great white

Blimey I was going to join in, but the depths that these post have gone into meant I don't have time to read them at work. I will try and get the kids off my PC at home and have a look. Charlie

Dry Powder is the one to have on the boat it will put out all fires. They make a mess but who cares. Having seen how fast a GRP boat burns a good fire extinguisher is a must. Imagine what would happen if a fire starts while you are at sea. Charlie

I am not sure how tongue in cheek the bream comments were. If you try bream tactics on wrecks at this time of year you will catch lots , but they will be pout not bream I think. Last year I took Sam to the "start" and it was taking less than 2 seconds from the weight hitting bottom to the first pout bite on baited feathers Tight lines on Sat, I await reports Charlie

Hi Colin, I am afraid that is why so many boats are out at this time of the year Fish are hard to find. As we discussed on Monday the Rays and Conger are probably the best target species, but some good flounders were recorded last Feb. Better luck on your next trip, Charlie

I have used it a lot for reef congers and even when wreck fishing when they are reluctant to feed, I usually drop it to the bottom in a weighted bag on a spare rod then invert the bag to leave the chopped fish on the seabed. I have used Aluns method of almost chumming for bass, and as he says they do tend to come in well stuffed with chunks, especially heads Charlie

last but not least

another 1

another shot from yesterday Charlie

Hi a photo from yesterdays conger bash Daniel and I both into eels Sam in charge of the camera. Charlie

In the Navy we were always told to coil a rope down clockwise But that was three strand and not octoplait Charlie

I think the damn stupid fish have lost their map, and are now using some small back alley and not Bob's Cod highway. I gave up on them yesterday and resorted to a winter conger trip insted. Charlie

I to seem to have a load of gear, plenty of it bought "For the kids dear" which explains why I have duplicates of a lot of gear. My two favorites without doubt are Team Diawa Uptider matched with ABU 7000c This is good for all sorts of boat fishing from inshore to reef conger/tope and has caught many good fish NorthWestern Carbon Kevlar 30lb class roller tip with Shimano TLD 15 or TLD20 and 30lb braid line Happy to tackle anything that swims in Club Waters with this one, long flexible rod with a bit of guts when required Would not throw the rest away though Charlie

I have to agree with Sam Tope Conger and Smoothounds They give a great fight and are fairly easy to locate given the right weather in their season. No tope on the survey so I have not voted Charlie

I am out on Sat night But a sortee to the deep water on sunday would help clear my head The lack of fishing is starting to get through now and the new bathroom arrives next week, so Sunday may have to be the day Charlie

Battery acid is very bad if it mixes with salt water It gives off one of the toxic gases, I can not remember which one but definatly not what you want on the boat. Charlie

James Fitting the engine and it auxilleries is not that hard a task If they are bolting it on the transom so that the heavy lifting is done make sure that the steering is also fitted before they bolt it on and the rest is very straight forward. The savings on a DIY fit will go towards toys Charlie

Sounds about right We work hard to live comfortably with a few enjoyments in life, take on all the hassles that work brings. Just to get as much enjoyment as we got from simple things as kids. When the boat was Dads, we dug the bait and could ride to our fishing marks by bike if Dad was to busy to take the boat out. As they say "Work is the curse of the fishing classes." Or as Sam says "Born to fish,forced to go to school" Charlie

Blimey I thought my two were bad Can we get a translater for this thread? God help their english teachers Charlie

Nice one James A nice boat and I like the name, very apt. I hope you have a lot of succesful Dawn Raids on her, with many tight lines. When is the maiden voyage mate? I expect that a few photo's will me sent to BFM of that one Charlie

Hi welcome aboard I hope we can all help to get you started, while the coming months may not be the best for fishing and catching they are great for getting used to your shiny new boat and the toys that are fitted. Last winter I fitted a new plotter and colour sounder and tested them on a couple of nice days in feb with decent fish as a result when the boat would normally be out of action. So I would sugest you wait for a good forcast wrap up warm and get a few hours in getting to know the boat, if you need assistance ask, I am sure offers will flood in. Have Fun, and dont forget to take the misses on the good days. Charlie

Danny Is the old one a complete write off If not try someone like FB Electrics in Fenton Rd Boscombe they may be able to sort it out, or failing that may be a good starting point for your search for a fair priced replacement. I have a number at work if you need one Charlie

Hi Wedger, Good advice from Bob I had a Wilson flyer and upgraded to a 23ft with inboard 14 years ago. The wilson was fairly stable at anchor but a spine shaker at speed in the chop. so cruising in bad weather or at night was only slightly faster than my current 11/12 knots. However I would rather be on GW any time, more solid, more space easily fish with 4 onboard. Mine is a Duver 23 with 60 hp so the fuel used is about 1 gal hour, simular to the more modern arvor 215/230. Happy Hunting Charlie

Sounds as if the beast had teeth and was fast so ether a Shark or Tope. The othe bites may have ben from something else, that pulled your pennel into two as it had a go at the bait may even have been a large whiting or another larger pout. I have caught double hook ups of both these species on a single pennel rig lots of times. I expect that the larger fish you saw had a few goes at the top fish before also biting the line. even a small tope can easily bite 70lb nylon. We will never know , but its good to know some bigger fish are still about. Even if the weather will not let us get at them. Better luck with the beast next time Bob. Charlie

Martin I was only thinking the same earlier today when we returned without reaching the marks for the second consecutive Sunday. Perhaps it was brought on by the starter motor failing to engage properly this morning. | had to take it off twice The initial clean up and spray failed to cure it, so I had to locate a file at the Club and remove all burrs from the bendix It got me thinking about other things that can go wrong, so I decided to give the Boys a long safety and VHF brief as we came back up the harbour and some practice at berthing the boat in the marina. explaining to a 12 year old about prop walk when going astern was a bit new to him, but they both did very well. It was a nice day for boating in the Harbour but far to rough outside, the waves were very big about 1/2 way beteen the swash and old Harry. We had no bait for the Harbour so home for lunch and a few jobs Charlie

My FPO is always welcome on the boat. A few reasons 1.While she stays keen the boat will never go. 2. If Wendy is onboard it shows that the forecast is probably good. 3. Wendy days tend to be calm and warm. 4. She never nicks my rod when a fish bites like the kids do. 5. she likes to take the photo's of my fish. last but not least, the onboard cooking is much better than the usual sarnies and pasties Tight lines Charlie