooker??] and pictures Ben's first taste of Alderney Tope fishing Craig giving one some stick Specimen Huss Double hook ups Quest 2 close up Joint Venture on her way back up the banks Six Club boats , a long way from home on one wreck. White Magic fish on Starting to get my energy back now Charlie

Nice one Mate, what a great part of an excellent trip When do the big ones arrive, and are we going?? get some bigger scales I know Adam did Charlie

well the weather settled into a pattern and the trip was on, tides a little earlier so it was an early gathering at Aunt Betty 0530. then push on for the various plans. Ours was a 35 mile non stop run to wreck 1, then its feathers for macs and flying collars. success with both species Fishing slowed and we thought a little anchor time. sat uptide of the wreck at the right spot but only small eels. up sticks and more off course to mark no 2 some deep spots, run along at 60 metres , it drops to 63, Dan says thats not much of a hole Dad just as it dropped like a stone to 79metres. Hoping for cod /ling we drift, plenty of pollack but little else. We set off for a rocky spot punching some tide just as the first of many excellent lunches was ready, as we had 3 knots against we ate at a slow speed rather than stop, as Tope were calling. Clean plates, push the throttle and off to join the others We arrived just as Craig was into his first by the time he had that onboard [after some encouragement from Will} Ben was also enjoying the fun. we had a few on the drift, but as the anchor was ready we put it in, then came the most hectic session of the trip, many double hook ups Terry first ever tope Dans 37lb fought well Its good to be back Then Dan had the first PB of the trip [also beating Mine and Sams best ever] 46lb we run out of mackeral so change to squid, some tope but mostly Huss including another PB to dan at 11lb All too soon the time comes to run to Braye Its been a long Day, but we haul ourselves to various digs then up the hill to the Marais Hall. for story's and steaks. Day 2 0630 Breakfast onboard in nice weather Off to the schole 1st stop for mackeral, instant success arrive at bank turbot gear deployed, smaller feathers attached we started to get launce the two turbot in 10 mins To be honest it was a great start, but the fishing slowed. we had far too many dogs and the odd flatty But in excellent weather, some great banter with our crew and others, another great lunch of chicken curry, we could not resist a play following a call for a photo shoot and fly pasts. by 1500 we had six turbots and half a bucket of mackeral, as had others so guess what its Tope time, lets go North at 25 knots Fishing was great again, several fish to all, including that boy again beating his best at 47lb. A Call from Adam that the moorings was booked for 1930 saw a late arrival in braye and a rushed shower. More tales to swap and beer to swill. Day 3 Poorer weather slower start with a shopping trip to Marks caravan, place the Duty Free order then Toping This time we struggled on the drift, at a differant stage of the tide, a couple of fish were not enough to keep us from the banks closer to Braye. We had three fish before a very cold fog arrived and the wind over tide really had some seas going. I had picked up a cold and was struggling, but could see others on teh boat also looked cold and Glum so we called time and headed in. a slow Run to the inner harbour for fuel and fresh water. we then warmed up in the Sun and were totaly spoilt by Will's Salmon Salad with honey mustard dressing, Strawberries and Cream and cold beer from the cooler. It may not have been fishing but it was fun, in the now sunny harbour. Other boats had more fish, before our meeting in the Harbour lights for a nice meal, nice to have Mark join us to discuss the finer points of life on the Island and his struggle with burocracy. Day 4 Plan was to skip breakfast to make early tide. I awoke at 0600 to white horses in the harbour and thick fog a quick word to dan to stay in bed and a call to Will not to miss breakfast in the B and B Then its the first of many gatherings to discuss ever changing plans. Moral was not high but the teapot stayed hot. Steve Porter was taking his cew home anyway and called Dave to say that outside the weather was good, so just before 10 we nosed out to the swinge, For the first time I can ever remember it was calmer than the harbour. I had decided to look for a big lump to the west, we found it then I found that all six had the same plan and it got a little busy.we had a few small fish Off to No 2 This was better more fish and a few good ones heading for doubles, Then Terry had the best one I have seen for a while later weighed after bleeding it went 16lb 8 I had a PB on Alfresco 14lb We were on the pollack so at slack went to another to try slack for ling. we joined three of our boats, we landed and saw them land more pollack but no Ling/cod for us [ Back to No 2 for the start of the ebb more pollack mark 4 more pollack then a last few drifts on a favorite cod mark blanked. We had done some miles and some hours to make up for Thursday so at about 1900 Quest 2 and Alfresco headed for home Tired but happy with some good fish from the trip, some tales to tell It has been a good one all six boats helping each other, with help also from friends on Weymouth and Poole charter boats . We boosted business for Mainbrayce, Alderney Angling, Marais Hall, Moorings Hotel, various B and B's and the Harbour lights to name but a few. I believe that we spent a fair bit on the island between us and hope that this could be used by Mark as an example in his struggle to get the powers that be in the islands, to recognise the value of RSA's to their economy. Thanks to all that came Those at home wishing us well and especially Dan Will and Terry for making it another great trip. Will your cooking is worth the trip on its own and I probably bored the other crews telling them so I will edit with pictures later Charlie Charlie

That was busy and a little tiring It may take a time to make full report, we missed a bit of Sat and went for it yesterday. arrived home at about 10 Charlie ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tight lines ther were a good No of decent fish caught last weekend Charlie

I will be letting everyone know what I do Charlie

I believe Terry has booked the meal for Sat evening which sounds good as it could be the breezy day so a return to fuel and get a chance to shower and change. We are up for the raft BBQ if others are. Fri/Sat not a problem My thoughts to head slightly east on way out, west on the way back. But I will make a call to a few contacts while we are there to check what is caught nearer to home on Thursday. That may alter our return plans but not by much. We are getting keen now, but not on hearing a 4.30 alarm Warning to Alfresco crew, do not expect conversation with Dan at that time in the morning, you may get a grunt if you are lucky Charlie

Best spots for the bigger boys around here are in deep water 35m plus, around to the west. Some anglers get them on the drift, but as Coddy says it would be a fair paddle, needs perfect weather and I suggest need a safety boat for cover hard work in a Kayak But I have had some up to 40lb just outside Dancing ledge Plenty of small ones on the Dolphin Bank, which is where you described I expect. Charlie

Cracking trip on any boat let alone a Kayak What a brute of a fish, well done guys, the big ones always look that bronze colour I have found the comparison between length and girth a good rough guide but not 100% and not easy to measure the buggers as they will not stay still long. No other choice on a Kayak though. Good angling, wish we could get that stamp of fish around here still. we are going accross channel to see if we can find some. Charlie