great white

Hi Joe welcome aboard Please join in and enjoy the forum Happy New Year Charlie Sam and Dan

Nice one Paul obviously the scent traill worked, keeping up a very good record for Phaeton in the comps. I believe Neil Bryan and Frank also got Cod So out of Five, Three were caught by Members of PBSBAC from private boats Nice one Guys well done and well done to the skippers for getting to the fish I hope that gets a mention in the results Charlie

I heard that at least two of our boats had cod onboard but am awaiting a call after the prizegiving No doubt someone who fished will enlighten those of us who could not.. Charlie

Hi all Still do not like tying the rope off at the bow and then motering over the warp. I personally use the large springing cleat one my own boat, and my previous 18ft Dory with an OBM. but not all boats have a big enough cleat for this. Tying off on the side cleat with the anchor jammed can be more dangerous than being stern too as it makes the boat list and lowers the freeboard, The rope is not tied it is belayed around the cleat so it can be released even under full tension. [ and a knife is handy just in case] Although my boat is bigger the power unit is not huge so occasionally when the anchor was stuck the boat has swung onto the very tight warp, releasing the warp and allowing it to run allows the boat to be turned and motored into the tide while the warp is again belayed off and another attempt is made to lift the anchor. If it goes wrong again, I have even let all the warp go, There is a 9" buoy on the end that will not pass through the 8" alderney ring. We then drift away and decide on the next plan. Drift fish and await slack water is a good one or brief the crew and motor up to the warp, lift it in with the boathook take in as much as possible then belay off and try again running into the tide is another. The main point must be never do anything that you are not confident of, always brief your crew on what you are going to try and do and have tel them what you are going to do if the plan does not work and most importantly assess the risks and assess wether saving kit is worth the risk. IT IS NOT if you are not 100% SURE YOU HAVE THE SKILL AND EXPERIANCE TO DO IT SAFELY Be safe Charlie

Sorry Kam Not sure that I agree with your advice about tying off at the Bow Sounds a sure fired method of making sure that you have to have the warp under the hull and close to the prop to me, if the anchors stuck the boat will spin and sods law will make it spin the wrong way. a very fast spin could even jettison yourself or a crew member. and it would be a very bad time for a man overboard. The safe method is to shorten as much as possible to get the warp upright, and then use progressive power to try and snap the ties and trip it out. I would tie off at the stern but not use so much power as to swamp the boat. If that doesn't work waiting for slack tide usually does. In Dans case I am sure he made the right decision to lose an Anchor is better than losing a friend. I think I would have buoyed it off with a fender and gone back for it though. At least all was done with safety in mind. well done Charlie

Nice one Alun well done two more COD. After last week and due to the nice weather we decided to try the same area on smaller tides. A lovely run out o a calm sea to arrive and anchor the wreck by 1000, first fish was an eel of about 18lb by 1015 Game on. The fishing was slower than last week and we baited with large squid or squid and mackerel cocktails to try and achieve Aluns result we did suffer a bit of bait robbing from pout and the anchor slipped twice on what must be hard ground, but we had another good eeling day, alas no COD Total catch 16 eels best just over 40lb. All were T Barred off so the boat stayed clean for Christmas, to be honest Wendy did not want all the kit in the wash tonight or squid smelling and Conger slimed waterproofs in the Garage over Christmas. We heard Gary was in to a few Flounders in the Harbour, but apart from Prodigy and Neo the radio was quiet. Another great day to be afloat, kept out of Wendys way as final preps were done for Chrismas, had our lines tugged and it wasn't even cold enough to need a jacket on once. Great, now bring on the Turkey and Crackers Happy Christmas all Charlie Sam Dan and Wendy

I am afraid the Cod comp is now off for the boys and I I need to be at the Club at lunch time Tight lines to all who fish it. Charlie

Have a Great Birthday Ryan We hope you get all that you wished for Charlie Sam and Dan

Happy Christmas and a very Happy and Fishy New Year Charlie Sam and Dan

Me and the Boys are hoping to, but COD are very rare on GW these days Tight lines over the holidays guys Charlie

better tell us over a beer then mate Charlie

Crazy Fred very apt for anyone doing 25knots today Have a great Christmas and keep the fish reports coming in the new year several fish over the 100% specimen size in December well done, better book you a table for the prize giving night mate Charlie

Nice one Paul Do not show this to the kids, they may panic Charlie

I read that with the same feelings as the rest of you, and I will write to the mags publisher to tell them what I think. I will be voting with my feet and boycotting their mags, 1-0 to the BFM IMHO. as Sam says our subscription has run out, I was thinking of ending it anyway as the mag has got thicker but only with adverts The junior page is a joke, do they honestly think that a 7 year old landed an eel of 70lb plus? and although they gave Sam a nice prize [rod and reel] for junior fish of the month it took nearly a year after the fish was caught to get it. The boys have caught many good fish in recent years and its a lottery if they get in to print or not. Discussing things with them is very difficult but worse of all in my opinion is the timing of the articles, tope fishing ones at Christmas and winter Cod ones in June happen all the time, I like to read up on things just prior to or during there season to see if I can improve my techniques or learn a few tips to get more fish. Martin Can you add this to the other forum as I do not have permission Thanks Charlie

Nice one Fred well worth all those miles under the hull I will add it to the book later, if Sam has not done it by the time I get home. Charlie

Happy Birthday old chap Hope you have a great one Charlie

Martin We now use new Forest motor factors for our batteries Call them on 691111 and let them know what spec and size you want/need they will quote you They deliver here within a day and the costs are good depending on the spec well worth the phone call. If you want me to get you a quote, call me with the info Charlie

Hard to disagree with what any of the other say but if another very similar boat is out performing Neo with an engine of the same size it may be advisable to check the hull has not taken on water and has just got excesivly heavy. that or talk to a service agent about Dyno testing the engineto see what HP its giving you. I bet its simpler to change the engine for a newer bigger unit, than ether of these ideas. but its costly I would expect the fuel consumption of a bigger engine at 4000 RPM to beat the existing engine at close to Max RPM quite easily. and still move the boat faster So IMHO its just the purchase costs to consider really You have a PM on that part Is it worth it just to go quicker? Says I with the new faster boat being built Happy hunting Charlie

Can't win them all Adam The weather looks good in the week so I am sure you will get one of the mythical C.O.D Tight lines Charlie

No to both Tom Due to the tides, size and time of slack we went South East for a change I think that is the Purbecks in the background. Hope you went to Weymouth early and enjoyed the Calm weather, It got a bit lively when we were on our way in, and we had to slow down a bit. we do not have to do that often in GW. at least the spray cleaned the decks off Three trial runs now, have confirmed that the fuel system is OK, so I am very happy with that Charlie

and another double header I only put a second rod down once, after this fish and nearly losing the rod it went away again. Charlie

Thanks guys here is another of the boys in action at the same time

Hi all After the fuel problems last week , I had decided that if the weather allowed us to we would leave the Flounder behind and go offshore a bit. Flat calm cold and sunny, saw the worms stowed in the hold and the boat heading SE. over an hour later and we tried drifting while the tide was on full ebb no fish so off to another rusty bit. no pollack as the tide eased in went the anchor and great the Congers are hungry I lost one into the wreck then Dan had the first to the boat at 31lb followed by a steady stream of eels for the end of the flood tide as we swung away from the wreck at slack we had the three heaviest of the day. I was playing a fish of about 35lb when my uptider tried to leave the boat, Sam took that one, it was his first experiance of an eel on lighter gear and it gave him a tough time. When it surfaced we saw why, one of the two Hokias was in its dorsal fin . hell of a way to catch a 38lb eel on 20lb braid son. Dan then caught his biggest this year a fine fish of 48lb. he also went on to a total of 8 fish, and is a bit tired now. [ he is after all only 13] and I followed it with one of at least 45lb that came off as I went to swing it onboard by the trace. In total we had a couple of dozen eels but could not quite manage the heaviest of the year. It may have been the last conger trip on Great White but we will be back Charlie

I agree Tom a fine Brace Charlie

Looks like a fine set [Of tackle] to me Who would care what you caught if she had hold of your rod Charlie