great white

Hi All, What a great day. After a day bouncing around without many fish yesterday, the plan was ether a haul out to the Rips to look for pollack or a trip west to a wreck for the Eels. The Weather and tides were so good for an Eel trip that Humphreys arm was easily twisted into that decision. so with Dawn Raider in Hot pursuit off we went. By the time most of you were finishing your first coffee at work we were anchoring the wreck, but the position was not to our liking so in came the anchor to be moved 50 metres South. [ The hydraulic hauler certainly helps]. By the time James had his anchor in, we had an eel on the way up and in less than an hour we had 10 on the boat. As the tide slackened we were pushed south of the wreck to wait for the flood tide. After moving for the flood the action really started and the size of the fish improved with several over the 30lb mark being lifted in to be weighed. We were fishing one rod each to avoid tangles, and a couple of times had treble hook ups with the other rod out of action due to re-baiting re-tackling or having just landed a fish. It was hectic on Dawn Raider and impresive to watch the lads in action with plenty of double hook ups, and at one time they were both playing fish with one rod and the other rods in James very smart rod holders going mental as another pair of fish waited for some attention. In the end we had a total of 40 eels. before we had a couple of slow drifts over the wreck then a move inshore to try for other species. The best Conger onboard today was 46lb. But it was definatly a Conger Day as we saw James catch another in there as well, with a few Dogs and what may have been a Huss. Great day and nice to be able to offer James and Adam a guide in such lovely weather to a wreck that fished so well. I expect we had over 1000lb of fish onboard today and all went back, most without coming out of the water. I am going to have a sit down with a beer to sooth the bits that ache tonight. tight lines Charlie

Hi Alun I am out tomorrow with the kids so if we catch or hear of anything being caught I will post tommorow evening. Charlie

Nice looking boat and I really liked the advert format. If you click on the pictures you can drag the corners to enlarge and get a better view Charlie

Have a great Birthday Hope you get what you wished for Charlie

Hi Alun Not sure I would be to keen to be out fishing in a small boat in that forecast. Having just spent two days Instructing Powerboat level two in the Harbour [and getting a fair amount of salt water over by floatation suit in the process] I am very aware how bad the forecast was. And how rough the harbour was in the Main and North channels. We would not have gone out except that we had 4 RIBs, all with full safety equipment, We were in VHF contact and with an Instructor on each boat. Even then we cancelled boatwork at 1130 this morning in driving hailstones and heavy gusts of wind. As we said last meeting it is the skippers discision to go to sea, but considering you were probably the only boat around, and the forecast was so poor was it the right one? Nice fish Alun and I await a fish report so that I can add them to the book. but was the risk to high? A concerned Charlie

Nice to hear there is a window I have a few days off so hope to get to a wreck again with the boys May even get a trip with ow much and go a bit further out Tight lines all Charlie

Brave Man I hope it keeps midges away from the orifice it may finish up in.

Duncan You may be right about the fuel economy but the cruising speed would make your trips from Rockley to weymouth or the solent a long day. Charlie

Nice to see that persistance pays off after your very quiet trip earlier in the week Can I ask someone to send me a catch report of who caught what, and I will add them to the book. Nice one Charlie

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